On the Mysterious Predecessor of Grand Župan of Serbia Stephen Nemanja called Tihomir

The paper is focused on the figure of the predecessor of grand župan Stephen Nemanja. The name of thismysterious person has not been preserved in any source. However mentions in different sources enable toresearch major facts in his life. On the basis of convergent evidence of several sources, his name can bereconstructed as Stephen Tihomir. He was born probably about 1105 as the first son of one of membersof Vukanović dynasty – Stephen Vukan or Zavida. In his childhood he spent a few years in Zeta wherehis father escaped from Raška. There is no data about Tihomir until the year 1165 when he was appointedgrand župan by the emperor Manuel Komnenos. During his short reign he was driven by his brothersto capture the youngest one – Nemanja. However Nemanja managed to flee and take over the throne.Nemanja’s brothers had to escape. They came back with the Byzantine troops commanded by TheodorPadiates but they lost in the battle near Pantino. One of the brothers was drowned in the Sitnica river then.Most scholars believe it was Tihomir but more careful analysis of sources suggests it was another brotherof Nemanja (maybe his name was Constantin), not his predecessor. It is hard to say what happened toTihomir after the battle – maybe he lived in Skopie, maybe he came back to Serbia, acknowledged hisyoungest brother supreme power and received his own principality. If he had come back, he would havedied before September 27th 1186,The paper is focused on the figure of the predecessor of grand župan Stephen Nemanja. The name of thismysterious person has not been preserved in any source. However mentions in different sources enable toresearch major facts in his life. On the basis of convergent evidence of several sources, his name can bereconstructed as Stephen Tihomir. He was born probably about 1105 as the first son of one of membersof Vukanović dynasty – Stephen Vukan or Zavida. In his childhood he spent a few years in Zeta wherehis father escaped from Raška. There is no data about Tihomir until the year 1165 when he was appointedgrand župan by the emperor Manuel Komnenos. During his short reign he was driven by his brothersto capture the youngest one – Nemanja. However Nemanja managed to flee and take over the throne.Nemanja’s brothers had to escape. They came back with the Byzantine troops commanded by TheodorPadiates but they lost in the battle near Pantino. One of the brothers was drowned in the Sitnica river then.Most scholars believe it was Tihomir but more careful analysis of sources suggests it was another brotherof Nemanja (maybe his name was Constantin), not his predecessor. It is hard to say what happened toTihomir after the battle – maybe he lived in Skopie, maybe he came back to Serbia, acknowledged hisyoungest brother supreme power and received his own principality. If he had come back, he would havedied before September 27th 1186