page_title: Law of Serbia
section_title: Dušan's Code
hierarchical_section_title: Law of Serbia / History / Dušan's Code
caption_attribution_description: English: The mining code of Despotes Stefan Lazarević. Kratovo, ca. 1580. Belgrade, Archives SASA Српски / srpski: Rudarski zakonik Despota Stefana Lazarevića. Kratovo, oko 1580. Beograd, Arhiv SANU
context_page_description: The Law of Serbia comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the Serbian Constitution.
context_section_description: Dušan's Code, (Serbian: Dušanov zakonik/Душанов законик), known historically as Закон благовјернаго цара Стефана, is a compilation of several legal systems that was enacted by Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia in 1349. It was used in the Serbian Empire and in the succeeding Serbian Despotate. Dušan's code is considered as an early constitution; an advanced set of laws which regulated all aspects of life. The Code was promulgated at a state council on May 21, 1349, in Skopje, the capital of the Serbian Empire.  Emperor Dušan added a series of articles to it in 1353 or 1354, at a council in Serres. This second part was half the size and at times cited issues from the first part, referring to it as the "First Code". The second part had a total of 201 articles. Four of them (79, 123, 152, 153), regarding various subjects, referred to the authority of the "Law of the Sainted King" (i.e. Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia, r. 1282–1321, Dušan's grandfather), which suggests that Milutin had issued a code whose text did not survive. By this assumption, it would appear that Dušan's Code was a supplement to Milutin's Code.  As well, it was a supplement to the various Church law codes that held authority in Serbia.
  Dušan's Code had several additional influences.  It was influenced by the Syntagma Canonum, a text written in 1335 by Matthew Blastares, which had been translated into Serbian and received legal authority by 1349. It was heavily influenced by Byzantine law with some reflections in nearly half of its articles, including many articles concerning the church as well as many with influence from Byzantine civil law.  Notable Byzantine influence includes the late 9th century compilation by Basil I and Leo VI.
  Scholars A. Solovjev and Soulis conclude that the Council of 1349 issued a three-part comprehensive legal document, since most early manuscripts of the Code also contain two other texts: The first part was an abridgement of the Syntagma, the second part was the "Code of Justinian" (an abridgement of The Partner's Law), and the third part was always Dušan's Code itself. According to Fine, there is a possibility that the Code was written to supplement the first two parts, by adding items that were not covered, rather than to build a comprehensive legal system.
caption: Law book on mines by despot Stefan Lazarević, ~1580
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