Stefan Dobroslav I Vojislav
Encyclopedia
Stefan Vojislav was the Prince
of Duklja
from 1040 to 1043. He had since 1018 been a toparch in Byzantine vassalage, and in 1034 he led an unsuccessful revolt that resulted in his incarceration at Constantinople
, he however, managed to escape and return, this time successfully gaining independence of his statelet, which he would rule as Prince of the Serbs, a title signifying supreme leadership among Serbs.
He is the eponymous founder of the Vojislav Dynasty
.
(r. 990-1016). Kekaumenos
of Strategikon of Kekaumenos
fame calls him a "Travunia
n Serb".
According to the Chronicles of the Priest of Doclea (which is deemed dubious), Vojislav was born in the month of April
, in Brusno
, to the uncle of Jovan Vladimir, Prince Dragomir (r. 1016-1018), and the daughter of Rascia
n Župan Ljutomir (possible fabrication of Ljutovid), he was raised in Bosnia by his mother. His father had succeeded Jovan Vladimir in 1016, and ruled until his murder by Kotor
locals in 1018.
Having reached its pinnacle during the long reign of emperor Basil II
, the Byzantine empire
entered, following his death in 1025, a steady decline. This was particularly evident in the Balkans
. There, the elimination of the perennial Bulgarian
threat, combined with insensitive taxation policy reversals, helped spur liberation movements.
, and toparch of the kastra of Dalmatia
, Zeta
and Ston
.
The affairs of the Dalmatians, Croats, Serbs and others were overseen by strategoi in Nis
, Skopje
, Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Dyrrhacium. Vojislav had regular meetings with Katakalon Klazomenites (Catacalon), the strategos of Ragusa, and at one occasion, kidnapped the strategos and his party, for the baptismal of Vojislav's son. Katakalon would act as Godfather
. This shows a close relationship between native leaders and Byzantine officers in the peripheral zone of the Empire after Basil's "reconquest".
), the Serbs renounced Byzantine rule. Stefan Vojislav, cousin of the assassinated Jovan Vladimir
, organized a rebellion while the Byzantine Empire was switching the throne (Romanos III Argyros had just died). He was defeated and imprisoned in Constantinople
in 1035/1036 with his realm restored under the control of strategos
Theophilos Erotikos
. In late 1037 or early 1038 he manages to break out of the prison and return to Duklja, where he organizes a new rebellion, also targeting the Serb allies of the Emperor in the neighbouring regions.
Taking advantage of guerilla warfare and the distracting effects of other uprisings, he staved off several punitive expeditions, asserting partial control over the principalities of Travunija and Zahumlje
in the process. Thus, by 1040 his state stretched in the coastal region from Ston
in the north, down to the Skadar Lake, his capital, Skadar
, set up along the southern banks of the lake, with other courts in Trebinje
, Kotor
and Bar
.
, was to receive a shipment of 10 kentenars of gold (7,200 gold nomismata) from Southern Italy
in 1039. A Byzantine cargo ship (galley) was wrecked off the Doclean coast due to stormy weather in the winter of 1039-1040, the goods were taken by Vojislav who refused to return it upon Michael's requests. This incurred Michael's fury, who had earlier retaken Durazzo, and he sent general George Probatas to tackle Vojislav, the Byzantine army however were unfamiliar with the terrains, which Vojislav used; they were caught in the gorges in an ambush and suffered a total defeat. Vojislav's son, Radoslav
is noted as having killed a Byzantine military commander on the battlefield. Kekaumenos
, a strategos
sent for Vojislav, ended up imprisoned by Vojislav and taken to Ston
.
The uprising of Peter Delyan
in 1040-42 who now crowned himself as Czar Peter II of Bulgarians made another Byzantine incursion against Duklja unlikely as the Byzantines were more threatened by the Bulgarians who advanced.
In 1042, the Župan
of Rascia
(a renewed subordinate title, showing Byzantine overlordship), Ban of Bosnia and Prince of Hum Ljutovid
, receives piles of imperial gold and silver from the Byzantines for the support to overthrow Vojislav. Ljutovid led the army against Duklja in 1043 but was ambushed at the Klobuk hill of Konavli (then part of Travunia) by Vojislav, who defeated the army. Vojislav went on to pursue and annex most of Zahumlje
and Travunia
. He defeats a Byzantine army at the Battle of Bar in October.
In 1042, the new emperor Constantine IX decided to attack Duklja with an army based in Dyrrhacium and the neighbouring themes. The Byzantine army under Michaelus Anastasii was defeated and Vojislav ensured a future for Duklja without imperial authority.
. He was buried in the Church of St. Andrew in Prapratna.
Duklja stayed the center of the Serbian state which had earlier replaced (in terms of leadership) Rascia
; it held this position for a few years, his son Mihailo I succeeded in ruling Duklja as the other principalities unified with Rascia under Vukan of Serbia.
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
of Duklja
Duklja
Doclea or Duklja was a medieval state with hereditary lands roughly encompassing the territories of present-day southeastern Montenegro, from Kotor on the west to the river Bojana on the east and to the sources of Zeta and Morača rivers on the north....
from 1040 to 1043. He had since 1018 been a toparch in Byzantine vassalage, and in 1034 he led an unsuccessful revolt that resulted in his incarceration at Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, he however, managed to escape and return, this time successfully gaining independence of his statelet, which he would rule as Prince of the Serbs, a title signifying supreme leadership among Serbs.
He is the eponymous founder of the Vojislav Dynasty
House of Vojislavljevic
The Vojislavljević was the second Serb medieval dynasty, named after archon Stefan Vojislav, who wrestled the region from Byzantine hands in the 1040s...
.
Origin
His origins are unclear, as well as his relations with the previous ruler Jovan VladimirJovan Vladimir
Jovan Vladimir or John Vladimir was ruler of Duklja, the most powerful Serbian principality of the time, from around 1000 to 1016. He ruled during the protracted war between the Byzantine Empire and the First Bulgarian Empire...
(r. 990-1016). Kekaumenos
Kekaumenos
Kekaumenos is the family name of the otherwise anonymous Byzantine author of the Strategikon, a manual on military and household affairs composed c. 1078. He was apparently of Graeco-Armenian origin and the grandson of the doux of Hellas...
of Strategikon of Kekaumenos
Strategikon of Kekaumenos
The Strategikon of Kekaumenos is a late 11th century Byzantine manual offering advice on warfare and the handling of public and domestic affairs.The book was composed between 1075 and 1078 by its author, a Byzantine general of partly Armenian descent...
fame calls him a "Travunia
Travunia
Travunia was a medieval region, administrative unit and principality, which was part of Medieval Serbia , and in its last years, the Bosnian Kingdom . The county became hereditary in a number of noble houses, often kin to the ruling dynasty. The region came under Ottoman rule in 1482...
n Serb".
According to the Chronicles of the Priest of Doclea (which is deemed dubious), Vojislav was born in the month of April
April
April is the fourth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and one of four months with a length of 30 days. April was originally the second month of the Roman calendar, before January and February were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC...
, in Brusno
Brusno
Brusno is a village and municipality in Banská Bystrica District in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia.-Geography:The municipality lies at an altitude of 405 metres and covers an area of . It has a population of about 2,114 people....
, to the uncle of Jovan Vladimir, Prince Dragomir (r. 1016-1018), and the daughter of Rascia
Raška (state)
Principality of Serbia or Serbian Principality was an early medieval state of the Serbs ruled by the Vlastimirović dynasty, that existed from ca 768 to 969 in Southeastern Europe. It was established through an unification of several provincial chiefs under the supreme rule of a certain Višeslav,...
n Župan Ljutomir (possible fabrication of Ljutovid), he was raised in Bosnia by his mother. His father had succeeded Jovan Vladimir in 1016, and ruled until his murder by Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
locals in 1018.
Having reached its pinnacle during the long reign of emperor Basil II
Basil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
, the Byzantine empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
entered, following his death in 1025, a steady decline. This was particularly evident in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. There, the elimination of the perennial Bulgarian
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
threat, combined with insensitive taxation policy reversals, helped spur liberation movements.
Early rule
Vojislav held the title of archonArchon
Archon is a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ἀρχ-, meaning "to rule", derived from the same root as monarch, hierarchy, and anarchy.- Ancient Greece :In ancient Greece the...
, and toparch of the kastra of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, Zeta
Zeta
-Science:* Zeta functions, in mathematics** Riemann zeta function* Zeta potential, the electrokinetic potential of a colloidal system* Tropical Storm Zeta , formed in December 2005 and lasting through January 2006* Z-pinch, in fusion power...
and Ston
Ston
Ston is a village and municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located at the south of isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula. The town of Ston is the center of the Ston municipality.- Demographics :...
.
The affairs of the Dalmatians, Croats, Serbs and others were overseen by strategoi in Nis
NIS
NiS may refer to:*Nickel sulfide NiSNis or NIS may refer to: * Niš, a city in south-eastern Serbia. * Ness, Western Isles , a village in the Outer Hebrides islands.In politics and government:...
, Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
, Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Dyrrhacium. Vojislav had regular meetings with Katakalon Klazomenites (Catacalon), the strategos of Ragusa, and at one occasion, kidnapped the strategos and his party, for the baptismal of Vojislav's son. Katakalon would act as Godfather
Godfather
A godfather is a male godparent in the Christian tradition.Godfather may also refer to:*A male arranged to be legal guardian of a child if untimely demise is met by the parentsPeople:* Capo di tutti capi, a Mafia crime boss...
. This shows a close relationship between native leaders and Byzantine officers in the peripheral zone of the Empire after Basil's "reconquest".
Revolts
Around 1034 (according to John SkylitzesJohn Skylitzes
John Skylitzes, latinized as Ioannes Scylitzes was a Greek historian of the late 11th century. He was born in the beginning of 1040's and died after 1101.- Life :Very little is known about his life...
), the Serbs renounced Byzantine rule. Stefan Vojislav, cousin of the assassinated Jovan Vladimir
Jovan Vladimir
Jovan Vladimir or John Vladimir was ruler of Duklja, the most powerful Serbian principality of the time, from around 1000 to 1016. He ruled during the protracted war between the Byzantine Empire and the First Bulgarian Empire...
, organized a rebellion while the Byzantine Empire was switching the throne (Romanos III Argyros had just died). He was defeated and imprisoned in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 1035/1036 with his realm restored under the control of strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
Theophilos Erotikos
Theophilos Erotikos
Theophilos Erotikos was an 11th-century Byzantine general, and governor in Serbia and Cyprus, where he led a short-lived rebellion in 1042.-Serbian revolts:...
. In late 1037 or early 1038 he manages to break out of the prison and return to Duklja, where he organizes a new rebellion, also targeting the Serb allies of the Emperor in the neighbouring regions.
Taking advantage of guerilla warfare and the distracting effects of other uprisings, he staved off several punitive expeditions, asserting partial control over the principalities of Travunija and Zahumlje
Zahumlje
Zachlumia or Zahumlje was a medieval principality located in modern-day regions of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia...
in the process. Thus, by 1040 his state stretched in the coastal region from Ston
Ston
Ston is a village and municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located at the south of isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula. The town of Ston is the center of the Ston municipality.- Demographics :...
in the north, down to the Skadar Lake, his capital, Skadar
Shkodër
Shkodër , is a city located on Lake of Shkoder in northwestern Albania in the District of Shkodër, of which it is the capital. It is one of the oldest and most historic towns in Albania, as well as an important cultural and economic centre. Shkodër's estimated population is 90,000; if the...
, set up along the southern banks of the lake, with other courts in Trebinje
Trebinje
Trebinje is the southernmost municipality and town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is administratively part of the Republika Srpska entity and is located in southeastern Herzegovina, some from the Adriatic Sea....
, Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
and Bar
Bar, Montenegro
Bar is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has a population of 17,727...
.
Wars with Byzantines
The Byzantine Emperor Michael, waiting in ThessalonikiThessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, was to receive a shipment of 10 kentenars of gold (7,200 gold nomismata) from Southern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1039. A Byzantine cargo ship (galley) was wrecked off the Doclean coast due to stormy weather in the winter of 1039-1040, the goods were taken by Vojislav who refused to return it upon Michael's requests. This incurred Michael's fury, who had earlier retaken Durazzo, and he sent general George Probatas to tackle Vojislav, the Byzantine army however were unfamiliar with the terrains, which Vojislav used; they were caught in the gorges in an ambush and suffered a total defeat. Vojislav's son, Radoslav
Radoslav
-People:* Radoslav Bachev , Bulgarian footballer* Radoslav Batak , Serbo-Montenegrin football defender* Radoslav Brđanin , Serbian war criminal* Radoslav Hecl , Slovak ice hockey defenceman...
is noted as having killed a Byzantine military commander on the battlefield. Kekaumenos
Kekaumenos
Kekaumenos is the family name of the otherwise anonymous Byzantine author of the Strategikon, a manual on military and household affairs composed c. 1078. He was apparently of Graeco-Armenian origin and the grandson of the doux of Hellas...
, a strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
sent for Vojislav, ended up imprisoned by Vojislav and taken to Ston
Ston
Ston is a village and municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located at the south of isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula. The town of Ston is the center of the Ston municipality.- Demographics :...
.
The uprising of Peter Delyan
Peter Delyan
Peter Delyan was the leader of the local Bulgarian uprising against the Byzantine rule, started in the Theme of Bulgaria during summer of 1040. He was proclaimed Tsar of Bulgaria, as Samuel`s grandson in Belgrade...
in 1040-42 who now crowned himself as Czar Peter II of Bulgarians made another Byzantine incursion against Duklja unlikely as the Byzantines were more threatened by the Bulgarians who advanced.
In 1042, the Župan
Zupan
Żupan was a long garment, always lined, worn by almost all males of the noble social class in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, typical male attire from the beginning of the 16th to half of the 18th century, still surviving as a part of the Polishnational dress.- Derivation :The name żupan has...
of Rascia
Rascia
Rascia was a medieval region that served as the principal province of the Serbian realm. It was an administrative division under the direct rule of the monarch and sometimes as an appanage. The term has been used to refer to various Serbian states throughout the Middle Ages...
(a renewed subordinate title, showing Byzantine overlordship), Ban of Bosnia and Prince of Hum Ljutovid
Ljutovid
Ljutovid, also known as Ljudovit, was an independent Slavic ruler of Zahumlje , in present-day western Herzegovina and southern Croatia, who flourished in the middle of the 11th century and held the title of princeps of Zahumlje in alliance with the Byzantine Empire...
, receives piles of imperial gold and silver from the Byzantines for the support to overthrow Vojislav. Ljutovid led the army against Duklja in 1043 but was ambushed at the Klobuk hill of Konavli (then part of Travunia) by Vojislav, who defeated the army. Vojislav went on to pursue and annex most of Zahumlje
Zahumlje
Zachlumia or Zahumlje was a medieval principality located in modern-day regions of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia...
and Travunia
Travunia
Travunia was a medieval region, administrative unit and principality, which was part of Medieval Serbia , and in its last years, the Bosnian Kingdom . The county became hereditary in a number of noble houses, often kin to the ruling dynasty. The region came under Ottoman rule in 1482...
. He defeats a Byzantine army at the Battle of Bar in October.
In 1042, the new emperor Constantine IX decided to attack Duklja with an army based in Dyrrhacium and the neighbouring themes. The Byzantine army under Michaelus Anastasii was defeated and Vojislav ensured a future for Duklja without imperial authority.
Last years
Vojislav spent the rest of his rule in peace, until his death in 1043. He was succeeded by his widow and five sons - Gojislav, Predimir, Mihailo, Saganek and RadoslavRadoslav
-People:* Radoslav Bachev , Bulgarian footballer* Radoslav Batak , Serbo-Montenegrin football defender* Radoslav Brđanin , Serbian war criminal* Radoslav Hecl , Slovak ice hockey defenceman...
. He was buried in the Church of St. Andrew in Prapratna.
Duklja stayed the center of the Serbian state which had earlier replaced (in terms of leadership) Rascia
Raška (state)
Principality of Serbia or Serbian Principality was an early medieval state of the Serbs ruled by the Vlastimirović dynasty, that existed from ca 768 to 969 in Southeastern Europe. It was established through an unification of several provincial chiefs under the supreme rule of a certain Višeslav,...
; it held this position for a few years, his son Mihailo I succeeded in ruling Duklja as the other principalities unified with Rascia under Vukan of Serbia.
See also
- List of Serbian rulers