The Races of the Danube. 245 



was carried on chiefly between the emperors and 

 the Serbian chiefs. The pre-eminence of Serbia 

 began about the end of the eleventh century, 

 when Urosh was crowned grand duke. By the 

 middle of the fourteenth century the whole coun- 

 try, with the exception of Rumelia or Thrace, was 

 in the hands of the Serbians, and it really seemed 

 as if the degenerate Greek Empire were about to 

 pass into the hands of the Slav. Stephen Dushan, 

 of the house of Urosh, a profound statesman and 

 consummate general, was the hero who aspired to 

 re-enact in the eastern world the part of Charles 

 the Great. In 1356 he was proclaimed Emperor 

 of the East, and if his life had been spared he 

 might have made good the title. But the firm- 

 ness of his monarchical rule was irritating to his 

 turbulent vassals; and like Caesar, William the 

 Silent, Henry IV., and Lincoln, he fell by the 

 stupid hand of the assassin, just at the time when 

 a few years more of life might have been of ines- 

 timable value to his people and to mankind. 

 With the death of the " Emperor " Stephen, the 

 formation of a Slavic nationality under Serbian 

 leadership was indefinitely postponed. The feudal 

 lords who had so stupidly destroyed the only gen- 

 ius which could guide them to victory were one 

 by one overthrown by the imperial armies ; and 



