Grand Principality of Serbia

Grand Principality of Serbia
Велика жупа Рашка (Србија) Velika župa Raška (Srbija)
1091–1217
Serbia under Stefan Nemanja and Stefan the First-Crowned
Capital		Ras
Languages		Serbian (Old Serbian)
Religion		Christianity
Government		Monarchy
Historical era		Medieval
•	Independence	1091
•	Elevated to kingdom	1217
Preceded by Succeeded by Theme of Sirmium Duklja Principality of Serbia (medieval) Kingdom of Serbia (medieval)
Today part of		Serbia  Montenegro  Bosnia  Croatia  Macedonia  Albania

Serbia, also known as Raška (Serbian Cyrillic: Рашка, Latin: Rascia) was a Serb medieval state that comprised parts of what is today Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and southern Dalmatia, being centred in the region of Raška (hence its exonym). The state was formed in ca. 1091 out of a vassal principality of Duklja, a Serb state which had itself emerged from the early medieval Serbian principality that was centred in Raška until 960, when it was left in obscurity in sources after the Byzantine–Bulgarian wars. Its founder, Vukan, took the title of Grand Prince when his uncle and overlord Bodin ended up in Byzantine prison after decades of revolt. While Duklja was struck with civil wars, Raška continued the fight against the Byzantines. It was ruled by the Vukanović dynasty, who managed to put most of the former Serbian state under their rule, as well as expanding to the south and east. Through diplomatic ties with Hungary it managed to retain its independence past the mid-12th century. After a dynastic civil war in 1166, Stefan Nemanja emerged victorious. Nemanja's son Stefan was crowned king in 1217, while his younger son Rastko (monk Sava) was ordinated the first Archbishop of Serbs in 1219.

According to the De Administrando Imperio (DAI), the Serbs settled the Balkans under the protection of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–41), and were ruled by a dynasty known in historiography as the Vlastimirović dynasty. Slavs had begun settling the region in the early 6th century, after raiding deep into the Empire. They settled "baptized Serbia" (the "Serbian hinterland", anachronistically known as "Raška"), which included Bosnia, and the maritime lands (Pomorje) of Travunija, Zahumlje and Paganija, while maritime Duklja was held by the Byzantines, it was presumably settled with Serbs as well. All of the maritime lands bordered "baptized Serbia" to the north. In the mid-9th century, the hitherto peaceful neighbour of Bulgaria invaded but was defeated in war. Serbia was Christianized in ca. 870, although missions had been made during Heraclius' reign. In the following decades, members of the dynasty fought succession wars, and Serbia became a matter of Byzantine-Bulgarian rivalry. The written information regarding the dynasty ends with the DAI and Prince Časlav's death (ca. 950), after which the realm crumbled into pieces. The Byzantines established a short-lived catepanate at Ras, with military governorship ending soon thereafter with the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria, and was re-established only ca. 1018 with the short-lived Theme of Sirmium, which however did not extend much into Raška.