Events and turnovers which had marked the life of the most famous Serbian medieval Royal family will be remembered in the dramatic TV show, produced by the National Serbian TV service RTS. And this is just the taste of it .....
Eight centuries of the first Royal coronation in Žiča Monastery will be marked this year, which inspired the producers to film 12 episodes of the series "Nemanjić dynasty - Birth of a Kingdom". Last year RTS has announced a competition for the best scenario for the drama TV show about the coronation of the first King of Serbia and the first Nemanjić kingdom.
The jury made of a publicist Milan Vlajčić, Serbian film director Goran Marković and a historian Smilja Marjanović Dusanić, had decidedthe winner of the contest - Gordan Mihic.
“This is a big challenge for RTS, the public service with a long tradition of drama TV shows. We should dig into the history area which is enlightened in other European countries. We know that BBC and Italians find great reasons in the medieval period. We won’t be using the same models, but we will reflect on their experiences”, said Milan Vlajčić.
There is no doubt that the famous Royal family has left an in-erasable historical mark. Of how important and respectable members of the family are tells the fact that they are also called the holy lineage.
"For that reason, the filming of this TV show represents an important revival of the history", stresses Goran Marković.
"A show like this one hasn’t been done in Serbia yet."
Nemanjići are a medieval dynasty which had ruled the Raska region in Serbia, between 12th and 14th century. The royal house produced eleven Serbian monarchs between 1166 and 1371. Its progenitor was Stefan Nemanja, who descended from a cadet line of the Vukanović dynasty (1101–1166). He re-established control over the neighbouring territories, including Duklja, Hum and Travunia. In his last years, he joined his son Sava and took monastic vows, later recognized as Saint Symeon after numerous alleged miracles following his death. Serbian Orthodox Church marks the rulers from this dynasty as Saints and has cherished their cult for centuries.
After Nemanja, all monarchs used Stefan as a personal name, a tradition adopted for the royal pretensions. The monarchs began as Grand Princes, and with the crowning of Stefan Nemanjić in 1217, the realm was promoted to a Kingdom, and the Serbian Church was established. In 1346, Stefan Dušan was crowned Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, and the Archbishopric of Serbia was elevated to a Patriarchate. In 1371, with the death of child-less Uroš the Weak (r. 1355–1371), the fall of the Serbian Empire was ensured; provincial lords obtained the rule of the past provinces, and the Nemanjić survived only through maternal lines in several Serbian houses.
Nemanjić dynasty members, fresco from Visoki Dečani
