Stefan Vladislav of Serbia

Stefan Vladislav (Стефан Владислав ; died after 1264) was the King of Serbia from 1234 to 1243. He was the middle son of Stefan the First-Crowned of the Nemanjić dynasty, who ruled Serbia from 1196 to 1228. Radoslav, the eldest son, was ousted by the Serbian nobility due to increasing Epirote influence through his marriage alliance to Theodore Komnenos Doukas, and appointed Vladislav as his successor. During Vladislav's reign, his uncle Archbishop Sava went on a pilgrimage and died on the way home in Bulgaria; Vladislav managed to return the remains and bury them in the Mileševa monastery which he had built (and intended for his own burial). Serbia was politically aligned with Bulgaria at the time, since Vladislav married Beloslava, the daughter of Ivan Asen II. Vladislav secured Hum, a maritime province under attack by the Hungarian crusaders. After the death of Ivan Asen II, there was some unrest in Serbia; the Mongols invaded the Balkans, including Serbia, and devastated the lands, and the Serbian nobility rose up against Vladislav. In 1243 he abdicated in favour of his younger brother, but remained in the scene as ruler of Zeta. He was described as very energetic, reliable, and hot-tempered. The Serbian Orthodox Church venerates him as a saint on September 24.

Youth
Vladislav was born around 1198, as the middle son of King Stefan the First-Crowned and Queen Eudokia. He had two half-brothers, Stefan Radoslav, the eldest, and Stefan Uroš I, the youngest. He also had two sisters, Komnena being the only one whose name is known.

King Stefan the First-Crowned, who had become ill, took monastic vows and died in 1227. Radoslav who was the eldest son succeeded as King, crowned at Žiča by Archbishop Sava, his uncle. The younger sons, Vladislav and Uroš I, received appanages. The youngest of the brothers, Sava II, was appointed Bishop of Hum shortly thereafter, later serving as Archbishop of Serbia (1263-1270). The Church and state was thus dominated by the same family and the ties between the two as well as the family's role within the Church continued.

According to biographer and monk Theodosius, Radoslav was a good ruler at first, but then fell under the influence of his wife, who was the daughter of Theodore of Thessaloniki and Epirus (1216–1230). Radoslav was most likely not beloved by the Serbian nobility due to this Epirote (Greek) influence. Radoslav was probably safe from domestic rebellion as long as Theodore remained strong. In 1230, Theodore was defeated and captured by Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Asen II, after which Radoslav's position seems to have weakened; some of his nobility revolted in fall 1233. Theodosius said that the nobility had left the support of Radoslav and stood itself behind the younger Vladislav. Radoslav fled the country between 1 September 1233 and 4 February 1234, and was unable to regain the kingdom, but eventually returned as a monk. Radoslav was succeeded by Vladislav. Radoslav fled to Dubrovnik (1233) with his wife, and there are indications that Radoslav had organized some actions against Vladislav and that he thought that he would manage to return to the throne - this is evident from a edict which he released in early 1234 regarding a promise to Ragusan trading privileges once he had returned to Serbia. Because of this, Vladislav began threatening Ragusa, which then had to turn to Bosnian Ban Ninoslav for help, and as the action against Vladislav was unsuccessful, Radoslav left for the Epirote ruler Manuel in Dyrrhachium. According to Theodosius, Radoslav's wife had left him for a commander of the fortress, a Frank, and when Radoslav tried to return her, the Frank was near in having him killed, thus Radoslav left Dhyrrachium as well. Radoslav, who had nowhere to go, contacted Archbishop Sava who welcomed him back to Serbia; Radoslav then took monastic vows, with the name Jovan (John), according to Theodosius as a way of Sava to protect Radoslav from Vladislav. The event regarding Radoslav's wife is only mentioned by Theodosius, and according to other sources it seems that Radoslav and his wife returned together to Serbia (Radoslav, as Jovan, is mentioned together with nun Ana, which must mean that they returned together, and after that both took monastic vows).

Accession
Archbishop Sava had not taken part in the plot, and was unhappy of the circumstances, but eventually agreed to crown Vladislav as King of Serbia. Sava had became upset by the discord among his nephews and abdicated, and began a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1229. On his way home from a trip he had begun in 1234, Sava died during a visit to the Bulgarian court in 1235, and was respectfully buried at Tarnovo (Holy Forty Martyrs Church) by the Bulgarians.

Vladislav had married Beloslava (or Belisava), the daughter of Ivan Asen II, after his coronation. Due to fairly cordial relations between Serbia and Bulgaria, the Serbs managed to return Sava's body after a series of requests. Sava's body was then buried in the Mileševa monastery, built by Vladislav in 1234. Sava was canonized and his relics were miraculous; his cult remained important throughout the Middle Ages and the Ottoman occupation.

The relation between Vladislav and Radoslav after he had returned and became a monk is not fully known, but it is likely he did not disturb his brother. There is a hypothesis that Radoslav even received a part of Serbian land to administrate. In any case, Radoslav continued the rest of his life in peace.

Foreign policy
The Hungarians conquered Braničevo and Belgrade from Bulgaria by the late 1230s. Hungarian crusaders campaigned in Bosnia between 1235 and 1241. Serbia was never attacked directly by the Hungarians, however, the Hungarian crusaders did threaten Serbian Hum directly - they may even had occupied parts of it. In 1237, Coloman of Galicia-Lodomeria made action on Hum, though it is not made clear whether it was in Serbian Hum (Eastern), or in western Hum between the Neretva and Cetina rivers, where the Serbs had no power at the time. The northern part, which was held by Vladislav's relative Toljen, fell quickly, but Vladislav dispatched an army to secure the region - the crusaders were pushed to the border, and Vladislav came as far as Cetina, though there were no serious encounters. The Serbs had in any case asserted their right to Hum once faced with the situation, and Vladislav added Hum to his title.

These events threatened Serbia, which had severed its ties with Catholicism and was once again fully in the Orthodox camp. The marriage alliance between Vladislav and Ivan Asen II may be a result of the Hungarian threat to the two countries. Some scholars have speculated that Serbia accepted Bulgarian suzerainty under Vladislav, but this is not known, since no contemporary sources speak of Vladislav recognizing Asen as overlord of Serbia. Asen likely had the biggest influence on the politics of Vladislav. The Orthodox alliance founded by Asen seems to have been without Vladislav, possibly Vladislav was afraid of too much ties with Bulgaria, since his brother Radoslav's ties with Epirus had caused dissatisfaction in the Serbian nobility - thus if the Empire fell, he would too. The previous fact shows that Vladislav was not that dependent on Bulgaria, as he was not obliged to join the alliance, which he would likely be forced to do if he had recognized superior rule of Asen.

After having returned Sava's remains, Vladislav signed a treaty with Ragusa regarding trading privileges (with Giovanni Dandolo in 1237 ), in return of Ragusa commiting to never allow any preparation of actions against Serbia on their territory (Ragusa had helped Radoslav upon his exile).

Pope Gregory IX's crusade on the Bogumils (deemed heretics) in Bosnia did not bring that great results for Coloman, as he never managed to conquer central Bosnia, and Bosnian Ban Matej Ninoslav was not preoccupied with his rule, so that in 1240 Ninoslav and his nobility retreated to Republic of Ragusa. In an edict issued to the city of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) on 22 March 1240, Ninoslav promised to provide protection in case of an attack by King Vladislav. At the time, Serbian bands cruised the surroundings of Dubrovnik, and Vladislav himself was with them. The Ragusans may have been reminded by the earlier disputes with Vladislav, and therefore feared him, or Vladislav may have really troubled Ragusa - he posed danger to them.

Mongol invasion
Ivan Asen II had been a powerful support to Vladislav, and since the Bulgarian Emperor's death, there were some internal unrest. It is possible that Vladislav would have stopped that unrest if it had not been for the incoming danger to the whole of Europe in the Mongols. In the period between 1206 and 1227, the Mongol leader Genghis Khan conquered territories that none had managed to before him, all over Asia to the Crimea. To the end of 1240, all of Russia was taken, then Poland, Hungary and parts of Croatia and even parts of Bosnia and Serbia were taken by the Mongols. In the winter of 1241, the Mongols crossed the Danube and entered western Hungary, and Bela IV did not manage to organize any resistance. The whole of Croatia burned, and Khan Bata (the grandson of Genghis Khan) hunted Bela IV which at the time was in Split and then moved to Trogir as Split was not safe. The Mongols did not try Split, but unsuccessfully attacked Klis where they had heard Bela was at. Bela had fled to the island of Rab, and although the Mongols had an attempt on taking the island, their contingent was hurt in battles on the sea, and there were no further attempts as they hurried back home to choose the new Khan after the death of Ogatay. During their return home, they crossed Serbia, Bosnia and Bulgaria on the road of Lower Danube, and devastated the lands. Although Serbia was destroyed, the Mongol attack was not felt that much since the population had retreated into inaccessible forests and the Mongols had no will to seek for them there. Of the Serbian cities, Kotor, Drivast and Svač were destroyed. The whole drive was essentially plundering, which could be compared to a tide that broke down all before it, but also like a tide it quickly retreated. The Mongol invasion had brought turmoil and shock, but not any further changes, the real shock had been the death of Asen which left Vladislav without significant support.

Ousting
In spring 1243, there was an uprising that ousted Vladislav; Stefan Uroš I, the third brother, was put on the throne. Scholars have argued that the Bulgarian influence had been strong and unpopular, causing opposition that would bring Vladislav's deposition after the death of Asen. Asen might have prevented Uroš's coup.

The revolting nobility chose the third son of Stefan the First-Crowned, Uroš, as their candidate for King, and from 1242 to spring 1243 a war of the throne was fought. Finally, in the spring of 1243, Vladislav was forced to resign and give up the crown in favour of Uroš. It seems that Uroš quickly managed to catch Vladislav and hold him imprisoned somewhere, so the main resistance was described at the time as being Vladislav's wife Beloslava. Beloslava had spent some time exiled in Ragusa, and the fact that she was the organizator of the resistance against Uroš from Ragusa is seen from an edict dated to the summer 1243, where the Ragusans swore to King Uroš that they would in no way support Beloslava's work against him. The fact that she is the only one mentioned suggests that resistance existed and that Queen Beloslava managed it, and since Vladislav is not mentioned anywhere it means that he was imprisoned.

Fortunately, the situation did not last long, and the brothers very quickly settled. Uroš proved himself to be courteous towards Vladislav, and gave him the administration of Zeta and left him the right to use the royal title of King. The conflict between the brothers is very little known, as is the cause of the nobility's dissatisfaction towards Vladislav's rule.

Jireček thought that Vladislav lived in Skadar.

Vladislav died in ca. 1269 and was buried in Mileševa.

Personality
According to the few mentions on his person, it can be concluded that he was very energetic, reliable, and hot-tempered.

Name, epithets and titles
His given name was Vladislav, while Stefan was a name adopted by all Nemanjić dynasty rulers. In The Life of St. Sava, Vladislav is given the epithets "the Faithful", "the God-Loving", "The Christ-Loving", "the Great", "the World-Loving".

The introduction of Vladislav's charter says: "Stefan Vladislav, with the help and grace of God, crowned King of All Serbian and Maritime Lands"; while the signature reads: "Stefan Vladislav, by the grace of God, the King and Autokrator of All Serbian and Maritime Lands" («Стефан Владислав по милости божией король и с богом самодержец всех сербских земель и поморских»). Another title used by Stefan Vladislav was "King of all Rascian lands.

Family
By his marriage with Beloslava, daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria, Stefan Vladislav had the following children:
 * Stefan
 * Desa, a župan (1281/5)
 * a daughter, married Đura Kačić, the lord (knez) of Omiš.

Flag of Serbia


The oldest known flag of Serbia is from the 1281 description of a flag in the treasury of King Stefan Vladislav, which was kept in the Republic of Ragusa. The description lists "vexillum unum de zendato rubeo et blavo" - a flag of fabric red and blue (zendato - čenda a type of light, silky fabric). It is not known how the colours were patterned; horizontal diband shown to the left is sometimes used in commemorations of medieval events in Serbia. As Vladislav ruled from 1233 to 1243 and died after 1264, the flag predates 1281, hence making it likely to have been used even earlier.