Stefan Nemanja

Serbian royalty and Saint. Founder of Nemanjic dynasty. He was the Grand Duke of Raska, located in the central west region of the Balkans from 1166 or 1168 to 1196. He established control over the teritories of neighbouring Serb tribes except those in Bosnia and unified them into an independent state (medieval Serbia). He maintained good relations with the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus and his heirs. In 1186. Nemanja signed first Serbian trade agreement with city of Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik). He appointed his oldest son Vukan Nemanjic as ruler in province of Zeta (today Montenegro). In 1196 Stefan relinguished his power to his son Stefan II, Nemanja , took the monastic name Simeon and joined his youngest son Rastko (Saint Sava) on the Mount Athos. There two of them founded the monastery Hilandar. Monk Simeon is later canonised as Saint Simeon.