Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia

• Ten things you didn't know about Wikipedia •
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Stefan Dusan)
Jump to: navigation, search
This article (or section) may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article, especially its section layout, and relevant internal links. (help)
This article has been tagged since June 2007.
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan Silni
Emperor of the Serbs and the Greeks
Fresco of Stefan Uroš IV Dušan
Reign king (September 8, 1331 – April 16, 1346)
emperor (tsar) (April 16, 1346 – December 20, 1355).
Full name Stefan Uroš IV Dušan
Born c. 1308
Died 20 December 1355
Buried St. Mark's Church, Belgrade
Successor Stefan Uroš V
Consort Helena of Bulgaria
Royal House House of Nemanjić
Father Stefan Uroš III Dečanski
Mother Theodora of Bulgaria

Stefan Uroš IV Dušan Silni ("the Mighty") (Serbian: Стефан Урош IV Душан Силни, Greek: Στέφανος Ντουσάν, in English also Stephen Dushan) (c. 1308 – December 20, 1355) was king of Serbia (September 8, 1331 – April 16, 1346) and emperor (tsar) of the Serbs and the Greeks (April 16, 1346 – December 20, 1355).

Perhaps the greatest of all Serbian leaders, Dušan was one of only two true emperors (tsars) of Serbia, along with his son Stefan Uroš V. Under his rule Serbia reached its territorial peak and, as the Serbian Empire was one of the larger states in Europe at the time. Apart from significant territorial gains, in 1349 and 1354 he made and enforced Dušan's Code, a universal system of laws. He is also the only ruler from the house of Nemanjić who may not have been canonised as a saint soon after his death. Dušan was also noted as a man of gigantic proportions, and according to Papal ambassadors he was the tallest man of his time, estimated at close to seven feet tall.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Biography
* 2 Military Tactics
* 3 Family
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 Further reading
o 6.1 Alexander Soloviev
* 7 Sources

[edit] Biography
Crowning of Emperor Dusan, Skoplje, 1346
Crowning of Emperor Dusan, Skoplje, 1346

He was the eldest son of Stefan Uroš III Dečanski and Theodora of Bulgaria, the daughter of emperor Smilets of Bulgaria. Early in his life he visited Constantinople, where his father had been exiled, and he spent around seven years there (1314–1320). There he learned Greek, gained an understanding of Byzantine life and culture, and got a clear sense of the Byzantine Empire. He himself was more a soldier than a diplomat. In his youth he fought exceptionally in two battles; in 1329 he defeated the Bosnian ban Stjepan Kotromanić, and in 1330 the Bulgarian emperor Michael Asen III in the Battle of Velbužd.
Tsar Dušan’s Serbia ~ 1350 AD
Tsar Dušan’s Serbia
~ 1350 AD

In part because his father hadn't significantly expanded Serbia after the Battle of Velbužd, he rebelled and overthrew him with the support of the nobility, crowning himself king on September 8, 1331. In 1332 he married Helena of Bulgaria, the sister of the new Bulgarian emperor Ivan Alexander, a woman of strong will, who had a large influence on him and bore him a son, Stefan Uroš V, and two daughters, who died young.

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 battles were mostly defensive. Both times he defeated the Hungarians. 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 the regents 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 no 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 Greco-Serbian Empire under his control.
A coin minted by Dušan in 1346 on the occasion of his coronation. (Photo courtesy of the National Bank of Serbia [1])
A coin minted by Dušan in 1346 on the occasion of his coronation. (Photo courtesy of the National Bank of Serbia [1])

After these successes he proclaimed himself in 1345 emperor (tsar) in Serres and was solemnly crowned in Skopje on April 16, 1346 as "Tsar and autocrat of Serbs and Greeks" by the newly created Serbian Patriach Joanikie II with the help of the Bulgarian Patriarch Simeon and the Archbishop of Ohrid, Nicholas. He had previously raised the Serbian Orthodox Church from an autocephalous archbishopric to a patriarchate, and he 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 anathematized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
Wedding of Emperor Dusan
Wedding of Emperor Dusan

Faced with Dušan's aggression, the Byzantines sought allies in the Turks whom they brought into Europe for the first time. The first conflict between the Serbs and the Turks on Balkan soil, at Stefaniana in 1345, ended unfavourably for the Serbs. In 1348 Dušan conquered Thessaly and Epirus. Dušan eventually saw the danger posed by the Turkish presence in the Balkans and searched for ways to push them back but was interrupted by Hungarians, who attacked Serbia. He heavily defeated the Hungarians and their king Charles I of Hungary, who was wounded by an arrow. Dušan didn't want to organize revenge attacks in Hungary, because he wanted Papal support for his fight against the Ottomans. After, he fought with the Hungarian protégé ban Stjepan II in Bosnia in 1350, wishing to regain formerly lost Zahumlje.

Dušan had grand intentions but they were all cut short by his premature death on December 20, 1355, possibly from poisoning by Hungarians who were alarmed at the expansion and rising power of Stefan's Serbia. He was buried in his foundation, the Monastery of the Holy Archangels near Prizren. Today his remains are in the Church of Saint Mark in Belgrade. He was succeeded by his son Stefan Uroš V, who had been associated in power as king since 1346.

[edit] Military Tactics

Dusan's 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 knight named Palman was the commander of this unit and was the leader of all German mercenaries.

Dušan was the most powerful medieval Serbian ruler, and remains a symbol to many. His state was a rival to regional powers Byzantium, Bulgaria and Hungary, and encompassed great territory, but it is that same grateness that was his empire's greatest weakness. Serbia was enlarged too quickly for new territorial gains to be incorporated into the original Serb regions. Dušan also conquered many purely Greek, Albanian and Bulgarian lands and their inhabitants, who already had a distinct national consciousness. By nature a soldier and a conqueror, Dušan did not make any systematic efforts to stabilize or administer his gains. Consequently, his empire could not survive his death, and began to dissolve soon after the loss of his forceful personality.

[edit] Family

By his first wife, Helena of Bulgaria, Stefan Uroš IV had two children:

* Stefan Uroš V of Serbia, who succeeded as king
* Irina

[edit] See also

* List of Serbian monarchs
* History of Serbia

[edit] References

* John V.A. Fine, Jr., The Late Medieval Balkans, Ann Arbor, 1987.
* George C. Soulis, The Serbs and Byzantium during the reign of Tsar Stephen Dusan (1331-1355) and his successors, Athens, 1995. ISBN 0884021378

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Alexander Soloviev

* "Selected Monuments of Serbian Law from the 12th to 15th centuries" (1926)
* "Legislation of Stefan Dušan, emperor of Serbs and Greeks" (1928)
* "Dušan's Code in 1349 and 1354" (1929)
* "Greek charters of Serbian rulers" Soloviev and Makin {1936}

[edit] Sources
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Stephen Dushan

* Translated with small changes from small encyclopedia Sveznanje published by Narodno delo, Belgrade, in 1937, which is now in the public domain. This article is therefore written from the point of view of that place and time and may not reflect modern opinions or recent discoveries.

Preceded by
Stefan Dečanski King of Serbia
1331–1346 Succeeded by
Stefan Uroš V
Preceded by
new title Emperor of the Serbs and the Greeks
1346–1355 Succeeded by
Stefan Uroš V
[hide]
v • d • e
The House of Nemanjić
Main ruling members Stefan Nemanja • Stefan Prvovenčani • Stefan Radoslav • Stefan Vladislav I • Stefan Uroš I • Stefan Dragutin • Stefan (Uroš II) Milutin • Stefan Vladislav II • Stefan (Uroš III) Dečanski • Stefan (Uroš IV) Dušan • Stefan Uroš V
Other ruling members Dmitar Nemanjić • Đorđe Nemanjić • Jovan Uroš • Simeon Uroš • Vukan Nemanjić
Other members Jelena Šubić • Anna Neda Shishman • Milica Nemanjić • Saint Anastasija • Saint Hélène d'Anjou • Saint Jelena of Dečani • Saint Sava • Saint Sava II • Simonida
[hide]
v • d • e
The Royal Rulers of the Serb lands
Early Rulers
(50-825) Zorsines • Gobazes • Dervan • Unknown Archont • Kuver • Prosigoj
First Raška
(825-950) Vlastimir • Mutimir • Pribislav • Petar • Pavle • Zaharije • Časlav
Duklja
(900-1186) Archont Petar • Hvalimir I • Sylvester • Tugemir • Hvalimir II • Petrislav • Vladimir • Stefan Dobroslav I Vojislav • Mihailo I Vojislav • Constantin Bodin • Mihailo II Vojislav and Dobroslav II • Dobroslav III • Kočopar • Vladimir • Đorđe • Grubeša • Đorđe • Gradihna • Radoslav • Mihailo III Vojislav
Second Raška
(1050-1166) Stefan Vojislav • Mihajlo • Konstantin Bodin • Đorđe • Uroš I • Uroš II • Desa
Nemanja Serbian State
(1166–1346) Stefan Nemanja • Stefan I Prvovenčani • Stefan Radoslav • Stefan Vladislav I • Stefan Uroš I • Stefan II Dragutin • Stefan Uroš II Milutin • Stefan Uroš III Dečanski • Stefan Konstantin • Stefan Vladislav II
Serbian Empire
(1346-1371) Stefan Uroš IV Dušan • Stefan Uroš V
Zeta
(1356-1516) Balša I • Đurađ I • Balša II • Đurađ II • Balša III • Stefan Lazarević • Đurađ III Branković • Stefan I Crnojević • Ivan Crnojević • Đurađ IV Crnojević • Stefan II • Ivan II • Đurađ V Crnojević
Moravian Serbia
(1371-1402) "Tsar" Lazar I • Stefan III
Serbian Despotate
(1402-1459) Stefan III • Đurađ I • Grgur • Toma • Ishak-Beg • Isa-Beg • Đurađ • Lazar II • Mihailo • Jelena • Stefan IV Branković • Stefan Tomašević
Vladika Montenegro
(1516-1852) Vavil • German II • Pavle • Vasilije I • Nikodim • Romil • Makarije • Ruvim I • Pahomije II Komanin • Gerasim • Venijamin • Nikanor • Stefan • Ruvim II Boljević-Njegos • Mardarije I Kornečanin • Visarion I • Mardarije II Kornečanin • Ruvim III Boljević • Vasilije II Velikrasić • Visarion II Bajica • Sava I Kaluđerović • Danilo I • Sava II • Vasilije III • Petar I • Petar II • Danilo II
First Serbian Uprising
(1804-1813) Karađorđe
Principality of Serbia
(1815-1882) Miloš I • Milan II • Mihailo III • Aleksandar • Miloš I • Mihailo III • Milan IV
Principality of Montenegro
(1852-1910) Danilo II • Nikola I
Kingdom of Serbia
(1882-1918) Milan I • Aleksandar I • Petar I
Kingdom of Montenegro
(1910-1918) Nikola I
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
(1918-1945) Petar I • Aleksandar I • Petar II
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Uro%C5%A1_IV_Du%C5%A1an_of_Serbia"

Categories: All pages needing to be wikified | Wikify from June 2007 | House of Nemanjić | 1300s births | 1355 deaths | Serbian nobility | Rulers of Montenegro | History of Montenegro | History of Serbia | Serbian monarchs | Serbian royalty
Views

* Article
* Discussion
* Edit this page
* History

Personal tools

* Sign in / create account

Navigation

* Main page
* Contents
* Featured content
* Current events
* Random article

interaction

* About Wikipedia
* Community portal
* Recent changes
* Contact Wikipedia
* Donate to Wikipedia
* Help

Search

Toolbox

* What links here
* Related changes
* Upload file
* Special pages
* Printable version
* Permanent link
* Cite this article

In other languages

* Bosanski
* Български
* Deutsch
* Español
* Français
* Nederlands
* 日本語
* Polski
* Português
* Русский
* Словѣньскъ
* Српски / Srpski
* Suomi
* Svenska

Powered by MediaWiki
Wikimedia Foundation

* This page was last modified 23:42, 21 August 2007.
* All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a US-registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.
* Privacy policy
* About Wikipedia
* Disclaimers

Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running!