2021-04-16 Fri

Stefan Dusan, king of Serbia and “Emperor of the Serbs, Greeks, and Albanians”, the greatest ruler of medieval Serbia, promoted his nation’s influence and gave his people a new code of laws.

Dusan conquered a large part of southeast Europe, becoming one of the most powerful monarchs of the era. Under Dusan's rule, Serbia was the major power in the Balkans, and an Eastern Orthodox multi-ethnic and multi-lingual empire that stretched from the Danube in the north to the Gulf of Corinth in the south, with its capital in Skopje. He enacted the constitution of the Serbian Empire which was known as Dusan's Code. It was perhaps the most important literary work of medieval Serbia.

Dusan promoted the Serbian Church from an archbishopric to a patriarchate, finished the construction of the Visoki Decani monastery (now a UNESCO site), and founded the Monastery of the Holy Archangels, among others. Under his rule, Serbia reached its territorial, political, economic, and cultural peak.

The coin shown in the image issued under his reign. The obverse of a coin depicts nimbused figure of Christ sitting on a high-backed throne. The reverse of a coin depicts a helmet, surmounted by a tablet, rosette and plume.

Image Source: https://www.vcoins.com/