Translation of an article “Stefan Dusan and the Serbian nobility in the struggle against Byzantium” written by G. A. Ostrogorsky

The translation of this article is timed to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Yugoslav Byzantine scholar of Russian origin, Georgij Aleksandrovich Ostrogorskij. In this article, he examines the formation of Serbian statehood against the background of the decline of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-14th century, noting that while Serbian rulers sought to consolidate the status of the state and their own title, the Serbian nobility pursued the goals of seizing new territories. Also discussed is the possible dependence of Stefan Dušan’s policy on the Serbian nobility. The article gives different points of view on the facts. It concludes that Stefan Dušan acted strictly in the general line of the Nemanjić dynasty, whose representatives created the Great Serbia as the heir of the declining Christian Empire.