Stefan Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia

Infobox Monarch
name = Stefan of Dečani
title = King of Serbia


caption = King Stefan Uroš III Dečanski
reign = 1321 - 1331
coronation = 1321
predecessor = Stefan Uroš II Milutin
successor = Dušan the Mighty
consort = Theodora of Bulgaria, Maria Palaiologina
issue = Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, Simeon Uroš
religion = Serbian Orthodox
royal house = House of Nemanjić
royal anthem =
father = Stefan Uroš II Milutin
mother = Anna of Bulgaria
date of birth = 1285
place of birth =
date of death = death date and age|1331|11|11|1285|1|1|mf=y
place of death = Castle of Zvečan
buried =

Stefan Uroš III "Dečanski" (Serbian: Стефан Урош III Дечански), (c. 1285 ndash November 11 1331) reigned as king of Serbia from 1321 to September 8 1331. He took his name from the great monastery he built at Dečani.

He was the son of King Stefan Uroš II and Anna of Bulgaria. His maternal grandparents were George I of Bulgaria and his wife Maria, sister of Ivan Asen III of Bulgaria.

While still a youth, he was sent by his father as a hostage to Nogai Khan of the Golden Horde, and on his return was entrusted with the governorship of Zeta (i.e., Montenegro).

He was married (first) to Theodora, daughter of Smilets of Bulgaria. He was secondly married to Byzantine princess Maria Palaiologina.

In 1314 his father, quarrelling with Stefan, sent him to Constantinople to have him blinded there. Stefen was never blinded properly but had to wear black bandage over his eyes. In 1320 he was permitted to return to Serbia and had to defeat several pretenders to the throne before being crowned in 1321. These included his half-brother Stefan Constantine, whom he defeated and killed in 1322, and his cousin Stefan Vladislav II, whom he defeated and exiled in 1324.

The claimants enjoyed foreign support, and the victorious king was faced by the alliance of Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire. Michael Asen III of Bulgaria divorced Stefan Uroš III's sister Anna and married the Byzantine princess Theodora Palaiologina instead. The allies intended to join forces for a major invasion of Serbia in 1330. This led to the most significant event of Stefan Uroš III's reign, the Battle of Velbuzhd, in which he defeated the Bulgarians and killed Bulgarian emperor Michael Asen III.

Hearing of his ally's defeat, the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos retreated, turning to easier prey. His conquests allowed him to push the Serbian borders to the south into Byzantine Macedonia. Some of his courtiers, however, were discontented with his policies and conspired to dethrone him in favour of his son Dušan. The latter imprisoned Stefan Uroš III in the castle of Zvečan, where he presently died a violent death by strangulation.

Although Stefan's actions were frequently far from saintly, the Serbian Orthodox Church had him canonized. His remains are venerated at the largest medieval church of Serbia that he built at Dečani. His feast day is November 24.

Ancestors

Family

By his first wife, Theodora of Bulgaria, Stefan Uroš III had several children, including:
* Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, who succeeded as king
* Helena (Jelena), who married Mladen III Šubić
* Theodora, who married sebastokratōr DejanBy his second wife, Maria Palaiologina, Stefan Uroš III had:
* Simeon Uroš Palaiologos

References

* John V.A. Fine, Jr., "The Late Medieval Balkans", Ann Arbor, 1987.