Emperor of the Serbs

Emperor of the Serbs
Imperial
Divellion (Emperor's personal banner)
Coronation of Emperor Dušan, in The Slavonic Epic (1926)
Details
First monarch	Stefan Dušan
Last monarch	Stefan Uroš V
Formation	16 April 1346
Abolition	2/4 December 1371
Appointer	Hereditary

Between 1345 and 1371, the Serbian monarch was titled emperor (tsar), the full title being Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks (Serbian: цар Срба и Грка/car Srba i Grka) in Serbian and basileus and autokrator of Serbia and Romania ["the land of the Romans"] (Greek: βασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ Σερβίας καὶ Ῥωμανίας) in Greek. The Serbian Empire was ruled by only two monarchs; Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55) and Stefan Uroš V (r. 1355–71). Two other claimants of the title ruled in Thessaly, Central Greece.

Taking advantage of the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 by alternately supporting both sides of the conflict, the Serbian king Stefan Dušan expanded his state southwards, conquering Albania and most of Macedonia by 1345, with the exception of the great fortress cities of Serres and Thessalonica. This growth in power made Serbia the de facto dominant state in the Balkans, and fuelled Dušan's imperial ambitions: already in early 1343, the Serbian ruler elevated his titles to "king and autokrator of all the Serbian and Maritime Lands and čestnik of the Greek [Byzantine] Lands".

Following his conquest of Serres, which crowned his conquest of Macedonia, in November or December 1345 Stefan Dušan proclaimed himself emperor (basileus), laying claim on the Byzantine imperial inheritance. On 16 April 1346 hewas crowned emperor at Skopje in an assembly attended by the elevated Serbian Patriarch, and also the Bulgarian Patriarch and the Archbishop of Ohrid. His imperial title was recognised by Bulgaria and various other neighbors and trading partners but not by the Byzantine Empire. Mount Athos addressed him as Emperor, though rather as Emperor of Serbs than Emperor of Serbs and Greeks. In Serbian charters, ethnic terms are used – "Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks" (цар Срба и Грка).