Venerable, Right-Believing King Dragutin (in monasticism Theoctistus) of Serbia, King

Right-Believing King Dragutin was born around 1244, the son of King Stefan Uroš I and holy Queen Helen (of Anjou), the younger brother of King Stefan Milutin. He ascended the Serbian throne in 1276, removing his father from power. In 1282, having severely injured his leg in a fall from a horse and perceiving this as a sign from God, he voluntarily ceded the kingdom to his brother Stefan Milutin, retaining for himself the region of Srem (on the border with Hungary) centered on the city of Belgrade. In his appanage, Dragutin labored zealously to root out the Bogomil heresy widespread among the population and to convert heretics to Orthodoxy. He was distinguished by deep piety, mercy toward the poor, and hospitality to strangers. In 1314, two years before his death, he took monastic vows under the name Theoctistus. He died on March 2, 1316. He was glorified by the Serbian Orthodox Church among the venerable, together with his mother Helen, his brother Milutin, and his nephew Stefan Uroš III Dečanski. His memory is kept on March 2/15.