page_title: Grand Principality of Serbia
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Grand Principality of Serbia / History
caption_attribution_description: Српски / srpski: Mramorje, Perućac, Srbija. Slikao Goldfinger
context_page_description: Grand Principality of Serbia, also known as Raška was a Serbian medieval state that comprised parts of what is today Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and southern Dalmatia, being centred in the region of Raška. The state was formed in ca. 1091 out of a vassal principality of Duklja, a Serb state which had itself emerged from the early medieval Serbian Principality that was centred in Raška until 960, when it was left in obscurity in sources after the Byzantine–Bulgarian wars. Its founder, Vukan, took the title of Grand Prince when his uncle and overlord Constantine Bodin ended up in Byzantine prison after decades of revolt. While Duklja was struck with civil wars, Raška continued the fight against the Byzantines. It was ruled by the Vukanović dynasty, who managed to put most of the former Serbian state under their rule, as well as expanding to the south and east. Through diplomatic ties with Hungary it managed to retain its independence past the mid-12th century. After a dynastic civil war in 1166, Stefan Nemanja emerged victorious. Nemanja's son Stefan was crowned king in 1217, while his younger son Rastko was ordinated the first Archbishop of Serbs in 1219.
context_section_description: In 1091 or 1092, Vukan became independent, taking the title of Grand Prince (veliki župan). His state was centered at Ras, around present-day Novi Pazar. Subordinate to him were local counts (titled župan), who seem to have been more or less autonomous in the internal affairs of their counties, but who obliged loyalty, and support in warfare. It seems that the counts were hereditary holders, holding their land before Duklja annexed Raška. Vukan began raiding Byzantine territory in the vicinity of Kosovo in ca. 1090, the Byzantines initially being unable to take counter-measures as they faced invading Pechenegs. After defeating the Pechenegs, Alexios I Komnenos sent an army with the strategos of Dyrrhachium, which was defeated by Vukan in 1092. Alexios then mobilized a much larger army, led by himself, and marched onto Raška; Vukan sent envoys, seeking peace, which Alexios quickly accepted as problems arose at home with Cumans plundering as far as Adrianople. Immediately after the Emperor's departure, Vukan broke the treaty, and began to expand along the Vardar, obtaining much booty and taking the cities of Vranje, Skopje and Tetovo. In 1094 or 1095, Alexios marched out and met Vukan, who offered peace and gave twenty hostages including his cousin Uroš and son Stefan (it was usual for relatives of rulers to stay at the Imperial court as hostages of peace). At this time, Vukan acted entirely on his own, no longer a vassal of Duklja, which because of its civil war did not involve itself in the conflicts. Following Bodin's death in 1101, Vukan took advantage of the dynastic civil wars in Duklja, and forged an alliance with Kočapar, with whom he invaded Duklja in 1102. Kočapar's reign was short-lived, as he fell in battle during a conflict with Zahumlje; Vukan installed another member of the dynasty, Vladimir, to whom he married his daughter. Upon spreading his influence in Duklja, Vukan invaded Byzantium once more in the spring of 1106, taking advantage of the Norman campaign, defeating co-emperor John II Komnenos, but then sent hostages in return for peace in November. There is no written record of Vukan after this war, and he is believed to have died in ca. 1112, succeeded by his cousin Uroš.
  In 1113 or 1114, the Byzantine army of Dyrrhachium invaded Duklja and captured its capital of Scutari. They subsequently installed their protégé, while ruler Đorđe took refuge in Raška under the protection of Uroš, and married his relative. The two led an army into Duklja in 1125, successfully retaining most of its territory. After a Byzantine invasion of the maritime, they nominally recognized Gradinja, resulting in a guerrilla war which ended with Đorđe's capture. Gradinja, however, only ruled a small portion of Duklja, and subsequently strengthened ties with Raška. In ca. 1127, a Byzantine–Hungarian war broke out, with the Hungarians taking over Belgrade, then penetrating to Niš, Sofia, and Philippopolis, after which John defeated them with infantry and navy on the Danube. The Serbs, who had in the meantime recognized Byzantine rule, expelled the Byzantine governor at Ras, Kritopl, who fled to Constantinople where he was ridiculed. Uroš I had three sons, Uroš II, Desa and Beloš, and one daughter, Jelena, from a marriage with Anna Diogenissa, the granddaughter of Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. On 1 March 1131, he married his daughter to King Béla II of Hungary. Béla II, being blind, relied entirely on Jelena who acted as a co-ruler. Jelena is sourced as having decided to massacre 68 aristocrats at the Arad assembly, due to their persuasion of Coloman to blind her husband earlier. In 1137, Ladislaus II, the son of Béla II and Jelena, became the titular Ban of Bosnia. When Béla II died on 13 February 1141, the eldest son Géza II ascended the throne, still a child. Therefore, Jelena and her brother Beloš, whom she had invited to the court, ruled the Kingdom of Hungary as regents until September 1146 when he came of age. In 1145 Beloš received the title of comes palatinus (count palatine), the highest court title — meaning he co
caption: Medieval tombstones Stećci found in Grand Principality of Serbia; today UNESCO World Heritage Site[12]
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