Slavonia
Slavonia is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonia, Virovitica-Podravina and Vukovar-Srijem, although the territory of the counties includes Baranya, the definition of the western extent of Slavonia as a region varies; the counties cover 12,556 square kilometres or 22.2% of Croatia, inhabited by 806,192—18.8% of Croatia's population. The largest city in the region is Osijek, followed by Slavonski Vinkovci. Slavonia is located in the Pannonian Basin bordered by the Danube and Sava rivers. In the west, the region consists of the Sava and Drava valleys and the mountains surrounding the Požega Valley, plains in the east. Slavonia enjoys a moderate continental climate, with low precipitation. After the fall of Rome, which ruled the area of modern-day Slavonia until the 5th century and Lombards controlled the area before the arrival of Avars and Slavs, when the Principality of Lower Pannonia was established in the 7th century.
It was incorporated into the Kingdom of Croatia and, after its decline, the kingdom was ruled through a personal union with Hungary. The Ottoman conquest of Slavonia took place in 1536 to 1552. In 1699, after the Great Turkish War, Slavonia was transferred to the Habsburgs. Reform of the empire through the Compromise of 1867 assigned it to the Hungarian part of the realm, a year to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. In 1918, when Austria-Hungary dissolved, Slavonia was a part of the short-lived State of Slovenes and Serbs which in turn became a part of the kingdom renamed Yugoslavia. During the Croatian War of Independence, Slavonia saw fierce fighting, including the Battle of Vukovar; the economy of Slavonia is based on processing industry, trade and civil engineering. Agriculture is a significant component of its economy: Slavonia contains 45% of Croatia's agricultural land and accounts for a significant proportion of Croatia's livestock farming and production of permanent crops; the gross domestic product of the five counties of Slavonia is worth 6,454 million euro or 8,005 euro per capita, 27.5% below national average.
The GDP of the five counties represents 13.6% of Croatia's GDP. The cultural heritage of Slavonia is a blend of historical influences those since the end of the 17th century, when Slavonia started recovering from the Ottoman wars, its traditional culture. Slavonia contributed to the culture of Croatia, through art, writers and art patronage. In traditional music, Slavonia is a distinct region of Croatia, the traditional culture is preserved through folklore festivals, with prominence given to tamburica music and bećarac, a form of traditional song, recognized as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO; the cuisine of Slavonia reflects diverse influences -- a blend of foreign elements. Slavonia is one of Croatia's winemaking areas, with Ilok and Kutjevo recognized as centres of wine production; the name Slavonia originated in the Early Middle Ages. The area was named after the Slavs who called themselves * Slověne; the root *Slověn- appeared in various dialects of languages spoken by people inhabiting the area west of the Sutla river, as well as between the Sava and Drava rivers—South Slavs living in the area of the former Illyricum.
The area bounded by those rivers was called *Slověnьje in the Proto-Slavic language. The word subsequently evolved to its various present forms in the Slavic languages, other languages adopted the term. Remnants of several Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures were found in all regions of Croatia, but most of the sites are found in the river valleys of northern Croatia, including Slavonia; the most significant cultures whose presence was found include the Starčevo culture whose finds were discovered near Slavonski Brod and dated to 6100–5200 BC, Vučedol and Baden cultures. Most finds attributed to the Baden and Vučedol cultures are discovered in the area around Vukovar, extending to Osijek and Vinkovci; the Baden culture sites in Slavonia are dated to 3600–3300 BC, Vučedol culture finds are dated to 3000–2500 BC. The Iron Age left traces of the Celtic La Tène culture. Much the region was settled by Illyrians and other tribes, including the Pannonians, who controlled much of present-day Slavonia.
Though archaeological finds of Illyrian settlements are much sparser than in areas closer to the Adriatic Sea, significant discoveries, for instance in Kaptol near Požega have been made. The Pannonians first came into contact with the Roman Republic in 35 BC, when the Romans conquered Segestica, or modern-day Sisak; the conquest was completed in 11 BC, when the Roman province of Illyricum was established, encompassing modern-day Slavonia as well as a vast territory on the right bank of Danube. The province was divided within two decades. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, which included the territory occupied by modern-day Slavonia, the area became a part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom by the end of the 5th century. However, control of the area proved a significant task, Lombards were given increasing control of Pannonia in the 6th century, which ended in their withdrawal in 568 and the arrival of Pannonian Avars and Slavs, who established control of Pannonia by year 582. According to the work De Administrando Imperio written by the 10th century Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII, the Croats had arrived in the early 7th century in the region of Dalmatia, although this is disputed and competing hypotheses date the event between the 6th and the 9th
Ban Kulin
Kulin was the Ban of Bosnia from 1180 to 1204, first as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire and of the Kingdom of Hungary, but his state was de facto independent. He was one of Bosnia's most prominent and notable historic rulers and had a great effect on the development of early Bosnian history. One of his most noteworthy diplomatic achievements is considered to have been the signing of the Charter of Ban Kulin, which encouraged trade and established peaceful relations between Dubrovnik and his realm of Bosnia, his son, Stjepan Kulinić succeeded him as Bosnian Ban. Kulin founded the House of Kulinić. Kulin's sister was married to Miroslav of the brother of Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja. Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos was at that time the overlord of Bosnia. In 1180, when Komnenos died, Stefan Nemanja and Kulin asserted independence of Serbia and Bosnia, respectively, his rule is remembered as being emblematic of Bosnia's golden age, he is a common hero of Bosnian national folk tales. Under him, the "Bosnian Age of Peace and Prosperity" would come to exist.
Bosnia was autonomous and at peace during his rule. In 1183, he led his troops with the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary under King Béla and the Serbs under Stefan Nemanja, who had just launched an attack on the Byzantine Empire; the cause of the war was Hungary's non-recognition of Andronikos Komnenos. The united forces met little resistance in the eastern Serbian lands - the Byzantine squadrons were fighting among themselves as the local Byzantine commanders Alexios Brannes supported the new Emperor, while Andronikos Lapardes opposed him - and deserted the Imperial Army, going onto adventures on his own. Without difficulties, the Byzantines were pushed out of the Morava Valley and the allied forces breached all the way to Sofia, raiding Belgrade, Braničevo, Ravno, Niš and Sofia itself. In 1199, Serbian prince Vukan Nemanjić informed Innocent, of heresy in Bosnia. Vukan claimed that Kulin, a heretic, had welcomed the heretics whom Bernard of Split had banished, treated them as Christians. In 1200, the Pope wrote a letter to Kulin's suzerain, the Hungarian King Emeric, warning him that “no small number of Patarenes” had gone from Split and Trogir to Ban Kulin where they were warmly welcomed, told him to “Go and ascertain the truth of these reports and if Kulin is unwilling to recant, drive him from your lands and confiscate his property.”
Kulin replied to the Pope that he did not regard the immigrants as heretics, but as Catholics, that he was sending a few of them to Rome for examination, invited that a Papal representative be sent to investigate. Unconvinced, the Pope sent his legates to Bosnia to interrogate Kulin and his subjects about religion and life, if indeed heretical, correct the situation through a prepared constitution; the Pope wrote to Bernard in 1202 that "a multitude of people in Bosnia are suspected of the damnable heresy of the Cathars." The two legates sent by the Pope interrogated the clergy. Not only did Casamaris listen to his informants’ answers, but where they were in error, he would have taught them correct doctrine, in line with Innocent’s directive. John must have convinced himself that he had fulfilled Innocent’s command to correct the krstjani, because the “Confessio” signed at Bilino Polje by seven priors of the Krstjani church on 8 April 1203, makes no mention of errors; the same document was brought to Budapest, 30 April by Casamaris and Kulin and two abbots, where it was examined by the Hungarian King and the high clergy.
Kulin’s son Stefan, during a meeting, agreed that if the Bosnians violated the agreement, they would pay a heavy fine of 1,000 marks. On the surface, the "Confessio" concerned practices; the monks agreed to accept Rome as the mother church. They promised to erect chapels with altars and crucifixes, where they would have priests who would say Mass and dispense Holy Communion at least seven times a year on the main feast days; the priests would hear confession and give penances. The monks promised to chant the hours and day, to read the Old Testament as well as the New, they would follow the Church’s schedule of fasts, as well as their own regimen. They agreed to stop calling themselves krstjani—which had been their exclusive privilege—lest they cause pain to other Christians, they would wear special, uncolored robes and reaching the ankles. In addition they were to have graveyards next to the church, where they would bury their brethren and any visitors who happened to die there. Women members of the order were to eat separately.
The abbots agreed not to offer lodging to manicheans or other heretics. Upon the death of the head of their order, the abbots, after consultation with their fellow monks, would submit their choice to the Pope for his approval; as for the Bosnian Catholic diocese itself, John advised Innocent that they needed to break the hold of the Slavonic bishop who had ruled the Bosnian church up to and to appoint three or four Latin bishops, since Bosnia was a large country. After the “Confessio” was approved by King Emmerich, John de Casamaris, in a letter to Innocent, refers to “the former Patarenes.” He thought that he had converted the krstjani, but he was wrong. Due to Rome’s complacency and the Pope’s failure to appoint Latin bishops, as John had suggested, the heretical movement grew stronger over the next few decades, uniting with re
Lajos Thallóczy
Lajos Thallóczy, was a Hungarian historian and high public servant. He was a mysterious person of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy who played a significant role in the Balkans; because of his mentors Gyula Andrássy and Béni Kállay he became an inevitable counselor in all Balkan affairs to the emperor Franz Joseph himself, to ministers and to the government of the empire. He was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Thallóczy became interested in heraldry in a period when scientific circles became interested to select the "right" coat of arms for Bosnia and Herzegovina, his main interests were Bosnian history genealogy and biographies of prominent individuals from its medieval period. Supported by Thallóczy's selective use of tendentiously interpreted sources aimed to satisfy the political aspirations of the empire by representing a connected fate of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Austria-Hungary the government imposed his proposal for the official coat of arms of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1889.
He introduced ethnically neutral yellow and red combination of colors to confront "misuse of Serbian and Croatian colors". He was referred to as the'creator of Bosnia'. Thallóczy was transferred to Vienna at the request of Béni Kállay, he was in charge of cultural and educational issues in Herzegovina. He published numerous Cyrillic and Latin charters, works about the duke Hrvoje Vukčić, history of Jajce and numerous other, Bosnia-related, with the main findings published in the book Studien zur Geschichte Bosniens und Serbiens im Mittelalter, published in Munich and Leipzig in the year 1914. Before the First World War Austria-Hungary was interested in Albania because of the political and military plans it had on Balkans and sent its scholars to investigate it; because of this interest Thallóczy was employed within Austria-Hungary administration with title of court counselor to create one work on popular history of Albanians and one textbook. Together with Milan Šufflay and Konstantin Jireček he wrote two volumes of his monumental work Acta et diplomata res Albaniae mediae aetatis illustrantia published in 1913 and 1918.
Serbian historian Milorad Ekmečić credits him with having designed the 14th-century flag and coat of arms of Albania. While some circles in Italy had plans to establish closer connection of Montenegro and Northern Albanian Catholics under their leadership, Thallóczy was one of the promoters of the plans of Austria-Hungary for strengthening the otherness between them and confronting Albanians and Slavs; the aim was to counter advances of Montenegro on Adriatic coast. In December 1897 Thallóczy stated that it is necessary to take actions to prevent population of Albania being attracted to Montenegro. According to Fan Noli Thallóczy proclaimed that opinions about Skanderbeg's Serbian descent are legends. During World War I he was civil counselor of the military administration in occupied Kingdom of Serbia. Thallóczy died in a train accident while returning from the funeral of the emperor Franz Joseph I. Prilozi k objašnjenju izvorâ bosanske historije, Sarajevo, 1893, OCLC 41429445 Die Geschichte der Grafen von Blagay.
Von Ludwig von Thalloczy. M. 2 Stammtaf. 14 Siegel und Wappenabbild.. M. d. Portrait d. letzt. Blagay. Wien: Carl Gerold's Sohn, 1898, OCLC 444453714 Acta et diplomata res Albaniae mediae aetatis illustrantia, in two volumes, 1913 and 1918, coauthors: Milan Šufflay and Konstantin Jireček Studien zur Geschichte Bosniens und Serbiens im Mittelalter, 1914 Illyrisch-albanische forschungen, München, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1916, OCLC 35691167 - coauthored with Konstantin Jireček. Noli, Fan Stilian, George Castrioti Scanderbeg, International Universities Press, OCLC 732882 Sima Ćirković, Taloci Lajoš, "Enciklopedija srpske istoriografije", Beograd 1997, 668-669. H. Heppner, Serbien im Jahre 1889 nach einem Bericht Ludwig von Thallóczy’s, Mitteilungen des österreichischen Staatsarchivs 41, 1990, 156-193. Thallóczy Lajos et al. "Opća enciklopedija Jugoslovenskog Leksikografskog zavoda, 8", Zagreb 1982, 198. Tibor, Lajoš Taloci, naučnik i političar Filipović, Emir, "Lajos Thallóczy i bosanska heraldika", Radovi, XVI/1, Sarajevo: Filozofski Fakultet u Sarajevu Elsie, Robert.
A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History. London: I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-780764-31-6. Thallóczy Lajos és köre Bécsben П. Пейковска, Болгаро-венгерские связи в исторической науке и межличностные отношения P. Peykovska, Ludwig Thallóczy's Diary, fragments P. Peykovska, Ludwig Thallóczy's Travel Notes, 1881
Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script for Serbo-Croatian, developed in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian and Montenegrin, the other being Latin. In Croatian and Bosnian, only the Latin alphabet is used. Karadžić based his alphabet on the previous "Slavonic-Serbian" script, following the principle of "write as you speak and read as it is written", removing obsolete letters and letters representing iotified vowels, introducing ⟨J⟩ from the Latin alphabet instead, adding several consonant letters for sounds specific to Serbian phonology. During the same period, Croatian linguists led by Ljudevit Gaj adapted the Latin alphabet, in use in western South Slavic areas, using the same principles; as a result of this joint effort and Latin alphabets for Serbo-Croatian have a complete one-to-one congruence, with the Latin digraphs Lj, Nj, Dž counting as single letters. Vuk's Cyrillic alphabet was adopted in Serbia in 1868, was in exclusive use in the country up to the inter-war period.
Both alphabets were co-official in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Due to the shared cultural area, Gaj's Latin alphabet saw a gradual adoption in Serbia since, both scripts are used to write modern standard Serbian and Bosnian. In Serbia, Cyrillic is seen as being more traditional, has the official status, it is an official script in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, along with Latin. The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was used as a basis for the Macedonian alphabet with the work of Krste Misirkov and Venko Markovski. Cyrillic is in official use in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although the Bosnian language "officially accept both alphabets", the Latin script is always used in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whereas Cyrillic is in everyday use in Republika Srpska; the Serbian language in Croatia is recognized as a minority language, the use of Cyrillic in bilingual signs has sparked protests and vandalism. Cyrillic is an important symbol of Serbian identity.
In Serbia, official documents are printed in Cyrillic only though, according to a 2014 survey, 47% of the Serbian population write in the Latin alphabet whereas 36% write in Cyrillic. The following table provides the upper and lower case forms of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, along with the equivalent forms in the Serbian Latin alphabet and the International Phonetic Alphabet value for each letter: According to tradition, Glagolitic was invented by the Byzantine Christian missionaries and brothers Cyril and Methodius in the 860s, amid the Christianization of the Slavs. Glagolitic appears to be older, predating the introduction of Christianity, only formalized by Cyril and expanded to cover non-Greek sounds. Cyrillic was created by the orders of Boris I of Bulgaria by Cyril's disciples at the Preslav Literary School in the 890s; the earliest form of Cyrillic was the ustav, based on Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and letters from the Glagolitic alphabet for consonants not found in Greek.
There was no distinction between lowercase letters. The literary Slavic language was based on the Bulgarian dialect of Thessaloniki. Part of the Serbian literary heritage of the Middle Ages are works such as Vukan Gospels, St. Sava's Nomocanon, Dušan's Code, Munich Serbian Psalter, others; the first printed book in Serbian was the Cetinje Octoechos. Vuk Stefanović Karadžić fled Serbia during the Serbian Revolution to Vienna. There he met a linguist with interest in slavistics. Kopitar and Sava Mrkalj helped Vuk to reform its orthography, he finalized the alphabet in 1818 with the Serbian Dictionary. Karadžić reformed the Serbian literary language and standardised the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet by following strict phonemic principles on the Johann Christoph Adelung' model and Jan Hus' Czech alphabet. Karadžić's reforms of the Serbian literary language modernised it and distanced it from Serbian and Russian Church Slavonic, instead bringing it closer to common folk speech to the dialect of Eastern Herzegovina which he spoke.
Karadžić was, together with Đuro Daničić, the main Serbian signatory to the Vienna Literary Agreement of 1850 which, encouraged by Austrian authorities, laid the foundation for the Serbian language, various forms of which are used by Serbs in Serbia, Montenegro and Herzegovina and Croatia today. Karadžić translated the New Testament into Serbian, published in 1868, he wrote several books. In his letters from 1815-1818 he used: Ю, Я, Ы and Ѳ. In his 1815 song book he dropped the Ѣ; the alphabet was adopted in 1868, four years after his death. From the Old Slavic script Vuk retained these 24 letters: He added one Latin letter: And 5 new ones: He removed: Orders issued on the 3 and 13 October 1914 banned the use of Serbian Cyrillic in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, limiting it for use in religious instruction. A decree was passed on January 3, 1915, that banned Serbian Cyrillic from public use. An imperial order in October 25, 1915, banned the use of Serbian Cyrillic in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, except "within the scope of Serb Orthodox Church
Elizabeth of Bosnia
Elizabeth of Bosnia was queen consort and regent of Hungary and Croatia, as well as queen consort of Poland. Daughter of Ban Stephen II of Bosnia, Elizabeth became Queen of Hungary upon marrying King Louis I in 1353. In 1370, she gave birth to a long-anticipated heir and became Queen of Poland when Louis ascended the Polish throne; the royal couple had two more daughters and Hedwig, but Catherine died in 1378. A consort with no substantial influence, Elizabeth started surrounding herself with noblemen loyal to her, led by her favourite, Nicholas I Garai; when Louis died in 1382, Mary succeeded him with Elizabeth as regent. Unable to preserve the personal union of Hungary and Poland, the queen dowager secured the Polish throne for her youngest daughter, Hedwig. During her regency in Hungary, Elizabeth faced several rebellions led by John Horvat and John of Palisna, who attempted to take advantage of Mary's insecure reign. In 1385, they invited King Charles III of Naples to assume the crown. Elizabeth responded by having Charles murdered two months after his coronation, in 1386.
She had the crown restored to her daughter and established herself as regent once more, only to be captured and strangled by her enemies. Born about 1339, Elizabeth was the daughter of Ban Stephen II of Bosnia, the head of the House of Kotromanić, her mother, Elizabeth of Kuyavia, was a member of the House of Piast and grandniece of King Władysław I of Poland. The Hungarian queen dowager Elizabeth of Poland was first cousin once removed of Elizabeth's mother. After her daughter-in-law Margaret succumbed to the Black Death in 1349, Queen Elizabeth expressed interest in her young kinswoman, having in mind a future match for her widowed and childless son, King Louis I of Hungary, she insisted on bringing the girl to her court in Visegrád for fostering. Despite her father's initial reluctance, Elizabeth was sent to the dowager's court. In 1350, Tsar Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia attacked Bosnia; the invasion was not successful, the Tsar tried to negotiate peace, which would be sealed by arranging Elizabeth's marriage to his son and heir apparent, Stephen Uroš V. Mavro Orbini, whose reliability in this regard "is a subject of controversy", wrote that the Tsar expected Zachlumia to be ceded as Elizabeth's dowry, which her father refused.
That year she was formally betrothed to the 24-year-old Louis, who hoped to counter Dušan's expansionist policy either with her father's help or "as his eventual successor", according to historian Oscar Halecki. Elizabeth's marriage to Louis was celebrated in Buda on 20 June 1353; the couple were related within the prohibited degree of kinship, Duke Casimir I of Kuyavia being Elizabeth's maternal great-great-grandfather and Louis' maternal great-grandfather. A papal dispensation was thus necessary, but it was only sought four months after the wedding took place; the historian Iván Bertényi suggests that the ceremony may have been hastened by an unintended pregnancy, as the couple had been in contact for years. If so, the pregnancy ended in a stillbirth. Elizabeth's mother had died by the time she was married. Louis was dismayed when, upon his father-in-law's death the same year, Elizabeth's young and ambitious cousin Tvrtko ascended the Bosnian throne. In 1357, Louis summoned the young Ban to Požega and compelled him to surrender most of western Zachlumia as Elizabeth's dowry.
The new Queen of Hungary subjected herself to her controlling mother-in-law, Elizabeth of Poland. The fact that the young queen's retinue consisted of the same individuals who had served the queen mother indicates that Elizabeth of Bosnia may not have had her own court, her mother-in-law's influence prevailed until 1370, when Louis succeeded his maternal uncle, Casimir III, as King of Poland. Elizabeth's maternal uncle, Vladislaus the White, had been a candidate for the Polish throne. Following his coronation in Poland, Louis brought Casimir's underage daughters and Hedwig, to be raised by Elizabeth. Elizabeth, though Queen of Poland, was never crowned as such; the problem of the succession marked Louis' reign. Elizabeth was long considered barren, a succession crisis was expected after the childless king's death, her brother-in-law Stephen was heir presumptive until his death in 1354, when his son John replaced him. However, John died in 1360. A daughter was born to the King and Queen in 1365. For a few years, John's sister, was treated as heir presumptive and a suitable marriage for her was being negotiated.
Things took a different course after Elizabeth had three daughters in quick succession. Elizabeth is known to have written a book for the education of her daughters, a copy of, sent to France in 1374. However, all copies have been lost. On 17 September 1374, Louis granted various concessions to the Polish nobility by the Privilege of Koszyce, in exchange for their promise that a daughter of his would succeed him and that he, Elizabeth or his mother could indicate which one. In Hungary, he focused on the centralization of power as means of ensuring that his daughters' rights would be respected. Securing marriage to one of the princesses was a priority in European royal courts. Mary was scarcely one year old. In 1374, Catherine was betrothed to Louis of France, but died towards the end of 1378; the same year, promised to William of Austria in a sponsalia de futuro, left her mother's court and moved to Vienna, where she spent the next two years. The Polish lords swore to uphold Mary's rights in 1379, while Sigism
Nobility
Nobility is a social class ranked under royalty and found in some societies that have a formal aristocracy. Nobility possesses more acknowledged privileges and higher social status than most other classes in society; the privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be honorary, vary by country and era. As referred to in the Medieval chivalric motto "noblesse oblige", nobles can carry a lifelong duty to uphold various social responsibilities, such as honorable behavior, customary service, or leadership positions. Membership in the nobility, including rights and responsibilities, is hereditary. Membership in the nobility has been granted by a monarch or government, unlike other social classes where membership is determined by wealth, lifestyle, or affiliation. Nonetheless, acquisition of sufficient power, military prowess, or royal favour has enabled commoners to ascend into the nobility. There are a variety of ranks within the noble class.
Legal recognition of nobility has been more common in monarchies, but nobility existed in such regimes as the Dutch Republic, the Republic of Genoa, the Republic of Venice, the Old Swiss Confederacy, remains part of the legal social structure of some non-hereditary regimes, e.g. Channel Islands, San Marino, the Vatican City in Europe. Hereditary titles and styles added to names, as well as honorifics distinguish nobles from non-nobles in conversation and written speech. In many nations most of the nobility have been un-titled, some hereditary titles do not indicate nobility; some countries have had non-hereditary nobility, such as the Empire of Brazil or life peers in the United Kingdom. The term derives from the abstract noun of the adjective nobilis. In ancient Roman society, nobiles originated as an informal designation for the political governing class who had allied interests, including both patricians and plebeian families with an ancestor who had risen to the consulship through his own merit.
In modern usage, "nobility" is applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies, excepting the ruling dynasty. In the feudal system, the nobility were those who held a fief land or office, under vassalage, i.e. in exchange for allegiance and various military, services to a suzerain, who might be a higher-ranking nobleman or a monarch. It came to be seen as a hereditary caste, sometimes associated with a right to bear a hereditary title and, for example in pre-revolutionary France, enjoying fiscal and other privileges. While noble status conferred significant privileges in most jurisdictions, by the 21st century it had become a honorary dignity in most societies, although a few, residual privileges may still be preserved and some Asian and African cultures continue to attach considerable significance to formal hereditary rank or titles. Nobility is a historical and legal notion, differing from high socio-economic status in that the latter is based on income, possessions or lifestyle.
Being wealthy or influential cannot ipso facto make one noble, nor are all nobles wealthy or influential. Various republics, including former Iron Curtain countries, Greece and Austria have expressly abolished the conferral and use of titles of nobility for their citizens; this is distinct from countries which have not abolished the right to inherit titles, but which do not grant legal recognition or protection to them, such as Germany and Italy, although Germany recognizes their use as part of the legal surname. Still other countries and authorities allow their use, but forbid attachment of any privilege thereto, e.g. Finland and the European Union, while French law protects lawful titles against usurpation. Although many societies have a privileged upper class with substantial wealth and power, the status is not hereditary and does not entail a distinct legal status, nor differentiated forms of address. Not all of the benefits of nobility derived from noble status per se. Privileges were granted or recognised by the monarch in association with possession of a specific title, office or estate.
Most nobles' wealth derived from one or more estates, large or small, that might include fields, orchards, hunting grounds, etc. It included infrastructure such as castle and mill to which local peasants were allowed some access, although at a price. Nobles were expected to live "nobly", that is, from the proceeds of these possessions. Work involving manual labour or subordination to those of lower rank was either forbidden or frowned upon socially. On the other hand, membership in the nobility was a prerequisite for holding offices of trust in the realm and for career promotion in the military, at court and the higher functions in the government and church. Prior to the French Revolution, European nobles commanded tribute in the form of entitlement to cash rents or usage taxes, labour or a portion of the annual crop yield from commoners or no
Nemanjić dynasty
The Nemanjić was the most prominent dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. The princely and imperial house produced eleven Serbian monarchs between 1166 and 1371, its progenitor was Stefan Nemanja. After Nemanja, all monarchs used Stefan as a personal name, a tradition adopted for the royal pretensions; the monarchs began as Grand Princes, with the crowning of Stefan Nemanjić in 1217, the realm was promoted to a Kingdom, the Serbian Church was established. In 1346, Stefan Dušan was crowned Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, the Archbishopric of Serbia was elevated to a Patriarchate. In 1371, with the death of child-less Uroš the Weak, the fall of the Serbian Empire was ensured; the Serbs, as Slavs in the vicinity of the Byzantine Empire, lived in so-called Sklavinia, territories out of Byzantine control and independent. In the 8th century, the Vlastimirović Dynasty established the Serbian Principality. In 822, Serbia "stretched over the greater part of Dalmatia", Christianity was adopted as state-religion in circa 870.
In the mid-10th century the state had emerged into a tribal confederation that stretched to the shores of the Adriatic Sea by the Neretva, the Sava, the Morava, Skadar. The state disintegrated after the death of the last known Vlastimirid ruler – the Byzantines annexed the region and held it for a century, until 1040 when the Serbs under the Vojislavljević Dynasty revolted in Duklja. In 1091, the Vukanović Dynasty established the Serbian Grand Principality, based in Rascia; the two halves were reunited in 1142. In 1166, Stefan Nemanja took the throne, marking the beginning of Serbia, henceforth under the rule of the Nemanjići. Serbia reached its height of power during the Nemanjić dynasty; the Serbian Kingdom was proclaimed in 1217, leading to the establishment of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1219. In the same year Saint Sava published the first constitution in Serbia: St. Sava's Nomocanon. Tsar Stefan Dušan proclaimed the Serbian Empire in 1346. During Dušan's rule, Serbia reached its territorial and economical peak, proclaiming itself as the successor of the Byzantine Empire, was the most powerful Balkan state of that time.
Dušan enacted an extensive constitution, known as Dušan's Code, opened new trade routes, strengthened the state's economy. The Serbian identity has been profoundly shaped by the rule of this dynasty and its accomplishments, the Serbian Orthodox Church has assumed the role of the national spiritual guardian. Stefan Dušan attempted to organize a Crusade with the Pope against the threatening Turks, but he died in December 1355 at the age 47, he was succeeded by his son Uroš, called the Weak, a term that might apply to the state of the empire, which slid into a feudal anarchy. This was a period marked by the rise of a new threat: the Ottoman Turk sultanate, which spread from Asia to Europe; the Ottomans conquered Byzantium and the other states in the Balkans. The Nemanjić dynasty ruled the Serb lands between ca. 1166 up to 1371. Đorđe Nemanjić, King of Zeta Stefan Vladislav II, King of Syrmia, 1875 historical three-tome novel "Car Dušan" by Dr Vladan Đorđević tells the story of Emperor Dušan. 1987 historical novel "Stefan Dušan" by Slavomir Nastasijević is another story of Emperor Dušan.
2002 historical novel "Dušan Silni" by Mile Kordić. 2012 novel "Izvori - Roman o Nemanji i Svetom Savi" by Milan Miletić depicts Stefan Nemanja and his son, Saint Sava. 2015 novel "Gora Preobraženja" by Ljiljana Habjanović Đurović tells the story of Saint Sava. 2017 TV series "Nemanjići - rađanje kraljevine" portrays the rule of King Stefan the First-Crowned, the first King of Serbia. List of Serbian monarchs Vojislavljević dynasty Branković dynasty Lazarević dynasty Nemanjić dynasty dinastija-nemanjic.weebly.com History of the Serbs
