Nemanja (c. 1113 – 1199), son of a Prince of Zahumlje, became grand župan (clan leader) of Raška under Byzantine suzerainty in 1169. The Venetians incited the Slavs of the eastern Adriatic littoral to rebel against Byzantine rule. He sided with them and was eventually defeated by the avenging Byzantines. Although Nemanja bowed before Emperor Manuel I Komnenos and surrendered his personal sword, he was imprisoned and brought to the Imperial Capital of Constantinople to take part in a triumphal entry as a defeated barbarian. However, the emperor befriended Nemanja who vowed to never again attack Manuel, while the Emperor in return recognized Stefan Nemanja and his bloodline as the rightful Grand Župans of the Rascian lands.
Following Emperor Manuel I's death in 1180, Stefan Nemanja no longer believed he owed any allegiance to the Byzantines, he formed a new alliance with King Bela III of Hungary, and invaded Byzantine soil. Nemanja conquered Skopje, Prizren, and Tetovo.
In 1190, the new Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelos prepared a massive and experienced army to strike against Nemanja. In fall of 1191, the well-prepared Byzantine army, led by the Emperor himself, crushed Nemanja's forces in South Morava. Stefan Nemanja retreated into the mountains, as Byzantines raided all along the river and even burned down the capital in Kuršumlija. However, Nemanja began raiding the Byzantine armies, so Emperor Isaac decided to negotiate a final peace treaty. Though again defeated, he retained Kosovo, Peć, Prizren, Bar, Skadar (Shkodër), and Kotor.
Serbia seemed once again endangered once as Nemanja's former ally, King Bela of Hungary invaded from the north. However, Nemanja's forces quickly pushed the Hungarians back across the border in 1193.
Nemanja abdicated in 1196 and joined his son in a monastery. His son, Stefan Prvovenčani (the “First-Crowned”), was granted the title of king of Raška by Pope Honorius III in 1217. His younger brother, Rastko (later canonized as St. Sava), became in 1219 the first archbishop of an independent Serbian Orthodox church. This close alliance between secular and sacred power gave the Nemanjić state much of its strength and stability.
Illustration: Stefan Nemanja with his army in the front of Byzantine fortress by Borivoje Mikic.
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