Grand principality of Serbia (Raška)

Who rules

Name

Stefan Nemanjic (the later Stefan the First-Crowned)

Title

Grand zupan (veliki zupan) of Serbia; Byzantine sebastokrator

Since

25 March 1196 (his father's abdication at the assembly by the church of Saints Peter and Paul at Ras)

Born

about 1165-1169 (not pinned)

Family

Nemanjic: second son of Stefan Nemanja (the monk Simeon) and Anna; son-in-law of the emperor Alexios III

Confidence

high

English Wikipedia (Stefan the First-Crowned; Stefan Nemanja), FMG Serbia, Fine 1994 and Cirkovic 2004 as cited there.

Overlord

None in fact. He holds the Byzantine court title of sebastokrator from the emperor, his father-in-law, which places him in the imperial hierarchy without making Serbia a province.

What the realm holds

• Ras: the fortress on Gradina with its suburb, the bishop's church of Saints Peter and Paul and the monastery of Djurdjevi Stupovi
• the Ibar valley with Studenica
• the West Morava and the Moravica (the old share of Nemanja's brother Stracimir, last attested 1189)
• the upper Lim with Budimlja and the church of St Peter on the Lim (Miroslav's foundation)
• the northern Kosovo field with Zvecan and Lipljan (evidence thin)
• overlordship over Vukan's share (Zeta, Travunia, Toplica, Hvosno), recognised in 1196, contested in fact

How it was acquired

Stefan Nemanja (grand zupan from about 1166) united the Serbian lands, took Dioclea, Travunia and the coastal towns (Kotor in 1184 or 1185) and lands to the east and south in the 1180s; after his defeat by Isaac II on the Morava (1190, or 1191 in some accounts) he gave back some eastern conquests. In 1196 he abdicated in favour of Stefan, his second son, at an assembly at Ras.

Allies and rivals

Stefan's anchor is Constantinople: he is Alexios III's son-in-law and sebastokrator. His rival is his brother Vukan, who corresponds with Innocent III and is close to the Hungarian court. Hungary (King Emeric) claims overlordship over the Serbian lands and wants Hum and the coast; Duke Andrew of Hungary took the Hum coast between the Cetina and the Neretva in 1198. Bulgaria under Kaloyan is a rising neighbour to the east beyond the Morava.

Ban Kulin of Bosnia is linked by marriage to the Hum branch (his sister was Miroslav's wife). Ragusa is at peace with the Nemanjici since 1186.

The realm that morning

Stefan holds Raska, the Ibar, the West Morava, the upper Lim and the northern Kosovo field himself. Vukan holds Zeta with the coastal towns, Travunia, Toplica and Hvosno as his own share and acts as a king in it. Hum is divided between Miroslav's sons, the boy Andrija (the Ston coast and Popovo) and Peter (northern Hum), with its western coast in Hungarian hands since 1198 (Fine; not pinned). There is no open war between the brothers that morning: Vukan's coup comes in 1202.

Across the borders: the Macva and Belgrade to the north (whose holder that winter is settled on the bul sheet and the hpl map; Syrmia beyond the Sava is Hungarian), Ban Kulin's Bosnia to the west across the Drina, the Morava valley and Nis to the east (Byzantine after 1190, Serbian by 1202-1203 when Vukan styles himself lord of the Nisava land and Kaloyan takes Nis from Serbia; the January 1200 holder is for the bul sheet), Skopje and Prizren to the south (Byzantine, or Bulgarian if Kaloyan took them in 1199; Prizren drawn as contested).

Wealth

Livestock and the summer pastures of the Vlach herdsmen, grain of the Ibar and Morava valleys, the road from the coast (Kotor and Ragusa) through Ras to the Morava and Constantinople, tolls on the Ragusan trade (the market of Trgovisce below Ras grows only in the 14th century). The silver mines of Brskovo and Novo Brdo are later (13th and 14th centuries).

Military

The grand zupan's household and the levies of the zupans; mountain forts (Ras, Zvecan, the forts of the Ibar and the Lim). Nemanja's host took the Morava and Kosovo lands and the Dioclean coast in the 1180s but lost to Isaac II's army on the Morava in 1190 (or 1191). No figures in the sources.

Threats

• Vukan, who styles himself king, is in touch with Rome and with King Emeric of Hungary and drives Stefan out in 1202 (later).
• The breakdown of Stefan's marriage with Eudokia would cost him his Byzantine anchor.
• King Emeric's claim to the Serbian lands and Hungarian pressure on Hum.
• Kaloyan of Bulgaria, who may already hold Skopje and Prizren (taken from the Byzantines most probably in 1199, per Madgearu) and takes Nis from Serbia in the summer of 1203 (later).

Heirs

Stefan's eldest son Radoslav (born about 1192) is the presumed heir; Vladislav (about 1198) and Komnena (about 1194) are the other children living. Vukan, the eldest brother, has his own sons and his own claim.

Treaties

Peace with Ragusa (27 September 1186, Nemanja with his brothers Stracimir and Miroslav); the peace with Isaac II after the battle on the Morava (1190 or 1191), which brought Stefan his Byzantine bride and title; the chrysobull of Alexios III (1198) granting Hilandar on Athos to Simeon and Sava.

Coinage

No Serbian coinage yet: Byzantine gold and billon coins and Venetian silver come in through the coast and the Morava road.

Church

Two churches meet here. The inland bishops (Ras, Lipljan, Prizren) are Orthodox under the autocephalous archbishop of Ohrid; there is no Serbian archbishopric until 1219. The coast is Latin: Kotor under Bari, Ston and Trebinje under Ragusa, and the new province of Bar (1199) for Zeta. The Nemanjic houses are Studenica, Djurdjevi Stupovi, the Toplica monasteries and Hilandar on Athos.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 21 or 22 June 1200, or 21 July 1200 (the typika and modern accounts differ)Death of the nun Anastasija (Anna), Nemanja's widow and mother of Stefan, Vukan and Sava; burial at Studenica.Depends on: Natural course. Stopped by: Nothing likely.
2. 1200 or 1201 (not pinned; FMG gives 1201/02)Stefan and Eudokia quarrel, accuse each other of adultery and part; she is driven out, sheltered by Vukan and sent by sea from Dyrrachion to her father.Depends on: The marriage already failing; Stefan judging he no longer needs the Byzantine tie. Stopped by: A reconciliation, or Alexios III giving Stefan reason to keep the tie.
3. about 1199-1200 (not pinned whether before 1 January)Stefan writes to Innocent III professing obedience to Rome and seeks a crown; King Emeric blocks it.Depends on: Stefan wanting a royal title to match Vukan's. Stopped by: Hungarian objection at Rome (which in fact stops it until 1217).

Later, on the likely course

1. 1202Vukan, with Hungarian troops, drives Stefan out; Stefan flees to Bulgaria; Emeric styles himself king of Serbia.Depends on: Vukan's alliance with Emeric and the brothers' rivalry left unresolved. Stopped by: A settlement between the brothers, or Hungary tied down elsewhere.

Places of note

• Ras (Gradina fortress): The grand zupan's fortress above the Raska.
• Studenica: Nemanja's great monastery, church of the Virgin finished in 1196.
• Hilandar (Mount Athos): Serbian monastery on Athos (1198) where Sava lives and Simeon died; the mac sheet writes its estates.

Where the sources disagree

• Nemanja's death (GM ruling needed): the brief, English Wikipedia (Stefan Nemanja; Saint Sava) and most modern accounts give 13 February 1199 at Hilandar; English Wikipedia (Hilandar; Vukan Nemanjic) and FMG give 13 February 1200. The Serbian lives date by the Byzantine year, which begins on 1 September, so a slip between the years 6707 and 6708 would explain it. If 1200 were right, the monk Simeon would be alive at Hilandar on 1 January 1200 and die six weeks into the game. This file follows 13 February 1199.
• The abdication assembly of 25 March 1196: English Wikipedia (Stefan the First-Crowned; Ras (fortress)) puts it at Ras by the church of Saints Peter and Paul, English Wikipedia (Saint Sava) at Studenica. This file follows Ras.

Evidence: The Nemanjic succession, the 1196 abdication and the brothers' shares are well attested in the Serbian lives (Stefan's Life of Simeon, Domentijan, Sava) and Choniates; the borders of 1200, the zupans and the household are thin.

On the map: The borders are those of the late 1190s by inference: the northern edge towards Hungarian Macva and Belgrade and the eastern edge on the Morava are not documented for 1200. Vukan's share is drawn as zeta.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea, Anonymous (the priest of Dioclea; Rudger, archbishop of Bar, by Zivkovic's attribution) (disputed: the 12th century on the older view, about 1295 to 1301 on the current one). The chronicle ends before 1200 and gives no event of that year. Read online
• History of Niketas Choniates, Niketas Choniates (about 1185 to 1217, in stages, with a final revision in exile at Nicaea after 1204). The central narrative for the Byzantine Empire under Alexios III Angelos: the Bulgarian and Vlach war under Kaloyan, the breakaway of Ivanko in the Rhodopes and his capture by treachery in 1200, Dobromir Chrysos at Prosek and Strumica and the emperor's campaign and settlement with him, the Cuman raids into Thrace, John Komnenos the Fat's one-day revolt at Constantinople on 31 July 1200, the loosening of imperial control in the provinces and the rise of Leo Sgouros, and the court's fiscal abuses. Read online
• History of the bishops of Salona and Split, by Thomas the Archdeacon, Thomas of Split (about 1266). Written two generations later by a Split churchman born about 1200. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III (pontifical years 1 to 3, 1198 to 1201), Innocent III (Lotario dei Conti di Segni) and the papal chancery (1198 onwards, year by year). The register for the second and third pontifical years (February 1199 to February 1201) holds the letters that set the eastern stage for 1200: the exchange with Kaloyan of Bulgaria opened in December 1199 and continued through 1200 over union with Rome and a crown, letters to Vukan of Zeta and to Stefan of Serbia, letters to Alexios III and the patriarch John Kamateros pressing for church union and help for the crusade, the preaching commissions and the legation of Peter Capuano, the Antioch succession quarrel between Bohemond and Leo of Armenia, letters to Aimery of Cyprus and Jerusalem, and the French interdict over Ingeborg. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Lives of St Simeon (Stefan Nemanja) by Sava and by Stefan the First-Crowned, Sava of Serbia (Rastko Nemanjic) and Stefan the First-Crowned (Sava's Life 1208, as the preface to the Studenica typikon (a short Life stands in the Hilandar typikon of 1199); Stefan's Life 1216). The two sons' lives of Stefan Nemanja are the Serbian witness to the situation of 1200: Nemanja's abdication at Ras in 1196 in favour of Stefan, his monastic years at Studenica and on Mount Athos, the founding of Hilandar (1198) and his death there on 13 February 1199, and, in Stefan's version written after the event, the war with the elder brother Vukan of Zeta, who seized the throne with Hungarian help in 1202. Read online