NEMANJIC DYNASTY

, Nemanjic also spelled Nemanja, ruling Serbian family that from the late 12th to the mid-14th century developed the principality of Raka into a large empire. The dynasty traced its descent from Stefan Nemanja, who, as veliki zupan, or grand chieftain, of the Serb region of Raka from 1169 to 1196, began to expand his domain while remaining a vassal of the Byzantine emperor. His son, Stefan Prvovencani (the First-Crowned), was granted the title of king of Raka by Pope Honorius III in 1217. His younger brother, Rastko (later canonized as St. Sava), became in 1219 the first archbishop of an independent Serbian Orthodox church. This close alliance between secular and sacred power gave the Nemanjic state much of its strength and stability. The succeeding Nemanjic kings were Stefan's sons Stefan Radoslav, Stefan Vladislav, and Stefan Uro I, who was succeeded by his sons Stefan Dragutin and Stefan Uro II (also called Stefan Milutin; reigned 12821321). Stefan Uro II took substantial territory in Macedonia from Byzantium. His son, Stefan Uro III (reigned 132231), expanded the state eastward into Bulgaria before being dethroned by his own son, Stefan Duan (reigned 133155). In a series of wars against the Byzantines, Stefan Duan, the greatest of the Nemanjic kings, conquered all of Albania, Macedonia, and Montenegro and drove farther south to take Epirus, Aetolia, and Thessaly (in Greece). He was crowned emperor in 1346. Serbs consider Duan's reign to be their Golden Age, during which the law code called the Zakonik was promulgated, many churches and monasteries were built, and agriculture, industry, and trade developed. Stefan Duan's son and successor, Stefan Uro V (from 1355), was a weak ruler under whom the Serbian empire dissolved into fragments ruled by rival princes. The Serbian principalities were compelled to accept the suzerainty of the Byzantine emperor before falling to the advancing power of the Ottoman Turks after 1371.