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The
dynasty took its name after its founder Stefan Nemanya, the first
independent Serbian ruler and the first Serbian saint. He was the youngest
son of the Rashka Grand Zhupan Zavida. In the 60s of the 12th
century he managed to push his brothers Tihomir, Stracimir and Miroslav
into peripheral areas of the Rashka state, and take over his father’s
title. Nemanya’s middle son and successor Stefan, the first Serbian
crowned king, continued his father’s internal policy, never letting the
descendants of other family branches get independence in the regions under
their administration. Strong economic progress, in the first place in
mining and trade, was characteristic for the reign of Stefan Urosh I.
Strong cental administrative power is also characteristic for the reign of
his successor Stefan Urosh II Milutin. In his time not only the ruler but
his feudal lords as well showed tendencies toward conquering other
territories. These tendencies were particularly distinct during the reign
of Stefan Dushan who crowned his conquests by proclaiming the Patriarchate
in 1345, and himself an emperor in 1346. During his reign the Statute Book
was proclaimed, the codification of which was based on the codes of the
Byzantine emperor Justinian. Dushan’s successor Urosh did not have the
political talent of his predecessors. In the course of his reign many
regions united by Emperor Dushan seceded. It resulted in decline of the
Serbian Empire, and various powerful local rulers tried to establish their
own dynasties. Deeply religious and devoted to Orthodoxy, all rulers of
the Nemanyich dynasty were great donors, and erected all over Serbia many
impressive monasteries and churches, such as Studenica, Djurdjevi Stupovi,
Zhicha, Dechani, Grachanica, Milesheva, Sopochani . . . as well as the
only Serbian monastery on Mount Athos - Chilandar. |
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