The Battle of Pantino was fought between the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 and Serbian Principality in 1167. It resulted in the crowning of Stefan Nemanja

Stefan Nemanja

Stefan Nemanja was the Grand Prince of the Grand Principality of Serbia from 1166 to 1196, a heir of the Vukanović dynasty that marked the beginning of a greater Serbian realm .He is remembered for his contributions to Serbian culture and...

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Background

Tihomir had Nemanja captured and chained after he had built monasteries without talking to Tihomir, the lands of Nemanja were seized but Nemanja's supporters conspired to the church that Tihomir had done all this because of his disapproval with the building of churchs and thus became targeted by the clergy, something that would boost Nemanja's respect. Nemanja was later freed and regained rule some of his previous lands.

Stefan Nemanja successfully overthrowed Tihomir, who fled to Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 with his brothers.

The battle

A Byzantine army was assembled for the Byzantine ally Tihomir, who came in from Skopje

Skopje

Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

. The two armies collided at Pantino near Zvečan

Zvecan

Zvečan is a town and municipality in the Kosovska Mitrovica district of Kosovo. It is a part of North Kosovo, a region with an ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of the ethnic-Albanian-majority Kosovo and Metohija. The municipality covers an area of , and...

, present-day Kosovo

Kosovo

Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

. After a decisive battle, the Byzantine force was crushed and quickly began retreating. Tihomir

Tihomir

Tihomir is a South Slavic male given name which means "quiet" and "peace"...

 drowned in the Sitnica river and Nemanja's remaining brothers were pardoned, reckognizing Stefan as supreme ruler of Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

, crowned as "Ruler of All Serbia".

Aftermath

The battle was decisive in the fact that it ensured the unity of all Serbian princes and their ultimate loyalty to Stefan Nemanja. This later paved the way for the consolidation of Serbia and its eventual formation into a kingdom

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

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