The Balkans: A History of Bulgaria—Serbia—Greece—Rumania—TurkeyHogarth, D. G. (David George)
History
The Balkans: A History of Bulgaria—Serbia—Greece—Rumania—Turkey
Hogarth, D. G. (David George)
Balkan Peninsula -- History; Eastern question (Balkan)
The reign of Stephen Nernanjić (1196-1223) opened with a quarrel
between him and his elder brother, who not unnaturally felt he ought to
have succeeded his father; the Bulgarians profited by this and seized a
large part of eastern Serbia, including Belgrade, Nish, Prizren, and
Skoplje. This, together with the fall of Constantinople and the
establishment of the Latin Empire in 1204, alarmed the Serbs and
brought about a reconciliation between the brothers, and in 1207 Sava
returned to Serbia to organise the Church on national lines. In 1219 he
journeyed to Nicaea and extracted from the Emperor Theodore Lascaris,
who had fallen on evil days, the concession for the establishment of an
autonomous national Serbian Church, independent of the Patriarch of
Constantinople. Sava himself was at the head of the new institution. In
1220 he solemnly crowned his brother King _(Kralj)_ of Serbia, the
natural consequence of his activities in the previous year. For this
reason Stephen Nemanjić is called ‘The First-Crowned’. He was succeeded
in 1223 by his son Stephen Radoslav, and he in turn was deposed by his
brother Stephen Vladislav in 1233. Both these were crowned by Sava, and
Vladislav married the daughter of Tsar John Asen II, under whom
Bulgaria was then at the height of her power. Sava journeyed to
Palestine, and on his return paid a visit to the Bulgarian court at
Tirnovo, where he died in 1236. His body was brought to Serbia and
buried in the monastery of Mileševo, built by Vladislav. This extremely
able churchman and politician, who did a great deal for the peaceful
development of his country, was canonized and is regarded as the patron
saint of Serbia.
The reign of Vladislav’s son and successor, Stephen Uroš I (1242-76),
was characterized by economic development and the strengthening of the
internal administration. In external affairs he made no conquests, but
defeated a combination of the Bulgarians with Ragusa against him, and
after the war the Bulgarian ruler married his daughter. In his wars
against Hungary he was unsuccessful, and the Magyars remained in
possession of a large part of northern Serbia. In 1276 he was deposed
by his son, Stephen Dragutin, who in his turn, after an unsuccessful
war against the Greeks, again masters of Constantinople since 1261, was
deposed and succeeded by his brother, Stephen Uroš II, named Milutin,
in 1282. This king ruled from 1282 till 1321, and during his reign the
country made very great material progress; its mineral wealth
especially, which included gold and silver mines, began to be
exploited. He extended the boundaries of his kingdom in the north,
making the Danube and the Save the frontier. The usual revolt against
paternal authority was made by his son Stephen, but was unsuccessful,
and the rebel was banished to Constantinople.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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