Vukan II Nemanjic
Encyclopedia
Vukan Nemanjić or Vukan II was the Grand Prince
of the Grand Principality of Serbia from 1202 to 1204. He was the Grand Prince of Pomorje
(titular King) from 1195 until his death. He was the eldest, but his father had instead chosen his younger brother Stefan as heir, as soon as his father died, he plotted against his brother and took the throne by force, in a coup assisted by the Kingdom of Hungary. He was defeated two years later, and was pardoned by his third brother, and he continued to rule his appanage of Zeta.
(r. 1166-1196) and his wife Anastasija
. His younger brothers were Stefan Nemanjić and Rastko Nemanjić, and he also had two sisters.
His father had managed to secure the independence from the Byzantine Empire
after the death of emperor Manuel I (1180), and then conquered the traditional fiefs of Duklja, Travunija and Hum
on the Adriatic coast. Nemanja gives Vukan, as heir presumptive, appanage
s of the conquered lands, including Hvosno
and Toplica around 1190 as Grand Prince.
In an inscription dated 1195 in the church of St. Luke in Kotor
, Vukan is titled as King of Duklja
, Dalmatia
, Travunia
, Toplica and Hvosno.
Although Vukan was Nemanja's eldest son, Nemanja preferred to see his younger son Stefan Nemanjić on the Serbian throne mostly because Stefan was married to Byzantine princes Eudocia, daughter of latter emperor Alexios III Angelos
. It seems that Vukan reacted on this change in succession by declaring himself King of Duklja in 1195 probably due to the relationship of his family with old Dukljan royal house which was deposed by his father. Although he assumed royal title, Vukan remained to recognize Nemanja's authority. In 1196 at the State Council Nemanja abdicated in favor of Stefan and Vukan had to recognize his brother as the new ruler of Serbia. After the council Nemanja became monk Simeon and retreated to his monastery of Hilandar
on holy Mount Athos
. While Nemanja was alive Vukan didn't oppose Stefan's rule but as soon as Nemanja died in 1200 he started to plot against him in order to become Grand župan. He found help in Hungarian king Emeric
(1196–1204) who at the time fought against the Second Bulgarian Empire
and wanted Serbian assistance. With the help of Hungarian troops in 1202, Vukan managed to overthrow Stefan, who fled to Bulgaria, and Vukan was left to rule. In an inscription dating to 1202-1203, Vukan is titled as Grand Župan Vukan, Ruler of all Serbian land, Zeta
, maritime towns and land of Nišava
.
In return for Hungarian help, Vukan became a Hungarian vassal and promised that he would convert his people to Catholicism if the Pope would give him royal title. However, as a Hungarian vassal, Vukan soon got involved in their conflict with Bulgaria. In 1203 Bulgarians attacked Serbia and conquered the eastern part of country with the city of Niš
. In the chaos that followed the Bulgarian attack, and using the Vukans's sympaties for Catholicism against him, Stefan managed to return to Serbia and overthrow Vukan in 1204 becoming grand župan again. On intervention of the third brother, archbishop Sava, Stefan spared Vukan and return him to his apanage in Zeta (Duklja) where he kept his title of king.
He was mentioned for the last time in 1207. It is believed that he died soon after because his son Đorđe is mentioned as king in 1208.
Grand Prince
The title grand prince or great prince ranked in honour below emperor and tsar and above a sovereign prince .Grand duke is the usual and established, though not literal, translation of these terms in English and Romance languages, which do not normally use separate words for a "prince" who reigns...
of the Grand Principality of Serbia from 1202 to 1204. He was the Grand Prince of Pomorje
Pomorje
Pomorje or Primorje is a term used in historical contexts to describe one of the two geographical divisions that constituted Serbia in the Middle Ages...
(titular King) from 1195 until his death. He was the eldest, but his father had instead chosen his younger brother Stefan as heir, as soon as his father died, he plotted against his brother and took the throne by force, in a coup assisted by the Kingdom of Hungary. He was defeated two years later, and was pardoned by his third brother, and he continued to rule his appanage of Zeta.
Life
Vukan was born in the 1170s, as the eldest son of Serbian Grand Prince Stefan NemanjaStefan 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...
(r. 1166-1196) and his wife Anastasija
Saint Anastasija
Ana Nemanjić, also known as Saint Anastasija was the princess consort of the Serbian Principality as the wife of Stefan Nemanja . She was of noble descent. Ana took monastic vows in 1196 and was baptized Anastasia, after Anastasia of Sirmium. Her feast day is June 22 .Her origins have never been...
. His younger brothers were Stefan Nemanjić and Rastko Nemanjić, and he also had two sisters.
His father had managed to secure the independence from 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...
after the death of emperor Manuel I (1180), and then conquered the traditional fiefs of Duklja, Travunija and Hum
Zachlumia
Zachlumia or Zahumlje was a medieval principality located in modern-day regions of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia...
on the Adriatic coast. Nemanja gives Vukan, as heir presumptive, appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
s of the conquered lands, including Hvosno
Hvosno
Hvosno was a medieval Serbian župa located in the northern part of the Metohija region, in Kosovo. It roughly encompassed the areas of the modern Istok and Peć municipalities...
and Toplica around 1190 as Grand Prince.
In an inscription dated 1195 in the church of St. Luke in Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
, Vukan is titled as King of Duklja
Duklja
Doclea or Duklja was a medieval state with hereditary lands roughly encompassing the territories of present-day southeastern Montenegro, from Kotor on the west to the river Bojana on the east and to the sources of Zeta and Morača rivers on the north....
, Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, Travunia
Travunia
Travunia was a medieval region, administrative unit and principality, which was part of Medieval Serbia , and in its last years, the Bosnian Kingdom . The county became hereditary in a number of noble houses, often kin to the ruling dynasty. The region came under Ottoman rule in 1482...
, Toplica and Hvosno.
Alexios III Angelos
Alexios III Angelos was Byzantine Emperor from 1195 to 1203.- Early life:Alexios III Angelos was the second son of Andronikos Angelos and Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa. Andronicus was himself a son of Theodora Komnene, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina. Thus...
. It seems that Vukan reacted on this change in succession by declaring himself King of Duklja in 1195 probably due to the relationship of his family with old Dukljan royal house which was deposed by his father. Although he assumed royal title, Vukan remained to recognize Nemanja's authority. In 1196 at the State Council Nemanja abdicated in favor of Stefan and Vukan had to recognize his brother as the new ruler of Serbia. After the council Nemanja became monk Simeon and retreated to his monastery of Hilandar
Hilandar
Hilandar Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos in Greece. It was founded in 1198 by the first Serbian Archbishop Saint Sava and his father, Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja of the medieval Serbian principality of Raška...
on holy Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. While Nemanja was alive Vukan didn't oppose Stefan's rule but as soon as Nemanja died in 1200 he started to plot against him in order to become Grand župan. He found help in Hungarian king Emeric
Emeric of Hungary
Emeric I , , King of Hungary and Croatia . He was crowned during his father's lifetime, but after his father's death he had to fight against his brother, Andrew, who forced Emeric to assign the government of Croatia and Dalmatia to him...
(1196–1204) who at the time fought against the Second Bulgarian Empire
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
and wanted Serbian assistance. With the help of Hungarian troops in 1202, Vukan managed to overthrow Stefan, who fled to Bulgaria, and Vukan was left to rule. In an inscription dating to 1202-1203, Vukan is titled as Grand Župan Vukan, Ruler of all Serbian land, Zeta
Zeta
-Science:* Zeta functions, in mathematics** Riemann zeta function* Zeta potential, the electrokinetic potential of a colloidal system* Tropical Storm Zeta , formed in December 2005 and lasting through January 2006* Z-pinch, in fusion power...
, maritime towns and land of Nišava
Nišava
The Nišava or Nishava is a river in Bulgaria and Serbia, a right tributary, and with a length of 218 km also the longest one, of the Južna Morava.- Bulgaria :...
.
In return for Hungarian help, Vukan became a Hungarian vassal and promised that he would convert his people to Catholicism if the Pope would give him royal title. However, as a Hungarian vassal, Vukan soon got involved in their conflict with Bulgaria. In 1203 Bulgarians attacked Serbia and conquered the eastern part of country with the city of Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
. In the chaos that followed the Bulgarian attack, and using the Vukans's sympaties for Catholicism against him, Stefan managed to return to Serbia and overthrow Vukan in 1204 becoming grand župan again. On intervention of the third brother, archbishop Sava, Stefan spared Vukan and return him to his apanage in Zeta (Duklja) where he kept his title of king.
He was mentioned for the last time in 1207. It is believed that he died soon after because his son Đorđe is mentioned as king in 1208.
Family
Vukan had at least three sons by an unknown wife(s):- Đorđe who held title of king in 1208, but was only prince in 1242
- StefanStefan Vukanović NemanjićStefan Vukanović Nemanjić was a Serbian Prince, the son of Vukan Nemanjić and the nephew of King Stefan II the First-Crowned. He built the Morača monastery.-Life:...
who founded Morača monasteryMoraca monasteryMorača is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in the valley of the Morača River in central Montenegro. It is one of the best known medieval monuments of Montenegro. It was founded in 1252 by Stefan, son of Vukan Nemanjić, the Grand Prince of Zeta, the grandson of Stefan Nemanja...
in 1252 - DmitarDmitar NemanjicDmitar Nemanjić was a Serbian Prince, the son of Vukan Nemanjić and the nephew of King Stefan II the First-Crowned. He is venerated as Saint David Nemanjić with the title of the Venerable in the Serbian Orthodox Church.-Life:...
(better known by his monastic name David) who founded monastery of Davidovica and was still alive in 1286.
See also
- Nemanjić family treeNemanjic family treeNemanjić family tree*Vukan / Stefan Vukan / Uroš I**Zavida, Prince of Zachumlia before 1145***Tihomir, Grand Prince of Serbia 1163-1166***Stracimir, Prince of West Morava 1163-after 1180s***Miroslav, Prince of Hum 1163–1190...
Sources
- John VA Fine, The Late Medieval Balkans
- Ćorović, VladimirVladimir CorovicVladimir Ćorović was a 20th-century Serbian historian, member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts . He is best known for his many acclaimed works on the history of Serbs and Yugoslavia.-Early:...
, Istorija srpskog naroda, Book I, (In Serbian) Electric Book, Rastko Electronic Book, Antikvarneknjige (Cyrillic) - About monarchs of medieval Montenegro