THE EXPANSION OF SERBIA IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 12TH CENTURY

Abstract

In Serbian historiography, the expansion of Serbia, or Raška (Rascia), in the first half of the 12th century at the expense of Byzantium, whose vassal it was, was recorded a long time ago. At the same time, it is recorded that Serbia was defeated three times by Byzantium (in 1127 – 1129, 1149 and 1150). Byzantium dealt with the problem of unruly vassals by annexing some territory at the beginning of the 11th century, relocating population (after 1129 and 1150), giving land to the Serbs settled along the Byzantine border (to Zavida, Primislav, Desa, Stefan Nemanja), and raising the number of soldiers Serbia was obliged to give for waging war (in 1150). The lands granted to Serbs between 1129 and 1143 spanned the area between Ras and Kopaonik, while those granted between 1150 and 1158/9 spanned the area between Kopaonik and the parishes (Serb. župa) of Toplica and Reka. The first expansion benefited Zavida, who received lands from Byzantium after acknowledging the Empirećs sovereignty, upon his return to Ras, which belonged to Byzantium at the time. The second expansion impacted at least a part of Zavida’s territory which Stefan Nemanja later received when he became a suzerain in Serbia. We hypothesize that the territories that Byzantium gave to the Serbs as its vassals did become part of Serbia at a certain moment and under certain conditions. The answer to the question of how this was possible even though Serbia was defeated by Byzantium may be that Byzantine emperors regarded Serbian rulers as their officials and Serbian lands as Byzantine provinces.