Realm of Stefan Dragutin
The Realm of Stefan Dragutin[a] (Serbian: Област Стефана Драгутина / Oblast Stefana Dragutina) was a medieval Serb kingdom. Initially, it was a vassal kingdom of the Kingdom of Hungary,[1] but subsequently became an independent kingdom, after the collapse of the central power in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was ruled by the Serbian kings Stefan Dragutin (1282–1316) and his son Stefan Vladislav II (1316–1325). The kingdom was centered in the region of Lower Syrmia (today known as Mačva) and its first capital was Debrc (between Belgrade and Šabac), while residence of the king was later moved to Belgrade.
Realm of Stefan Dragutin Област Стефана Драгутина Oblast Stefana Dragutina | |||||||||||||||||||||
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1282–1325 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Kingdom of Syrmia of Stefan Dragutin (1291-1316) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Status | initially vassal kingdom of the Kingdom of Hungary,[1] later an independent kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||
Capital | Debrc and Belgrade | ||||||||||||||||||||
Government | kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||
Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||||||||||
• Established | 1282 | ||||||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1325 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Today part of | Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia |
Territory
In the Middle Ages, "Syrmia" was the name for a larger area around the river Sava. The part in the north of Sava was known as Upper Syrmia (present-day Syrmia), while the area south of the river was known as Lower Syrmia (present-day Mačva). The kingdom was centered in Mačva, but also included Belgrade, part of Šumadija with Rudnik, and the counties (župe) of Podrinje, Usora, Soli, Braničevo and Kučevo. According to several Serbian historians (Dejan Mikavica, Stanoje Stanojević, Aleksa Ivić, Milojko Brusin, etc.), the kingdom also included Upper Syrmia (modern Syrmia).
History
Stefan Dragutin was initially the king of Serbia from 1276 to 1282. In 1282 he broke his leg while hunting and became ill; he passed the throne to his younger brother Stefan Milutin at the council at Deževo in 1282, while keeping for himself some northern parts of the country (Rudnik and parts of Župa of Podrinje). Since his son Vladislav married a relative of the Hungarian king, Dragutin in 1284 gained from Ladislaus IV the Banates of Só (Soli), Ózora (Usora) and Macsó (Mačva) with Belgrade, which he initially ruled as a Hungarian vassal, until the collapse of the central power in the Kingdom of Hungary. The first capital of his state was Debrc (between Belgrade and Šabac), and later he moved his residence to Belgrade. Dragutin was the first Serb ruler who ruled from Belgrade as the capital.
In roughly 1291 and with the help of Milutin, Dragutin expanded his territory by annexing regions of Braničevo and Kučevo, whose Bulgarian rulers Darman and Kudelin recently became independent from the Kingdom of Hungary.[2] For the first time, that region became part of the Serbian state.[1] This action probably caused the war between the Bulgarian despot Shishman of Vidin and Milutin.
Near the end of his life Stefan Dragutin separated from his Hungarian friends and strengthened his connections in Serbia. He later took monastic vows, and died 1316, buried at the Đurđevi stupovi monastery near Novi Pazar.
After king Dragutin died, his son Vladislav assumed his father's appanage. However, in 1319, Serbian king Milutin, Vladislav's uncle, invaded, defeated and imprisoned Vladislav. When Milutin died in 1321, the newly freed Vladislav recovered his father's lands, with the help of the Hungarians and Stephen II, Ban of Bosnia.[b]
After having been beaten again by supporters of Stefan Dečanski (successor of Milutin), Vladislav retreated to the Kingdom of Hungary in 1324. Vladislav's nephew, Ban Stephen II, reincorporated Soli and Usora into Bosnia. Belgrade and the northern part of Banate of Macsó along the river Sava remained under the rule of the Kingdom of Hungary, while Braničevo and the southern part of Mačva remained Serbian. The kingdoms of Serbia and Hungary would contest Mačva for the next century.
Rulers
Monarch | Reign |
---|---|
Stefan Dragutin |
1282–1316 |
Vladislav |
1316–1325 |
Annotations
- ^ The state was called "the Syrmian Land" (Serbian: Сремска земља / Sremska zemlja) or "Syrmian Lands" (Serbian: Сремске земље / Sremske zemlje).[3][4] Serbian Archbishop Danilo II (s. 1324–37) called it the "state in the Syrmian land".[5] Ragusan chronicler Mavro Orbini (1563–1614) called it the "Land of King Stefan" (Italian: terra del Rè Stefano, Serbian: Земља краља Стефана / Zemlja kralja Stefana).[6][7] Scarcer historiographical names include "Dragutin's State" (Serbian: Драгутинова држава / Dragutinova država).
- ^ Vladislav's mother was the daughter of former Hungarian King Stephen V. Vladislav's wife was the aunt of former Hungarian King Andrew III. Ban Stephen II was the son of Vladislav's sister.
References
- Fine 1994, p. 220.
- Vásáry 2005, p. 104.
- Ћирковић & Михаљчић 1999, p. 167.
- Mrgić & Živković 2008, p. 368.
- Smilja Marjanović-Dušanić; Sima M. Ćirković (1994). Vladarske insignije i državna simbolika u Srbiji od XIII do XV veka. Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti. p. 25.
а Драгутин у „престо своје владавине, у државу сремске земље"
- Dinić 1978, p. 124.
- Орбин 1968, p. 24.
Sources
- Bataković, Dušan T., ed. (2005). Histoire du peuple serbe [History of the Serbian People] (in French). Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Ћирковић, Сима; Михаљчић, Раде, eds. (1999). Лексикон српског средњег века (The Lexicon of Serbian Middle Ages). Београд: Knowledge.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Dinić, Mihailo (1978). Српске земље у средњем веку: историјско-географске студије. Српска књижевна задруга.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St. Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895-1526. London & New York: I.B.Tauris.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994) [1987]. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
- Jireček, Constantin (1911). Geschichte der Serben. 1. Gotha: Perthes.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Krstić, Aleksandar R. (2016). "The Rival and the Vassal of Charles Robert of Anjou: King Vladislav II Nemanjić". Banatica. 26 (2): 33–51.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Mrgić, Jelena; Živković, Tibor (2008). Северна Босна: 13-16. век. Историјски институт.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Orbini, Mauro (1601). Il Regno de gli Slavi hoggi corrottamente detti Schiavoni. Pesaro: Apresso Girolamo Concordia.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Орбин, Мавро (1968). Краљевство Словена. Београд: Српска књижевна задруга.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Vásáry, István (2005). Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
External links
- Map of Dragutin's and Milutin's state, at the Serbian Government archive web site
- Map of the realm of Stephan Dragutin, on a map of the crown of Aragon and the house of Anjou in the Middle Ages (up to ca. 1380)"
- Map of the realm of Dragutin Istvan, on a map of "Hungarian oligarchs" 1301-1310
- Map of "Tulso Szeremseg", on a map of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 13th century
- Map of the "Statelet of Stefan Dragutin" at the Wayback Machine (archive index) (from book "Hrvatska povijest u 25 karata", written by Stjepan Srkulj and Josip Lučić)