are consequently reflected in the society and culture of the Slavs at every turn. The want of organising power and of discipline which characterise the Greek Church have permanently influenced the political life of the Slavs. For the Slavs were devoid of any leading political idea, and clung to the principles of the slowly decaying Byzantine Empire. Divided as they were into a number of tribes opposed to all thoughts of union, they were bound, sooner or later, to fall a prey to some powerful conqueror.

6. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CROATIANS

THE only bond of union between the Slav races in the Balkan Peninsula was Christianity and the Greco-Slav civilization. The Bulgarian kingdom advanced with rapid strides, as it rose to power, towards the gates of Byzantium, until it entered upon a mighty struggle with the emperor John Tzimisces in 971 (p. 87), and was finally conquered in 1018 by Basil II (p. 88); meanwhile the history of the Croatian and Servian tribes comes but slowly into view from the historical background of the northwest. The part played by the Servian and Croatian Župans is but very small. For the purpose of maintaining their independence they wavered between Bulgaria and Byzantium, ranging themselves now on one side, now upon the other. Many Servian and Croatian principalities were subjugated by the Bulgarians. After the conquest of Bulgaria they were forced to join the Byzantine kingdom, and to secure themselves against aggression from this side they turned to Rome.

The history of Croatia begins at an earlier date than that of Servia; especially is this true of the coast land occupied by the Croatians, which was also known to the Italians as Slavonia. The year 634 is the date generally given to the immigration of the Croatians. They were subdued by the Franks, and after the disruption of the Carolingian Empire they submitted to the Greek emperor Basil I about 877. About the year 900 they once again secured their independence. Prince Muntimir is said to have laid the foundation of this success. Among the Croatians of the coast land we find an independent prince as early as the ninth century, by name Borna, who bears the title Dux Liburniae et Dalmatiæ. The central point of this duchy lay in the North about Klis, Nona, Zara Vecchia, and Knin. In the ninth century Christianity was introduced with the Slav liturgy and the Glagolitic script, and in 879 a bishopric was founded at Nona by the duke Branimir. The Glagolitic script was forbidden to the Roman clergy by the Synod of Spalatro in 924, but was afterwards allowed by Innocent IV in 1248, and is still in use in the churches in that district (in 1898 Pope Leo XIII issued fresh regulations concerning the use of Glagolitic and of the Slav liturgy in Dalmatia and the coast land).

The Servian chieftain Michael did not secure the title of king from Gregory VII until the eleventh century, whereas the Croatian chief Timislav was granted that title, also by Rome, as early as 926. In other respects the balance of power between Croatia and Servia on the frontier line was continually changing; at one time Servian tribes were subjugated by the Croatians, and at other times Croatian districts were conquered by the Serbs.

In the tenth century Croatia became a formidable power. The islands and coast towns occupied by the Roman population paid yearly tribute to the Croatian

princes with the consent of the East Roman emperor, in order to secure immunity from attacks upon their trade; the Venetians also paid tribute to the Croatians for the same reason, down to the end of the tenth century. According to Constantine Porphyrogennetos (about 950) the Croatians, under the princes Krjesmir (Kresimir, Kreszimir; cf. p. 88) and Miroslav, the successors of Timislav, were able to place in the field 100,000 infantry and 60,000 cavalry, and possessed 180 ships of war. Soon, however, Venice grew so strong that the payment of tribute was refused by the Doge Peter II Orsello, and in the year 1000 he conquered the Croatians and Narentanes and assumed the title of Duke of Dalmatia; this was the first occasion on which Venice acquired possession of the Dalmatian coast. In order to save their throne the Croatian ruling family formed an alliance with the commercial republic. The duke's son, Kresimir, married Hicela, the daughter of the Doge, and bore the title of King of Croatia and Dalmatia from the year 1059.

These events aroused anxiety and enmity in the Hungarian court, which found itself forestalled in its attempts to secure a footing on the Adriatic Sea and to conquer the coast of Dalmatia; the Hungarians also recognised that the Venetian republic had become a dangerous rival. The house of Árpád succeeded in negotiating a marriage between the daughter of King Geisa I and the Croatian duke Svonimir, who at that time (1076) had been crowned king by the papal legate of Gregory VII, and had thus admitted his position as a vassal of the papal chair. In 1088, when Svonimir died without children, his widow is said. to have called in her brother Ladislaus. He conquered the interior of Croatia in 1091, but was unable to advance to the sea, because Hungary was herself threatened at that time by the Kumanians. He intrusted the government of the conquered district to his nephew Almus. Croatia thus became an appanage of the Hungarian Empire, whose fate it henceforward shared. Hungary was thus necessarily forced into hostility with Venice, as it was committed to an attempt to conquer the Dalmatian coast, then in Venetian hands. From this time forward that part of Croatia lying next the sea (Dalmatia) formed for centuries the apple of discord between Hungary and Venice. If Byzantium were now to assert her rights, she would have to compose the quarrels of Hungary and Venice.

7. SERVIA, MONTENEGRO, AND BOSNIA UNTIL THE TURKISH SUPREMACY

A. SERVIA

AFTER the conquest of Bulgaria by Byzantium and the occupation of Croatia by Hungary and Venice respectively, the Servian race, alone of all Slav peoples in the Balkan Peninsula, retained any kind of independence, although they were by no means as yet a united state. At all times and in all places small nations have only federated when threatened by some external danger; thus it was that the Russian and Lithuanian states arose, and such is the history of all the Western European states, and of Servia among them. Under the great Czar Symeon Bulgaria so devastated the Servian districts that they had to be recolonized by returning fugitives, and part of the Servian tribes were forced to recognize Bulgarian supremacy. In the tenth century the Župan Ceslav succeeded for the first time in

uniting several Servian tribes for a common struggle against the Bulgarians. After the destruction of the Bulgarian Empire by Basil II (p. 88) Byzantine supremacy over the whole peninsula was established with a vigour which had been unprecedented since the time of Justinian I, and this state of things continued, under the dynasty of the Comneni, till the end of the twelfth century. The boundless oppression of the government often, however, caused revolts among the Serbs. The High Župan Michael (p. 287) applied to Rome for support, and received from thence the title of king, and maintained his independence of Byzantium for some time. The help of the Hungarians was also not despised.

(a) The Nemanjids. A prominent figure about 1120 is Uroš, or Bela Uroš, the Župan of Rassa, whose family belonged to Zeta; he entered upon friendly relations with the Hungarians, married his daughter to Béla II, and helped the Magyars to secure possession of Bosnia. From the Rama, a tributary of the Narenta on the south of Bosnia, the Árpáds now took the title of "King of

Rama."

Of even more importance for Servian history is the rule of the son of Uroš, the famous Stefan I Nemanja, who was also born in Zeta, the cradle of his race. Although the youngest of his family, he aimed at the principality of Rassa, and also at the general supremacy, which he was able to secure with the help of the Byzantines. Though he had been baptised into the Western Church, he underwent a repetition of the ceremony according to the customs of the Eastern Church, when he had arrived in Rassa, in order to secure the favour of the clergy and the people. In the year 1165 the emperor Manuel I confirmed his position as High Zupan, and gave him a piece of land, in return for which Nemanja swore fidelity to him. In the year 1173 Nemanja defeated his relations and secured the obedience of the refractory Župans. In this way he founded one uniform, hereditary, and independent state. That process was here completed which was going on at the same time in Bohemia, Poland, and Russia. And in these states also families began to rule according to the laws of seniority; that is to say, the eldest member of the ruling family exercised a supremacy over the rest until the transition to hereditary monarchy had been completed. Princes of the royal family who had hitherto enjoyed equal rights now became officials of the royal power. In Servia this change was completed at a much earlier date than in other Slav countries.

Nemanja also took in hand the organisation of the Servian Church. Converted to the Greek faith, he built monasteries and churches, suppressed the Roman faith, and cruelly persecuted the widely spread Bulgarian sect of the Bogumiles, with the object of securing a uniform religion throughout his own state. The Eastern Church thus became established in Servia, and the Eastern form of worship became the national worship, so that religion and nationality formed an undivided idea. At an earlier period the Servian churches and bishoprics had been subordinate to the Roman archbishopric of Spalato, and afterwards to that of Antivari; now Eastern bishoprics and an archbishopric were founded for Servia alone. The king's youngest son Rastka was appointed the first Eastern archbishop in Servia (at the Synod of Nikaia in 1221), under the name of Sava (Sabbas). He divided the land into twelve bishoprics, and bestowed episcopal rank on none but Servians. Žica was made the residence of the Servian archbishops; at a later period Sava

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carried thither the remains of his imperial father Nemanja from Mt. Athos; here, too, Servian kings were in future to be crowned (this was realised in the case of Peter I on October 9, 1904). Sava also founded monasteries in Servia, all under the rule of Saint Basil, which he had found in force at Athos. He enjoyed a high prestige, and was highly honoured as the first national saint of Servia. In the year 1235 the independence of the Servian Church was recognised by the Greeks.

This ecclesiastical alliance did not, however, prevent Nemanja from attacking Byzantium when the advantage of his own state was in question. Immediately after the death of the emperor Manuel in 1180 he conquered, in alliance with the Hungarian king Béla III, those Servian districts which had fallen under Byzantine supremacy. He then renewed his friendly relations with the emperor, and even secured the hand of the emperor's niece Eudoxia for his own son Stefan, an alliance which brought legitimacy and special prestige to his house. It seems that the ambitious Nemanja hoped to bring Byzantium within his power. The circumstances were favourable to such an attempt. Servia was the only independent state in the Balkan Peninsula, while Byzantium was weakened by quarrels about the succession. Nemanja, however, did not feel himself sufficiently strong for the attempt. At that period the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa came to Nisch on his crusade. The Servian prince appeared before him, and a chronicler assures us that Nemanja was willing to accept his country from Barbarossa as a fief. The emperor, however, who did not wish to arouse the animosity of the Greeks, declined to entertain the proposal.

In the year 1195 Nemanja, apparently with the object of securing the supremacy of his house, abdicated in favour of his eldest son Stefan (the second Nemanja), to whom he had already given the Byzantine title of Despot. His second son Vukan (Vlk) received his hereditary district of Zeta. Nemanja himself retired into the monastery of Studenitza, a foundation of his own, under the title of "Symeon the Monk;" afterwards he went to Mt. Athos, and died in 1200, at the monastery of Chilander, which was also of his foundation. A struggle for the succession burst out between his sons, Vukan attempting to secure support in Hungary, and especially in Rome. Stefan also made applications to that quarter, and was crowned by the papal legate in 1217; he assumed the title "King of Servia, Diocletia, Travunia, Dalmatia, and Chlum." This step, however, cost him his entire popularity in the country. The archbishop Sava had repeatedly interposed in the quarrels of his brothers; Stefan now asked for further action of the kind. Sava crowned him in 1222 with a crown sent by the Byzantine Empire, at a great popular assembly, at which he read before him the articles of faith of the Eastern Church. The Hungarian king Emerich had availed himself of these quarrels to bring Servia under his supremacy. In 1202 he occupied Servia and assumed the title of "Rex Rasciæ;" but a struggle with his brother Andreas forced him to leave Servia. Stefan maintained his position until his death, in 1224. Since that time no Servian ruler ventured to break away from the Eastern Church, although many entered into connection with Rome.

Of the descendants of Nemanja, Milutin (= Stefan IV, Uroš II; 1275 or [1281] to 1320) began a career of ruthless conquest; he had no hesitation in forwarding his plans by repeated marriages with Byzantine, Bulgarian, and Hungarian princesses, with a corresponding series of divorces. He captured Greek provinces

and maintained his possession of them even after the death of the emperor Michael VIII Palæologus (1282). He advanced as far as Athos. He obtained Bosnia from Hungary without striking a blow, as the dowry of his first wife. He also secured the favor of the Pope, whom he was able to keep in hand with empty promises. As he had no legitimate male heirs, he conceived the idea of uniting his empire with the Byzantine, in which plan he was supported by the empress Irene, his second mother-in-law (since 1299). Naturally he and no other was to have been emperor, and her children were to succeed him. Under him and under his son Stefan V (Stefan IV if we begin the series of Stefan kings in 1222), Uroš III, who bore the nickname Dečanski, Servia became famous not only in the Balkan territories, but also throughout Western Europe.

Meanwhile, however, Bulgaria had recovered from her downfall at the end of the twelfth century, and was waging a successful war with Byzantium. The powerful Servian kingdom now stood in the way of her further development. The struggle between the two for supremacy could only be a matter of time. In the year 1323 the Bulgarian Boyars chose the Despot Michael of Bdyn as their Czar; with him begins the supremacy of the Šišmanides of Bdyn, the last dynasty of Trnovo. The new Czar began friendly relations with Servia, and married Anna, the daughter of Milutin, with the object of vigorously opposing the Byzantines and other enemies. Soon, however, the situation was changed. Michael divorced. Anna about 1325 and married the sister of Andronikos (III) the younger, of Byzantium. It was only by the intervention of the Servian bishop and chronicler, Daniel, that war with Servia was avoided on this occasion; however, in 1330 war broke out. Michael brought about a great alliance between the Byzantines, Bulgarians, Roumanians, Tartars, and Bessarabians. The Servian king advanced by forced marches against the allies, and suddenly attacked them on June 28 at Velbužd (Velbushd or Küstendil; cf. p. 109). His army included three hundred German mercenaries in armour, and Dušan, the son of Stefan, fought at the head of a chosen band. The Bulgarians were routed and their camp was plundered. Stefan contented himself with raising Stefan, the son of his sister Anna, who had been divorced by Michael, to the position of Czar, as Šišman II, and evacuated Bulgaria. Servia now held the predominant position in the Balkan Peninsula.

Stefan, the conqueror of Velbužd, met with a sad fate. He had been formerly blinded by his father, Milutin, and now came to a terrible end. His Boyars revolted under the leadership of Dušan and strangled him, at the age of sixty, though shortly before he had appointed his ungrateful son to the position of "younger king." Thus on September 8, 1331, Stefan Dušan ascended the throne at the age of nineteen. Of desperate courage on the battlefield, Dušan also possessed all the qualities of a statesman. While Milutin confined his aspirations to a union of the Byzantine and Servian kingdoms, Dusan dreamed of a larger Servia which should embrace all the Balkan territories. Turning to account the weakness of the Byzantine and Bulgarian empires he conquered Albania, Macedonia, Thessalia, Epirus between 1336 and 1340 and in 1345 (see the map facing page 165); even the Greeks, weary of civil war, are said to have invited his supremacy. In 1346 he assumed the title of Czar and had the youthful Uroš crowned king, intrusting to him the administration of Servia proper. In his documents we meet with the title "Stefan, Czar and supreme ruler of Servia and Greece, of Bulgaria and Albania." His title of emperor was also to the benefit of