Continuously inhabited since the Paleolithic age, the territory of modern-day Serbia, then part of the Roman Empire, experienced Slavic migrations in the 6th century. The first Serb proto-state was established in the 7th century and by the 9th century had developed into a more stable principality, recognized as a tributary state to the Byzantine Empire. The Serbian Kingdom was established in 1217, reaching its territorial apex in 1346 as the Serbian Empire. By the mid-16th century, the Ottoman Empire annexed the entirety of modern-day Serbia; their rule was at times interrupted by the Habsburg Empire, which maintained a foothold in the northern part of the country from the early 18th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the Principality of Serbia, which developed into a constitutional monarchy and gained international recognition of its independence in 1878 before being proclaimed a kingdom in 1882. Emerging victorious from World War I, Serbia incorporated the former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina into its territory in 1918, before uniting that same year with Slovenes and Croats to form the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, ending its existence as a separate political entity. Serbia was re-established after World War II as one of six federal units of socialist Yugoslavia. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, it formed a union with Montenegro, which was dissolved in 2006, subsequently restoring Serbia's independence. In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, receiving mixed responses from the international community, while Serbia continues to regard it as part of its sovereign territory.
A Serbian Orthodoxicon of Prince Jovan Vladimir, who was recognized as a saint shortly after his death
Jovan Vladimir or John Vladimir (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Владимир; c.990– 22 May 1016) was the ruler of Duklja, the most powerful Serbian principality of the time, from around 1000 to 1016. He ruled during the protracted war between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire. Vladimir was acknowledged as a pious, just, and peaceful ruler. He is recognized as a martyr and saint, with his feast day being celebrated on 22 May.
Jovan Vladimir had a close relationship with Byzantium but this did not save Duklja from the expansionist Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria, who conquered the principality around 1010 and took Vladimir prisoner. A medieval chronicle asserts that Samuel's daughter, Theodora Kosara, fell in love with Vladimir and begged her father for his hand. The tsar allowed the marriage and returned Duklja to Vladimir, who ruled as his vassal. Vladimir took no part in his father-in-law's war efforts. The warfare culminated with Tsar Samuel's defeat by the Byzantines in 1014 and death soon after. In 1016, Vladimir fell victim to a plot by Ivan Vladislav, the last ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire. He was beheaded in front of a church in Prespa, the empire's capital, and was buried there. He was soon recognized as a martyr and saint. His widow, Kosara, reburied him in the Prečista Krajinska Church, near his court in southeastern Duklja. In 1381, his remains were preserved in the Church of StJovan Vladimir near Elbasan, a church built by Karl Thopia, the Prince of Albania. Since 1995 they have been kept in the Orthodox cathedral of Tirana, Albania. The saint's remains are considered Christian relics, and attract many believers, especially on his feast day, when the relics are taken to the church near Elbasan for a celebration. (Full article...)
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