Stefan Uroš III Dečanski

Stefan Uroš III Dečanski Nemanjic , in Serbe Cyrillique СтефанУрош III ДечанскиНемањић one also sees in French Etienne Decanski, King of Serbia of 1321 with 1331, sovereign Serb of the dynasty of the Nemanjić, wire of the king Milutin

Presentation

Stefan (Etienne) was born from the union between the King Stefan Milutin and Anne, the girl of the Empereur Bulgare Georges Ier Terter. It was born towards 1284. It received the nickname of Dečanski , because of the foundation of the Monastère of Visoki (tops) Dečanski in 1327.

Count of Zeta

The father of Stefan, Milutin, had given to his son to manage the grounds of his grandmother the Sainte Helene of Anjou, but following its reconsiliation with his/her brother Dragutin Stefan took fear, because he thought that his father could take again his grounds to him and decided, to keep " its terres" , to drive out his/her father of the capacity with the assistance of part of the Serb nobility. Milutin by learning treason from his/her son, had a terrible reaction, it raised its army, penetrated in 1314 in the area of Zeta. It made connect his son and took along it to Skopje. Over there, according to the rite inherited Byzance, it made him burst the eyes. Indeed, a blind man is not entitled to the throne. Stefan was then exiled with Constantinople with his wife and her sons, at the court of Andronic II. One of the children of Stefan was the future Emperor Dusan.

Fight for the Throne of Serbia

To died from his/her father Milutin in 1321, Stefan returns to Serbia, Vladislav the son of Dragutin recovered the grounds of his/her father. His/her half-brother Konstantin was already in Serbia loan to fight to recover the throne of Serbia. But very quickly Stefan succeeds in being still combined with the Serb and more important Church, the nobility. The blindness of Stefan be indeed that partial, a leniency of the boureau or his/her father?. Stefan became king of all the grounds Serbes and of the littoral, on January 6th in 1322, under the name of Stefan (Etienne) Uros III.

He was thus king of the Serbes, but he did not have authority yet on all the Serb grounds, indeed, his Vladislav cousin was still with the head of the kingdom of his father. In 1323, Stefan seizes the occasion to declare the Guerre with his/her cousin when this one, did not respect the agreement made between the two kings about the money mine of Rudnik. Until 1326 the war continued between the two cousins until the victory of Stefan. Vladislav flees in Hungary.

Dubrovnik chooses the camp of Vladislav

The Republic of Dubrovnik, it chose to support Vladislav, Stefan utilizes the Serb knights against the commercial city. Very quickly, the Dalmatian soldiers cut off themselves behind the walls from the city not being able resisted to the Serb knights from the battle fields. The Serb ones them cannot take by storm the walls of the city, the situation will remain blocked until the March 26th 1326 or peace will be signed.

The reign

In 1327, Stefan put at the service of the Byzantine emperor Andronic II, which was in conflict for the throne of Constantinople with his/her small son Andronic III. Andronic III had the support of the emperor Bulgare Michel Sismanivic. In 1330, Andronic III and Sismanivic decide to attack the Serbia. Stefan Decanski gathered an army made up Serb soldiers of experiments which had already fought on several occasions against his/her cousin, with in addition to the Catalan mercenaries , Saxons and especially a troop of Serb elite of cavalry prepared and directed by Dusan. The Battle of Velbazhd today close to Kyoustendil, on July 28th, 1330, is revolving in the history of Europe of south-east, the Bulgarian ones and the army of Andronic III was severely beaten, Michel Sismanivic found death during the battle. This victorious battle marks the beginning of the domination Serbe in Europe of South-east, until the Bataille of Kosovo Polje of 1389.

Definitively to make disappear the Bulgarian “threat”, Stefan installed on the throne of Bulgaria the son of its sister Anne, Ivan Stefan. Then, it gathered its army to occupy the Byzantine cities of Vélès, Chtip, Prosek and Dobrun.

Stefan Decanski was devoted then to the construction of its monastery, the Monastère Decanski its construction had begun in 1327, Stefan will never see its finished monastery. His/her son Dusan that it had had with his first Théodora wife and who had lived with him his exile in Constantinople, organized the disorder in Serbia and benefitted from a truce with his father to take the crown to him. He locked up his father with Zvečan where he died in prison, surely poisoned. Stefan which had organized the rebellion against his/her father Milutin underwent the same law on behalf of its offspring.

In spite of a reign Stefan runs gave to Serbia a military power and the monastery of Decanski, which will be finishes 4 years after its death, in 1335. It will have also had a second wire, Siméon (into Serb: Siniša), with the princess Marie Paleologist, who as Dusan will be emperor.

Sources

Dusan Batkovic, " History of the people serbe" , editions the old one of man
Donald Mr. Nicol, Last centuries of Byzance, 1261-1453 , editions the Beautiful Letters

External bonds

Vladimir Ćorović: history of Serb into Serb (Latin)
Medieval Serbia, the Order of the Red Dragon (as Serb Latin)
History Illustrated into Serb (Latin)
founders of the city into Serb (Latin)
Serbia Information into Serb (Latin)

Internal bonds

History of Serbia
List of the sovereigns of Serbia

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