Stefan Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia

Stephen Uroš III
King of all the Serbian and Maritime Lands

The fresco of king Stefan Dečanski with church model, Dečani monastery
King of Serbia
Reign 1322–1331
Coronation 6 January 1322
Predecessor Stephen Constantine
Successor Stephen Dušan
Issue Stefan Uroš IV Dušan
Simeon Uroš
Elena
Posthumous name
Holy King, Stefan of Dečani
Dynasty Nemanjić
Father Stefan Uroš II Milutin
Mother Jelena
Born before 1282
Died 11 November 1331 (aged 46)
Castle of Zvečan
Burial Dečani
Religion † Serbian Orthodox
Signature Coins

Stefan Uroš III (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Урош III, Serbian pronunciation: [stɛ̂faːn ûrɔʃ trɛ̂tɕiː]), commonly known as Stefan Dečanski [of Dečani] (Дечански, Serbian pronunciation: [stɛ̂faːn dɛ̂tʃaːnskiː]; c. 1285 – 11 November 1331) was the King of Serbia from 6 January 1322 to 8 September 1331. He was the son of King Stephen Milutin. Stephen Uroš III defeated several of his family members who wanted to take the throne. He took his epithet Dečanski from the great monastery he built at Dečani.

Life

Early life

Uroš III was the son of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin and his first wife Jelena, a minor Serbia noblewoman. He was born before his father took the throne in 1282.[1]

While still a youth, he was sent by his father as a hostage with his entourage to Nogai Khan of the Golden Horde, to maintain the peace between the Serbs and Tatars. He stayed at Nogai's court until the Khan's death in 1299.[2]

Exile in Constantinople

In 1314, Stephen Dečanski quarreled with his father, who ended up sending Dečanski to Constantinople, to have him blinded. Dečanski was never totally blinded and perhaps was not blinded at all. He was at the court of Andronikos II Palaiologos.

Return to Serbia and death of his father

After 1317, Stephen Dečanski wrote a letter to Danilo, the Bishop of Hum, asking Danilo to intervene with Dečanski's father.[3] Danilo then wrote to Archbishop Nicodemus of Serbia, who spoke with Milutin and persuaded him to recall his son.[3]

In 1320 Dečanski was permitted to return to Serbia, and was given the appanage of Budimlje.[3] His half-brother and crown heir, Stephen Constantine had the title King of Zeta.[4] Their father became ill and died on 29 October 1321, and Constantine was crowned King.[5]

Civil Wars and coronation

Coronation.

Civil war erupted when Constantine refused to submit to Stephen Dečanski, who then invaded Zeta. In the ensuing battle, Constantine was killed.[5] After the victory, on 6 January 1322, the Archbishop of Serbia Nicodemus, crowned Dečanski King and his son, Dušan, Young King.[4] By appointing Dušan to be co-regent of Zeta, Dečanski indicated that Dušan was Dečanski's intended heir.[5]

In the meantime, Dečanski's cousin, Stefan Vladislav II, was released from prison upon Milutin's death and recovered the throne of Syrmia, which Vladislav's father had carved from northern Serbia before handing the Serbian throne to his brother, Milutin. Vladislav also claimed the throne of Serbia upon Milutin's death and mobilized local support from Rudnik, a former appanage of Vladislav's father.[5] Also supported by the Hungarians, Bulgarians and Bosnians, Vladislav consolidated control over Syrmia and prepared for battle with Dečanski.[5]

In 1323, war broke out between the cousins. In autumn, Vladislav still held Rudnik, but by the end of 1323, the market of Rudnik was held by Dečanski's officials and Vladislav seems to have fled further north.[5] Some of Vladislav's supporters from Rudnik, led by Ragusan merchant Menčet, took refuge in the nearby Ostrovica fortress, where they resisted Dečanski's troops.[5] Dečanski sent envoys to Dubrovnik (capital of Ragusa), protesting the Ragusans' support of Vladislav.[5] Dubrovnik rejected Dečanski's complaint, claiming Ostrovica was held by Serbs.[5] Dečanski was not satisfied, and in 1324 he rounded up all the Ragusan merchants he could find, confiscated their property and held them captive.[5] By year's end, Rudnik was restored to Dečanski, who released the merchants and returned their property.[5] Vladislav was defeated in battle in late 1324, and fled to Hungary.[6] Tensions between Dubrovnik and Serbia continued; in August 1325 Vojvoda Vojin plundered Dubrovnik, resulting in a brief trade ban.[5] On March 25, 1326, Dečanski reaffirmed privileges previously granted to Ragusa by Milutin.[5] Tensions began again, when Bosnia and Dubrovnik took actions against the Branivojevići.[5]

Byzantine and Bulgarian threats

The claimants enjoyed foreign support, and the victorious king was faced with the alliance of Tsar Michael Asen III of Bulgaria and Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. Michael Asen III divorced Stephen Dečanski's sister Anna and married the Byzantine princess Theodora Palaiologina instead. The allies intended to join forces for a major invasion of Serbia in 1330. In the most significant event of Dečanski's reign, the Battle of Velbazhd (1330), he defeated and killed Michael Asen III. In the Battle of Velbazhd, the heir to the throne, Prince of Serbia Stephan Dushan, contributed decisively.

Hearing of Michael's defeat, Andronikos III retreated. Stephen Dečanski's subsequent conquests pushed the Serbian border south into Byzantine Macedonia. Some of his courtiers, however, were discontented with his policies and conspired to dethrone him in favour of his son Dušan. In 1331 Dušan came from Skadar to Nerodimlje to overthrow Dečanski who fled to Petrič.[7] On 21 August 1331 Dušan captured Petrič after the siege and imprisoned his father in Zvečan Fortress, where he was strangled on 11 November 1331.[8]

Ancestors

Family

By his first wife, Theodora of Bulgaria, Stefan Uroš III had two children:

By his second wife, Maria Palaiologina, daughter of John Palaiologos, Stefan Uroš III had:

Legacy

Stefan is seen as a noble character in epic poetry, and the Serbian Orthodox Church had him canonized, his feast day is 24 November. His remains are venerated at the church of the Visoki Dečani monastery, in Kosovo, built by him.

His royal crown is kept at the Cetinje Monastery in Cetinje, Montenegro.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Веселиновић, Андрија, Љушић, Радош, Српске Династије/ Андрија Веселиновић, Радош Љушић,. - Београд, Нови Сад : Платонеум ; 2001 . p. 44 Print.
  2. ↑ http://books.google.com/?id=8C6P3PYaPmQC[]
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Fine 1994, p. 262
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fine 1994, p. 263
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 Fine 1994, p. 264
  6. ↑ Fine 1994, p. 265
  7. ↑ Fine, John V. A.; John Van Antwerp Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5. Retrieved 19 December 2013. He then set off in pursuit of his father, catching up with him at Petric. On 21 August 1331 Decanski surrendered to him.
  8. ↑ Sedlar 1996, p. 53
  9. ↑ "Cetinje". Cetinje-mojgrad.org. 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2014-02-17.

Sources

Stefan Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia
Born: 1285 Died: 11 November 1331
Regnal titles
Royal titles
Preceded by
Helen of Anjou		 Prince of Zeta
1309–1314 		Succeeded by
Stefan Konstantin
Preceded by
Stefan Konstantin		 King of Serbia
1322–1331 		Succeeded by
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan