Stefan Uroš I Nemanjić, king of Serbia

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Uros_I_of_Serbia

Stephen Uroš I (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Урош I) (c. 1223 – May 1, 1277) was king of Serbia from 1243 to 1276, succeeding his brother Stefan Vladislav.

Life

Stephen Uroš was the youngest son of Stefan the First-Crowned and Anna, the granddaughter of Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice.

In spring 1243 the Serbs rebelled and deposed their King Stephen Vladislav I of Serbia, replacing him with his younger brother Stephen Uroš I. The new king remained on good terms with his predecessor, who is mentioned in some of his charters.

The reign of Stephen Uroš I coincided with the decline of Serbia's primary rivals in the Balkans, Epirus and Bulgaria. This helped Serbia become an influential local power. That development was actively fostered by its king, who encouraged rapid economic development. Saxon miners from Hungary were introduced to work and develop the Serbian silver mines at Brskovo and Rudnik. The Saxon communities were allowed a level of self-government and the right to worship in Catholic-rite churches.

Economic prosperity was also fostered by the related intensification of trade with the Dalmatian cities of Dubrovnik and Kotor. The increase in the mining of silver and in trade naturally led to the introduction of larger quantities of royal coinage, modeled after the Venetian standard.

Stephen Uroš I was forced, however, to undertake military action against several of his neighbors. In 1252–1253 he clashed with Dubrovnik, and shortly afterward his attempt to assert his authority over Zahumlje drove the local prince into the arms of the Hungarians, whose vassal he became. Into these conflicts Dubrovnik drew its allies, the Bulgarians, who invaded deep into Serbian territory in 1254. Eventually Stephen Uroš made separate peace agreements with his neighbors and the crisis passed.

During the second half of the 1260s a new war broke out with Dubrovnik, which was secretly favored by the Serbian queen. A treaty was signed in 1268, specifying the amount of protection money that Dubrovnik was expected to supply annually to the Serbian king. The arrangement remained largely unbroken for the next century.

In 1268 the Serbian king invaded the Hungarian possessions south of the Danube in Mačva, what is now northern Serbia. In spite of some initial success, Stefan Uroš was captured by the Hungarians and forced to purchase his release. A peace treaty was signed between the two kingdoms, and Stephen Uroš's son Stephen Dragutin of Serbia was married to Catherine, the daughter of the future king Stephen V of Hungary.

By the end of his reign, Stephen Uroš apparently succeeded in suppressing the autonomy of Zahumlje, where the local princes became virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the nobility. In his effort to achieve centralization, the king appears to have alienated his eldest son by refusing to grant him an appanage. The conflict between father and son exacerbated, and the king apparently considered making his younger son, the future Stefan Milutin, his heir.

Worried about the inheritance and his very life, Stephen Dragutin finally demanded to be associated on the throne in 1276. When Stephen Uroš refused, Dragutin rebelled and received help from his Hungarian relatives. The allies defeated the Serbian king and Stefan Uroš was forced to abdicate and retire to his monastic foundation of Sopoćani, where he died in c. 1277.

Family

By his wife Helen, who was either an Angevin princess or a daughter of the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, Stephen Uroš I had at least three sons:

• Stephen Dragutin of Serbia, who succeeded as king
• Stephen Uroš II Milutin, who succeeded as king in 1282
• Brnjača, a daughter

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-http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SERBIA.htm#StefanUrosIdied1280A

STEFAN UROŠ, son of STEFAN "Prvovenčani/the First-Crowned" King [Kralj] of Serbia & his third wife Anna Dandolo (-1 May 1280, bur Sopoćani). “Stephanus Uroš, Serbiæ rex” confirmed the privileges granted by “fratre Stephano” to Ragusa by charter dated to [1240/72][168]. He succeeded in 1243 as STEFAN UROŠ I "Veliki/the Great" or "Arapavi/the Holy" King of Serbia, when his brother was deposed. His reign saw the economic development of Serbia associated with the opening of silver, gold, lead, copper and iron mines, which attracted Dalmatian merchants who took over financial management of the enterprises[169]. War with Dubrovnik broke out in 1265, blamed on Dubrovnik seizing Serbian coastal territories, granting asylum to Serbian deserters, and maintaining ties with Venice. Peace returned in 1268 when Dubrovnik agree to pay annual tribute to Serbia in return for duty-free trade within the country[170]. King Stefan Uroš I declared war on Hungary in 1268, plundered Mačva, but was himself captured and held for ransom. The marriage between his son and the granddaughter of the Hungarian king was probably agreed as part of the terms for his release[171]. He concluded an alliance with Charles I King of Sicily [Anjou-Capet] in 1273[172]. Presumably in an attempt to eliminate regional differences within Serbia, he adopted the title "King of all Serbian land and the Coast", dropping references to Hum, Trebinje and Zeta[173]. His son Dragutin, with support from Hungary, defeated him in battle near Gacko in 1276. King Stefan Uroš I abdicated and became a monk as SIMON at the monastery of Sopoćani. m ([1250]) JELENA, daughter of --- (-Shkodra 8 Feb 1314). King Stefan Uroš I & his wife had four children:

• 1. STEFAN DRAGUTIN (-12 Mar 1316, bur Ras). ; STEFAN DRAGUTIN King of Serbia
• 2. STEFAN UROŠ MILUTIN ([1253]-Castle Nerodimlja, Amselfeld 29 Oct 1321, bur Sardika [Sofija]).; STEFAN UROŠ II MILUTIN King of Serbia
• 3. BRNČA [Brnja%C4%8Da]. The primary source which confirms her parentage and marriage has not yet been identified. m DJORDJE, Župan. He was in prison in Hungary 1269[199].
• 4. [STEFAN (-before 1264). The primary source which confirms his parentage has not yet been identified.]

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http://genealogy.euweb.cz/balkan/balkan4.html#M

Vukanivich family

One Uros I Nemanjic became Zupan of Serbia (1115-ca 1146), first under Hungarian, then Byzantine suzerainty, *ca 1080, +ca 1146; m.Anna, probably dau.of Konstantinos Diogenes AND/OR a niece of Emperor Alexios of Byzantium; they had issue:

• A1. Uros II Primslav, Zupan of Serbia (by 1146-50)+(1151-62), abdicated, +in Hungary 1162
• A2. Desa, Zupan of Diocleia, Trebinje and Zahumlje before 1151, Zupan of Serbia (1150-51)+(1155)+(1162), +ca 1166
  • B1. a daughter, m.Leonardo Michiel, a Venetian noble
• A4. Jelena, *after 1109, +after 1146; m.28.4.1127 King Béla II of Hungary (+13.2.1141)
• A5. Marija, +1190/96; m.1132 Konrad of Moravia, Pr of Znaim
• A6. a daughter, m.Bjelos, Ban of Croatia, Regent of Hungary, may have reigned briefly in Serbia; J.Fine suggests that Bjelos was son, not son-in-law, of Uros

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