Civilizations & archaeology

Serbian Empire

from 16 April 1346 to 1 January 1371

The Serbian Empire was a medieval state in the Balkans proclaimed by Stefan Dušan, who had himself crowned emperor, or tsar, in Skopje at Easter, with the Serbian archbishop raised to the rank of patriarch. Dušan took advantage of Byzantine civil wars to conquer Macedonia, Albania, Epirus, Thessaly and much of northern Greece. He issued a famous legal code, Dušan's Code, in 1349 and 1354. After his death in 1355 the empire quickly fragmented under his son Uroš V, as powerful nobles became independent. The Ottomans defeated Serbian lords at the Battle of Maritsa in 1371, the year that Uroš died, which ended the Nemanjić dynasty and opened the way for Ottoman expansion in the Balkans.

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This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 14th century.