Desa ( sr-cyr, Деса) was the
Serbian co-ruler from 1148 to 1153, alongside his elder brother
Uroš II, Grand Prince of Serbia
Uroš II ( sr-cyr, Урош II), also known as Primislav (Примислав) or Prvoslav (Првослав), was Serbian Grand Prince from 1145 to 1162, with brief interruptions as ruler by Desa, his brother. His rule was characterized by a per ...
; the Prince of
Duklja
Duklja ( sh-Cyrl, Дукља; el, Διόκλεια, Diokleia; la, Dioclea) was a medieval South Slavic state which roughly encompassed the territories of modern-day southeastern Montenegro, from the Bay of Kotor in the west to the Bojana Ri ...
,
Travunija
Travunia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Travunija, Травунија; el, Τερβουνία, Tervounía; grc, Τερβουνία, Terbounía; la, Tribunia) was a South Slavic medieval principality that was part of Medieval Serbia (850–13 ...
and
Zahumlje
Zachlumia or Zachumlia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Zahumlje, Захумље, ), also Hum, was a medieval principality located in the modern-day regions of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia (today parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia ...
from 1149 to 1162; the Grand Prince of Serbia from 1153 to 1155, and again from 1162 to 1166.
Biography
Desa was the youngest of three sons of
Uroš I, the Grand Prince of Serbia from 1112 to 1145. His mother was
Anna Diogenissa
Anna Diogenissa ( gr, Ἄννα Διογένισσα; ca. 1074–1145) was a Byzantine noblewoman of the Diogenes house who became the Grand Princess consort of Serbia as wife of Uroš I Vukanović (r. 1112–1145). She had five children with Ur ...
, a Byzantine noblewoman. The eldest son Uroš II succeeded their father in 1145. Their sister,
Helena
Helena may refer to:
People
*Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer
*Helena, mother of Constantine I
Places
Greece
* Helena (island)
Guyana
* ...
, married
Béla II of Hungary
Béla the Blind ( hu, Vak Béla; hr, Bela Slijepi; sk, Belo Slepý; 1109 – 13 February 1141) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1131 to 1141. He was blinded along with his rebellious father Álmos on the order of Álmos's brother, K ...
(r. 1131–41). Upon the death of Béla II, Helena and the middle son
Beloš
Beloš ( sr-cyr, Белош; hu, Belos or ''Belus''; el, Βελούσης fl. 1141–1163), was a Serbian prince and Hungarian palatine who served as the regent of Hungary from 1141 until 1146, alongside his sister Helena, mother of the infan ...
became regents of Hungary. Desa initially held the region of
Dendra
Dendra ( el, Δενδρά) is a prehistoric archaeological site situated outside the village with the same name belonging to the municipality of Midea in the Argolid, Greece.
The site has a history stretching back at least to the early Bronze A ...
, near
Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...
, until later acceding to the throne. Desa was an uncle to three kings of Hungary and Croatia.
In ca. 1148, the political situation in the Balkans was divided by two sides, one being the alliance of the Byzantines and Venice, the other the Normans and Hungarians. The Normans were sure of the danger that the battlefield would move from the Balkans to their area in Italy.
Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Romanization of Greek, Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; "born in the purple"), w ...
also allied himself with the Germans after defeating the
Cumans
The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...
in 1148. The Serbs, Hungarians, and Normans exchanged envoys, as it was in the interest of the Normans to stop Manuel's plans to recover Italy.
The Serbs under brothers Uroš II and Desa revolted against the Byzantines, when Manuel was in Avlona planning an offensive across the Adriatic. This revolt posed danger to the Emperor if he would attack Italy, as the Serbs could strike at the Adriatic bases. The Serbs next undertook an offensive against
Radoslav of Duklja
Radoslav ( sr-cyr, Радослав) was the Prince of Duklja from 1146 to 1149. As the oldest son, he succeeded as ruler of Duklja after the death of his father, Gradinja in 1146. He was installed by Manuel I Komnenos upon a visit to Constanti ...
, who was a loyal Byzantine vassal. Radoslav was pushed to the southwestern corner of Duklja, to Kotor, and retained only the coastal area, with the brothers holding much of inland Duklja and Trebinje, i.e. over two thirds of Duklja. Radoslav sought help from the Emperor, who sent aid from
Durazzo. At this moment, the ''
Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja
The ''Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea or Duklja'' ( sh, Ljetopis popa Dukljanina) is the usual name given to a purportedly medieval chronicle written in the late 13th century by an anonymous priest from Duklja. Its oldest preserved copy is in La ...
'' ends, presumably because the author of the original text had died. A major war was about to erupt in the Balkans; Uroš II and Desa, in light of Byzantine retaliation, sought aid from their brother Beloš, the
count palatine
A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an ord ...
of Hungary. By 1150, Hungarian troops played an active role in Serbia.
Desa's brother Uroš II ruled alone from 1140 until the battle at the Tara river against Emperor Manuel in 1150, when the Byzantines defeated the Serbs and Hungarians. Uroš II was spared and Desa was instated as co-ruler along with Uroš. He is mentioned in Venetian charters from 1150 as a Prince of Duklja, Travunija and Zahumlje, and again in 1151. In 1153 a dispute between the two brothers resulted in Desa and the Serbian court ousting Uroš II. Emperor Manuel I intervened and re-instated Uroš II in 1155, deposing Desa. He tried to engage in diplomacy with Hungarian king Frederick. In the summer of 1165, Manuel I sent an army to pursuit Desa. Desa was granted a safe meeting with Manuel I and was escorted by a bodyguard. Desa gave oaths to Manuel I in a
public humiliation
Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned puni ...
after being examined in Constantinople on his diplomacy with Hungary. Manuel put Tihomir on the throne in 1166.
Some have concluded that Desa was the father of
Stefan Nemanja
Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince ( Veliki Župan) of the Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška, lat. ) from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nemanji ...
, this however is disputed among other theories.
References
Sources
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Further reading
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Urosevic, Desa
12th-century Serbian monarchs
Vukanović dynasty
Eastern Orthodox monarchs
People of the Grand Principality of Serbia
12th-century births
12th-century deaths
History of Dalmatia
12th-century Eastern Orthodox Christians