ADULTERERS, BUILDERS AND DIPLOMATS: Unusual stories of four medieval rulers of Serbia (PHOTO)

Historical stories about events from the rich Serbian Middle Ages mostly refer to the indisputably important and great rulers – župans, kings, emperors; political circumstances and misfortunes, wars. In this text, however, we will look back at four medieval women and rulers of Serbia and tell you the story of their origin, significance and influence they had on members of their families, but also on the circumstances in the country they married into.

ANA NEMANJIĆ

Ana Nemanjić was the wife of župan Stefan Nemanja.

There is not much data about Ana Nemanjić in historical sources, so her origin has not been established, nor has the place where she met Stefan Nemanja. There are several legends about her origin, but none has been confirmed with certainty.

In Mavro Orbin’s book “The Kingdom of the Slavs” it is stated that she was the daughter of the Bosnian ban. Another source states this assumption, namely in Jovan Rajić’s book “History”, it also says that she is the daughter of the Bosnian ban Stefan Borić.

However, later historians were not free to confirm these assumptions. Ana gave birth to at least five children for Stefan Nemanja, including Stefan the First-Crowned, Vukan and Saint Sava. She became a nun in 1196, and refused the name Anastasija.

She spent the last years of her life in the monastery of the Holy Mother of God in Toplica where she died, but her relics were later transferred to Studenica, the endowment and burial church of her husband, where they still rest today.

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JEVDOKIJA ANGELINA

Jevdokija or Evdokija Angelina was the first wife of Stefan Nemanjić.

As was the custom throughout history, this marriage was arranged to strengthen relations between the two states, or in this specific case, the then enemies – Serbia and Byzantium. Thus, the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angel and the great župan Stefan Nemanja arranged a marriage between Evdokija, Isaac’s niece, and Stefan Nemanjić. Precisely because of the importance of Evdokija’s uncle, Stefan Nemanja decided that Stefan Nemanjić would inherit the throne, and that decision later became the seed of discord between Stefan and his older brother Vukan, who believed that as Nemanja’s oldest son, he had the right to inherit the throne.

Evdokija thus became the first foreign princess at the Serbian court. She gave birth to kings Radoslav and Vladislav, whom she raised in the spirit of the country she came from – so it is known that Radoslav, when he became the co-ruler king of his father, signed as Stefan Duka.

According to legend, Stefan Nemanjić exiled Evdokija from Serbia for adultery. They officially divorced in 1201, and she returned to Byzantium where her father Alexius III was then emperor.

*Jelena Anžujska sa sinom kraljom Milutinom / Wikimedia Creative Commons*

ANA DANDOLO

The wife of Stefan Nemanjić was the granddaughter of the famous Venetian duke Enriko Dandolo.

An interesting historical fact is that Enriko Dandolo played a key role in the Fourth Crusade which led to the fall of Constantinople in 1024, which was then ruled by Alexius III, Evdokija’s father (first wife of Stefan Nemanjić).

Stefan Nemanjić, a wise politician, sought protection from the Venetian Republic, and the alliance was formalized by marriage. Ana Dandolo came to the Serbian court in 1217 and gave birth to Uroš, the later Serbian king, Predislav (later archbishop Sava II) and daughter Reniera. In the same year, precisely because of the influence of Ana Dandolo, the reign of Stefan Nemanjić reached its peak, when he managed to obtain the royal crown from Pope Honorius III and thus secured international recognition for Serbia, and the nickname First-Crowned for himself.

In addition to her importance in her husband’s life, how important a figure she was in the life of her son Uroš I is shown by a fresco in his endowment, the church of the Holy Trinity in the Sopoćani monastery.

The proof that Uroš hired the best masters to paint his temple with the best materials of that time – can be that the church was without a roof and neglected for almost two centuries, but the frescoes, despite rains, snow and wind, were largely preserved – most likely due to the quality of the lime. The Sopoćani fresco program is common to 13th-century Byzantine iconography, but significantly enriched compared to other, earlier built, Serbian monasteries.

Frescoes in the altar and nave stand out – especially the fresco Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos on the western side. This monumental fresco occupies as much as 40 square meters, and the pain and suffering of the apostles, archpriests, Jerusalem women, angels and Christ are depicted with exceptional painting skill (because of its exceptionality – this fresco has been the subject of attention and study at numerous world exhibitions).

The depiction of the Dormition of the Virgin on the western wall of the nave is common for the painting program of the mid-thirteenth century, what is unusual, and what speaks of the importance of Ana Dandolo in the life of Uroš I, is the fresco located on the northern wall of the narthex, and it is a monumental historical composition Death of Ana Dandolo (on the same wall where the Dormition of the Virgin is frescoed; these two frescoes were painted “back to back”).

As ktetor compositions, this fresco gives us a unique insight into history (like an old photograph).

The fresco shows Ana on her deathbed at the moment when her soul is accepted by an angel, and Jesus Christ and the Virgin appear at her head. Members of her family are gathered around the deathbed. Uroš is shown in royal robes with a crown on his head, and behind him stand princes, Milutin and Dragutin, princess Brnča (Ana’s grandchildren) and daughter-in-law, queen Jelena, who kisses Ana’s left hand. Archbishop Sava II is also present.

Queen Ana Dandolo is also buried in this church, the endowment of her son, who undoubtedly showed her respect, in a way that had not been recorded since then.

JELENA ANŽUJSKA

About Jelena Anžujska – the wife of King Uroš I, perhaps the most myths have been woven. Both about her origin and about her magnificent welcome to Serbia – through the valley of lilacs.

The historical source from which most of the information about this important queen and later saint is found is the significant work “Lives of Serbian Kings and Bishops” written by Serbian Archbishop Danilo II of Peć.

Interest in this important queen is certainly justified because of her activities in all areas – mostly in the political, but no less in the spiritual and building.

However, one detail that we like to talk about is not correct, and that is her origin. Namely, it is a widespread belief that Jelena belonged to the distinguished French princely family Anžu.

The story of her origin arose from a misinterpretation of certain letters she exchanged with Charles I of Anjou, in which he addresses her with the term – relative.

However, although not from Anjou, her origin is no less noble. English historian Gordon McDaniel determined that she was the daughter of Jovan Angel and Matilda of Vijaden. Jovan Angel was the son of Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angel (uncle of Evdokija Angel) and Margaret of Hungary, who was the sister of Hungarian King Andrew II. Her mother, Matilda of Vijaden, was a close relative, by mother, of Baldwin II, ruler of the so-called Latin Empire. So Jelena is a descendant of royal and noble families, but those who originated from the territories of Byzantium and Hungary.

Although fairy-tale, the story of the welcome of the French noblewoman who passes through the fields of lilacs through the Ibar valley, this story is not historically based. The myth of the Lilac Valley, writes Dejan Ristić in his book “Myths of Serbian History”, originated at the end of the 20th century from the pen of Tiodor Rosić in the book “Author’s Fairy Tales of Tiodor Rosić”.

Her indisputable importance, influence and work are reflected in the number of her artistic representations. Namely, she, along with Empress Jelena, the wife of Dušan the Mighty, is the most often painted woman in Serbian medieval fresco painting.

In the Sopoćani monastery, she is shown on the fresco Death of Ana Dandolo. With her husband Uroš and sons Milutin and Dragutin, she is shown in her endowment, in the Gradac monastery, near the burial place. She is also painted on the horizontal composition of the Nemanjić vine in Đurđevi Stupovi as well as in Dragutin’s endowment, the monastery of Saint Achilles in Arilje, in natural size. The last queen’s portrait is located in the Gračanica monastery, of King Milutin, where she is painted as a nun, together with her husband Uroš.