Rise to Power
In 1166, following the intervention of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos in Serbian affairs, Nemanja received the territories of Ibar, Toplica, and Dubocica. He became Grand Prince of Raska after deposing his elder brother Tihomir, defeating his brothers' mercenary forces at the Battle of Pantin near Zvecan in 1168.
His bid for full independence drew a Byzantine military response. After being defeated, he surrendered to Manuel I in 1172, performing a ritual submission before the emperor at Nis, barefoot and with a rope around his neck. He nonetheless went on to consolidate and expand his realm, in time gaining independence and bringing under his rule the principality of Duklja and a string of towns including Nis, Prizren, and Skoplje.
Reign and Church Foundations
Nemanja ruled as Grand Prince (Grand Zupan) of Serbia for about three decades, maneuvering among Byzantine, Hungarian, and Western powers. Around 1176 he convened a state-church assembly to suppress Bogomilism, a dualistic heresy that had spread among the Serbian nobility and people.
He was a prolific founder of churches and monasteries, and his patronage gave rise to the Raska architectural school. Among his foundations were Saint Nicholas at Kursumlija and the church of the Holy Theotokos on the Kosanica (1165), Saint George at Djurdjevi Stupovi (1171), and the great Studenica Monastery (1190). He was married to the Byzantine noblewoman Ana, with whom he had several children, including his youngest son Rastko, the future Saint Sava.
Abdication and Monastic Life
In 1196, at a church assembly near Stari Ras, Nemanja abdicated in favor of his middle son Stefan, later known as Stefan the First-Crowned. He then took monastic vows under the name Simeon and withdrew from public life.
Simeon travelled to Mount Athos, where his youngest son had already become the monk Sava. Their kinsman the Byzantine Emperor Alexios granted them the ruined Hilandar Monastery in 1198, which father and son restored as a Serbian Orthodox center; the foundation was secured by the Charter of Hilandar. Simeon reposed at Hilandar on February 13, 1199. By tradition, knowing his death was near, he asked to be laid on a mat before the icon of the Virgin Hodegetria with a stone for his pillow.
Relics and Veneration
In 1206 Saint Sava brought his father's relics from Mount Athos back to Serbia, and in 1207 they were enshrined at the Studenica Monastery. There holy oil, or myrrh, was found to seep from his grave, from which he received the epithet 'the Myrrh-streaming.' Sava is said to have brought the relics home in part to reconcile his warring brothers.
Saint Simeon's veneration helped consolidate Serbian national and ecclesiastical identity, and Studenica and Hilandar became the principal centers of his cult. He is honored as the founder-saint of the Nemanjic dynasty and the father of Saint Sava, the first Archbishop of the Serbs.
