29 Facts About Stefan Konstantin

Stefan Konstantin was killed in the battle fighting his brother, who went on to defeat Vladislav, too, and gained the Serbian throne as Stefan Uros III, better known as Stefan Decanski.

However, Stefan Konstantin was unsatisfied with his prospects of inheriting the crown since the marriage with his mother was annulled, making him an illegitimate child.

Also pushed by the local nobility, Stefan Konstantin started the rebellion against his father in 1314 which was quickly quashed with Milutin personally heading the army.

Stefan Konstantin fled across the Bojana river but Milutin offered negotiations.

Stefan Konstantin accepted, but Milutin shackled him instead and ordered for Stefan Konstantin to be blinded and expelled to Constantinople.

Stefan Konstantin was declared King of Zeta and minted his own money in Shkoder.

Silver coins represented Konstantin sitting on the throne had inscriptions "Dominus rex Constantinus" and "Sanctus Stefanus Scutari" on the obverse and reverse, respectively.

Stefan Konstantin was sent by his father in diplomatic missions.

Stefan Konstantin seemingly had no better opinion on his other son, Stefan, as even during the time when both of his sons were in Serbia, Milutin was prospecting to appoint one of the Byzantine princes as his heir.

Stefan Konstantin is present on the fresco with his father and grandparents, Stefan Uros I and Helen of Anjou.

Stefan Konstantin gave him to administer the zupa of Budimlja, but kept Stefan's oldest son, future emperor Stefan Dusan at his court.

At the time of Milutin's death, Stefan Konstantin was in Constantinople, drafting the army of mercenaries.

Stefan Konstantin returned from Constantinople and continued to mint coins, use the title of king and oppose other two claimants.

Stefan Konstantin prepared himself well, he was a favorite of the church, his life was seen as an ordeal and martyrdom by the population who believed his miraculous healing, and he was of fully Slavic origin.

Stefan Konstantin considered himself a rightful heir and seems that he didn't believe Stefan regained his vision, as he stated that "it doesn't suite for blind man to rule".

Also, Stefan Konstantin thought he would prevail due to the army of foreign mercenaries he organized on his father's orders, starting with his visit to Constantinople in 1321.

The final battle between the armies of Konstantin and Stefan occurred below the Zvecan fortress, in the Mitrovica field, sometime in the spring of 1322.

All available sources agree that Stefan Konstantin was heavily defeated in the battle, not surviving it.

Stefan Konstantin fled to Hungary, while Stefan Decanski became the sole ruler Serbia.

Exact date and circumstances of Stefan Konstantin's death are not known, just as those of his birth.

Allegedly, Stefan ordered for captured Konstantin to be laid on the plank of wood, with his arms and thighs nailed to the wood.

Folk myths tell stories of Stefan beheading Konstantin, silver plating his skull into the cup and drinking wine from it.

Close to Zvecan is the Banjska Monastery, the endowment and planned burial church of his father, king Milutin, so it is believed that Stefan Konstantin was buried there.

In four of the chronicles, "holy relics" of Stefan Konstantin were mentioned, which indicated that, at some point, he was canonized and declared a saint.

Stefan Konstantin has been labeled as not having any special treats and values, being a weak man and a person who didn't excel in anything.

Stefan Konstantin was mentioned in several Serbian medieval chronologies and genealogies : Koporinjski, Studenicki, Cetinjski, Vrhobreznicki, Senicki.

Stefan Konstantin's name remains preserved at the altar in Bari, Italy, and his image remained on the frescoes in the Gracanica Monastery.

However, in the large Nemanjic family tree fresco in the monastery of Visoki Decani, built by his brother Stefan who defeated him, Konstantin is not present.

Stefan Konstantin provided long lists of Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian monarchs from the 11th century onward, as his father had done before him.