The Serbian

monarchs A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in ...

and royalty have assumed several regnal titles and styles throughout history.

Middle Ages

Regnal titles

;Prince of Serbia / the Serbs :''Archon of Serbia''/''Archon of the Serbs'' (). ἄρχων ('' archon'', plural , ''archontes'') was used by the Byzantines as a generic title for "prince", "ruler". It is the only royal title that is known to have been used by and for Serbian monarchs during the rule of the

Vlastimirović dynasty The Vlastimirović ( sr-Cyrl, Властимировић, Vlastimirovići / Властимировићи) was the first Serbian royal dynasty, named after Prince Vlastimir (ruled c. 831–851), who was recognized by the Byzantine Empire. The ...

. The title in Serbian is rendered as ''knez''. ;Grand Prince of Serbia / the Serbs :The Serbian '' veliki župan'' (велики жупан) was the supreme chieftain in the multi-tribal society. The title signifies overlordship, as the leader of lesser chieftains titled ''

župan Župan is a noble and administrative title used in several states in Central and Southeastern Europe between the 7th century and the 21st century. It was (and in Croatia still is) the leader of the administrative unit župa (or zhupa, županij ...

''. It was used by the Serb rulers in the 11th and 12th centuries. In Greek, it was known as ''archizoupanos'' (, "chief ''župan''") and ''megalos zoupanos'' or ''megazoupanos'' (μεγάλος ζουπάνος and μεγαζουπάνος, both meaning "grand ''župan''"). ;King of Serbia / the Serbs ;Great King of Serbia / the Serbs :The title was introduced in the 13th century. Stefan the First-Crowned, likely

Stefan Uroš I Stefan Uroš I ( sr-cyr, Стефан Урош I; 1223 – May 1, 1277), known as Uroš the Great (Урош Велики) was the King of Serbia from 1243 to 1276, succeeding his brother Stefan Vladislav. He was one of the most important ruler ...

Stefan Dečanski Stefan Uroš III ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош III, ), known as Stefan Dečanski ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Дечански, ; 1276 – 11 November 1331), was the King of Serbia from 6 January 1322 to 8 September 1331. Dečanski was the son of ...

and

Stefan Dušan Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош IV Душан, ), known as Dušan the Mighty ( sr, / ; circa 1308 – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Tsar (or Emperor) and autocrat of the Serbs, Gre ...

had the title. ; Emperor of the Serbs (Цар Срба) :''Emperor of the Serbs and the Greeks'' ("Emperor and autocrat of Serbia and Rhomania", ) ; Despot of Serbia :The rulers of the

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate ( sr, / ) was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and ...

were often mentioned as ''Lord of the Serbs, Despot''. Used after 1402. Initially Despot was a honorific title of Byzantine origin (δεσπότης, ''despotes''), used alongside that of the Lord of the Serbs, but eventually it became synonymous with the Serbian monarchy, as well as its claimants in exile.

Regnal styles of individual rulers

;'' Stefan'' :The

Nemanjić dynasty The House of Nemanjić ( sr-Cyrl, Немањић, Немањићи; Nemanjić, Nemanjići, ) was the most prominent dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. This princely, royal, and later imperial house produced twelve Serbian monarchs, who rul ...

ruled the Serb lands between ca. 1166 up to 1371. All Serbian rulers after Stephen the First-Crowned added the name '' Stefan'' before their birth names after ascending the throne as a manner of honoring the first ruler of their dynasty,

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 Nema ...

. The name Stefan is derived from Greek ''stephanos'', meaning ''crowned with wreath''. ;

Vukan Nemanjić Vukan Nemanjić ( sr-cyr, Вукан Немањић, ; before 1165 – after 1207) was the Grand Prince of the Grand Principality of Serbia from 1202 to 1204. He was the Grand Prince of Pomorje (titular King) from 1195 until his death. He was the ...

:In an inscription dating to 1202-1203, Vukan is titled as ''Grand Župan Vukan, Ruler of all Serbian lands,

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...

, maritime towns and land of

Nišava The Nišava or Nishava ( Bulgarian and sr-Cyrl, Нишава, ) is a river in Bulgaria and Serbia, a right tributary, and with a length of also the longest one, of the South Morava. Course Bulgaria The Nišava originates in western Bulg ...

''. ;

Vukašin Mrnjavčević Vukašin (Cyrillic script: Вукашин) is an old Slavic name of Serbian origin. It is composed from two words: Vuk (wolf) and sin (son), so it means sin vuka (son of wolf). In some places in Croatia and Bosnia it can be found as a surname. ...

:''Lord of the Serbian Land, of the Greeks, and of the Western Provinces'' (). ; Lazar Hrebeljanović *'' Autokrator of All Serbs'' () ''Autokrator'', "self-ruler" in Greek, was the title of the senior Byzantine emperor. The Nemanjić kings adopted it and applied it to themselves in its literal meaning to stress their independence from Byzantium, whose supreme suzerainty they nominally recognized.Mihaljčić 2001, pp. 78–115 *"Prince of the Kingdom of Rascia" (in Hungary).

Modern

*"Prince of Serbia" (see

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Књажество Србија, Knjažestvo Srbija) was an autonomous state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation wa ...

), in use 1817–82 *"King of Serbia" (see Kingdom of Serbia), in use 1882–1918 *"King of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" (see

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

), in use 1918–29 *"King of Yugoslavia" (see

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

), in use 1929–45

References

Sources