Serbia in the Middle Ages

While under the rule of Stefan Nemanja and his descendants, the Nemanjić dynasty, Serbia achieved its Golden Age which lasted until the 14th century, when as a powerful state (kingdom from 1217, empire from 1346), it dominated the majority of the Balkan peninsula.

[30][31][32][33] The decisive phase followed, mostly from 610 to 626, when the Slavs raided the inland of the Balkans, destroying large cities and ravaging the area between the Danube on the north and south of Greece, including the repeated sieges of Thessalonica in 616 and 618, and of Constantinople itself in 626.

[56] Outside of Serbia, in lands which were settled by early Serbs (and other Slavs), main remains of the Slavic culture and social organization, from the 7th to the 9th century, includes several localities around Doboj and in the Drina river valley, in modern Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the large settlement near the village of Batković.

[64][65] Certain groups possibly crossed the Dinarides and reached the Adriatic coast, but a closer reading of the DAI suggests that Constantine VII's consideration about the Serbian ethnic identity of the population of Pagania, Travunia and Zachlumia is based on 10th century Serbian political rule and does not indicate ethnic origin,[66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73] neither a small group of people led by "Unknown Archon" could settle a large territory and they most probably arrived as a small military elite which managed to organize other already settled and more numerous Slavs.

The major expansion of Bulgaria began in the first half of the 9th century when they attacked Constantinople and conquered numerous Slavic tribes on the Balkans (Guduscani, doubtful,[39] and Timočani, which fled to the Frankish controlled areas in the west, Praedenecenti in c. 825, Merehani - all of which disappeared from history afterwards), so as the remnants of the Avars in the Pannonian plain.

[129] DAI claims that he and his entourage of 4 encountered only "50 single men, without wives and children, who lived from hunting", it shows how thorough the destruction of Serbian state and society was by the Bulgarians, considered that "at this point, fortifications were temporarily abandoned".

Venetian dodge Pietro Tradonico sent fleet in 839 to the Balkan coast of the Adriatic, reaching peace with duke Mislav of the Dalmatian Croatia, and alliance (foedus) with Družak, Narentine chieftain.

Stefan Vojislav escaped from his captivity in 1037 or 1038, returned to Serbia by 1039, expelled Theophilos and then expanded the territory under his rule capturing Duklja and the "Illyiran Coast" (cities of Bar, Ulcinj and Scutari), which belonged to the Byzantine Theme of Dyrrhachium.

By winning this combat, which became known as the Battle of Bar, Stefan Vojislav suppressed Byzantine rule in this part of the Balkans and solidified his position as the ruler of the unified Serbian state which, for the first time since the migration, encompassed four (out of five) historical principalities: Serbia (Duklja, Travunia, Zachlumia, and stretched between the rivers of Neretva and Bojana).

After the massive defeat by the Seljuks at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and general discontent with the rule of new emperor Michael VII Doukas, the Byzantine Empire abruptly weakened and the internal strife and riots broke.

Historian Anna Komnene wrote that emperor Alexios I Komnenos "made Bodin and Mihailo, exarchs of the Dalmatians, his friends, gained their sympathies through letters and gifts, opening many secret doors to him (this way)".

In a letter from the Archbishop of Antivari Grgur, Stefan Nemanja, great župan of Serbia, and his brothers Stracimir Zavidović and Miroslav of Hum, were described as Mihailo's "maternal uncles who are pressuring him much".

The very first one, Vukan Nemanjić, appointed by his father Stefan Nemanja, was titled king (rex) of "Duklja, Dalmatia, Travunija, Toplica and Hvosno" (Latin: Dioclie, Dalmatie, Tribunie, Toplize et Cosne).

His son and successor, Serbian Emperor Stefan Uroš V (1355-1371) did not inherit his father's ruling abilities, and by 1365 magnates appointed him a co-ruler, King Vukašin of Serbia, who fell in Battle of Maritsa, fighting against Ottoman Turks.

In an attempt to prolong the fall of the state, despot Lazar's daughter Maria Branković was married to the Bosnian heir apparent Stephen Tomašević, uniting the two lands as in the time of the migration to the Balkans.

Christian influences included burying of the bodies in the stretched position, with or without a casket, with the head in the west direction, but the graves contained pottery vessels and other burial objects, remnants of the pre-Christian customs.

Though officially judged by the magistrates, the village councils, which were to be elected to start and conduct the criminal proceedings, were the root of the inquisitor-type examinations in Serbia, which were cut with the fall of the state, and failed to develop into the similar Western Europe counterpart.

[234] In his 1601 work The Realm of the Slavs, which was published in Serbia in 1968 with critical commentaries, Ragusan chronicler Mavro Orbini writes that Emperor Dušan practiced using all available weapons at the time, and that he expected from his lords the same.

Milica's other daughter, princess consort and regent of Zeta Jelena Lazarević, fought against the Venetians and the Ragusans after the death of her husband Đurađ II Balšić in 1403 to 1409, when she handed over the throne to her son Balša III.

As a result, numerous words at that time entered the Serbian language, directly from the Latin language, like the names of the plants (bosiljak, "basilicum", basil; kupus "composita", cabbage; lovor, "laurus", laurel; cer, "cerrus", Turkey oak), everyday objects (konopac, "canapus", rope; mramor, "marmor", marble; sapun, "sapo", soap; sumpor, "sulphur" sulfur; ulje, "oleum", oil) and animals (mazga, "muscus", hinny; kresta, "crista", crest).

The blending of the population occurred at different pace and the Romanized population prevailed the longest in the maritime towns and locations on the Adriatic, some of which kept the original, Roman, names in Slavic rendering: Scodra = Skadar, Ulcinium = Ulcinj, Butua = Budva, Rhizon = Risan, Stagnum = Ston, Dormire = Durmitor, Visitor (from videre, vidi, visum; to see), Leotar (from leo; lion), Narenta = Neretva, Barbana = Bojana, Drinio or Dirnius = Drim, Cnetona = Cetina.

In the Batković they included knives, stone cutters, blade sharpeners and sickles, but also parts of the weaving frames, female jewelry made of silver, bronze and pâte de verre, combs, ceramic vessels, etc.

Re-population of the forts in the eastern part of the Serbian settled areas came later, from the mid-9th century (Ras, Vrsenice (near Sjenica), Gradište (Kraljevo), Gradina (Jelica mountain), etc., which was probably a consequence of the approaching threat from the Bulgarian attacks.

After the Great Schism (1054) and the decline of Byzantine political influence in Serbian lands, cities of the southeastern Adriatic, such as Bar, Ulcinj, Scutari and Drivast were detached from the Greek Metropolitanate of Dyrrachium, and became subordinated to the Archbishopric of Ragusa.

Visiting Serbia in 1433, during the reign of despot Đurađ Branković, Burgundian Bertrandon de la Broquière wrote: "there is a town called Niš, in a very beautiful region, where rice grows a lot".

A whole array of vegetables (onions, garlic, beetroot, cabbage), fruits (apples, pears, plums, raspberries, hawthorns, blackberries, blueberries, mulberries, cherries, walnuts, grapes, hazelnuts) and mushrooms supplemented the everyday diet.

He also mentions other food served at the court, like other game (roe deer and rabbit meat), broths made from numerous birds (partridge, snipe, wild pigeon) and a special treat, pogača kneaded with honey.

In the Law on mines, issued by despot Stefan Lazarević and dealing with the town of Novo Brdo, a tribute called psunja was to be collected for each wine brought to the city square to be sold.

Miners worked 6 hours a day, had uniforms, their own mining anthem, music and flag, while two times a year they had right to go on a vacation, in which case they were awarded 3 gold coins "for the road".

Trading caravans (called turma), connecting West and East, were crisscrossing the state, importing salt, spices, medicines, arms, expensive fabrics, rare furs and citrus fruit, and exporting leather, honey, cheese and wax.