Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia

Stephen Dušan (Stefan Dušan/Стефан Душан, ), commonly known as Stephen Dušan and Dušan the Mighty (Dušan Silni/Душан Силни; c. 1308 – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia (from 8 September 1331) and Emperor of the Serbs (from 16 April 1346) until his death on 20 December 1355. Dušan managed to conquer a large part of Southeast Europe, becoming one of the most powerful monarchs in his time. He enacted the constitution of the Serbian Empire in Dušan's Code, one of, if not the most important work of medieval Serbia. Dušan promoted the Serbian Church from an archbishopric to a patriarchate, finished the construction of the Visoki Dečani-monastery (UNESCO site), and founded the Saint Archangels Monastery, among others. Under his rule Serbia reached its territorial, economical, political and cultural peak.

His death in 1355 is seen as the end of resistance towards the advancing Ottoman Empire, and the subsequent fall of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the region. His crown is presently kept at the Cetinje Monastery, in Montenegro.

Serbian crown
In 1314, the initial heir Stefan Uroš III (Dušan's father) quarreled with his father Stephen Uroš II Milutin, who ended up sending Uroš III to Constantinople, to have him blinded. Uroš III was never totally blinded, however. After 1317, Uroš III wrote to Danilo, the Bishop of Hum, asking him to intervene with his father. Danilo then wrote to Archbishop Nicodemus of Serbia, who spoke with Milutin and persuaded him to recall his son. In 1320 Uroš III was permitted to return to Serbia, and was given the appanage of 'Budimlje' (modern Berane). His half-brother and heir to the crown, Stephen Constantine, had the title King of Zeta. Uroš II became ill and died on October 29, 1321, and Constantine was crowned king.

Civil war erupted when Constantine refused to submit to Uroš III, who then invaded Zeta, and in the ensuing battle, Constantine was killed. After the victory, on January 6, 1322, the Serbian Archbishop Nicodemus crowned Uroš king and Dušan "young king". As Dušan was intended heir, he would govern Zeta, as Constantine and his predecessors had done. In the meantime, Uroš III's cousin Stefan Vladislav II mobilized local support from Rudnik, Stefan Dragutin's former appanage. Vladislav called himself king, and was supported by the Hungarians, consolidating control over his lands and preparing for battle with Uroš III. As the case was with their fathers, Serbia was divided by two independent rulers; in 1322 and 1323 Ragusan merchants freely visited both lands.

In 1323, war broke out between the cousins. In the fall Vladislav still held Rudnik, but by the end of 1323, it was being held by Uroš' forces; Vladislav appeared to have fled north. Vladislav was defeated in battle in late 1324, and fled to Hungary, leaving the Serbian throne to Uroš III as undisputed "king of All Serbian and Maritime lands".

Personal traits
Contemporary writers described Dušan as unusually tall and strong for his age, "the tallest man of his time", very handsome, and one of the rare leaders full of dynamism, quick intelligence and strength. He had "a kingly presence". According to the contemporary depictions of him, he had dark hair and brown eyes, in adult age he grew beard and longer hair.

Youth and usurpation
Uroš IV Dušan was the eldest son of King Uroš III of Dečani and Theodora Smilets, the daughter of emperor Smilets of Bulgaria. He was born in ca. 1308, in Serbia, but with his fathers exile in 1314, the family lives in Constantinople until 1320, when his father is pardoned and allowed to return. In Constantinople he learned Greek, gained an understanding of Byzantine life and culture, and became acquainted with the Byzantine Empire. He was, on the whole, more a soldier than a diplomat; in his youth he fought exceptionally in two battles; in 1329 he defeated the Bosnian ban Stephen II Kotromanić, and in 1330 the Bulgarian emperor Michael III Shishman in the Battle of Velbazhd. Uroš III appointed his nephew Ivan Stephen (through Anna Neda) at the throne of Bulgaria in August 1330.

Right after the battle of Velbazhd, Uroš III had the chance to attack the Byzantines, but he chose not to, resulting in the alienation of many nobles, who sought to expand to the south. By January or February 1331, Dušan was quarreling with his father, perhaps pressured by the nobility. According to contemporary pro-Dušan sources, evil advisors turned Uroš III against his son; he decided to seize and exclude Dušan of his inheritance. Uroš III sent an army into Zeta against his son, the army ravaged Skadar, but Dušan had crossed the Bojana. A brief period of anarchy in parts of Serbia took place, before the father and son concluded peace in April 1331. Three months later, Uroš III ordered Dušan to meet him. Dušan feared for his life and his advisors persuaded him to resist, so Dušan marched from Skadar to Nerodimlje, where he besieged his father. Uroš III fled, and Dušan captured the treasury and family. He then pursuited his father, catching up with him at Petrić. On 21 August 1331, Uroš III surrendered, and on the advice or insistence of Dušan's advisors, he was imprisoned. Dušan is crowned King of All Serbian and Maritime lands in the first week of September.

The civil war had prevented Serbia from aiding Ivan Stephen and Anna Neda in Bulgaria, who were deposed in March 1331, taking refuge in the mountains. Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria feared for the danger of Serbia as the situation there had settled, and immediately sought peace with Dušan. As Dušan wanted to move against richer Byzantium, the two concluded peace and an alliance in December 1331, accepting Ivan Alexander as ruler. It was sealed with the marriage of Dušan and Helena, the sister of Ivan Alexander.

Early reign
Some raids into Macedonia were made in late 1331, but the major attack on Byzantium was delayed, Dušan had to suppress revolts in Zeta in 1332. Dušan's ingratitude to his former aids (the Zetan nobility were possibly neglected their promised reward and greater influence) may have been the cause of the rebellion, which was suppressed in the course of 1332.

In the first years of his reign, Dušan started to fight against the Byzantine Empire (1334), and warfare continued with interruptions of various duration until his death in 1355. Twice he became involved in larger conflicts with the Hungarians, but these clashes were mostly defensive. Dušan's armies were initially defeated by Charles I of Hungary's 80,000 strong royal armies in the Sumadija in 1336.Then as the Hungarians advanced deeper into the hilly areas,Dushan's cavalry launched it's attack resulting in a Serbian victory and the Hungarians were expelled.Charles I of Hungary was wounded by an arrow, but survived.As result Hungarians lost Macva and Belgrade. After this, Dushan focused his attention on the internal affairs of his country, writing, in 1349, the first statute book of the Serbs.

Dušan was successful against Louis' vassals; he defeated the armies of the Croatian ban and the forces of Hungarian voivodes. He was at peace with the Bulgarians, who even helped him on several occasions, and he is said to have visited Ivan Alexander at his capital. Dušan exploited the civil war in the Byzantine Empire between regent Anna of Savoy for the minor Emperor John V Palaiologos and his father's general John Kantakouzenos. Dušan and Ivan Alexander picked opposite sides in the conflict, but remained at peace with each other, taking advantage of the Byzantine civil war to secure gains for themselves.

Dušan's systematic offensive began in 1342 and in the end he conquered all Byzantine territories in the western Balkans as far as Kavala, except for the Peloponnesus and Thessaloniki, which he could not conquer because he had too small of a fleet. There has been speculation that Dušan's ultimate goal was no less than to conquer Constantinople and replace the declining Byzantine Empire with a united Orthodox Greco-Serbian Empire under his control. In May 1344, his commander Preljub was stopped at Stephaniana by a Turkic force of 3,100. The battle was won by the Turks, but it was not able to thwart the Serbian conquest of Macedonia.

In 1343, he added "of Romans (Greeks)" to his self-styled title "King of Serbia, Albania and the coast". In 1345 he began calling himself tsar, equivalent of Emperor, this is attested in charters to two athonite monasteries, one from November and one from January 1346, and around Christmas 1345 at a council meeting in Serres,which was conquered on Sept 25th 1345, he proclaimed himself "Tsar of the Serbs and Romans" (Romans is equivalent to Greeks in Serbian documents).

Coronation as Emperor and autocephaly of the Serbian church


On April 16, 1346 (Easter), he convoked a huge assembly at Skopje, attended by the Serbian Archbishop Joanikije II, the Archbishop of Ochrid Nikolaj I, the Bulgarian Patriarch Simeon and various religious leaders of Mount Athos. The assembly and clerics agreed on, and then ceremonially performed the raising of the autocephalous Serbian Archbishopric to the status of Patriarchate. The Archbishop from now on is titled Patriarch of Serbia, although one document called him Patriarch of Serbs and Greeks, with the seat at the monastery of Peć. The new Patriarch Joanikije II now solemnly crowned Dušan as "Emperor and autocrat of Serbs and Romans" (Greek Bασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτoκράτωρ Σερβίας καὶ Pωμανίας). Dušan had his son crowned King of Serbs and Greeks, giving him nominal rule over the Serbian lands, and although Dušan was governing the whole state, he had special responsibility for the "Roman", i.e. Greek lands.

A further increase in the Byzantinization of the Serbian court followed, particularly in court ceremonial and titles. As Emperor, Dušan could grant titles only possible as an Emperor. In the years that followed, Dušan's half-brother Symeon Uroš and brother-in-law Jovan Asen became despotes. Jovan Oliver already had the despot title, granted to him by Andronikos III. His brother-in-law Dejan Dragaš and Branko is granted the title of sebastocrator. The military commanders (voivodes) Preljub and Vojihna receive the title of caesar. The raising of the Serbian Patriarch resulted in the same spirit, bishoprics became metropolitans, as for example the Metropolitanate of Skopje.

The Patriarchate took over sovereignty on Mt. Athos and the Greek archbishoprics under the rule of the Constantinople Patriarchate (The Ohrid Archbishopric remained autocephalous). For those acts he was excommunicated by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in 1350.

Epirus and Thessaly
Faced with Dušan's aggression, the Byzantines sought allies in the Ottoman Turks whom they brought into Europe for the first time. The first conflict between the Serbs and the Turks on Balkan soil, at Stephaniana in 1344, ended unfavourably for the Serbs. In 1348 Dušan conquered Epirus, Acarnania and Thessaly. He appointed Simeon Uroš as despotes of Epirus and Thessaly. He put Vojihna as caesar of Drama.

Once Dušan had conquered Epirus and Thessaly, he sought to obtain Constantinople. In order to acquire the city, he needed a fleet. The fleets of the southern Serbian Dalmatian towns were not capable of such task, thus he opened negotiations with Venice, with which he maintained fairly good relation. However, as Venice feared a reduction of privileges in the Empire if the Serbs became the masters of Constantinople over the weakened Byzantines, they found excuses to avoid a military alliance. While Dušan sought Venetian aid against Byzantium, the Venetians sought Serbian support in the struggle against the Hungarians over Dalmatia, however, when sensing that the Serbian aid would result in a Venetian obligation to Serbia, Venice politely turned down Dušan's offers of help.

While Dušan launched the Bosnian campaign (absence of Serbian troops in Macedonia and Thessaly), Cantacuzenus tried to regain parts of Byzantiums lost lands. In his support, the Constantinopolitan patriarch Kallistos excommunicated Dušan in order to discourage the Greek population in Dušan's Greek provinces from supporting the Serbian administration and thereby assist Cantacuzenus campaign. The excommunication did not stop Dušan's relations with Mount Athos, which still addressed him as Emperor, though rather as Emperor of Serbs than Emperor of Serbs and Greeks.

Cantacuzenus raised a small army, the best he could, and took the Chalcidic peninsula, next he took Veria and Voden. Veria was the richest town in the Botia region, in order to maintain it, Dušan had earlier replaced many Greeks with Serbs, including a Serb garrison. However, the remaining locals were able to open the gates for Cantacuzenus in 1350. Voden resisted Cantacuzenus, but was taken by assault. Cantacuzenus then marched towards Thessaly, but was stopped at Servia by Caesar Preljub and his army of 500 men. The Byzantine force retired to Veria, and the aiding Turk contingent went off plundering, reaching as far as Skopje.

The Byzantine campaign reached Dušan in Hum, he quickly reassembled his forces from Bosnia and Hum and marched for Thessaly.

War with Bosnian principality
Dušan evidently wanted to expand his rule over the provinces that had earlier been in the hands of Serbia, such as Hum, which was annexed by the Hungarian protégé and Bosnian Ban Stephen II Kotromanić in 1326. In 1329, Ban Stephen II launched an attack on Lord Vitomir who held Travunia and Konavle, the Bosnian Army was defeated at Pribojska Banja by Dušan when he was still Young King. The Ban soon took over Nevesinje and the rest of Bosnia. Petar Toljenović, the Lord of seaside Hum and a distant relative of Dušan, sparked a rebellion against the new ruler but was soon captured and died in prison.

In 1350, Dušan attacked Bosnia, wishing to regain the previously lost land of Hum and stop the raids on his tributaries at Konavle. Venice had tried to reach a settlement between the two, but had failed. In October he invaded Hum, with an army said to be of 80,000 men, and he seems to have successfully occupied part of the disputed Hum territory. According to Orbini, he had secretly been in contact with various Bosnian nobles, offering them bribes for support. Many nobles, chiefly of Hum, were ready to betray the Ban, such as the Nikolić family which was kin to the Nemanjić dynasty. The Bosnian Ban avoided any major confrontation and did not meet Dušan in battle, instead he retired to the mountains and made small hit-and-run actions. Most of Bosnia's fortresses held out, but some nobles submitted to Dušan. The Serbs ravaged much of the countryside: with one army they reached Duvno and Cetina, with another reaching Krka on which lay Knin (modern Croatia), and another taking Imotski and Novi, where they left garrisons and entered Hum. From this position of strength, Dušan tried to negotiate peace with the Ban, sealing it by the marriage of Dušan's son Uroš with Stephen's daughter Elizabeth who would receive Hum as her dowry - restoring it to Serbia. The Ban was not willing to consider this proposal.

Dušan may have launched the campaign also in order to aid his sister, Jelena, who married Mladen III Subic of Omis, Klis and Skradin, in 1347. Mladen died from the plague in 1348, and Jelena sought to maintain the rule of the cities for herself and her son. She was challenged by Hungary and Venice, so the Serbian army dispatchments in western Hum and Croatia may have been for her, as operations in this region were unlikely to help Dušan conquer Hum.

If Dušan was to aid Jelena, and as we know, conquer Hum, this was stopped when trouble started in the East.

Death


Dušan had grand intentions but they were all cut short by his premature death. While mounting a crusade against the Turks, he fell ill (possibly poisoned) and died of a fever at Devoll on 20 December 1355. He was buried in his foundation, the Monastery of the Holy Archangels near Prizren.

His empire slowly crumbled, and as his son and successor Stephen Uroš V could not maintain the Empire, several regional feudal families increased their power, although nominally acknowledging Uroš V as Emperor. Simeon Uroš, Dušan's half-brother, had after the death of Dušan proclaimed himself Emperor, ruling a large area of Thessaly and Epirus, which he had received by Dušan earlier.

Today his remains are in the Church of Saint Mark in Belgrade. Dušan is the only monarch of the Nemanjić dynasty to have not been canonised as a saint.

Religious activity
Much like his ancestors, Emperor Dušan was very active in renovating churches and monasteries, but also for founding new ones. First, he cared for the monasteries in which his parents were buried. Both the Banjska monastery, built by King Milutin, where his mother was buried, and the monastery of Visoki Dečani, an endowment of his father, were generously looked after. The monastery was built for eight years and it is certain that the Emperor's role in the building process was huge. Between 1337 and 1339, the emperor became ill, and he gave his word that if he would survive, he would build a church and monastery in Jerusalem. At the time, there was one Serbian monastery in Jerusalem, dedicated to Archangel Michael (believed to be founded by King Milutin), and a number of Serbian monks at the Sinai Peninsula.

His greatest endowment was the Saint Archangels Monastery, located near the town of Prizren, in which he was originally buried. Dušan gave many possessions to this monastery, including the forest of Prizren which was supposed to be a special property of the monastery where all precious goods and relics were to be stored.

His son, Stephen Uroš V, did not make peace with the Constantinopolitan Patriarch. The first initiave was made by despot Uglješa in 1368, which resulted that the areas under his rule were restored to Constantinople. The final initiative for reconciliation between the churches came from Prince Lazar in 1375. There is no evidence of an existing cult of Emperor Dušan in the decades after his death. Dušan's charter to Ragusa (Dubrovnik) served as a statute in the future trade between Serbia and Ragusa, and its regulations were deemed inviolable. Emperor Dušan's legacy was esteemed in Ragusa. Later folk tradition in Serbia included various attitudes toward Dušan, mostly negative, made under the influence of the church.

Church policy
With the raising of the Serbian Archbishopric to a Patriarchate, serious changes in the organization of the church followed. Joanikije II became Patriarch. Bishoprics (Eparchies) were raised to Metropolitanates, and new territories of the Ochrid Archbishopric and Ecumenical Constantinople were added to the jurisdiction of the Serbian church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople had Dušan excommunicated in 1350, although this did not affect the religious organization.

Under Serbian jurisdiction came one of the foremost centers of spirituality - Mount Athos. As of November 1345, Athonite monks accept his supreme rule, and Dušan guaranteed autonomy, also giving a row of economic privileges, with tremendous gifts and endowments. The monks of Chilandar (the cradle of the Serbian church, founded by Saint Sava, his ancestor) came at the front of the ecclesiastical community.

In his codex, Dušan accentuates his role as a protector of Christianity and points out the independence of the church. From the codex we can also see care that the parishes are equally arranged both in cities and villages. He was also taking care of few churches and monasteries from Bari to the west, to Jerusalem to the east.

Besides Orthodox Christians, there were many Catholics in the Empire, mostly in the coastal cities, Kotor, Lješ etc. In the court of Dušan there were also Catholics (servants from Kotor and Dubrovnik, mercenaries, guests etc.). In the central parts, Saxons were in areas active in mining and trading. Catholics had the full right of faith, except for converting non-Catholics. There are no historical record that traders of catholic faith complained about discrimination based on religion. Dušan was also in contact with the Pope, he negotiated about formal acceptance of papal primacy, his two goals were: stopping Hungarian attacks in the north, and, with the help of the Pope, assemble and organize a crusade against the Turks (Muslims). The Pope sent an envoy led by Peter Tome to the Serbian court, however, according to Philippe de Mézières, their negotiations were followed by much unpleasantness, and the mission did not give the expected results.

Royal ideology
Some historians consider that the goal of Emperor Dušan was to establish a new, Serbian-Greek Empire, replacing the Byzantine Empire. Ćirković considered his initial ideology as that of the previous Bulgarian emperors, who had envisioned co-rulership. However, starting in 1347, relations with John VI Kantakouzenos worsened, Dušan allied himself with rival John V Palaiologos.

Dušan was the first Serbian monarch who wrote most of his letters in Greek, also signing with the Imperial red ink. He was the first to publish prostagma, a kind of Byzantine document, characteristic for Byzantine rulers. In his royal title, Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, his claim as Eastern Roman (Byzantine) successor is clear. He also gave Byzantine court titles to his nobility, something that would continue into the 16th century.

Lawmaker


The most lasting monument to Dušan's rulership was a law code. For the purposes of Dušan's Code, a wealth of charters were published, and some great foreign works of law were translated to Serbian; however, the third section of the Code was new and distinctively Serbian, albeit with Byzantine influence and attention to a long legal tradition in Serbia. Dušan explained the purpose of his Code in one of in his charters; he intimated that its aims were spiritual and that the code would help his people to save themselves for the afterlife. The Code was proclaimed on 21. May 1349. in Skopje, and contained 155 clauses, while 66 further clauses were added at Serres in 1353 or 1354. The authors of the code are not known, but they were probably members of the court who specialised in law.

Dušan's Code proclaims on subjects both secular and ecclesiastic, the more so because Serbia had recently achieved full ecclesiastic autonomy as an independent Orthodox Church under a Patriarchate. The first 38 clauses relate to the church and they deal with ussues that the Medieval Serbian Church faced, while the next 25 clauses relate to the nobility. Civil law is largely excluded, since it was covered in earlier documents, namely Saint Sava's Nomokamon and in Corpus Juris Civilis. Dušan's Code originally dealt with criminal law, with heavy emphasis on the concept of lawfulness, which was mostly taken directly from Byzantine law.

The original manuscript of Dušan's Code does not survive. The Code continued as a de facto constitution under the rule of Dušan's son, Stefan Uroš V, and after the fall of the Serbian Empire in 1371, it was used in all the successor provinces. It was officially used in the successor state, Serbian Despotate, until its annexation by the Ottoman Empire in 1459. The Code was used as a reference for Serbian communities under Turkish rule, which exercised considerable legal autonomy in civil cases. The Code was also used in the Serbian autonomical areas under the Republic of Venice, like Grbalj and Paštrovići. It also served as the base of the Kanun of Albanian prince Leka Dukagjini (1410–1481), a set of customary laws in northern Albania that existed until the 20th century.

Military tactics
Serbian military tactics consisted of wedge shaped heavy cavalry attacks with horse archers on the flanks. Many foreign mercenaries were in the Serbian army, mostly Germans as cavalry and Spaniards as infantry. He also had personal mercenary guards, mainly German knights. A German knight named Palman became the commander of the Serbian "Alemannic Guard" in 1331 upon crossing Serbia to Jerusalem; he became leader of all mercenaries in the Serbian Army. The main strength of the Serbian army was the armoured knight feared for their ferocious charge and fighting skills. The Serbian expansion in the former territory of Byzantine Empire proceeded without a single major battle, it based on the blockade of Greek fortresses.

Name, epithets and titles
He was titled Young King as heir apparent on January 6, 1322, and was entitled the rule of Zeta, thus he was "King of Zeta". In 1331, he succeeded his father as "King of all Serbian and Maritime Lands". In 1343, his title was "King of Serbia, Greeks, Albania and the coast". In 1345 he began calling himself tsar, Emperor, and in the of 1345 he proclaimed himself "Emperor of Serbs and Romans". On April 16, 1346, he was crowned Emperor of Serbs and Romans (Greeks). This title was soon enlarged into "Emperor and Autocrat of the Serbs and Greeks, the Bulgarians and Albanians".

His epithet Silni (Силни) is translated into the Mighty, but also the Great, the Powerful or the Strong.

In Serbian epic poetry he is referred to as "Car Stjepane".

Legacy


Dušan was the most powerful Serbian ruler in the Middle Ages and "perhaps the most powerful ruler in Europe" during the 14th century, and remains a folk hero to Serbs. His state was a rival to the regional powers of Byzantium and Hungary, and it encompassed a large territory, which would also be his empire's greatest weakness. By nature a soldier and a conqueror, Dušan also proved to be very able but nonetheless feared ruler. His empire however, slowly crumbled at the hands of his son, as regional aristocrats distanced from the central rule.

The aim of restoring Serbia as an Empire it once was, was one of the greatest ideals of Serbs, living both in the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian lands. In 1526, Jovan Nenad, in the style of Dušan, proclaimed himself Emperor, when ruling a short-lived state of Serbian provinces under the crown of Hungary.

The Realm of the Slavs, written by Ragusian historian Mavro Orbin (l. ca. 1550-1614), saw Emperor Dušan's actions and works positively. The book served as the primary source about early history of South Slavs at the time and most of the western historians drew their information on the Slavs from it. Early Serbian historians, even though they wrote according to the sources, were influenced by the ideas of the time they lived in. They made efforts to harmonize with two different traditions: one from brevets and public documents and other from genealogies and narrative writings. Of early historians, most information came from Jovan Rajić (1726–1801), who wrote fifty pages about Dušan's life. Rajić's work had great influence on Serbian culture of that time, and for decades it was the main source of information about Serbian history.

After the restoration of Serbia in the 19th century, continuity with the Serbian Middle Ages was accentuated, particularly of its greatest moment - during Emperor Dušan. A political agenda, as with a restoration of his Empire, would find its place in the political programmes of the Principality of Serbia, notably the Načertanije by Ilija Garašanin.

Family


By his first wife, Helena of Bulgaria, Emperor Dušan had at least one child:
 * Stephen Uroš V, succeeded his father as Emperor, r. 1355-1371

He also had a daughter:
 * Theodora, married Orhan I, Ottoman sultan, in 1345.

Some historians speculate that the couple had another child, a daughter. J. Fine suggested that it might be "Irene", the wife of caesar Preljub (governor of Thessaly, d. 1355-1356), mother of Thomas Preljubović (Ruler of Epirus, 1367–1384). In one theory, she married Radoslav Hlapen, Governor of Voden and Veria and Lord of Kastoria, after her first husband's death in 1360. This hypothesis is not widely accepted.

Foundations

 * Saint Archangels Monastery
 * Podlastva monastery
 * Duljevo monastery

Reconstructions:
 * Visoki Dečani