Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/800

 SERVETUS

732

SERVIA

Tenaillon, he Rit. Pire Pierre- Julien Eymard; Documents sur sa Tie et ses tertus (Rome, 1899). A. LeTELLIER.

Servetus, Michael. See CAL\aN, John.

Servia, a European kingdom in the north-western part of the Balkan peninsula.

I. History. — The gi-eater part of the territorj^ of the present Kingdom of Servia belonged, at the be- ginning of the Christian era, to the Roman Province of Sloesia, the western part to the Province of Dalmatia. Under Roman supremacy a number of cities arose along the Danube and the Morava, and the country' attained to a considerable height of economic pros- perit}^ and intellectual development. Christianity found entrance into the Roman districts of the Bal- kan Peninsula at an early date and suffered but little in this region from the persecutions of the emperors. MartjTs are not mentioned until the reign of Diocle- tian, when several suflfercd death for Christ at Singi- dunum (Belgrade). During the migrations the coun- try' was traversed in succession by Ostrogoths, Huns, and Lxjmbards. In 550 it was conquered by the Em- peror Justinian, head of the Eastern Empire. Soon after this, the Avars fell upon the land, devastating and burning wherever thej^ went, and turned the region into a wilderness. In the seventh century the forefathers of the present Serbs, a tribe of the south- ern Slavs, migrated into the country, which received from them the name of Serbia. During the Middle Ages and well into modern times the term included not only the present Servia, but also Bosnia, Herze- govina, Montenegro, and the northern parts of Mace- donia and Albania. In the early centuries of their histor^^ the poUtical cohesion of the Serbs was shght; the political organization was based upon the family- clan, the sadruga. The sadruga was composed of about fifty or sixty persons, who bore a common name and obeyed an elder who was the representative of the clan in dealings with outsiders or with the gods. All members of the clan had the same rights and were en- titled to a share of the common possessions. Several such family-clans formed a tribe whose affairs were managed by a council of the family elders. At the head of the tribe was a Zupan, elected by the ciders of the families. The religion of the Serbs was a natural religion. They worshipped their gods in the open air and accompanied their sacrifices with singing. They had neither images, temples, nor priests. In common with all Slavs they believed in a life after death.

At various times during the first centuries of their history they were obliged to acknowledge the supremacy either of the Eastern Empire or of the Bul- garians. For short periods also they were able to maintain their independence. They accepted Latin Christianity in the eighth century, during the period of Bulgarian suzerainty. Until the union of Servia with the Greek Orthodox Chur(h, the Servian Church was under the control of the Latin Archbishop oi Spalato and, later, the Latin Archbishop of v\ntivari. After the death of the most powerful of the Bulgarian princes, Symeon (927), the Servian Zupan Ceslaw was able, for the first time, to unite several Servian tribra against Peter, the weak ruler of the Bulgarians. However, the destruction of the Bulgarian kingdom by Basil II, Bulgaroktonos, the Byzantine emperor (976-1025), re-<'Hlablished Byzantine supremacy over the whole Balkan Peninsula. Although the oppres- sive sway of the Ea.stf-rn P^mpire led to repeal efl re- volts of the Serbs, the supremacy of Constantinople continued until the twelfth cr-ntun'- For a time in- deed the Grand Zui-ari .Michael (1050-80) was able to maintain his indejiendence; he even received the title of king from Pope Gregory VII. In the twelfth cen- tur>' the family of the Nemanyich,to whom the union of the Serbs is due, became prominent in Servian hi.s- tory. Urosch, who was Zupan of Rassa from about 1120, entered into friendly relations with the Hun-

garian king, Bela II. His son, Stephen I, Nemanya (1159-95), conquered the chiefs of the other Servian tribes, with the exception of those in Bosnia, and thus founded a united hereditary and independent state. He accomplished this with the aid of the Eastern Em- peror, Manuel I, to w4iom he swore fealtj- in return for recognition as grand Zupan. Free from his oath after the death of Manuel I (1180), he seized for himself those portions of Servian territory which belonged di- rectly to the Eastern Empire.

Stephen I, Nemanja, who was a Catholic, main- tained amicable relations with the popes in ecclesias- tico-political affairs, especially with Pope Innocent III. He received the latter's legates and letters in a friendly manner and repeatedly assured the pope of his attachment. His brother Vlkan, as lord of Anti- vari and Cattaro, was also closely connected with the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, the Greek Orthodox Church grew constantty stronger in the eastern part of the coimtry, although in this era a sharp distinction between the Churches of the Eastern and ^^■cstern Empires had not yet appeared. In 1196 Stephen ab- dicated in favour of his eldest son and retired to the monastery of Chilandar, which he had founded on Mount Athos. Here he died in 1199 or 1200. The work of the father was continued during the adminis- tration of the son, Stephen II (1196-1228), who had received an excellent Byzantine education and was a skilful diplomatist. In church affairs he, like his father, maintained good relations with the popes. The sixth canon of the Servian Council of Dioclea (1199) formally declared that the Servian Church re- garded the Roman Church as the mother and ruler of all the Churches. During the Fourth Crusade, which ended in the establishment of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, Stephen II had the skill to maintain himself against all his neighbours and to use the fa- vourable opportunity for increasing his power. Like the Bulgarian Kalojan, he asked Innocent III to grant him the title of king and to send a legate to Servia. However, the opposition of the Hvmgarian king, Em- merich, prevented the carrj'ing out of this plan, to which Pope Innocent had given his consent. Ste- phen finally obtained the royal crown in 1217 from Honorius III, probably through the aid of Venice, which, since the Fourth Crusade had become a neigh- bour of Servia. In order to make his kingdom auton- omous in religious matters he appointed his brother Sabas, who had been a monk at Mount Athos, Met- ropolitan of Servia, and organized the dioceses of the Servian Church in co-operation with this new metro- politan.

Stephen II had four sons and was succeeded by one of them, Stephen Radoslav (1228-;U). This king wa« the son-in-law of the lOmperor Theodore the E])irote, and as such regarded himself as a Greek. He was so incompetent, that- he was overthrown and bani.shed by the nobility. His brother Stephen Vladislav (1234- 124:j) could not maintain his power in the confusion caused by the incursion of the Mongols into the Bal- kan Peninsula, and was obliged to resign the throne to a more vigorous brother and content himself with the empty title of king. Stephen Urosch I the Great (1243-76) was victorious in a war with the city of Ragusa, the bishop of which was obliged, in 1254, to renounce all ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Servian territory. He was also successful, in league with the Latin Empire of Constantinople, in a campaign against the Greek Empire of Nica-a, but failed in an attack upon Hungaiy. After the fall of the Latin Empire the relations between the i)apacy anrl Servia grew graihially less intimate; although married to a Catholic Frenchwoman, Helena, Stephen Urosch per- mitted both his sons to be brought up in the Greek Orthodox religion. Of these sons Stephen Dragutin, who drove his father from the throne, soon gave up the government to his younger brother Stephen Mi-