Stephen Uroš III Dečanski

Stefan Dečanski
King of all the Serbian and Maritime Lands
The fresco of king Stefan Dečanski with church model, Dečani monastery
King of Serbia
Reign	1322–1331
Coronation	6 January 1322
Predecessor	Stefan Konstantin
Successor	Stefan Dušan
Born	before 1282
Died	11 November 1331(1331-11-11) (aged 46) Castle of Zvečan
Burial	Visoki Dečani monastery
Issue	Stefan Uroš IV Dušan Simeon Uroš
Posthumous name Holy King, Stefan of Dečani
Dynasty	Nemanjić
Father	Stefan Uroš II Milutin
Mother	Jelena
Religion	Serbian Orthodox
Signature

Stefan Uroš III Nemanjić (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Урош III Немањић, Serbian pronunciation: [stɛ̂faːn ûrɔʃ trɛ̂tɕiː]), known as Stefan Dečanski ("Stefan of Dečani"; Стефан Дечански, Serbian pronunciation: [stɛ̂faːn dɛ̂tʃaːnskiː]; c. 1285 – 11 November 1331), was the King of Serbia from 6 January 1322 to 8 September 1331. Dečanski was the son of King Stefan Milutin, and he defeated several of his family members vying for the throne. He took his epithet Dečanski from the great monastery he built at Dečani.

Stefan Uroš III was the son of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin and his first wife Jelena, a Serbian noblewoman. He was born before his father took the throne in 1282.

While still a youth, he was sent by his father as a hostage with his entourage to Nogai Khan of the Golden Horde, to maintain the peace between the Serbs and Tatars. He stayed at Nogai's court until the Khan's death in 1299.

In 1314, Stefan Dečanski quarreled with his father, who sent him to Constantinople to be blinded. Dečanski was never totally blinded and was likely not blinded at all. In Constantinople, Dečanski was at the court of Andronikos II Palaiologos, indicating good relations between the states. Dečanski wrote a letter to Danilo, Bishop of Hum, asking him to intervene with Dečanski's father. Danilo wrote to Archbishop Nicodemus of Serbia, who spoke with Milutin and persuaded him to recall his son. In 1320 Dečanski was permitted to return to Serbia and was given the appanage of Budimlje, while his half-brother Stefan Konstantin, held Zeta.