Stefan Radoslav of Serbia - Family

Family

Stefan was the only known son of Stefan Nemanjić by his first wife Eudokia Angelina. His maternal grandparents were Alexios III Angelos, Byzantine Emperor and Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina. He reportedly had two sisters. His sister Komnena married first Albanian Prince Dhimitër Progoni and secondly Greco-Albanian lord Gregorios Kamonas. An otherwise unnamed sister reportedly married Alexander (Aleksandăr) Asen, sebastokrator. George Acropolites identifies Alexander as a son of Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria. Uncertain if his mother was Maria or Elena, respectively the first and second wife of Ivan Asen I. Alexander was the father of Kaliman II of Bulgaria.

According to "The Late Medieval Balkans" (1987) by John V.A. Fine, Jr., Eudokia was repudiated on grounds of adultery c. 1200-1201. She was chased away from Raška. Fine summarizes a passage of Niketas Choniates to state "She left on foot with only the clothes on her back". Eudokia sought refuge with her brother-in-law Vukan Nemanjić, Prince of Zeta. Vukan provided her with hospitality for a while. He then arranged for her transportation to Durrës, where she boarded a Byzantine ship heading for Constantinople and returned safely to her father. This indicates Stefan Radoslav was born either in the 1190s or the early 1200s (decade).

Fine considers the treatment of Eudokia to be an indication of a decline in the prestige the Byzantine Empire held at the time. The senior Stefan was evidently unafraid of a military confrontation with his former father-in-law which could have occurred in retaliation for his actions. The alliance with the Empire had apparently outlived its use to the ruler of Raška (state). Stefan Nemanjić had ongoing border disputes with both Vukan Nemanjić and Emeric of Hungary, though outright war had not started yet. The Byzantines had failed to provide him with any military support and Stefan had apparently despaired of any help arriving from that direction. At the same time the senior Stefan was negotiating submitting himself and his subjects to the Roman Catholic Church in exchange for Pope Innocent III declaring him a King. He had reasons to distance himself from the Byzantines and the Eastern Orthodox Church associated with them.

His father was later remarried to Anna Dandolo. She was a daughter of Ranier Dandolo and granddaughter of Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice. Stefan Radoslav had three paternal half-brothers from this marriage. They were Saint Sava II, Metropolitan of Peć and Archbishop of Serbs, Stefan Vladislav I of Serbia and Stefan Uroš I of Serbia. His mother would proceed to marry secondly to Alexios V Doukas and thirdly to Leo Sgouros, ruler of Nafplion. However there were no known children by either marriage. Stefan Radoslav consequently had no maternal half-siblings.