Disputes had begun between Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia and his brother Stefan Dragutin, King of Syrmia, after a peace treaty with the Empire was signed in 1299.

Dragutin in the meantime has expanded, holding lands from Braničevo in the east to the Bosna river in the west.

His capital is Belgrade.

War had broken out between the brothers and, though clergy had calmed by the clergy in 1313, lasts, with sporadic cease-fires, until Dragutin's death.

During this war Milutin had appointed Stefan Dečanski as regent in Zeta, modern Montenegro.

This means that Stefan Dečanski is to inherit the throne in Serbia and not Dragutin's son Stefan Vladislav II.

Dragutin separates from his Hungarian friends and strengthened his connections in Serbia near the end of his life, later becoming a monk and changing his name to Teoktist.

He dies in 1316 and is buried in the Đurđevi Stupovi monastery near Novi Pazar.

His son Stefan Vladislav II becomes the new ruler of the Kingdom of Srem, but Milutin, his uncle, defeats him and imprisons him.