82-587: The Serbian Empire ( Serbian : Српско царство / Srpsko carstvo , pronounced [sr̩̂pskoː tsâːrstʋo] ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia . It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty , who significantly expanded the state. During Dušan's rule, Serbia was the most powerful state in Southeast Europe and one of the most powerful European states. It
164-553: A Slavic language ( Indo-European ), of the South Slavic subgroup. Other standardized forms of Serbo-Croatian are Bosnian , Croatian , and Montenegrin . "An examination of all the major 'levels' of language shows that BCS is clearly a single language with a single grammatical system." It has lower intelligibility with the Eastern South Slavic languages Bulgarian and Macedonian , than with Slovene (Slovene
246-530: A Duke of present-day central Serbia (which had not yet come under Ottoman rule), stood against the Ottomans at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. The result was indecisive, but it led to the subsequent fall of Serbia. Stefan Lazarević , the son of Lazar, succeeded as ruler, but by 1394 he had become an Ottoman vassal. In 1402 he renounced Ottoman rule and became a Hungarian ally; the following years are characterized by
328-577: A conglomeration of principalities, some of which did not even nominally acknowledge his rule. Stefan Uroš V died childless on 4 December 1371, after much of the Serbian nobility had been killed by the Ottoman Turks during the Battle of Maritsa . The crumbling Serbian Empire under Uroš the Weak offered little resistance to the powerful Ottomans. In the wake of internal conflicts and decentralization of
410-497: A lacking and indecisive ruler, unable to keep the Serbian nobility under his control, whose weak and unassertive personality greatly contributed to the fall of the Empire and the eventual destruction of the Serbian state by the Ottomans. In Serbian folklore and epic poems he is often described as a just, well-intentioned ruler of pleasant appearance but weak character. While this view is popular among historians as well, some argue that he
492-474: A number of flags, and Serbia is represented by a flag placed above Skoplje ( Skopi ) with the name Serbia near the hoist , which was characteristic for capital cities at the time the drawing was produced. The flag, depicting a red double-headed eagle , represented the realm of Stefan Dušan. A flag in Hilandar , seen by Dimitrije Avramović, was alleged by the brotherhood to have been a flag of Emperor Dušan; it
574-538: A power struggle between the Ottomans and Hungary over the territory of Serbia. In 1453, the Ottomans conquered Constantinople , and in 1458 Athens was taken. In 1459, Serbia was annexed, and then Morea a year later. During the following centuries of Ottoman rule, the legacy of former statehood, embodied in the Serbian Empire, became an integral part of Serbian national identity . After finishing most of his conquests, Stefan Dušan dedicated himself to supervising
656-679: A single master required seizure of Constantinople to add to Serbia what remained of the Byzantine Empire. Dušan intended to make himself emperor and defender of Christianity against the Islamic wave. Education, to which St. Sava had given the first impulse, progressed remarkably during Dušan's reign. Schools and monasteries secured royal favor. True seats of culture, they became institutions in perpetuating Serbian national traditions. The fine arts, influenced by Italians, were not neglected. Architectural monuments, frescoes and mosaics testify
738-526: A sudden conquest led to the fragmentation of the empire. The period was marked by the rise of a new threat: the Ottoman Turkish sultanate gradually spread from Asia to Europe and conquered first Byzantine Thrace, and then the other Balkan states. Too incompetent to sustain the empire created by his father, Stefan V could neither repel attacks of foreign enemies nor combat the independence of his nobility. The Serbian Empire of Stefan V fragmented into
820-468: A tradition of Serbian heirs to rule this province. Advised by the nobility, Dušan later marched from Zeta to Nerodimlje , where he besieged his father and forced him to surrender the throne. Stefan was later imprisoned in the fortress of Zvečan , where he died. In 1333, Dušan launched a large attack on the Byzantine empire , at the time ruled by the ambitious emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos , with
902-542: A treaty with Dušan, so he could attack the kingdom of Naples without Dušan attacking him from the south. Stephen, feeling that his position in Hum and Krajina is becoming harder to defend, started building fortresses around river Neretva , to strengthen his presence and even went as far as to raid the Serbian province of Travunia , reaching as far as Kotor . Dušan could not tolerate this, so he marched with his army westward. Dušan led 50,000 infantry and 30,000 cavalry across
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#1732765756579984-449: Is a rare example of synchronic digraphia , a situation where all literate members of a society have two interchangeable writing systems available to them. Media and publishers typically select one alphabet or the other. In general, the alphabets are used interchangeably; except in the legal sphere, where Cyrillic is required, there is no context where one alphabet or another predominates. Although Serbian language authorities have recognized
1066-643: Is also the basis of standard Croatian , Bosnian , and Montenegrin varieties and therefore the Declaration on the Common Language of Croats, Bosniaks, Serbs, and Montenegrins was issued in 2017. The other dialect spoken by Serbs is Torlakian in southeastern Serbia, which is transitional to Macedonian and Bulgarian . Serbian is practically the only European standard language whose speakers are fully functionally digraphic , using both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
1148-534: Is considered a medieval constitution . The Code included 201 articles, based on Roman - Byzantine law . The legal transplanting is notable with the articles 172 and 174 of Dušan's Code, which regulated juridical independence. They were taken from the Byzantine code Basilika (book VII, 1, 16–17). The Code had its roots in the first Serbian constitution – St. Sava's Nomocanon ( Serbian : Zakonopravilo ) from 1219, enacted by Saint Sava . St. Sava's Nomocanon
1230-536: Is part of the Western South Slavic subgroup, but there are still significant differences in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation to the standardized forms of Serbo-Croatian, although it is closer to the Kajkavian and Chakavian dialects of Serbo-Croatian ). Speakers by country: Serbian was the official language of Montenegro until October 2007, when the new Constitution of Montenegro replaced
1312-530: Is shows that it was in accord with its time; for example, the Serbian Alexandride , a book about Alexander the Great , and a translation of Tristan and Iseult into Serbian. Although not belonging to the literature proper, the corpus of Serbian literacy in the 14th and 15th centuries contains numerous legal, commercial and administrative texts with marked presence of Serbian vernacular juxtaposed on
1394-663: Is the "identity script" of the Serbian nation. However, the law does not regulate scripts in standard language , or standard language itself by any means, leaving the choice of script as a matter of personal preference and to the free will in all aspects of life (publishing, media, trade and commerce, etc.), except in government paperwork production and in official written communication with state officials, which have to be in Cyrillic. Traffic signs and directional signs, and place names, on main or international roads are to be written with both Cyrillic and Latin script To most Serbians,
1476-435: Is the only general historical dictionary of Serbo-Croatian. Its first editor was Đuro Daničić , followed by Pero Budmani and the famous Vukovian Tomislav Maretić . The sources of this dictionary are, especially in the first volumes, mainly Štokavian . There are older, pre-standard dictionaries, such as the 1791 German–Serbian dictionary or 15th century Arabic-Persian-Greek-Serbian Conversation Textbook . The standard and
1558-794: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Serbian, written in the Cyrillic script : Сва људска бића рађају се слободна и једнака у достојанству и правима. Она су обдарена разумом и свешћу и треба једни према другима да поступају у духу братства. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Serbian, written in the Latin alphabet : Sva ljudska bića rađaju se slobodna i jednaka u dostojanstvu i pravima. Ona su obdarena razumom i svešću i treba jedni prema drugima da postupaju u duhu bratstva. Article 1 of
1640-613: The Ecumenical Councils , for the functioning of the state and the Serbian Orthodox Church. In 1355, Dušan began military preparations for new campaigns in the south and east, but suddenly died of an unknown illness in December 1355. Bordering Serbia to the west was the banate of Bosnia , ruled by Stephen II Kotromanic . During the reign of Dušan's father, Stefan Dečanski , Stephen expanded his rule to
1722-718: The Latin Church were condemned to work in mines, and people who propagated it were threatened with death. The Papacy grew concerned about this and the increasing power of Dušan and aroused the old rivalry of the Catholic Hungarians against the Orthodox Serbs. Once again Dušan overcame his enemies from whom he seized Bosnia and Herzegovina, which marked the height of the Serbian Empire in Middle Ages. However,
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#17327657565791804-631: The Proto-Slavic language . There are many loanwords from different languages, reflecting cultural interaction throughout history. Notable loanwords were borrowed from Greek, Latin, Italian, Turkish, Hungarian, English, Russian, German, Czech and French. Serbian literature emerged in the Middle Ages , and included such works as Miroslavljevo jevanđelje ( Miroslav's Gospel ) in 1186 and Dušanov zakonik ( Dušan's Code ) in 1349. Little secular medieval literature has been preserved, but what there
1886-737: The Serbian Empire gradually fragmented into a conglomeration of principalities, some of which did not even nominally acknowledge Uroš's rule. His position was not helped by his mother Helena, who started to rule autonomously from Serres in alliance with Jovan Uglješa . A similarly autonomous posture was assumed by the Dejanović family, the Balšić family, Nikola Altomanović . By 1365, the most powerful Serbian nobleman became Uglješa's brother Vukašin Mrnjavčević who became co-ruler with Emperor Uroš and
1968-523: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Uro%C5%A1 V Saint Stefan Uroš V ( Serbian Cyrillic : Стефан Урош V , pronounced [stêfaːn ûroʃ peːti] ; 1336 – 2/4 December 1371), known in historiography and folk tradition as Uroš
2050-462: The Balkan peninsula. He gave sanctuary to the former regent of the Byzantine Empire, John VI Kantakouzenos , in revolt against the government, and agreed to an alliance. In 1349 and 1354, Dušan enacted a set of laws known as Dušan's Code . The Code was based on Roman - Byzantine law and the first Serbian constitution , St. Sava's Nomocanon (1219). It was a Civil and Canon law system, based on
2132-523: The Bosnian border. Stephen, knowing he could not face such a force, opted to retreat in front of it in hopes of leading the Serbian army into hard terrain, where he could potentially fight them off. However, this did not work out because Bosnian nobility and even some of Stephen's own soldiers, unhappy with his rule, started defecting to Dušan. Dušan soon reached Bobovac , the capital of Bosnia, to which he laid siege. The Bosnian ban fled to Hungary, and Bosnia
2214-649: The Byzantine Empire. The ceremony was performed by the newly elevated Serbian Patriarch Joanikije II , the Bulgarian Patriarch Simeon, and Nicholas , the Archbishop of Ohrid . At the same time, Dušan had his son Uroš crowned as King of Serbs and Greeks , giving him nominal rule over the Serbian lands , although Dušan was governing the whole state, with special responsibility for the newly acquired Roman (Byzantine) lands. These actions, which
2296-592: The Byzantines received with indignation, appear to have been supported by the Bulgarian Empire and tsar Ivan Alexander , as the Patriarch of Bulgaria Simeon had participated in both the creation of a Serbian Patriarchate of Peć and the imperial coronation of Stefan Uroš IV Dušan. Dushan made marriage alliance with Bulgarian tsar Ivan Alexander , marrying his sister Helena . Tsar Dušan doubled
2378-592: The Constitution of 1992. Amid opposition from pro-Serbian parties, Montenegrin was made the sole official language of the country, and Serbian was given the status of a language in official use along with Bosnian , Albanian , and Croatian . In the 2023 Montenegrin census, 43.18% declared Serbian to be their native language, while Montenegrin was declared by 34.52% of the population. Standard Serbian language uses both Cyrillic ( ћирилица , ćirilica ) and Latin script ( latinica , латиница ). Serbian
2460-510: The Greek lands rather than the Serbian core lands. Further the general disorder along with the powerlessness of the center represents the situation that arose much later in Uroš's reign. According to Mihaljčić, during the initial years of his rule the threats to the territorial integrity of Uroš's empire in the south came mainly from external attacks. The death of Uroš's father was quickly followed by
2542-825: The Latin alphabet whereas 36% favors the Cyrillic one. Latin script has become more and more popular in Serbia, as it is easier to input on phones and computers. The sort order of the ćirilica ( ћирилица ) alphabet: The sort order of the latinica ( латиница ) alphabet: Serbian is a highly inflected language , with grammatical morphology for nouns, pronouns and adjectives as well as verbs. Serbian nouns are classified into three declensional types, denoted largely by their nominative case endings as "-a" type, "-i" and "-e" type. Into each of these declensional types may fall nouns of any of three genders : masculine, feminine or neuter. Each noun may be inflected to represent
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2624-410: The Latin script predominates, although both scripts are commonly seen. The Serbian government has encouraged increasing the use of Cyrillic in these contexts. Larger signs, especially those put up by the government, will often feature both alphabets; if the sign has English on it, then usually only Cyrillic is used for the Serbian text. A survey from 2014 showed that 47% of the Serbian population favors
2706-450: The Latin script tends to imply a cosmopolitan or neutral attitude, while Cyrillic appeals to a more traditional or vintage sensibility. In media, the public broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia , predominantly uses the Cyrillic script whereas the privately run broadcasters, like RTV Pink , predominantly use the Latin script. Newspapers can be found in both scripts. In the public sphere, with logos, outdoor signage and retail packaging,
2788-758: The Mighty had expanded his state to cover half of the Balkans, more territory than either the Byzantine Empire or the Second Bulgarian Empire in that time. Therefore, in 1345, in Serres , Dušan proclaimed himself " Tsar " ("Caesar"). On 16 April 1346, in Skopje (former Bulgarian capital), he had himself crowned " Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks ", a title signifying a claim to succession of
2870-433: The Serbian provinces of Hum and Krajina , which stretched from Dubrovnik on the east to river Cetina on the west, Dušan, being busy with his conquests on the south, tried to solve this territorial dispute with diplomacy, but that did not succeed, as Stephen continually refused or ignored Dušan's requests, counting on the help of his Hungarian protector king Louis I. However, the situation changed when Louis signed
2952-539: The Serbian throne. His claim was not widely welcomed, and the support he gained was limited to some southern regions. The Sabor (state council) held in Skoplje did not accept Simeon's claims and following the endorsement of the magnates, Uroš became more energetic in his political activities, publishing a number of charters. In 1358, Simeon attacked the Skadar region, trying to capture the old Serbia region of Zeta , but
3034-573: The Serbian-held capital of Jovan Uglješa . Uroš V, whose mother ruled from Serres, decided to raise an army to defend his mother. In 1357, when Matthew and his Turks attacked, the Serbian army under Vojihna of Drama (a major player in that region) came to aid. The Turks were defeated. Matthew Kantakouzenos was captured and held hostage until his ransom was paid by the Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos . In following years,
3116-626: The Venetians some time after Dušan's death, on 10 January 1356, and Klis was conquered by the Croatian general Nikola Banic for the Hungarian king sometime after 1356, ending Serbian presence in Dalmatia. Dušan was succeeded by his son, Stefan Uroš V , called "the Weak," a term that also described the empire as it slowly slid into feudal anarchy. The failure to consolidate its holdings after
3198-432: The Weak ( Serbian : Урош Нејаки , romanized : Uroš Nejaki ), was the second Emperor ( Tsar ) of the Serbian Empire (1355–1371), and before that he was Serbian King and co-ruler (since 1346) with his father, Emperor Stefan Dušan . Stefan Uroš V was the only son of Stefan Uroš IV Dušan by Helena of Bulgaria , the sister of Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria . He had been crowned as king (second highest title) in
3280-509: The administration of the empire. One key objective was to create a written legal code, an effort his predecessors had only begun. An assembly of bishops, nobles, and provincial governors was charged with creating a code of laws, bringing together the customs of the Slav countries. Dušan's Code was enacted in two state assemblies, the first on May 21, 1349, in Skopje , and the second in 1354 in Serres . The law regulated all social spheres, thus it
3362-464: The artistic level archived during this period. For a list of magnates, feudal lords and officials, see Nobility of the Serbian Empire . Serbian language Serbian ( српски / srpski , pronounced [sr̩̂pskiː] ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs . It is the official and national language of Serbia , one of
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3444-483: The beginning of the 13th century, the entire official correspondence of Dubrovnik with states in the hinterland was conducted in Serbian. In the mid-15th century, Serbia was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and for the next 400 years there was no opportunity for the creation of secular written literature. However, some of the greatest literary works in Serbian come from this time, in the form of oral literature,
3526-484: The capacity of heir and co-ruler after Dušan was crowned emperor in 1346. Although by the time of his succession as sole ruler and emperor in 1355 Stefan Uroš V was no longer a minor, he remained heavily dependent on his mother and various members of the court. The account of the contemporary John VI Kantakouzenos describes the descent of the Serbian Empire into disintegration soon after the death of Uroš' father and his accession. However, Kantakouzenos mainly focused on
3608-496: The constitution. The ruling nobility possessed hereditary allodial estates, which were worked by dependent sebri , the equivalent of Greek paroikoi : peasants owing labour services, formally bound by decree. The earlier župan title was abolished and replaced with the Greek-derived kefalija ( kephale , "head, master"). Commerce was another object of Dušan's concern. He gave strict orders to combat piracy and to assure
3690-487: The death of Preljub , who governed Thessaly . In the spring of 1356, Nikephoros Orsini landed a force on the coast of Thessaly and quickly overran it. He then followed up this success by driving despot Simeon Uroš from Aetolia and Acarnania . Simeon was a paternal uncle and the closest male relative of young Emperor Uroš. Retreating to Epirus and western Macedonia, he seized Kostur and proclaimed himself Tsar in hope of becoming co-ruler, or even replacing young Uroš on
3772-623: The death of Uroš V in 1371 and the break-up of the Serbian state . Some successors of Stefan V claimed the title of Emperor in parts of Serbia until 1402, but the territory in Greece was never recovered. Stefan Dušan was the son of the Serbian king Stefan Dečanski (r. 1322–1331). After his father's accession to the throne, Dušan was awarded with the title of "young king". Although this title bore significant power in medieval Serbia, Stefan wanted his younger son, Simeon Uroš , to inherit him instead of Dušan. However, Dušan had significant support from
3854-580: The early 19th century, Vuk Stefanović Karadžić promoted the spoken language of the people as a literary norm. The dialects of Serbo-Croatian , regarded Serbian (traditionally spoken in Serbia), include: Vuk Karadžić 's Srpski rječnik , first published in 1818, is the earliest dictionary of modern literary Serbian. The Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (I–XXIII), published by the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts from 1880 to 1976,
3936-611: The emperor, mainly German knights . A German nobleman, Palman , became the commander of the Serbian " Alemannic Guard " in 1331 upon crossing Serbia on the way to Jerusalem ; he became leader of all mercenaries in the Serbian Army . The main strength of the Serbian army were the heavily armoured knights feared for their ferocious charge and fighting skills, as well as hussars , versatile light cavalry formations armed mainly with spears and crossbows, ideal for scouting, raiding and skirmishing. The 1339 map by Angelino Dulcert depicts
4018-467: The environs of Adrianople . Bulgaria had never fully recovered since its defeat by the Serbs at the Battle of Velbazhd . The outcome of the battle shaped the balance of power in the Balkans for the next decades to come and although Bulgaria did not lose territory, the Serbs could occupy much of Macedonia . Bulgarian tsar Ivan Alexander , whose sister Helena Dušan later married, became his ally between 1332 and 1365. Dušan ruled over major central part of
4100-548: The fall of Smederevo in 1459. The exceptional modesty and tolerance of this ruler was the main reason he was called "the weak", and also the reason he was canonized 211 years after his death. Stefan Uroš V was canonized by the Serbian Orthodox Church . His body is kept in the Jazak monastery on Fruška Gora mountain. Today, Stefan Uroš V is viewed mostly in contrast to his able and strong-willed father, as
4182-468: The help of a deserted Byzantine general, Syrgian . Dušan quickly conquered the cities of Ohrid , Prilep and Kastoria , and attempted to besiege Thessalonica in 1334, but was prevented conquering the city by the death of Syrgian, who had been assassinated by a Byzantine spy. Syrgian was a key figure in Dušan's army, as he had earned a great reputation in Greece, convincing Greek citizens to surrender cities rather than fight Dušan's armies. By 1345, Dušan
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#17327657565794264-525: The interior. This economic development made possible the creation of the Empire. Important trade routes were the ancient Roman Via Militaris , Via Egnatia , Via de Zenta , and the Kopaonik road, among others. Ragusan merchants in particular had trading privileges throughout the realm. Security of trade and merchants on the roads was a major concern for the state authorities. Srebrenica, Rudnik, Trepča, Novo Brdo, Kopaonik, Majdanpek, Brskovo, and Samokov were
4346-463: The main centers for mining iron, copper, and lead ores, and silver and gold placers. The silver mines provided much of the royal income, and were worked by slave-labour, managed by Saxons . A colony of Saxons worked the Novo Brdo mines and traded charcoal burners. The silver mines processed an annual 0.5 million dollars (1919 comparation). The currency used was called dinars ; an alternative name
4428-423: The major part of the Serbian nobility, including the Serbian archbishop Danilo , and some of the king's most trusted generals, such as Jovan Oliver Grčinić . Tensions slowly rose between the king and his son, especially after the battle of Velbužd , where Dušan showed his military capabilities, and they seem to have culminated when king Stefan raided Zeta , a province in Serbia where Dušan ruled autonomously, being
4510-605: The matrix of Serbian Church Slavonic . By the beginning of the 14th century the Serbo-Croatian language, which was so rigorously proscribed by earlier local laws, becomes the dominant language of the Republic of Ragusa . However, despite her wealthy citizens speaking the Serbo-Croatian dialect of Dubrovnik in their family circles, they sent their children to Florentine schools to become perfectly fluent in Italian. Since
4592-407: The most notable form being epic poetry . The epic poems were mainly written down in the 19th century, and preserved in oral tradition up to the 1950s, a few centuries or even a millennium longer than by most other "epic folks". Goethe and Jacob Grimm learned Serbian in order to read Serbian epic poetry in the original. By the end of the 18th century, the written literature had become estranged from
4674-571: The most serious menace came from the East, from the Turks. Entrenched on the shores of the Dardanelles, the Turks were the common enemies of Christendom. It was against them that the question of uniting and directing all forces in the Balkans to save Europe from the invasion arose. The Serbian Empire already included most of the region, and to transform the peninsula into a cohesive whole under a rule of
4756-415: The noun they modify, but must agree in number, gender and case with the modified noun. Serbian verbs are conjugated in four past forms— perfect , aorist , imperfect , and pluperfect —of which the last two have a very limited use (imperfect is still used in some dialects, but the majority of native Serbian speakers consider it archaic), one future tense (also known as the first future tense, as opposed to
4838-517: The noun's grammatical case , of which Serbian has seven: Nouns are further inflected to represent the noun's number , singular or plural. Pronouns, when used, are inflected along the same case and number morphology as nouns. Serbian is a pro-drop language , meaning that pronouns may be omitted from a sentence when their meaning is easily inferred from the text. In cases where pronouns may be dropped, they may also be used to add emphasis. For example: Adjectives in Serbian may be placed before or after
4920-451: The official status of both scripts in contemporary Standard Serbian for more than half of a century now, due to historical reasons, the Cyrillic script was made the official script of Serbia's administration by the 2006 Constitution . The Latin script continues to be used in official contexts, although the government has indicated its desire to phase out this practice due to national sentiment. The Ministry of Culture believes that Cyrillic
5002-626: The only completed etymological dictionary of Serbian is the " Skok ", written by the Croatian linguist Petar Skok : Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika ("Etymological Dictionary of Croatian or Serbian"). I-IV. Zagreb 1971–1974. There is also a new monumental Etimološki rečnik srpskog jezika (Etymological Dictionary of Serbian). So far, two volumes have been published: I (with words on A-), and II (Ba-Bd). There are specialized etymological dictionaries for German, Italian, Croatian, Turkish, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, English and other loanwords (cf. chapter word origin ). Article 1 of
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#17327657565795084-411: The safety of travelers and foreign merchants. Traditional relations with Venice were resumed, with the port of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) becoming an important transaction point. Exploitation of mines produced appreciable resources. East-west Roman roads through the empire carried a variety of commodities: wine, manufactures, and luxury goods from the coast; metals, cattle, timber, wool, skins, and leather from
5166-413: The second conditional (without use in the spoken language—it should be used for impossible conditional clauses). Serbian has active and passive voice . As for the non-finite verb forms, Serbian has one infinitive , two adjectival participles (the active and the passive), and two adverbial participles (the present and the past). Most Serbian words are of native Slavic lexical stock, tracing back to
5248-433: The second future tense or the future exact, which is considered a tense of the conditional mood by some contemporary linguists), and one present tense . These are the tenses of the indicative mood. Apart from the indicative mood, there is also the imperative mood . The conditional mood has two more tenses: the first conditional (commonly used in conditional clauses, both for possible and impossible conditional clauses) and
5330-408: The size of Serbian state, seizing territories in all directions, especially south and southeast. Serbia held parts of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina , Moravian Serbia, Kosovo , Zeta, modern North Macedonia , modern Albania , and half of modern Greece . He did not fight a single field battle, instead winning his empire by besieging cities. Dušan undertook a campaign against the Byzantine Empire, which
5412-584: The sources do not mention anything about him after Dušan's conquests, until his death in late 1353. Dušan most likely kept control over Dalmatia, since after his conquests, the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Krka was built in that region. Also, he is recorded sending 2 military units under the command of his generals Đuraš Ilijić and Palman Bracht to protect the Dalmatian cities of Klis and Skradin in 1355. Djuras Ilijic surrendered Skradin to
5494-466: The spoken language. In the second half of the 18th century, the new language appeared, called Slavonic-Serbian . This artificial idiom superseded the works of poets and historians like Gavrilo Stefanović Venclović , who wrote in essentially modern Serbian in the 1720s. These vernacular compositions have remained cloistered from the general public and received due attention only with the advent of modern literary historians and writers like Milorad Pavić . In
5576-463: The state, the Ottomans defeated the Serbs under Vukašin at the Battle of Maritsa in 1371, making vassals of the southern governors; soon thereafter, the Emperor died. As Uroš was childless and the nobility could not agree on a rightful heir, the Empire continued to be ruled by semi-independent provincial lords, who often were in feud with each other. The most powerful of these, Lazar Hrebeljanović ,
5658-592: The three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kosovo . It is a recognized minority language in Croatia , North Macedonia , Romania , Hungary , Slovakia , and the Czech Republic . Standard Serbian is based on the most widespread dialect of Serbo-Croatian, Shtokavian (more specifically on the dialects of Šumadija-Vojvodina and Eastern Herzegovina ), which
5740-430: Was perper , derived from the Byzantine hyperpyron . The golden dinar was the largest unit, and the imperial tax was one dinar coin, per house, annually. Serbian military tactics consisted of wedge-shaped heavy cavalry attacks with horse archers on the flanks. Many foreign mercenaries were in the Serbian army, mostly Germans as cavalry and Spaniards as infantry. The army also had personal mercenary guards for
5822-502: Was a triband with red at the top and bottom and white in the center. Emperor Dušan also adopted the Imperial divelion , which was purple and had a golden cross in the center. Another of Dušan's flags was the Imperial cavalry flag, kept at the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos ; a triangular bicolored flag, of red and yellow. Influenced by the clergy, Dušan showed extreme severity towards Roman Catholicism. Those who integrated into
5904-649: Was an Eastern Orthodox multi-ethnic and multi-lingual empire that stretched from the Danube in the north to the Gulf of Corinth in the south, with its capital in Skopje . He also promoted the Serbian Archbishopric to the Serbian Patriarchate . His son and successor, Uroš the Weak , lost most of the territory conquered by Dušan, hence his epithet. The Serbian Empire effectively ended with
5986-620: Was attempting to avert a deteriorating situation after the destruction caused by the Fourth Crusade . Dušan swiftly seized Thessaly , Albania, Epirus, and most of Macedonia . After besieging the emperor at Salonica in 1340, he imposed a treaty assuring Serbia sovereignty over regions extending from the Danube to the Gulf of Corinth , from the Adriatic Sea to the Maritsa river, and including parts of southern Bulgaria up to
6068-414: Was defeated. Defeated in the north, Simeon again turned to south, retaking Epirus and Thessaly in 1359, where he continued to rule with the title "emperor of Serbs and Greeks". There is one account, early in his reign, that is in contrast to his general record of incompetence. In 1356, Matthew Kantakouzenos, a pretender to the Byzantine throne, gathered an army of 5,000 Turks and marched on Serres ,
6150-481: Was devised in 1814 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić , who created it based on phonemic principles. The Latin alphabet used for Serbian ( latinica ) was designed by the Croatian linguist Ljudevit Gaj in the 1830s based on the Czech system with a one-to-one grapheme-phoneme correlation between the Cyrillic and Latin orthographies, resulting in a parallel system. Serbian is a standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian ,
6232-566: Was granted the title of Serbian King. By 1369, as Uroš was childless, Vukašin designated his eldest son Prince Marko as heir to the throne, with the title of "young king". Stefan Uroš V died childless in December 1371, after much of the Serbian nobility had been destroyed by the Turks in the Battle of Maritsa earlier that year. The exact cause of his death at a relatively young age remains unknown. Vukašin's son Prince Marko inherited his father's royal title, but real power in northern Serbia
6314-517: Was held by Lazar Hrebeljanović . The latter did not assume the imperial or royal titles (associated with the Nemanjić dynasty ), and in 1377 accepted King Tvrtko I of Bosnia (a maternal grandson of Stefan Dragutin ) as titular king of Serbia. Serbia proper became a vassal of the Ottomans in 1390, but remained effectively ruled by the Lazarević family and then by their Branković successors until
6396-628: Was left open for Dušan to conquer. He left a portion of his army to continue besieging Bobovac; sent another portion to conquer the region of Krajina, while he himself led a third portion to conquer Hum. Then, after conquering Hum, Dušan proceeded to enter Dalmatia , in order to secure his sister's domains. His sister, Jelena Nemanjic-Subic , was married to the ban of Croatia , Mladen Subic, who died of plague in 1348, leaving his lands to his wife. After his death, Hungarians and Venetians both continually tried to take control over these lands, so Dušan entered Dalmatia to protect his sister's legal domains. He
6478-403: Was not especially incompetent in his role as Emperor of Serbia, and that the decline of the empire was much less spectacular and started much later into his rule than popular opinion suggests. For a long time, it was considered a historical fact that he was murdered by his co-ruler, Vukašin Mrnjavčević, but eventually Vukašin was proven to have died before the Emperor. In 1825 Stefan Stefanović ,
6560-470: Was surrounded and advised by a permanent council of magnates and prelates. The court, chancellery and administration were rough copies of those of Constantinople . The code enumerated the administrative hierarchy as following: "lands, cities, župas and krajištes"; the župas and krajištes were one and the same, where župas on the borders were called krajištes ( frontier ). The župa consisted of villages, and their status, rights, and obligations were regulated in
6642-469: Was the compilation of Civil law , based on Roman Law and Canon law , based on Ecumenical Councils . Its basic purpose was to organize the functions of the state and Serbian Orthodox Church . The legislation resembled the feudal system then prevalent in Western Europe, with an aristocratic basis and establishing a wide distinction between nobility and peasantry. The monarch had broad powers but
6724-651: Was welcomed as a liberator in Sibenik and Trogir , but as the Byzantine emperor John Kantakouzenos attacked Dušan from the south, capturing the city of Veria and Edessa , Dušan was forced to retreat and repel him. While he was on his way back, he was welcomed and prepared a great feast in Dubrovnik, where his wife stayed for some time. It is unclear if Dušan kept control in these lands. Certain historians say Stephen Kotromanic returned and regained control in Bosnia, but
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