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 Over the centuries, the land called Kosovo has been home to many peoples.   Often serving as a buffer between hostile groups, it reached its peak as a European   political and cultural center under the Serbians from the 12th to the 14th centuries.   Now viewed by Serbians as the cradle of their nation, the maintenance of Kosovo   as part of Serbia has become a cornerstone of the appeals of the nationalists   and ultranationalists who have come to dominate Serbia's politics following   the disintegration of Yugoslavia. 
Illyrians, Thracians, and Celts lived in the Kosovo area in the 2nd century AD, when Rome finished incorporating what was to become Yugoslavia into its empire. Rome's hold was relatively short lived, however. Late in the 4th century, Slavs moving south from the Carpathian Mountains attacked and conquered Roman strongholds in the area. Two centuries later, Slavic groups began to settle permanently. By the 10th century, the region's Slavic tribes had become three discernible groups: Croatians, Slovenians, and Serbians. The Serbians became dominant in Kosovo as well as in what are now Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. While Croatians and Slovenians were Christianized by Rome, thus becoming Roman Catholics, Serbs were largely Christianized through Byzantium, becoming Eastern Orthodox.
Kosovo—and the other lands controlled by the Serbians—was repeatedly a point of contention among Bulgarian, Hungarian, Byzantine, and Roman leaders into the 12th century. Over the next two centuries, Serbians enjoyed independence under the Nemanje dynasty; the reigns of Stephen (1169-89), Milutin (1281-1321), and Dusan (1331-55) were particularly golden eras. Kosovo and settlements immediately to the north became the political and cultural heartland of the Serbians during this period. The economy prospered—largely as a result of the use of migrant labor brought in from Transylvania to exploit the minerals of the region—and the royal court came to rival that of other monarchies in Europe in both its power and splendor.
After the death of Dusan, the Serbian kingdom came on bad times. Turkish raiders defeated the internally bickering Serbians in the battle of Kosovo Polje—on the plains west of what is now Pristina—on 28 June 1389. Because this marked the end of the glory days and the beginning of centuries of struggle against neighbors bent on dominating Serbia, no date is more significant and no place dearer to Serbians. Nevertheless, Turkey's preoccupation with the Mongol threat from the east allowed Serbia to remain more or less independent for another 70 years.
In 1459, Serbia finally fell to the Turks. For the next 250 years, what are today Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia were part of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman's chief threat from the west, the Hapsburg Empire, controlled Croatia and Slovenia and established Vojvodina and Krajina as a homeland for Serbians fleeing Turkish rule. Brutal Turkish suppression of Serbian rebellions resulted in waves of Serbians abandoning Kosovo in 1690 and 1738. While some Serbians remained in Kosovo, Albanians began trickling into the Metohija.
By the latter half of the 19th century, Serbians began seeking to regain their lost lands. The Ottomans, in an effort to hinder Serbian expansion, encouraged more Albanians, now largely Muslim converts, to settle in Kosovo, where Pristina became the transportation and administrative hub and Prizren the birthplace of the first organized Albanian nationalist movement—the Albanian League of Prizren—in 1878.
What is now Serbia proper gained de facto independence in the early 1800s, a status that became de jure as a result of the Treaty of Berlin of 1878. Not until the two Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, however, did Serbians regain Kosovo. Albania became independent during the same period, although its border with Yugoslavia was not agreed on until 1926. This border separated nearly a half-million Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia from what they perceived to be their homeland. According to historians, between 1926 and 1941, more than half of all Kosovars (ethnic Albanians of Kosovo) may have emigrated, primarily to Albania and Turkey, as Serbians began to trickle back to the area.
During World War II most of Kosovo was controlled by Italy. After the war, the status of Kosovo within Yugoslavia became an issue that has yet to be resolved.  In an effort to redress the perceived ethnic imbalance within Kosovo, the new republic's government unsuccessfully sought to entice Serbians to migrate to these areas, offering veterans of the war special benefits to do so. Government policies in Kosovo vacillated between those aimed at suppressing Albanian nationalism and those aimed at appeasement and assimilation. Kosovar demands for republic status within the federation were continuous, however, and sporadic Serbian crackdowns yielded massive outmigrations; during 1954-57, for example, as many as 200,000 Albanians may have left, according to historical accounts.
The province's status changed in 1974 when the new Yugoslav Constitution removed Kosovo from direct political dominance by Serbians and proclaimed it an autonomous province of the federal republic. Meanwhile, Kosovo remained an economic backwater. Many Serbians—as well as many Kosovars—left the province during this period because of a shortage of economic opportunities. A sizable flow of Serbians out of Kosovo continued into the 1980s. According to official statistics, between 1961 and 1987 more than 100,000 Serbs left Kosovo.
Following the death of Tito in 1980, the predominantly Albanian population of Kosovo commenced demonstrations aimed at forcing the Yugoslav Government to recognize the province as a federal republic on an equal footing with the six existing republics. In the spring of 1981, acts of civil disorder and economic sabotage, led largely by students at the University of Pristina, escalated. The demonstrators publicly proclaimed issues of discrimination and freedom as the bases of discontent, but some historians believe that students and elites also were frustrated by their inability to find employment in Kosovo commensurate with their training. As a result of the unrest, the national government sealed off Kosovo, sent in the militia to restore order, and closed educational institutions. Virtual occupation of the region by the Yugoslav People's Army followed.
Timeline: Historical Overview         **2000****-****1998**Kosovo Liberation Army increases activity, and Serbian police       launch operations against the "terrorist" group.  **1996**Agreement reached on returning Albanian students to Serbian       state-run schools in Kosovo.  **1991**Kosovars vote for independence from Serbia.**1990****-****1989**Belgrade strips Kosovo of its autonomous status.  **1986**Accusing Kosovo Albanians of genocide agains Serbians there, Slobodan       Milosevic rises to power in Serbia's Communist Party.  **1981**Unrest in Kosovo leads to declaration of a state of emergency.**1980****-****1980**Tito dies.  **1974**Constitutional reforms make Kosovo an autonomous province of Yogoslavia       and legalize school instruction in the Albanian language.**1970****-**   **1968**Albanian students in Pristina demonstrate against Serbian       repression.**1960****-** **1950****-**   **1945-66**Heavy repression of Albanians in Kosovo by secret police.  **1945**A Communist regime is established in Yogoslavia with Kosovo part       of Serbia.**1940****-****1941**Kosovo is incorporated into Albania following Italy's takeover       of Albania and Germany's takeover of Yugoslavia.**1930****-** **1920****-**   **1913**Serbia gains control of Macedonia in the Second Balkan War.**1910****-****1912**Serbia gains control of Kosovo in the First Balkan War.  **1878**Under the Treaty of Berlin, Serbia becomes independent; Kosovo       remains part of Ottoman Empire.**1900****-**  **-****1815-29**Serbs gain autonomy with the backing of Russia.**1800****-**   **1766**In the face of continued resistance, Turks abolish the seat of       the Serbian Chruch in Pec.  **1737**Serbs establish a homeland in exile in Vojvodina.**1700****-****1690**Following an unsuccessful rebellion, Serbs flee Kosovo. Turks       begin to encourage Albanians--many of whom convert to Islam--to settle there.**1600****-** **1500****-****Late 1400's**Ottomans complete conquest of Serbs and Kosovo, capturing Prizren       and suppressing rebellion there led by Albanian King Skanderberg.**1400****-****1389**At Kosovo Polie, Ottoman Turks defeat Serbs.**1300****-****Mid 1300s**Serbs, under King Dusan, expand to the Adriatic, make Pec the       seat of the church, and bring in workers from Transylvania to exploit Kosovo's       mineral wealth.**1200****-****1219**Serbian Orthodox Church established with seat at Raska, north       of Kosovo.  **Late 1100s**Serbian Slavs establish a principality in Ibar Valley and Sandzak;       take over Kosovo.**1100****-****1090s**Slavs extend kingdom into Kosovo.**1000****-** **900****-** **800****-****800s**Slavs Christianized, especially by Cyril and Methodius.**700****-** **600****-****Early 600s**Slavs begin to settle in the Balkans; establish principality along       the Sava River.  **527-65**Conquest of the Balkans by the Byzantine Empire.**500****-** **400****-** **300****-****300s**Slavic tribes raid Kosovo from Carpathian Mountains.**200****-** **100****-** **A.D. 1**  **B.C**. **100****-**          **200****-****170 B.C. - 200 A.D.**Rome conquers much of the Balkans; establishes towns in Kosovo.

Within Kosovo are several historic sites of special significance to Serbians.   Most date from the 13th and 14th centuries, when Kosovo was the heart of the   Serbian Kingdom. Today, some remain sites of pilgrimage; all are places that   most nationalist Serbians argue are inseparable parts of Serbia. 
 At the same time, most are located in densely populated Kosovar portions of   the province within 30 kilometers of the border with Albania. 
 Kosovo Polje (fields of Kosovo), site of the decisive battle between Serbian   and Turkish forces in 1389, is of great national importance to Serbians, being   frequently used as the location of national celebrations or political rallies.   A second major battle between these two warring peoples was fought at the same   site in 1448. 
 Most of the remaining sites are monasteries or churches, many of which are   famous for their frescoes. ****
Visoki Decani Monastery
 Located near the town of Decani some 19 kilometers south of Pec,   this is Serbia's largest monastic church. Constructed between 1327 and 1335,   its walls are completely covered with more than 1,000 frescoes. Patriarchate of Pec
 Immediately to the west of Pec, this complex consists of three connected   churches built between 1250 and 1330 as the seat of the Serbial Orthodox Church.   The complex continues to be occupied and serves as a nunnery. Gracanica Monastery
 Located in the town of the same name south of Pristina, only the   church remains of the origional complex. Serbians built it during the reign   of King Milutin; historians consider the church one of the finest examples of   14th century monastic architecture. Sveta Bogorodica Ljeviska Church
Located in Prizren, this church was built in 1307. Under the Ottomans,   it was converted to a mosque. Preservationists have largely restored the church's   impressive frescoes. 
Monastery of the Archangel Michael
         Located on the outskirts of Prizren, only the ruins of this       once impressive monastery remain, including the burial vault of King Dusan.     Map of Serbia

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