kingdom · Balkans and Hungary
Serbian Empire
Origins
Stefan Dušan, king of the Kingdom of Serbia (medieval) from 1331, took advantage of the Byzantine civil war to conquer Macedonia, Albania, Epirus and Thessaly. In 1346 he raised the Serbian archbishopric to a patriarchate at Peć and was crowned Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks at Skopje.
Rule and society
Dušan ruled through Serbian nobles and Byzantine-style titles, issuing a law code, Dušan's Code, in 1349 and 1354. Greek lands kept Byzantine administration, and silver mines such as Novo Brdo financed the state. Monasteries on Mount Athos received his patronage. He aimed at Constantinople itself but died suddenly in 1355.
Decline and legacy
Under his son Uroš V the great nobles became effectively independent. The Ottomans destroyed the army of Vukašin and Jovan Uglješa at the Maritsa in 1371, and Uroš died the same year, ending the empire. Its lands passed to Moravian Serbia, the Kingdom of Prilep and other successors.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (11)
- Monastic Community of Mount Athos was part of Serbian Empire1345 CE – 1371 CE
- Despotate of Epirus was conquered by Serbian Empire1348 CE
- Principality of Valona split from Serbian Empire1355 CE
- Zeta under the Balšići split from Serbian Empire1356 CE
- Despotate of Serres split from Serbian Empire1365 CE
- Lordship of Nikola Altomanović split from Serbian Empire1366 CE
- Moravian Serbia split from Serbian Empire1371 CE
- District of Branković split from Serbian Empire1371 CE
- Kingdom of Prilep split from Serbian Empire1371 CE
- Lordship of Dejanović split from Serbian Empire1371 CE
- Commune of Kotor split from Serbian Empire1371 CE
More states of Balkans and Hungary →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Serbian Empire. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/serbian-empire
- MLA
- “Serbian Empire.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/serbian-empire. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Serbian Empire.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/serbian-empire.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Serbian Empire’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/serbian-empire (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻