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Saint Sava (Serbian: Свети Сава, Sveti Sava; c. 1175 – 14 January 1235) was a Serbian Prince of Zahumlje and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church, the originator of Serbian legislation and literature, the founder of the Monastery of Hilandar on Mount Athos, and a diplomat. He became a monk as a youth, receiving his monastic name Sava; his secular name was Rastko Nemanjić (Растко Немањић). He was the youngest son of Serbian ruler Stefan Nemanja and so member of the royal House of Nemanjić.

Saint Sava heavily influenced Serbian medieval literature. In 1219 he published the first constitution in Serbia – St. Sava's Nomocanon (Zakonopravilo in Serbian).^[1][2][3] It was a compilation of civil law based on Roman law,^[4][5] and canon law based on Ecumenical Councils. Its purpose was to establish a codified legal system in the young Serbian kingdom, and to regulate the government of the Serbian Church. Yet his greatest achievement was the establishment of the autocephalous (independent) Serbian Church as a national church of Serbia in 1217.

He is widely considered as one of the most important figures of Serbian history, and is canonized and venerated by the Serbian Orthodox Church. His life and personal devotion to Serbian people has been interpreted in many artistic works from the Middle Ages to modern times. The Cathedral of Saint Sava in Belgrade carries his name, and is at present (the beginning of the XXI century) the largest church building in the Orthodox World.

Early life

Rastko was born c. 1175 in Gradina (Doclea, modern-day Podgorica, Montenegro). He was the youngest son of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja and Ana. He is part of the first generation of the House of Nemanjić.

According to his hagiography^{[citation needed]}, in his youth (c. 1192) he fled from his home to join the Orthodox monastic colony on Mount Athos (Holy Mountain on the Chalkidiki peninsula) and was given the name Sava. He first traveled to a Russian monastery and then moved to the Greek monastery of Vatopedi. At the end of 1197 his father, who on becoming a monk was named Simeon, joined him. In 1198, they together moved to and restored the abandoned monastery Hilandar (Chilandari, in French) which, since that moment, became the center of Serbian Christian monastic life. Hilandar is one of the twenty monasteries on Mount Athos that still function, and its position in the hierarchy is fourth.

St. Sava's father took the monastic vows under the name Simeon and died in Hilandar on February 13, 1199. He is also canonised, as Saint Simeon.

More :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sava