Page "Emperor" Paragraph 41

In 1345, the Serbian King Stefan Uroš IV Dušan proclaimed himself Emperor ( Tsar ) and was crowned as such at Skopje on Easter 1346 by the newly created Patriarch of Serbia, and by the Patriarch of Bulgaria and the autocephalous Archbishop of Ohrid.

His imperial title was recognized by Bulgaria and various other neighbors and trading partners but not by the Byzantine Empire.

In its final simplified form, the Serbian imperial title read " Emperor of Serbs and Greeks " ( цар Срба и Грка in modern Serbian ).

It was only employed by Stefan Uroš IV Dušan and his son Stefan Uroš V in Serbia ( until his death in 1371 ), after which it became extinct.

A half-brother of Dušan, Simeon Uroš, and then his son Jovan Uroš, claimed the same title, until the latter's abdication in 1373, while ruling as dynasts in Thessaly.

The " Greek " component in the Serbian imperial title indicates both rulership over Greeks and the derivation of the imperial tradition from the Romans ( represented by the " Greek " Byzantines ).