| Stephen Uroš IV Dušan the Mighty Uroš IV Nemanjić Стефан Урош IV Душан Силни |
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| Reign | 8 September 1331 – 16 April 1346 |
| Predecessor | Uroš III of Dečani |
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| Reign | 16 April 1346 – 20 December 1355 |
| Successor | Uroš V the Weak |
| Spouse | Helena of Bulgaria |
| Dynasty | Nemanjić |
| Father | Stephen Uroš III Dečanski |
| Mother | Theodora Smilets of Bulgaria |
| Born | c. 1308 |
| Died | 20 December 1355 (aged 47) Devoll |
| Burial | Saint Archangels Monastery, Prizren. (After 1927. in the St. Mark's Church, Belgrade) |
Stephen Uroš IV Dušan the Mighty (Serbian: Стефан Урош IV Душан Силни, pronounced [stê̞faːn û̞rɔ̝ʃ ʧě̞tʋr̩ːti̞ː dǔ̞ʃan]; c. 1308 – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia (from 8 September 1331) and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks (from 16 April 1346) until his death on 20 December 1355. Dušan managed to conquer a large part of Southeast Europe, becoming one of the most powerful monarchs in his time. He enacted the constitution of the Serbian Empire in Dušan's Code, one of, if not the most important work of medieval Serbia. Dušan promoted the Serbian Church from an Archbishopric to a Patriarchate, finished the construction of the Visoki Dečani-monastery (UNESCO item), and founded the Saint Archangels Monastery, among others. Under his rule Serbia reached its territorial, economical, political and cultural peak.
His death in 1355 is seen as the end of resistance towards the advancing Ottoman Empire, and the subsequent fall of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the region.[1] His Crown is presently kept at the Cetinje Monastery, in Montenegro.
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In 1314, the initial heir Stephen Uroš III (Dušan's father) quarreled with his father Stephen Uroš II Milutin, who ended up sending Uroš III to Constantinople, to have him blinded. Uroš III was never totally blinded, however. After 1317, Uroš III wrote to Danilo, the Bishop of Hum, asking him to intervene with his father.[2] Danilo then wrote to Archbishop Nicodemus of Serbia, who spoke with Milutin and persuaded him to recall his son.[2] In 1320 Uroš III was permitted to return to Serbia, and was given the appanage of 'Budimlje' (modern Berane).[2] His half-brother and heir to the crown, Stephen Constantine had the title King of Zeta.[3] Uroš II became ill and died on October 29, 1321, and Constantine was crowned King.[4]
Civil war erupted when Constantine refused to submit to Uroš III, who then invaded Zeta, and in the ensuing battle, Constantine was killed.[4] After the victory, on January 6, 1322, the Serbian Archbishop Nicodemus crowned Uroš King and Dušan Young King.[3] As Dušan was intended heir, he would govern Zeta, as Constantine and his predecessors had done.[4] In the meantime, Uroš III's cousin Stephen Vladislav II mobilized local support from Rudnik, Stephen Dragutin's former appanage.[4] Vladislav called himself King, and was supported by the Hungarians, consolidating control over his lands and preparing for battle with Uroš III.[4] As the case was with their fathers, Serbia was divided by two independent rulers; in 1322 and 1323 Ragusan merchants freely visited both lands.[4]
In 1323, war broke out between the cousins. In the fall Vladislav still held Rudnik, but by the end of 1323, it was being held by Uroš' forces; Vladislav appeared to have fled north.[4] Vladislav was defeated in battle in late 1324, and fled to Hungary,[5] leaving the Serbian throne to Uroš III as undisputed King of All Serbian and Maritime lands".
Contemporary writers described Dušan as unusually tall and strong for his age, "the tallest man of his time", very handsome, and one of the rare leaders full of dynamism, quick intelligence and strength.[6][7] He had "a kingly presence".[8] According to the contemporary depictions of him, he had dark hair and brown eyes, in adult age he grew beard and longer hair.
Uroš IV Dušan was the eldest son of King Uroš III of Dečani and Theodora Smilets, the daughter of emperor Smilets of Bulgaria. He was born in ca. 1308, in Serbia, but with his fathers exile in 1314, the family lives in Constantinople until 1320, when his father is pardoned and allowed to return. In Constantinople he learned Greek, gained an understanding of Byzantine life and culture, and became acquainted with the Byzantine Empire. He was, on the whole, more a soldier than a diplomat; in his youth he fought exceptionally in two battles; in 1329 he defeated the Bosnian ban Stephen II Kotromanić, and in 1330 the Bulgarian emperor Michael III Shishman in the Battle of Velbazhd. Uroš IV Dušan's Bulgarian roots were not only those of his mother Theodora Smilets of Bulgaria, the mother of his father Uroš III was Anna Terter of Bulgaria, daughter of emperor George I of Bulgaria. On the other hand, after the death of the Bulgarian emporor Michael III Shishman, Uroš III and Bulgarian authorities agreed to set Uroš III's nephew Ivan Stephen (through his mother Anna Neda) at the throne of Bulgaria in August 1330 who reigned eight months until April 1331.
Right after the battle of Velbazhd, Uroš III had the chance to attack the Byzantines, but he chose not to, resulting in the alienation of many nobles,[9] who sought to expand to the south.[10] By January or February 1331, Dušan was quarreling with his father,[9] perhaps pressured by the nobility.[10] According to contemporary pro-Dušan sources, evil advisors turned Uroš III against his son; he decided to seize and exclude Dušan of his inheritance. Uroš III sent an army into Zeta against his son, the army ravaged Skadar, but Dušan had crossed the Bojana. A brief period of anarchy in parts of Serbia took place, before the father and son concluded peace in April 1331.[9] Three months later, Uroš III ordered Dušan to meet him. Dušan feared for his life and his advisors persuaded him to resist, so Dušan marched from Skadar to Nerodimlje, where he besieged his father.[9] Uroš III fled, and Dušan captured the treasury and family. He then pursuited his father, catching up with him at Petrić. On 21 August 1331, Uroš III surrendered, and on the advice or insistence of Dušan's advisors, he was imprisoned.[9] Dušan is crowned King of All Serbian and Maritime lands in the first week of September.[10]
The civil war had prevented Serbia from aiding Ivan Stephen and Anna Neda in Bulgaria, who were deposed in March 1331, taking refuge in the mountains. Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria feared for the danger of Serbia as the situation there had settled, and immediately sought peace with Dušan.[10] As Dušan wanted to move against richer Byzantium, the two concluded peace and an alliance in December 1331, accepting Ivan Alexander as ruler. It was sealed with the marriage of Dušan and Helena, the sister of emperor Ivan Alexander.[10]
Some raids into Macedonia were made in late 1331, but the major attack on Byzantium was delayed, Dušan had to suppress revolts in Zeta in 1332.[11] Dušan's ingratitude to his former aids (the Zetan nobility were possibly neglected their promised reward and greater influence) may have been the cause of the rebellion, which was suppressed in the course of 1332.[11]
In the first years of his reign, Dušan started to fight against the Byzantine Empire (1334), and warfare continued with interruptions of various duration until his death in 1355. Twice he became involved in larger conflicts with the Hungarians, but these clashes were mostly defensive. Dusan's armies were defeated by Louis the Great's 80,000 strong royal armies in Mačva, therefore Dušan had lost the control over his former territories: vojvodine of Macsó (Mačva) and the principality of Travunia in 1349. After this setback, he focused his attention on the internal affairs of his country, writing, in 1349, the first statute book of the Serbs.[12]
Dušan was successful against Louis' vassals; he defeated the armies of the Croatian ban and the forces of southern Hungarian voivodes. He was at peace with the Bulgarians, who even helped him on several occasions, and he is said to have visited Ivan Alexander at his capital. Dušan exploited the civil war in the Byzantine Empire between regent Anna of Savoy for the minor Emperor John V Palaiologos and his father's general John Kantakouzenos. Dušan and Ivan Alexander picked opposite sides in the conflict, but remained at peace with each other, taking advantage of the Byzantine civil war to secure gains for themselves.
Dušan's systematic offensive began in 1342 and in the end he conquered all Byzantine territories in the western Balkans as far as Kavala, except for the Peloponnesus and Thessaloniki, which he could not conquer because he had too small of a fleet. There has been speculation that Dušan's ultimate goal was no less than to conquer Constantinople and replace the declining Byzantine Empire with a united Orthodox Greco-Serbian Empire under his control.[13][14] In May 1344, his commander Preljub was stopped at Stephaniana by a Turkic force of 3,100.[15] The battle was won by the Turks, but it was not able to thwart the Serbian conquest of Macedonia.[16][17]
In 1343, he added "of Romans (Greeks)" to his self-styled title "King of Serbia, Albania and the coast".[18] In 1345 he began calling himself tsar, equivalent of Emperor, this is attested in charters to two athonite monasteries, one from November and one from January 1346, and around Christmas 1345 at a council meeting in Serres, he proclaimed himself "Tsar of the Serbs and Romans" (Romans is equivalent to Greeks in Serbian documents).[18]
On April 16, 1346 (Easter), he convoked a huge assembly at Skopje, attended by the Serbian Archbishop Joanikije II, the Archbishop of Ochrid Nikolaj I, the Bulgarian Patriarch Simeon and various religious leaders of Mount Athos.[19] The assembly and clerics agreed on, and then ceremonially performed the raising of the autocephalous Serbian Archbishopric to the status of Patriarchate.[18] The Archbishop from now on is titled Patriarch of Serbia, although one document called him Patriarch of Serbs and Greeks, with the seat at the monastery of Peć.[18] The new Patriarch Joanikije II now solemnly crowned Dušan as "Emperor and autocrat of Serbs and Romans" (Greek Bασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτoκράτωρ Σερβίας καὶ Pωμανίας).[18] Dušan had his son crowned King of Serbs and Greeks, giving him nominal rule over the Serbian lands, and although Dušan was governing the whole state, he had special responsibility for the "Roman", i.e. Greek lands.[18]
A further increase in the Byzantinization of the Serbian court followed, particularly in court ceremonial and titles.[18] As Emperor, Dušan could grant titles only possible as an Emperor.[20] In the years that followed, Dušan's half-brother Symeon Uroš and brother-in-law Jovan Asen became despotes. Jovan Oliver already had the despot title, granted to him by Andronikos III. His brother-in-law Dejan Dragaš and Branko is granted the title of sebastocrator. The military commanders (voivodes) Preljub and Vojihna receive the title of caesar.[20] The raising of the Serbian Patriarch resulted in the same spirit, bishoprics became metropolitans, as for example the Metropolitanate of Skopje.[20]
The Patriarchate took over sovereignty on Mt. Athos and the Greek archbishoprics under the rule of the Constantinople Patriarchate (The Ohrid Archbishopric remained autocephalous). For those acts he was excommunicated by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in 1350.[20]
Faced with Dušan's aggression, the Byzantines sought allies in the Ottoman Turks whom they brought into Europe for the first time. The first conflict between the Serbs and the Turks on Balkan soil, at Stephaniana in 1344, ended unfavourably for the Serbs.[21] In 1348 Dušan conquered Epirus, Acarnania and Thessaly. He appointed Simeon Uroš as despotes of Epirus and Thessaly. He put Vojihna as caesar of Drama.
Once Dušan had conquered Epirus and Thessaly, he sought to obtain Constantinople.[22] In order to acquire the city, he needed a fleet.[22] The fleets of the southern Serbian Dalmatian towns were not capable of such task, thus he opened negotiations with Venice, with which he maintained fairly good relation.[22] However, as Venice feared a reduction of privileges in the Empire if the Serbs became the masters of Constantinople over the weakened Byzantines, they found excuses to avoid a military alliance.[22] While Dušan sought Venetian aid against Byzantium, the Venetians sought Serbian support in the struggle against the Hungarians over Dalmatia, however, when sensing that the Serbian aid would result in a Venetian obligation to Serbia, Venice politely turned down Dušan's offers of help.[22]
While Dušan launched the Bosnian campaign (absence of Serbian troops in Macedonia and Thessaly), Cantacuzenus tried to regain parts the lost lands.[23] In his support, the Constantinopolitan patriarch Kallistos excommunicated Dušan in order to discourage the Greek population in Dušan's Greek provinces from supporting the Serbian administration and thereby assist Cantacuzenus campaign.[23] The excommunication did not stop Dušan's relations with Mount Athos, which still adressed him as Emperor, though rather as Emperor of Serbs than Emperor of Serbs and Greeks.[24]
Cantacuzenus raised a small army, the best he could, and took the Chalcidic peninsula, next he took Veria and Voden.[24] Veria was the richest town in the Botia region, in order to maintain it, Dušan had earlier replaced many Greeks with Serbs, including a Serb garrison.[24] However, the remaining locals were able to open the gates for Cantacuzenus in 1350.[24] Voden resisted Cantacuzenus, but was taken by assault.[24] Cantacuzenus then marched towards Thessaly, but was stopped at Servia by Caesar Preljub and his army of 500 men.[24] The Byzantine force retired to Veria, and the aiding Turk contingent went off plundering, reaching as far as Skopje.[24]
The Byzantine campaign reached Dušan in Hum, he quickly reassembled his forces from Bosnia and Hum and marched for Thessaly.[24]
Dušan evidently wanted to expand his rule over the provinces that had earlier been in the hands of Serbia, such as Hum, which was annexed by the Hungarian protégé and Bosnian Ban Stephen II Kotromanić in 1326.[22] In 1329, Ban Stephen II launched an attack on Lord Vitomir who held Travunia and Konavle, the Bosnian Army was defeated at Pribojska Banja by Dušan when he was still Young King. The Ban soon took over Nevesinje and the rest of Bosnia. Petar Toljenović, the Lord of seaside Hum and a distant relative of Dušan, sparked a rebellion against the new ruler but was soon captured and died in prison.
In 1350, Dušan attacked Bosnia, wishing to regain the previously lost land of Hum and stop the raids on his tributaries at Konavle.[22] Venice had tried to reach a settlement between the two, but had failed.[22] In October he invaded Hum, with an army said to be of 80,000 men, and he seems to have successfully occupied part of the disputed Hum territory.[22] According to Orbini, he had secretly been in contact with various Bosnian nobles, offering them bribes for support.[23] Many nobles, chiefly of Hum, were ready to betray the Ban, such as the Nikolić family which was kin to the Nemanjić dynasty.[23] The Bosnian Ban avoided any major confrontation and did not meet Dušan in battle, instead he retired to the mountains and made small hit-and-run actions.[23] Most of Bosnia's fortresses held out, but some nobles submitted to Dušan.[23] The Serbs ravaged much of the countryside: with one army they reached Duvno and Cetina, with another reaching Krka on which lay Knin (modern Croatia), and another taking Imotski and Novi, where they left garrisons and entered Hum.[23] From this position of strength, Dušan tried to negotiate peace with the Ban, sealing it by the marriage of Dušan's son Uroš with Stephen's daughter Elizabeth who would receive Hum as her dowry - restoring it to Serbia.[23] The Ban was not willing to consider this proposal.[23]
Dušan may have launched the campaign also in order to aid his sister, Jelena, who married Mladen III Subic of Omis, Klis and Skradin, in 1347.[23] Mladen died from the plague in 1348, and Jelena sought to maintain the rule of the cities for herself and her son.[23] She was challenged by Hungary and Venice, so the Serbian army dispatchments in western Hum and Croatia may have been for her, as operations in this region were unlikely to help Dušan conquer Hum.[23]
If Dušan was to aid Jelena, and as we know, conquer Hum, this was stopped when trouble started in the East.[23]
Dušan had grand intentions but they were all cut short by his premature death. While mounting a crusade against the Turks, he fell ill (possibly poisoned) and died of a fever at Devoll on 20 December 1355. He was buried in his foundation, the Monastery of the Holy Archangels near Prizren.
His empire slowly crumbled, and as his son and successor Uroš V could not maintain the Empire, several regional feudal families increased their power, although nominally acknowledging Uroš V as Emperor. Symeon Uroš had after the death of Dušan proclaimed himself Emperor, and ruled a large area of Thessaly and Epirus.
Today his remains are in the Church of Saint Mark in Belgrade.[25] He was succeeded by his son Stefan Uroš V, who had been associated in power as king since 1346.
He is the only ruler from the Nemanjić Dynasty who has not been canonised as a saint.
Much like his ancestors, Stefan Dušan was very active in rebuilding churches and monasteries, but also building new. First, he took care about monasteries in which his parents were buried. Monastery of Banjska, built by King Milutin, where his mother was buried. He was very generous toward monastery of Visoki Dečani, endowment of his father. The monastery was built for eight years and it is certain that emperor's role in the building process was huge. Between 1337. and 1339. emperor got sick, and he pledged ones word that if he survives, he will build a church and monastery in Jerusalem. Already, there was one Serbian monastery in Jerusalem, devoted to archangel Michael (believed to be built by King Milutin). This monastery functioned from tax which was paid by Dubrovnik Republic. In time of Stefan Dušan there were Serbian monks in some monasteries on Sinai Peninsula His greatest endowment is monastery dedicated to archangels Michael and Gabriel, located near the town of Prizren. This is the place where Tsar Dušan was originally buried. Dušan gave many possessions to this monastery, including the forest of Prizren which was supposed to be a special part of the monastery where all the precious goods and relics should be stored. Also, the mosaic on the flor of the monastery was made beautifully. Great admiration to this monastery was showed by Dušan's heir Stefan Uroš V. Dušan's son, Stephen Uroš V, talked about his father with great respect.
Stephen Uroš V did not try to make peace with patriarch of Constantinople, which means that he saw his father's action positively. Such initiative came from despot Uglješa in 1368. The jurisdiction of Constantinople was restored. The final initiative for peace between churches came from Prince Lazar in 1375. Few sources show that Serbian church, at some moment, accepted view of Constantinople about illegality of Dušan's crowning and making of patriarchate. In next decades of Serbian state there is no evidence about existing of the Dušan's cult. In official ideology of later times there is no glorification of Emperor, he even was not mentioned, but his authority was always respected. Dušan's charter to Dubrovnik served as a example to all the later trades made between the two sides, and the regulations made by the charter were considered inviolable. The wise Ragusians said to their guests that they are staying in the city to which Emperor Dušan came by the same door. Later folk tradition had various attitudes to Dušan, mostly negative, mostly made under the influence of the church.
With the raising of the Serbian Archbishopric to a Patriarchate, serious changes in the organization of the church followed. Joanikije II became Patriarch. Bishoprics (Eparchies) were raised to Metropolitanates, and new territories of the Ochrid Archbishopric and Ecumenical Constantinople were added to the jurisdiction of the Serbian church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople had Dušan excommunicated in 1350, although this did not affect the religious organization.
Under Serbian jurisdiction came one of the foremost centers of spirituality - Mount Athos.[26] As of November 1345, Athonite monks accept his supreme rule, and Dušan guaranteed autonomy, also giving a row of economic privileges, with tremendous gifts and endowments. The monks of Chilandar (the cradle of the Serbian church, founded by Saint Sava, his ancestor) came at the front of the ecclesiastical community.
In his codex, Dušan accentuates his role as a protector of Christianity and points out the independence of the church. From the codex we can also see care that the parishes are equally arranged both in cities and villages. He was also taking care of few churches and monasteries from Bari to the west, to Jerusalem to the east.
Besides Orthodox Christians, there were many Catholics in the Empire, mostly in the coastal cities, Kotor, Lješ etc. In the court of Dušan there were also Catholics (servants from Kotor and Dubrovnik, mercenaries, guests etc.). In the central parts, Saxons were in areas active in mining and trading. Catholics had the full right of faith, except for converting non-Catholics. There are no historical record that traders of catholic faith complained about discrimination based on religion. Dušan was also in contact with the Pope, he negotiated about formal acceptance of papal primacy, his two goals were: stopping Hungarian attacks in the north, and, with the help of the Pope, assemble and organize a crusade against the Turks (Muslims). The Pope sent an envoy led by Peter Tome to the Serbian court, however, according to Philippe de Mézières, their negotiations were followed by much unpleasantness, and the mission did not give the expected results.
Some historians consider that the goal of Emperor Dušan was to establish a new, Serbian-Greek Empire, replacing the Byzantine Empire.[20] Ćirković considered his initial ideology as that of the previous Bulgarian emperors, who had envisioned co-rulership. However, starting in 1347, relations with John VI Kantakouzenos worsened, Dušan allied himself with rival John V Palaiologos.
Dušan was the first Serbian monarch who wrote most of his letters in Greek, also signing with the Imperial red ink. He was the first to publish prostagma, a kind of Byzantine document, characteristic for Byzantine rulers. In his royal title, Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, his claim as Eastern Roman (Byzantine) successor is clear. He also gave Byzantine court titles to his nobility,[18] something that would continue into the 16th century.
In works of Nicephorus Gregoras there are recordings that Tsar Dushan sent his royal servants to Ottoman sultan, offering one of his daughters to sultan's sons. Orhan I accepted the offer, but his servants were intercept along the way, and with that their diplomatic relations were over. Shortly, Turkish presence on the Balkan was more appreciable. A mark of Dušan's rulership was a bulkin work on law. A large amount of charters was published, and some great works on law subject were translated to Serbian. To conception of that time, emperor Dušan had the right to make laws of general, universal character. Dušan tried to explain his code in one of in his charter, where he explains that the sense is spiritual and that the goals are for the after-life, and that the code is going to help his people to save themselves. First part of the code was proclaimed on 21. May 1349. in Skopje, and I contained of 155 clauses, while the second part came in 1354. with 66 clauses. Makers of the code are not known, but they are probably members of the court which were related to law. The original manuscript of the code did not remain. Dušan's code contains of various subjects and it is made in order to spans in all aspect of life, but to certain subject more attention was given. Serbia had long law tradition, and some parts were well regulated. The old laws were not removed, but they were not exactly repeated. Those laws represented the highest authority. The first 38 appointments are related to the church and they deal with active problems, while the next 25 appointments are related to the nobles Absence of appointments related to civil law is explained because that area was done in works of Saint Sava's Nomokamon and in Corpus Juris Civilis. Dušan's code originally dealt with criminal law. Byzantine law had the greatest influence on Dušan's codex. That is greatly seen through concept of lawfulness, which was mostly taken direcktly from Byzantine law.
The code was in use even after the death of Emperor. It is sure that it was in use under the rulership of his son, Stefan Uroš V, and it is not known was it in use in the last decades of medieval Serbia. With the final fall of Serbia under Turkish dominion, the code could not be used any more, with exception of some partly autonomic areas under the Republic of Venice, like Grbalj and Paštrovići.
Serbian military tactics consisted of wedge shaped heavy cavalry attacks with horse archers on the flanks. Many foreign mercenaries were in the Serbian army, mostly Germans as cavalry and Spaniards as infantry. He also had personal mercenary guards, mainly German knights. A German knight named Palman became the commander of the Serbian "Alemannic Guard" in 1331 upon crossing Serbia to Jerusalem; he became leader of all mercenaries in the Serbian Army. The main strength of the Serbian army was the armoured knight feared for their ferocious charge and fighting skills.
He was titled Young King as heir apparent on January 6, 1322, and was entitled the rule of Zeta, thus he was "King of Zeta". In 1331, he succeeded his father as "King of all Serbian and Maritime Lands". In 1343, his title was "King of Serbia, Greeks, Albania and the coast". In 1345 he began calling himself tsar, Emperor, and in the of 1345 he proclaimed himself "Emperor of Serbs and Romans". On April 16, 1346, he was crowned Emperor of Serbs and Romans (Greeks). This title was soon enlarged into "Emperor and Autocrat of the Serbs and Greeks, the Bulgarians and Albanians".[27][28][29]
His epithet Silni (Силни) is translated into the Mighty,[30] but also the Great,[31] the Powerful[32] or the Strong.[33]
Dušan was the most powerful Serbian ruler in the Middle Ages and "perhaps the most powerful ruler in Europe" during the 14th century,[34] and remains a folk hero to Serbs. His state was a rival to the regional powers of Byzantium and Hungary, and it encompassed a large territory, which would also be his empire's greatest weakness. By nature a soldier and a conqueror, Dušan also proved to be very able but nonetheless feared ruler. His empire however, slowly crumbled at the hands of his son, as regional aristocrats distanced from the central rule.
The aim of restoring Serbia as an Empire it once was, was one of the greatest ideals of Serbs, living both in the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian lands. In 1526, Jovan Nenad, in the style of Dušan, proclaimed himself Emperor, when ruling a short-lived state of Serbian provinces under the crown of Hungary.
The Realm of the Slavs, written by Ragusian historian Mavro Orbin (l. ca. 1550-1614), saw Emperor Dušan's actions and works positively. The book served as the primary source about early history of South Slavs at the time and most of the western historians drew their information on the Slavs from it. Early Serbian historians, even though they wrote according to the sources, were influenced by the ideas of the time they lived in. They made efforts to harmonize with two different traditions: one from brevets and public documents and other from genealogies and narrative writings. Of early historians, most information came from Jovan Rajić (1726–1801), who wrote fifty pages about Dušan's life. Rajić's work had great influence on Serbian culture of that time, and for decades it was the main source of information about Serbian history.
After the restoration of Serbia in the 19th century, continuity with the Serbian Middle Ages was accentuated, particularly of its greatest moment - during Emperor Dušan. A political agenda, as with a restoration of his Empire, would find its place in the political programmes of the Principality of Serbia, notably the Načertanije by Ilija Garašanin.
Reconstructions:
By his first wife, Helena of Bulgaria, Stefan Uroš IV had at least one child, Stefan Uroš V of Serbia who succeeded him as emperor of the Serbian Empire.
Some historians speculate that the couple had a further child, a daughter. J. Fine in his book The Late Medieval Balkans, A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest (1994) suggested that his daughter might be "Irene",[35] the wife of Gregorios Preljub (Serbian governor of Thessaly who died in late 1355 or early 1356), mother of Thomas II Preljubović (Ruler of Epirus from 1367 to 1384). In a theory, she married Radoslav Hlapen, Governor of Voden and Veria and Lord of Kastoria, after her first husband's death in 1360. This hypothesis is not widely accepted.[36]
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Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia
Born: 1308 Died: 20 December 1355 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| New title Coronation as Emperor
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Emperor of Serbia "Emperor of the Serbs and Romans" April 16, 1346–December 20, 1355 |
Succeeded by Stephen Uroš V |
| Preceded by Stephen Uroš III |
King of Serbia September 8, 1331–April 16, 1346 |
Coronation as Emperor Heir:
Stephen Uroš V as King |
| Royal titles | ||
| Preceded by Stephen Constantine |
King of Zeta Heir to the throne January 6, 1322–September 8, 1331 |
Succeeded by Stephen Uroš V |
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