Serbian Empire

The mid 11th century saw the rise of the Vojislavljevic dynasty in Zeta. In the 12th century, the Nemanjic Dynasty rose to prominence in Raska (Serbia). The Nemanjic family brought Serbia into its Golden age by enlarging the state and turning it into a bastion of power and unity. Stefan Nemanja brought independence to the Serbian state. He recieved (with the help of his brother Saint Sava) temporal and religious independence from Byzantium. An independent Serbian Orthodox Church was established at this time by his son, Rastko (also known as Saint Sava). The picture on the left shows Stefan Nemanja's of the Nemanjic Families' Serbia. The founder of the dynasty, Stefan Nemanja (originally born in Zeta, which is now Montenegro), first siezed control over Rascia. Though he was often favoured by the Byzantine Empire , many times he was in a direct conflict with the Hellenes. Stefan Nemanja led Serbia into her golden age. Culture flourished and the borders of Serbia were expanded to include the four Dalmatian Serbian kingdoms and incorporating them into Rascia. Stefan Nemanja and Saint Sava helped build many spectacular churches such as the one on Mount Athos, Greece named Hilandar. Stefan Nemanja closely co-operated with the Kulin Ban of Bosnia (who were blood related) at many times and had various conflicts with the Bogomils, eventually declaring them heretics and doing whatever he could to try and rid his nation of them. Stefan Nemanja was the grand Prince of the nation. However, his brothers were usually appointed to govern local provinces. His excellent rule of prosperity set the precedent for the next phase of Serbian Empire.

Nemanja had three sons: Radoslav, Uros I, and Vladislav Vladislav overthrew King Radoslav. Uros I suceeded the throne and his sone, King Draguntin went to war with the Hungarian Empire. He established the Kingdom of Srem and conquered the land from Hungary. This was the first time Serbia had encompassed those lands. King Milutin then succeeded the throne and improved Serbia's militart, economic, and cultural stature. He was famous for building many Orthodox Christian churches. The throne was then succeeded by Emperor Stefan Dusan. Emperor Dusan greatly improved the strength of the Serbian nation by passing a series of laws entitled Dusanov Zavovnik and developed new trade routes and economic centers. Serbia had become an evolved economic and cultural bastion and was the envy of Europe and a power that was feared. He also expanded the Serbian nation to include sections of eastern Bulgaria and much of the Greek mainland by occupying these nations. He was proclaimed the King of Serbs and Greeks by the Serbian Patriarch in Skolje . Tzar Dusan also married a Bulgarian noblewoman which created a blood link between the two royal families of Serbia and Bulgaria at the time. Because of this, an era marked by relative peace and friendship emerged for the two nations. He had battled and won twice in large scale conflicts with the Hungarians. Towards the end of his unfortunately short life, he began seeing Turkey emerge as a new Balkan superpower and decided he should shift his military priorities to the Ottoman Sultanate. Just before he died, he tried to organize a crusade against the Turks with the Serbs at the helm and involving other European Christian Nations. However, he died prematurely on December 20, 1355. He was succeeded by his son, Uros (later known as Uros the Weak), and the empire began to crumble into a anarchic state due to his son's weak military and economic policies.