Taking advantage of the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 by alternately supporting both sides of the conflict, the Serbian kingStefan Dušan expanded his state southwards, conquering Albania and most of Macedonia by 1345, with the exception of the great fortress cities of Serres and Thessalonica.[4] This growth in power made Serbia the de facto dominant state in the Balkans, and fuelled Dušan's imperial ambitions: already in early 1343, the Serbian ruler elevated his titles to "tsar and autokrator of all the Serbian and Maritime Lands and čestnik of the Greek [Byzantine] Lands".[5]
Following his conquest of Serres, which crowned his conquest of Macedonia, in November or December 1345 Stefan Dušan proclaimed himself emperor (basileus), laying claim on the Byzantine imperial inheritance.[6] On 16 April 1346 he was crowned emperor at Skopje in an assembly attended by the elevated Serbian Patriarch, and also the Bulgarian Patriarch and the Archbishop of Ohrid.[7] His imperial title was recognised by Bulgaria and various other neighbors and trading partners, but not by the Byzantine Empire. According to imperial tradition, only one emperor could exist, the emperor of Roman Empire. Others may be only Caesars (the second in rank). Mount Athos addressed him as Emperor, though rather as Emperor of Serbs than Emperor of Serbs and Greeks.[8] In Serbian charters, ethnic terms are used – "Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks" (Serbian: цар Срба и Грка / car Srba i Grka).[9]
In Greek, the title was "basileus and autokrator of Serbia and of Romania" (βασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ Σερβίας καὶ Ῥωμανίας). The use of "Romania" (i.e. the 'land of the Romans', the Byzantine Empire) and not the usual Byzantine formula "of the Romans" was probably deliberately chosen; although in his Law Code Dušan claimed the direct succession to all Byzantine emperors from the time of Constantine the Great, he lacked possession of Constantinople and of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which alone conferred full legitimacy to a Byzantine ruler. Notably, when the Byzantines came around to recognizing Dušan's imperial title, it was only for Serbia proper, much as they had done with the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon four centuries earlier. The contemporary Byzantine writers also clearly distinguished between the ancestral Serbian lands, where Dušan's son Stefan Uroš ruled as king, and the conquered lands "in Romania where Dušan (and Stefan Milutin before him) continued to use the pre-existing Byzantine administration. How clear this duality was in practice is open to question. Nevertheless, modern historians note that—in contrast to the lionization of Dušan by modern Serbian historiography—Dušan's proclamation of empire was not well received in Serbia proper, as indicated by the fact that he was never sanctified by the Serbian Church, or why his official biography, alone among the medieval Serbian rulers, was never completed.[10]
On his early Western-style coinage, issued between his proclamation as emperor and his coronation, Dušan continued to use the abbreviated Latin title Rex Rasciae ("King of Rascia"), and simply added the title I[m]p[erator] Roma[niae] ("Emperor of the Roman lands"), but also I[m]p[erator] Ro[ma]io[ru]m ("Emperor of the Romans"). After his coronation, the title of king was dropped.[11]
When Stefan Dušan died in 1355, his son Stefan Uroš V succeeded him. Uroš V's uncle Simeon Uroš in Thessaly claimed the title in rivalry, continued by his son John Uroš. With the extinction of the main line of the Nemanjić dynasty with the death of heirless Stefan Uroš V in 1371, the imperial title became obsolete. The fall of the Serbian Empire saw the state fragmenting into provinces ruled by magnates, holding various titles, except the imperial. In 1527, a renegade Serbian commander in Hungary, Jovan Nenad, styled himself Emperor.
(царь Срьблѥмь и Грькωмь), on 20 December 1356, obituary.[16]
"Emperor of Serbs and Greeks and the Western Provinces" (царь Срблемь и Гркωмь и Западнимь Странамь), in 1349.[12]
"Emperor of Serbs, Greeks and Bulgarians". („Царь Србљем, Грком и Блгаром".)[17]
"Emperor of Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians and Albanians". („Царь Србљем, Грком, Блгаром и Арбанасом".)[18]
"Emperor of the Serbs", by the Athonite community.[8]
"Emperor and Autocrat of Serbia and Romania" (Greek: βασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ Σερβίας καὶ Ῥωμανίας), from a chrysobull to Iveron Monastery.[19]
"Emperor of all Serb and Greek lands, the Maritime Region, Arbania and the Western Provinces (цар свију српских и грчких земаља, Поморја, Арбаније и Западних Страна).
"Emperor of Greece and King of All Serb Lands and the Maritime" (царь грьчкїи и краль все срьбскїе земли и поморскїе), between 1347 and 1356.[20]
"Emperor of Serbia and the Maritime Region" (царь србкχ и пморски), between 1347 and 1356.[21]
"Emperor of Rascia and Romania, DespotofArta and Count of Vlachia" (Latin: imperator Raxie et Romanie, dispotus Lartae et Blachie comes) in 1348, after the Serb conquest of Epirus ("Arta") and Thessaly ("Vlachia").[22]
^Car, Book 3 of Car Dušan: istorijski roman iz XIV oga veka u tri knjige, Car Dušan: istorijski roman iz XIV oga veka u tri knjige. Vladan Đorđević
Edition reprint, Publisher K. Stilos, p. 122.
^Car, Book 3 of Car Dušan: istorijski roman iz XIV oga veka u tri knjige, Car Dušan: istorijski roman iz XIV oga veka u tri knjige. Vladan Đorđević, Edition reprint, Publisher K. Stilos, p. 135.
Maksimovic, Ljubomir (2011). "Chapitre XVII. – La Serbie : pouvoir et administration sociale". In Laiou, Angeliki (ed.). Le monde byzantin, Tome III: L'empire grec et ses voisins (XIIIe-XVe siècle) (in French). Presses Universitaires de France. pp. 323–342. ISBN978-2-13-052008-5.
Soulis, George C. (1963). "Thessalian Vlachia". Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta. 8 (1): 271–273.
Soulis, George C. (1984). The Serbs and Byzantium during the reign of Emperor Stephen Dušan (1331–1355) and his successors. Dumbarton Oaks. ISBN0-88402-137-8.
