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Stefan Nemanja (- 13 February 1199 ) was the Grand Prince of the Medieval Serbian Realm of Rascia (''Рашка''), from 1166 to 25 March 1196 and founder of the House Of Nemanja dynasty. He established control over the territories of neighboring Serbia n states, including Zeta / Doclea , and unified them into an independent state. LIFE Nemanja was born in 1117 in and Stefan . Prince In , Nemanja met the Eastern Roman Emperor Manuel, who gifted him the region of Dubočica and entitled him as the ''Imperial Dream'' - a high title in the Byzantine hierarchy. Nemanja ruled independently, without his brothers as he built the Monastery of Saint Nicholas in Kuršumlija and the Monastery of Saint Mother Of Christ near Kosanica - Toplica without his Grand Prince older brother's approval. His brothers invited him to Ras on a Council to resolve the situation, but imprisoned him and had him closed in a nearby cave. According to religion, Saint George himself freed him from the cave. Grand Prince First Period In 1166 - 1168 , Prince Nemanja rebelled against his Grand Princely brother and deposed him. While his brothers, Miroslav and Stracimir first opposed his dethroning, as soon as Tihomir was deposed, they chose to support Nemanja. Tihomir's Mercenary Greek Army that was supposed to bring him back to the throne was defeated at the Battle of Pantino , south of Zvečan . Nemanja assumed the title of Grand Prince of All Rascia , and took the first name ''Stefan'' ("Stephanos" - "crowned" in Greek ). Tihomir drowned himself in the river of Sitnica soon, while his brothers Princes Stracimir of Western Morava and Miroslav of Zahumlje accepted Nemanja's rule, as well as Tihomir's son and heir, Stefan Prvoslav. As a thanks to Saint George for the freedom given in the cave, Stefan Nemanja raised in his honor the Temple of Đurđevi Stupovi in Ras in 1171. The same year, Nemanja had his thid son - Rastko . In 1171, Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja sided with the Republic Of Venetia in a dispute with the Byzantine Empire, aiming at full independence from the Byzantine throne. In 1172, he entered an alliance of the Republic of Venetia, the Holy Roman Empire and the Hungarian Kingdom against the Byzantine Empire. The alliance collapsed soon as Venetia faced a munity and an outbreak of plague that devastated her navy, while Hungary's King died, so the Rascian Grand Prince was left alone. The same year Byzantine Emperor Manuel launched an expedition against Rascia and defeat Nemanja's forces, so the Grand Prince met him in Niš to bow in surrender. Emperor Manuel had him imprisoned and brought him to the Imperial Capital of Constantinople as a personal slave. Nemanja vowed not to fight Manuel as long as he is alive, while the Emperor in return recognized him and his bloodline as the rightful Grand Prince of the Rascian lands. In the Empire's Capital, Nemanja learned was tutored by Manuel and befriended with him in a way. Upon his return to Ras to the throne the same year, Nemanja was rebaptised into the Orthodox Christian Church in the Church of Saint Peter and Paul in Ras . Second Period Nemanja used the following decade to deal with the heresy that was present in his realm. He declared them Heretics and punished them brutally because of their religious beliefs. He confiscated their lands and some even burned some on stakes, while he cut off the tongue of their Headmaster and exiled him. By the end of his reign, Duke Stefan Nemanja completely rooted out the Bogumils . His army was involved only in a single confilct at the request of his Byzantine liege; in Asia Minor . Following the death of Emperor Manuel in 1180, Stefan Nemanja no longer considered that he owed any vow to the Byzantines since Manuel Comnenus died, so he took advantage of the Empire's weakened state. In 1183 he formed alliances with King Bela III of Hungary and invaded Byzantine soil. The main reason was the new usurper to the Imperial throne that was not recognized. Duke Nemanja was also assisted by his relative, Kulin Ban of Bosnia . The Hungaro-Serbian forced advanced all the way to Sophia , but the Hungarians soon withdrew from the war, leaving the Duke's forces raiding accross western Bulgaria . Around this time, Stefan Nemanja managed to take Velbužd . In 1184 the Great Prince of Zahumlje Miroslav went to retake Korčula and Vis , but his navy was too weak, so he had to channal the order to his brother, Prince Stracimir. He also declared war against the Republic Of Dubrovnik , but lack of organization among the Serbs made him subsequently sign peace. In 1185 Prince Stracimir raided Korčula and Vis with the Doclean fleet. He joined the war against the Republic Of Ragusa , but was forced to withdraw because Miroslav already made peace by the time Stracimir martialled his forces. The same year a Bulgarian uprising was raised in the Danubian areas of the Byzantine Empire, so Duke Stefan Nemanja utilized the situation and conquered the Timok Frontier with Niš . In 1186 Stefan Nemanja appointed his oldest son Vukan Of Nemanja as the ruler of the province of Zeta ( Kingdom Of Doclea And Dalmtaia , and made his second son, Stefan II Of Nemanja , the successor to the Grand Princely throne. Nemanja then took Monastic vows and the name Simeon, and joined his youngest son Rastko Sava Of Nemanja on Mount Athos . There they renewed the monastery of Chilandar . Stefan died on 13 February of 1199 on Mount Athos in Chilandar . His remains were later moved by Sava to Rascia in 1207 to make peace between his two sons and burin at the Studenica Monastery in 1208 . Nemanja was later Canonised by the Church as ''Saint Simeon''. At the time of Nemanja's abdication in 1196, he ruled Zeta and Hum (modern-day Hercegovina), much of Kosovo, and central modern Serbia. He had expanded Raška past the important merchant city-state of Dubrovnik , which, however, retained its autonomy. Relations between Raška and Dubrovnik had been settled by the 1186 treaty that provided for a symbiotic relationship between the two throughout most of the Nemanjić dynasty. Stefan Nemanja is the founder of the Serbian royal Nemanjić family that is named after him. His name Stefan means 'crowned' and was later used by all rulers from the house of Nemanjić as the last name, and also as the title. Abdication & Later Life In 1196, Nemanja abdicated in favour of his second son Stefan Prvovenčani (The First Crowned), at St. Peter's church, outside Novi Pazar. He had passed over his eldest son Vukan, a decision which led to civil war in 1202. Nemanja was great patron of the church. He and his sons had built the Studenica monastery at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, and it was there that he took his monastic vows. In 1197 he retired to Mount Athos , in today's Greece , and with his third son Rastko (St. Sava) he built the most important Serbian monastery, Hilandar . Having bequeathed all his earthly possessions, he proceeded to a life of spirituality as the monk Simeon. Nemanja died in 1199, at Mount Athos. In 1204, as the Byzantine Empire fell to the Crusaders, St. Sava brought his father's remains back to Studenica, where they lie today. According to tradition, a holy oil seeped from his tomb, though this miracle is said to have not occurred in the last 300 years. His body is, however, even in modern times supposed to give off "a sweet smell, like violets" (Kindersley, 23). MARRIAGE & DESCENDANTS Nemanja was married to a Serbian noblewoman by the name of Ana. They had three sons and three daughters:
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