Vojislavljević dynasty

The Vojislavljević (Serbian Cyrillic: Војислављевић, pl. Vojislavljevići / Војислављевићи) was a Serbian medieval dynasty, named after archon Stefan Vojislav,[3] who wrested the polities of Duklja, Travunia, Zahumlje, Raška and Bosnia from the Byzantines in the mid-11th century. His successors, kings Mihailo I Vojislavljević (d. 1081) and Constantine Bodin (d. 1101) expanded and consolidated the state. During the 12th century, the main line of the Vojislavljević family was ousted by their cadet branch, the Vukanović (which became the Nemanjić dynasty), in the late 12th century.

Vojislavljević
Војислављевић
Royal house
CountryDuklja/Doclea (modern Montenegro, Herzegovina, southernmost Dalmatia)
Founded1034
FounderStefan Vojislav
Final rulerMihailo III of Duklja
Titles
  • Prince (archon)
  • Grand Prince (1050–1077)
  • King of Slavs (rex Sclavorum; 1077–1080)
  • "Prince of Serbs",[1] "of Serbia"[2]
Dissolution1186
Cadet branchesVukanović dynasty

Background
Main article: Jovan Vladimir

History

Stefan Vojislav
Main article: Stefan Vojislav

Stefan Vojislav, the progenitor of the dynasty, was a nobleman in Byzantine service who had the titles of archon, and toparch of the Dalmatian kastra of Zeta and Ston.[4][5] 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,[1] a title signifying supreme leadership among the Serbs. The contemporary Byzantine writers call him a Serb. Later, dubious source, calls him a cousin to previous ruler Jovan Vladimir (r. 990–1016).[B]

Mihailo I
Fresco of Mihailo I in the Church of St. Michael in Ston.

Mihailo I became Grand Prince around 1050/1055. He restored independence and maintained it from the Byzantine Empire. He sought closer relations with other great powers, such as the Pope and the Normans. Mihailo installed his son Petrislav as Prince of Rascia. After the aborted rebellion in Bulgaria, the military governor of Dyrrhachium, Nicephorus Bryennius, restored Byzantine rule to Rascia in 1073. Mihailo reportedly received royal insignia in 1077 from Pope Gregory VII, although this is still a matter of debate. An image of King Mihajlo with his crown is still found in the Church of St. Michael in Ston, a town in the Pelješac peninsula (in present-day Croatia). Mihajlo's rule ended in 1080.

Constantine Bodin
Main article: Constantine Bodin

His successor was his son Constantin Bodin, who ruled from 1080 to 1101. Bodin fought Byzantium and Normans further to the south, and took the town of Dyrrachium. He established vassal states in Bosnia (under Stefan) and Raška (under Vukan and Marko), which recognized his supremacy. Vukan and Marko, the new princes of Raška were probably sons of the aforementioned Petrislav. Vukan (1083–1115) was the Grand Župan while Marko headed administration of a part of the land. The Byzantine Emperor Alexios later forced Vukan to acknowledge Byzantine suzerainty in 1094. After Bodin died in 1101, incessant struggles for power among his heirs weakened the state. Bodin had previously exiled Dobroslav, his younger brother, together with their cousin Kočapar. In 1101 they returned, and vied for power together with another grandson of Mihajlo's, Vladimir. Vladimir at one point married the daughter of Vukan of Raška.

Decline

In 1114, Đorđe, son of Constantin Bodin, came to power in Duklja. The next year Vukan was replaced in Raška by his nephew Uroš I. (ca. 1115–1131). Đorđe's rule lasted until 1118.

One of the sons of Uroš I was Zavida, Prince of Zahumlje. His four sons would eventually bring order to the Rascian lands and found the House of Nemanja.

In these struggles, the pro-Raška rulers eventually managed to rise to power in Duklja, culminating in the rise of Stefan Nemanja, one of Zavida's sons (around 1166). His son Stefan Nemanjić restored the old Doclean crown in 1217 by receiving from the Pope regal insignia as "King of all Serbian and Maritime Lands".

List of rulers
Picture Name Title Reign Notes
Stefan Vojislav"Prince of the Serbs"[1] or "of Serbia"[2]
toparch of the Dalmatian kastra of Zeta and Ston		1018–1043Overthrew the Byzantine supremacy over Slavs in Duklja; founder of the Vojislavljević dynasty; in 1035 rebelled against the Byzantine Empire, but forced to sign an armistice; went to war again in 1040, which would be continued by his heir and son, Mihailo. Except Duklja, his realm included Travunija with Konavli and Zahumlje.
Mihailo I"Prince of Tribals and Serbs"
"King of Slavs"		1050–1081Ruled Dioclea as the King, initially as a Byzantine vassal holding the title of protospatharios, then after 1077 as nominally serving Pope Gregory VII. He had alienated himself from the Byzantines when he supported a 1071 Slavic revolt in 1071. In 1077 he received a royal insignia by Gregory VII in the aftermath of the Church schism of 1054.
Constantine Bodin"protosebastos and executor of Dioklea and Serbia"[6]
King (titular)		1081–1091In addition to Doclea, his country included Travunia, Zahumlje, Raška and Bosnia. He was one of the leaders of the 1072 Slavic uprising against Byzantium, taking the title of Emperor of Bulgaria, under the name of "Peter III". Byzantine emperor proclaim him the Protosebastos.

After Constantine Bodin, the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja claims that the following members of the same family ruled Duklja:

However, none of these are mentioned in contemporary sources.[7]

Family tree

See also

Annotations
  1. ^
    According to contemporary Byzantine sources, the members of this family was Serb.[8]

References
  1. Scylitzes, 408-9
  2. Cedrenus, ed. Bonn, II, p. 526
  3. Ćirković 2004, p. 24-25.
  4. Kekaumenos, ed Litavrin, 170-2
  5. Paul Magdalino, Byzantium in the year 1000, p. 124
  6. "Jean-Claude Cheynet, „La place de la Serbie dans la diplomatie Byzantine à la fin du XI e siècle", Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta , XLV, Beograd, 2008, 89–9" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-06. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Vizantološki institut (2006). Recueil de travaux de l'Institut des études byzantines. Institut. p. 452.
  8. Sofija Božić (1 April 2014). Istorija i geografija: susreti i prožimanja: History and geography: meetings and permeations. Институт за новију историју Србије,Географски институт "Јован Цвијић" САНУ, Институт за славистку Ран. p. 434. ISBN 978-86-7005-125-6. According to the Chronicle, the first Vojisavljević, Stefan Vojislav (1040–1043),38 was John Vladimir's nephew, whilst his mother was a princess of Raška (Chronicle, XXXVII). Even if the Priest of Doclea invented this, the claim of his Serbian ethnicity was given in contemporary Byzantine authors, such as Keukamenos, Zonaras, Cedrenus and John Skylitzes. However, the new history of montenegro ignores these sources and simply terms the Vojislavljević dynasty as Doclean – Montenegrin.

Sources
Primary sources
Secondary sources
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