Stefan Nemanja unites Serbia
Stefan Nemanja, who won power in Raška from his brother Tihomir in the late 1160s, founded the Nemanjić dynasty. Forced to submit to Manuel I in 1172, after the emperor's death he took Niš, Prizren and other Byzantine towns, received Frederick Barbarossa at Niš in 1189 and founded the monastery of Studenica; in 1196 he abdicated in favour of his son Stefan, became the monk Simeon and with his son Sava restored Hilandar on Mount Athos.
- Date
- between 1166 and 1168 – 1196start: exact date unknown: an interval is given; end: year known · duration: ≈ 29 years
- Place
- Rastoday: Stari Ras, near Novi Pazar, Serbia · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Stefan Nemanja, Grand Principality of Serbia, Byzantine Empire
- Threads
- Balkans and Anatolia (11th–12th c.)
- Also known as
- Nemanjić dynasty; Неманичи; Studenica; Студеница; Hilandar; Хиландар; Simeon the Myrrh-streaming; Симеон Мироточивый; Battle of Pantino; Битва при Пантине
Nemanja was born around 1113–1114 at Ribnica, near present-day Podgorica, and received Latin baptism; later he held lands around the Ibar, Toplica and Dubočica. In 1166 or 1167 he rose against his brother Tihomir, the grand župan, and drove him out; when Tihomir returned with a Byzantine-backed army, Nemanja defeated him at Pantino near Zvečan (1167 or 1168) and took power over the Serbian lands centred on Ras. His first attempt to break free of Byzantium failed: in 1172 he came before Manuel I barefoot, his clothes torn to the elbows, with a rope around his neck and a sword in his hands, to beg forgiveness.
After Manuel's death Nemanja allied with King Béla III of Hungary and in 1183 launched a great offensive against the empire, taking Niš, Ravno, Prizren and other towns; he also coordinated his actions against Byzantium with the Asen brothers of Bulgaria. Niš became his new capital, and there, at the end of July 1189, he welcomed Frederick Barbarossa and his crusaders with pomp. In 1190 or 1191 Isaac II Angelos defeated him on the Morava, and peace was sealed by the marriage of Nemanja's son Stefan to the emperor's niece Eudokia Angelina. Around 1190 he founded the monastery of Studenica.
In 1196, at an assembly at Ras, Nemanja abdicated in favour of his middle son, Stefan, and took monastic vows under the name Simeon. After a year at Studenica, in November 1197 he joined his youngest son, Sava, on Mount Athos, where in 1198–1199 they restored the monastery of Hilandar. He died there on 13 February 1199 and was soon canonized as St Simeon the Myrrh-streaming; in 1207 or 1208 his relics were moved to Studenica. In 1217 his son Stefan was crowned king, and the grand principality became the Kingdom of Serbia.
Connections
Related events
- East–West Schism: the excommunications of 105416 July 1054 · Balkans and Anatoliabaptized in the Latin rite, Nemanja spent much of his life balancing between Western and Eastern Christianity and ended it as an Orthodox monk on Athos
- Reign of Manuel I Komnenos8 April 1143 – 24 September 1180 · Balkans and Anatoliain 1172 Stefan Nemanja had to submit to Manuel
- Uprising of Asen and Peter: the Second Bulgarian Empire26 October 1185 – between 1187 and 1188 · Balkans and AnatoliaNemanja coordinated his actions against Byzantium with the Asen brothers and concluded an agreement against the Byzantines with Theodor-Peter
- Frederick Barbarossa's crusade: from Regensburg to the Saleph11 May 1189 – 10 June 1190 · Balkans and Anatoliaat Niš on 27 July 1189 Stefan Nemanja welcomed the emperor and his crusaders
Same participants
- Battle of Myriokephalon17 September 1176 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Byzantine Empire
- Massacre of the Latinsbetween April and May 1182 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Byzantine Empire
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Battle of Legnano29 May 1176
- Third Crusade11 May 1189 – between 1 September and 2 September 1192
- Murder of Thomas Becket29 December 1170
- Toledo School of Translators: Arabic learning in Latin1130s – 1187
Eastern Europe
- Igor Sviatoslavich’s campaign against the Cumans23 April – 12 May 1185
- Andrei Bogolyubsky’s coalition sacks Kyivbetween 8 March and 12 March 1169
- The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl is builtbetween 1158 and 1167
Middle East and Egypt
- Battle of Hattin3–4 July 1187
- Saladin takes Jerusalem20 September – 2 October 1187
- Maimonides' ‘Guide for the Perplexed’between 1185 and 1191
- Siege of Acre (1189–1191)28 August 1189 – 12 July 1191
- Saladin ends the Fatimid caliphateSeptember 1171
+ 1 event
Africa
- Rock-hewn churches of Lalibelac. 1181 – c. 1221
- K2 (Bambandyanalo) and the rise of Mapungubwec. 1000 – c. 1220
- Igbo-Ukwu: bronze casting in the West African forest800–899 – 1100–1199
Central and Northern Asia
- The minaret of Jam is raised in Ghorbetween 1174 and 1194
South Asia
East Asia
- Genpei War and the rise of the Kamakura shogunate5 May 1180 – 21 August 1192
- Zhu Xi and the Neo-Confucian synthesis1175 – 23 April 1200
- Military coup in Goryeo: the generals seize power11 October 1170
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- The Chams sack Angkor13 June 1177
- Construction of Angkor Thom and the Bayon1181 – c. 1218
North America
- Drought and the end of the Chaco worldc. 1130 – c. 1180
Latin America
- Chimor: the Chimú kingdom and its capital Chan Chanc. 900 – c. 1470
- Fall of Tulabetween 1140 and 1200
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Stefan Nemanja
- Wikipedia (English): Grand Principality of Serbia
- Wikipedia (English): Peter II of Bulgaria
- Wikipedia (Russian): Стефан Неманя
- Wikipedia (Russian): Рашка (государство)
- Fine J. V. A. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. — Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1987.