Everything about Duklja totally explained
Duklja or
Diokletija (
Modern Serbian variations:
Дукља or
Диоклетија;
Latin:
Doclea or
Diocleia;
Greek: Διοκλεις) was a South Slavic medieval state with hereditary lands roughly encompassing the territories of the
Zeta River,
Skadar Lake and the
Boka bay and bordering with
Travunia at
Kotor. Duklja was at first a semi-independent part of the Grand Principality (Zhupanate) of
Rascia (
Raška) which was a
vassal of the
Eastern Roman Empire and later directly under Byzantine suzerainty until it won its independence in the mid-
11th century, ruled by the
House of Vojislav (
Vojislavljević). After a large fall, Doclea was incorporated into the unified Serbian state, where it remained until the fall of the Serbian emperor, tsar Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, where it became the state of
Zeta.
Name
"
Doclea", the name of the region during the early period of the
Roman Empire, was termed for an early
Illyrian tribe - the
Docleatae. The
Roman Emperor Diocletian hailed from this region. In later centuries, Romans "hyper-corrected" the name to
Dioclea, wrongly guessing that an "I" had been lost due to vulgar speech patterns. "Duklja" is the later Slavic version of that word. The actual city of Dioclea was located at present-day
Podgorica (throughout the Middle Ages known as
Ribnica).
Geography
Doclea (roughly
Montenegro today) bordered the Byzantine Theme of Dyrrachion to the east, at the City of
Bar and
Travunia to the west. From the
Skadar Lake at the east its territory sprang down the river of
Zeta all the way to the river of
Piva to the west. Afterwards,
Skadar became the capital of the state until the end of the
Middle Ages. The Royal Capital of Duklja was
Ston. It had only three major settlements:
Gradac (Old
Budva, the ancient Serbian capital),
Novi Grad and Lontodoclea. The most important City was
Diocleia (after which the entire Archonty was named), but that city was in ruins by the 10th century from numerous invasions. Doclea was split on Zhupanates, each with its own City:
Lusca,
Podlugiae,
Gorsca,
Cuceva with
Budva,
Cupelnich,
Obliquus,
Prapratna (between
Bar and
Ulcinj),
Cermenica and
Gripuli. Continental Doclea, or
Submontana (Podgoria), which was between the rivers of
Rama and
Morača, was consisted of:
Onogost,
Moratia,
Comerniza,
Piva,
Gerico,
Netusini,
Guisemo,
Com,
Debreca,
Neretva and
Rama. Ever since the
12th century, the term
Zeta, a smaller geographical part of Doclea, started to replace the name of this Archonty.
History
Early
Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos'
De Administrando Imperio from the mid-
10th century mentions Doclea in the story of the province of
Dalmatia:
» Now, the said Croatia and the rest of the Slavonic regions are situated thus: Diocleia is neighbour to the forts of Dyrrachium, I mean, to Elissus and to Helcynium and Antibari, and comes up as far as Decatera, and on the side of the mountain country it's neighbour to Serbia.
It was one of the four southern
Dalmatian Slavic principalities (
Sclavinias). Although Slavs populated the regions of Dioclitia since as early as the 5th-6th century, the greater waves of
Slavic migrants (traditionally classified as
Serbs) came in the 630s by the
White Serbs under the
Unknown Archont. The land was given by the
Byzantine Emperor Flavius Heraclius Augustus to settle and accept his supreme rule. During the Slavic intrusions, the City of Diocleia was mostly ransacked. Many were baptised during Emperor Heraclius' missions on baptising the Serbs by missionaries from
Rome.
According to the domestic contemporary
legend, the Slavs came to the western Balkans under one ruling family. The legend continues the tale how the Slavic Realm was partitioned into two halves. One of the halves -
Dalmatia - was further partitioned into two halves. The story tells of how Duklja was a part of
Transmontana (yet another half) of one of those halves - Dioclea
1.
In 732,
Eastern Roman Emperor Leo III the Isaurian took the region of Doclea from the suzerainity of the
Bishop of Rome Gregory III and gifted it to the Ecumenical
Patriarch of Constantinople,
Anastasius, thus quelling the previously dominant Latin culture and restoring the dominance
Hellenism. The Latin language and culture remained only in the old coastal Romanized cities. The
Principality of Doclea was subjected to the
Grand Principality of
Rascia, under
Grand Princes
House of Vlastimirović of
All Rascias, but kept endorsing its semi-independence. Prince
Višeslav is recorded ca 780 in Doclea, in
Prevlaka as a Duke (dux). Strojimir, brother of Prince
Mutimir, is recorded with his seal at the late 9th century as ruler Doclea during the feudal family vassalage under Bulgarian rule of Serbia. In Gradina, the reign of
Petar Gojniković is recorded from the late 9th to the first half of the 10th century. The Slavic pagans of Doclea were fully baptised together with all Serbs under Grand Princes Stefan and Petar in the 9th century. Archaeologically put to the 10th century, Doclea was a part of Rascia until Serbia disappeared, when a local principality comes to prominence.
Prince Ceslav of Klomir of the
House of Vlastimir, last descendant of the
Unknown Archont, created a Realm of
Serbia and managed to excerpt control over more than 70% of Doclea's territory.
The
Byzantine enclaves of
Kotor,
Bar and
Ulcinj had to pay taxes and sometimes were even governed by the Doclean rulers.
The death of Prince Ceslav brought an opportunity for a more independent Doclea. In the middle of the
10th century, the
Travunian Princes have fought long wars against Doclea's
Ban. Eventually, Doclea was conquered and Travunia and Doclea were united under one ruling family. Folk tales call their rulers "Kings", when in fact, they were nothing more than mere Princes. "King" Predimir is the first known ruler - and he ruled his "Kingdom" from his capital at
Onogošt. One tale is kept from his life: After the fall of the
Bulgarian Czardom,
Rascia was invaded by the Byzantines by Emperor
John I Tzimiskes and his generals and
Rassa was conquered. Rascia's Zhupan fled together with his sons Plenus and Radigrad and daughter Prechvala to exile to Onogost to Predimir. According to the tale, Predimir heavily fell in love with the beautiful Rascian princess Prechvala, and immediately convened a council to arrange a political offer to the Rascian ruling house. Predimir was to marry Prechvala - while Rascia's Zhupan and his sons would become vassals under "King" Predimir's protection. Rascia's Prince and his sons agreed and swore an oath of loyalty to Predimir and his subjects. The newfound "King"'s relatives were given the territory of
Tribessa as a marriage gift and established Radigrad as the honorary Zhupan of Onogost, while the new marriage was celebrated in a regal fashion. Predimir and his father-in-law instigated a rebellion in
Rassa - ordering the inhabitants to kill their Byzantine overlords. After the
Greeks in Rassa were executed, Predimir came with his family to Rassa and annexed it, restoring his son-in-law as the Grand Prince of Rascia, while his cousins received various Princely titles.
Predimir's sons from the marriage with Prechvala split his land after his death: the oldest son, Chlavimir ruled
Zeta and the Zhupanates of:
Lusca,
Podlugiae,
Gorsca,
Cupelnich,
Obliquus,
Prapratna,
Cermenica and
Budva with
Cuceva and
Gripuli. Second son, Boleslav, got the Zhupanates of:
Libomir,
Vetanica,
Rudina,
Crusceviza,
Vrmo,
Rissena,
Draceviza,
Canali,
Gernoviza. Dragoslav ruled in
Zachlumia and got the following Zhupanates:
Stantania,
Papava, Yabsko,
Luca,
Vellica, Gorimita,
Vecenike,
Dubrava and
Debre. The youngest son, Svevlad, ruled Submontana (
Podgoria) and got the following Zhupanates:
Onogost,
Moratia,
Comerniza,
Piva,
Gerico,
Netusini,
Guisemo,
Com,
Debreca,
Neretva and
Rama. The system of the
Tetrarchy was adopted in the realm.
The tale continues telling about Predimir's brother, King
Krešimir of Croatia discarding his crippled son Leghec and sending him away to
Travunia, where his cousin Boleslav regionally ruled. Story tells how Leghec married a local servant, Lovizza, with whom he'd seven sons. Predimir's four sons ruled the people ruthlessly without any mercy, so Leghec and his sons raised a rebellion and lead the people to a civil war, until every single one of Predimir's sons and grandsons were killed - from the youngest to the oldest - save Boleslav's son Sylvester, who managed to flee to
Ragusa. According to the story, Leghec ruled together with his seven sons as a vassal of the Croatian King Kresimir from Traiectus in the
Bay of Kotor, where he built himself a fortress and a court. The story goes on telling how God got angry on Leghec's ruling family because of this betrayal, so he crippled Leghec even more, both physically and mentally - while infecting his sons with a pestilent disease. Very soon, the entire Leghec's family branch was extinct.
The people returned Sylvester from Ragusa and enthroned him, restoring Predimir's dynasty. Sylvester ruled one-handedly the entire Tetrarchy with reverence and justice. He had a son, Tugemir, who succeeded him as Doclea's ruler, who was further succeeded by his own son, Chvalimir. Chvalimir divided the realm amongst his three sons: first-born Petrislav ruled
Zeta, Dragomir ruled
Travunia and
Zachlumia, while the youngest, Miroslav, ruled over Transmontana (Podgoria). Miroslav died in the
Lake of Skadar in a storm together with his entire crew, while travelling to visit his brothers on board a ship. Petrislav inherited his demesne - thus reunifying Duklja. After Petrislav died, he was buried in the Church of Prečista Krajina in the Frontier region. He was succeeded by his son,
Vladimir.
Saint Jovan Vladimir fought the
Arbanass tribes that menaced the eastern territories.
Skadar was subsequently formalised as the heart of Duklja.
Samuil of Bulgaria invaded Doclea and took the
Prince as a prisoner. As a result of a subsequent marriage between Jovan Vladimir and the Bulgarian princess Kossara, Jovan Vladimir was allowed to return and rule as a Bulgarian
vassal. After the successful plot of the last
Czar of the
Bulgarian Empire Ivan Vladislav, Jovan Vladimir's life was taken on
22 May 1016. Saint Jovan Vladimir expanded his pretensions greatly by also becoming the ruler of
Tribalia and
Serbia. Vladimir's seat was at Katrkol, below the Church of Precista Krajina. His remains were shifted from monastery to monastery until they were finally placed in the Monastery of Saint John in Elbesan in Albania.
Duklja became a part of the Byzantine
theme of Serbia (
thema Servia) under
strategos of Serbia Constantine Diogenes; while its rulers remained only titulary. John Vladimir was succeeded by his nephew Dragomir who rules as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire. He married the daughter of Ljutomir, the successor to the Rascian throne.
High Middle Ages, Voislav, Golden Age
The anarchic ages that followed the dawn of the
11th century were crucial for Duklja. The people of
Kotor rebelled and lynched the Doclean Prince Dragomir in 1018, and the Byzantine forces occupied Doclea to restore order. Dragomir's son Dobroslav goes into poverty. Dobroslav acted twosome: he was constantly praising Byzantine rule and at the same time rousing up the people against the Emperor.
In
1034, Dobroslav, also called
Stefan Voislav (
Stefan Vojislav; the eponym of the
House of Voislav), son of Dragomir (and nephew of Jovan Vladimir), who was among the
Serbian
Travunian
gentry, was elected to lead a movement to liberate the Serbs in the Adriatic coastlands. By the time of the rebellion, Voislav already had 5 sons with his wife, a cousin of Tsar Samuil. While Voislav was preparing for war, he played nice with the
Byzantines, assuring them that he was their faithful subject. He gained the nickname "Stefan" from the
Greek word
Stephanos meaning "crowned" to resemble his independent power and proclaimed himself
Achont of Serbs. In 1035 he led the Serbs into an
uprising, but the
Byzantines have quickly manage to impose peace terms. Voislav was taken hostage to Constantinople in the summer of 1036 and the uprising was quelled, and the task of occupying Duklja was given to
Serbia's
strategos Theophilos Erotikos. Voislav managed to escape imprisonment in 1037 and retake
the land of the Serbs, where he withdrew to the mountains and maintained guerilla resistance with an ever-growing group of highlanders. There he started to attack and take over leadership among the neighbouring Serbs, Tribals the tribes in the "Illyrian mountains" that recognized Byzantine supreme rule throughout 1038. He succeeded in pushing the fight to expel strategos Theophilos from Serbia and briefly create an independent territory from the
Skadar lake to the
Hum mountain, seated at
Scutari. He also helped the neighbouring uprising of
Slavs that quickly expanded from
Belgrade across
Naissus to
Skopje led by Petar Delian, as well as the Tihomir's Slavic uprising in
Dyrrachion. Those involved in the uprising even reached the ruins of
Thebes, Greece on one occasion, so the Byzantines left Duklja untroubled for some time.
The
Byzantine Emperor Michael, while waiting in
Thessalonika, was to receive a shipment of
gold of 10
Kentenars from Southern
Italy. One
Galley accidentally crashed in Duklja's Bay in the winter of 103940. Its treasures were taken by the Voislav's men, which greatly enriched Duklja's economy. This incurred Michael's fury, as he sent
Imperial Eunuch George Probat to crush Voislav's movement. The Eunuch's Army was caught in an ambush in the Doclean gorges in 1040 in an ambush and suffered a total defeat. Voislav's son Radoslav was glorified especially for killing a
Byzantine military commander himself on the battlefield; prevented by Bulgarian Czar Delian's advancements in the central Balkans, the Byzantines have made a pause in military offensives against Doclea.
After quelling the Slavic uprising in Macedonia in 1041, the new Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monnomachos made a military attempt in 1042 with a grand army of 60,000 soldiers, led by the Commander of Dyrrachion, patricio Michael. The Emperor sent Michael with a lot of gold and silver to bribe the Rascians, Zachlumians and Bosnians against Doclea. The Army was advancing fast from
Skadar to
Bar. The Greeks raided the rich valleys of Lower Zeta, but they were attacked by the Serbs at the gorges at
Sutorman. The Serbs, after initial successes, cornered the Greeks and slaughtered 40,000 soldiers and 7 strategoses (Byzantine military commanders). The were throwing at the cornered Greeks from high peaks everything they'd - from arrows to rocks. They chased others to the river of Drim, until they were allowed to leave the battlefield, but completely naked. The leader of the native Byzantine-inspired coalition was Prince of Zachlumia and Travunia Ljutovid, that opposed Voislav's occupation of Travunia which he also claimed. After the Battle of Bar Voislav chose 50 captured Greeks and dispatched them to tell the tale, towards Zachlumia. Ljutovid was awaiting with his forces at
Klobuk. He was attacked by Voislav's son Goislav and there were no major difficulties in defeating the demoralized Zachlumians. Gojislav and his two bodyguards killed Ljutovid in combat. After this, Voislav annexed most of
Zachlumia (across
Konavli up to
Ston), became the undisputed ruler of the territory from Bojana to Neretva and even to Vojusa and expanded deeper inland, maintaining good relations with Bosnia and Rascia. The Slavic uprisings in Macedonia of Peter Delian who now crowned himself as Czar Peter II of Bulgarians stopped any possibility for another Byzantine military attempt against Duklja. Stephen Voislav's last actions were organizing a wedding of his son, whose Godfather was supposed to be the Byzantine strategos of
Ragusa, Katakalon. However, Voislav found out that the strategos was preparing to ambush him, Voislav ambushed Katakalon with his entire escort and imprisoned them. The Serbs captured even the War Galleys and led Katakalon with them as a personal Voislav's slave to Ston.
Around 1050 (as early as 1046 or as late as 1055) Voislav died, and was buried in the Church of Saint Andrews in his capital at
Prapratna. He was succeeded by his son
Mihailo. Mihailo immediately had to face a rebellion of the people in
Travunia under Domanec and quelled it by force and installed his brother Saganek in 1052/4 as the new Prince of Trebinje. However, the legend tells how Dobroslav split his realm to all his five sons: Gojislav, Mihailo, Saganek, Radoslav and Predimir, with Gojislav as the eldest the head together with his mother and Voislav's wife, the relative of Czar Samuil, ruling together from
Trebinje. In 1047-1050 the Travunian rebellion occurred, when the rebels murdered Gojislav and Mihailo managed to take over leadership and defeat them. After the death of his mother, Mihailo took the Rascian Grand Princely title and moved Doclea's capital to
Kotor. One of Michael's first actions were prolonging the vassalage with the Byzantine Empire. Mihailo married into the Imperial family (since his first wife had just died), by taking the hand of a niece of
Emperor Constantine IX in 1052. The Romeii entitled him
protospator, an honorary commander of the Imperial Guard. Doclea coexisted with the Eastern Roman Empire for 20 years. Mihailo,
exarch of Serbs, ruled with an iron hand the area from neretva to Bojana, but loyally to the Byzantine Emperor. At 1054, the
Great Schism occurs and Doclea becomes the most eastern borderland of the suzeiranity of the
Roman Catholic Church. At 1055 Domanec deposed Saganec from Trebinje and killed other Mihailo's brother, Predimir, in the fights; Mihailo's yet another brother, Radoslav, attacked Trebinje and killed Domanek. As a reward Mihailo placed him as a Prince in
Zeta (Doclea proper). In 1060-1074 Prince Michael Voislav made attempts to conquer Rascia, and implaced around 1070 his son Petrislav as the Prince of Serbian Zagorje (a small part of Bosnia and Rascia). Mihailo Voislav sought alliance with the Papacy for recognition of independence and an autocephalous Church, seeking the Flag (
vexilium) as a sign of recognition of a
Kingdom. The Pope only responded by creating a
Bishopric in
Bar in 1067. When the Normans captured the Italian city of Bari from the Byzantines and Emperor Roman IV got captured by the Seljuk Turks in 1071, Mihailo broke off diplomatic relations with the Empire and in 1072 dispatched his son
Bodin and a squadron of 300 finest Serb fighters under Duke Petrilo to Skopje, to meet the rebel Slavic boyars under George Voiteh and in an effort to conquer Bulgaria from the Byzantines. At
Prizren, (since the House of Vojislavic succeeded the extinct Bulgarian dynasty), Bodin was crowned
Peter III, Czar of Bulgarians. The new Czar's military forces quickly took
Skopje and
Ochryd. Bodin's forces were soon split, as he advanced far from his Macedonian homeland in an offensive towards Naissus. King Mihailo Voislav used this moment and together with the
Croats attacked the Dalmatian coastal cities and advanced through the Theme of Dyrrachion. Bodin lost Skopje, so he was retreating towards Doclea, but was assaulted and defeated the same year at
Pantino on
Kosovo and took to the monastery of Saint Serge and Bacchus in Constantinople as a prisoner, but Byzantine governor Comnenus took him to Antioch in Syria later on. After the Macedonian rebellion was quelled, a new strategos was implaced in Dyrrachion - Nicephorus Briennes whose sole mission was
to punish the Docleans and Croats. Nicephorus triumphed, even succeeded in taking a large number of hostages and Mihailo had to flee into hiding. The Byzantines slowly advanced, clearing the roads for their forces and kept large garrisons in the coastal Dalmatian cities. Mihailo had all of his sons from the first marriage executed during these grave times. All warring finally stopped in 1074, when Mihailo was able to retrieve most that the Byzantines conquered after the return of Nicephorus to Dyrrachion.
In 1077 Mihailo Voislav captured
Dubrovnik. The same year he was crowned
King of Slavs by emissaries of
Pope Gregory VII, accepting the supreme rule of the
Papacy. Mihailo soon raised the little Church of Saint Michael in
Ston - as a component part of his Royal seat, where he depicted himself with a Papal crown on a fresco. His realm was known as the
Kingdom of Serbia, and Mihailo wore the title
Ruler of Tribals and Serbs. Ever since Duklja's expansion into
Croatia in which the Doclean forces raided as far as
Knin, the full ruling title was
King of Doclea and Dalmatia. King Mihailo Voislav always had desires for an autocephalous Church. The highest faction in his Kingdom was the
Bishopric of Ragusa - which was subjected in turn to the
Archbishopric of Split, which was outside of his realm. Mihailo went into a rescue mission with the help of several bribed Venetian traders in 1078 and liberated his son. Mihailo Voislav started to negotiate with the Normans in South Italia - sworn enemies of the Byzantines, and managed to marry his son Constantine Bodin to a Norman Princess - Janquinta Argyritzes in October of 1080.
This period was useful for Duklja. While its eastern borders were used as a demarcational zone between the
Pope and the
Ecumenical Patriarch, the rulers of Duklja used the Latin side to gain independence from the Byzantine, but enforced
Eastern-rite and schismatic
Orthodoxy so as not to be controlled by the
Catholic west. Throughout the 11th century Doclea's population were classified as being Serbs.
Constantin Bodin inherited his father's Doclean-Dalmatian kingdom in 1081 at the age of 25. He was a son-in-law of the
Guy of
Normandy Robert Guiscard. Bodin ruled unitarily with an iron hand, abolishing the old patriarchal tradition of each single ZHupan ruling his own demesne or
joint reigns of an entire family. He came with an army in Byzantine aid to Dyrrachion which was being attacked by the Normans, and his squadrons, allied by the
Albanians, menaced the Norman landings. Bodin's assistance was asked by both warring parties, but the Venetians' alliance with the Byzantines made him make up his mind. Although, King Bodin remained neutral in the finally battle on
18 October 1081, seeing the imminent victory of the Normans. Doclea was free of revenge, as the Normans invaded Epirus, Thessaly and Macedonia. King Bodin aided the Normans in their warring, although not directly. Around this time he invaded and annexed neighbouring
Rascia and
Bosnia; implacing courtirs Prince Stefan as the rule of Bosnia and his nephews Marko and Vukan as Zhupans of Rascia. The Normans retreated in 1085, which renewed hostilities against the Byzantines. Around this time King Bodin managed to take Dyrracion, but managed to hold it only for a short time. Constantine Bodin was a great supporter of
Pope Urban II's fights against the self-proclaimed anti-Pope Clement III in 1089, so the Pope rewarding him by giving the finally long-awaited ecclesiastical autonomy to the Serbian people by elevating the Bishopric of Bar on
8 January 1089 to an
Archbishopric, which included Serbia (Rascia+Doclea), Bosnia and Travunia (Bodin's uncle Radoslav, prince of Zachlumia, had died by 1089 and Zachlumia lost). Bar, Kotor and Ulcinj were taken away from the jurisdiction of the
Archbishopric of Ragusa - as a compensation since the Kingdom of Doclea had just lost
Ragusa to the Normans. Svac, Skadar, Drivast and Pilot were gripped from the Archbishopric of Dyrrachion - which caused the City's strategos John Ducas (Emperor Alexios' son-in-law) to attack Bodin and imprison him for the second time.
Radoslav's (Bodin's uncle) son Branislav, the new Prince of Zeta, took over leadership of a rebellion in Doclea in Bodin's absence. It took some time until he was appeased and accepted the authority of Bodin, after his return. In Bodin's absence, Queen Jaquinta had Branislav imprisoned for life and took his descendants, the Branislavljevic branch of the royal family, under her tutelage. In Bodin's absence, Bosnia, Rascia and Zachlumia all seceded from Doclean control. Emperor Alexios kept Bodin caged longer even beyond 1091, as he was afraid of his connections with the
Cumans, his sworn enemies that were just jeopardizing his Empire. When Constantine Bodin returned to the throne, immediately he went into a war with his cousin Prince Vukan of Rascia against the Byzantines. The tactics of scorched earth were utilized in this war. In the winter of 1096/7 an Army of
Crusaders passed through Duklja under Count
Raymond IV of Toulouse during the
Crusade of 1101. King Bodin guested Raymond in his court in Skadar, where they befriended each other and even embrothered themselves (this is the first occasion of embrotherment among the South Slavs). Even in regards to this special friendship, conflicts between the Crusaders and the population were frequent up their arrival to Dyrrachion. Queen Jaquinta convinced King Bodin that his brothers-by-uncle Branislav and Gradislav are traitors. Bodin had Branislav executed and when he found out that Gradislav escaped to Dubrovnik, he attacked it, conquered it and beheaded Gradislav and his son Berinja. Bodin constructed a tower in Ragusa to bolster its defences. King Constantine Bodin,
Archont of Serbs, died in 1101; he was buried in the Church of Saint Serge and Bacchus near Skadar. The people didn't want Jaquinta's children (Mihailo, Djordje, Arcisius Tomas, Markus), so he was succeeded by his legendary half-brother from Mihailo Voislav's first marriage,
Dobroslav II, and the elected heir Mihailo deposed.
Dobroslav III's reign was filled with dynastic intrigues in the court of Scutari. His cousin
Kočapar of Branislav's branch goes to Rascia, where he's organizing the opposition. King Dobroslav II recognized Byzantine suzeiranity in fear of Kocopar's wrath. Grand Prince Vukan of Rascia eventually invaded Doclea and during the Battle of the
Morača river captured him and took him into slavery to Rascia in 1102. Kočapar became the new King as a vassal of Rascia. King Kočapar didn't like Rascian supremacy and Rascia was starting to take over leadership over the Serbian lands - and this Kočapar couldn't handle. He married the daughter of the Bosnian Ban and made an anti-Rascian alliance in an attempt to retake the leadership. Vukan expelled him from Doclea as a punishment and implaced his cousin
Vladimir in his place in 1103. Kočapar invaded Zachlumia, where he died fighting in futile. Vladimir became a son-in-law of the Rascian Grand Prince Vukan and ruled in a friendship with Rascia for almost 12 years. As a result, Vukan releases old King Dobroslav II and lets him peacefully return to Doclea. Queen Jaquinta assassinates King Vladimir and old King Dobroslav II in 1114 and implaced her son
George. His cousin
Grubeša assembled a Byzantine Army in Dyrrachion and ruled Doclea as a Prince since 1118, exiling him to Rascia and ruling in Byzantine name. Old Queen Jaquinta is captured by the Byzantines in Kotor and taken into life imprisonment to Constantinople. In 1125 old King George led the Rascian forces and defeated Grubesa at the battle of Bar, returning to the Doclean throne, although he'd to split large portions of Doclean territory amongst his cousins. In 1126 and 1127 King George intervenes in Rascia and returns his friend, Zhupan Urosh, to power. To consolidate his power, George arrested and blinded two of his cousins that were pretenders to the throne, which united the 6 remaining pretenders to convince a Byzantine intervention from Dyrrachion in 1131, when he was taken to life imprisonment to Constantinople and implaced King Gradihna as a Byzantine vassal. George continued a guerrilla resistance until he died wandering across Dyrrachion to Constantinople later that same year. Gradihna died in 1146 and was succeeded by his son, Prince Radoslav. Doclea's regal title was finally lost together with its prestige and it downgraded back to a Principality. Grand Prince Uros II of Rascia invaded Doclea and occupied about two thirds of the territory; with Byzantine help Prince Radoslav pushed the Serbian forces across the mountains and won a decisive victory against the combined Serbian-Hungarian army at the Battle of Tara river in 1150. He lost to Serbian Prince Desa large parts of his territory at the very beginning of his reign in 1148, and his entire realm upon his death in 1162
Late, Rascian
The
Byzantines gave numerous lands of the
Grand Principality of
Rascia to
Stracimir, son of
Prince Zavida of
Zahumlje, who ruled in the name of his oldest brother,
Grand Prince Tihomir of
Rascia as a vassal of the
Byzantine Empire since
1166. The majority of Duklja was included in his lands.
Out of Diocleia Ribnica arose, which was the birthplace of Prince Stracimir's brother, Prince
Nemanya, another of the sons of
Prince Zavida of
Zahumlje. Up to
1168 Nemanja ascended to the throne as
Grand Prince of
Rascia after he defeated Tihomir. Stracimire initially supported Tihomir in the fight, but drew back as soon as Tihomir started to lose.
Stracimir's other brother,
Prince Miroslav of
Zahumlje had to call off his military expeditions against
Korčula and
Vis, because of the losing war against the
Republic of Dubrovnik in
1184 in which Stracimir offered military assistance. Miroslav eventually drew from the war, while Stracimir didn't want to advance alone, so abandoned the conquest of the Republic too. Stracimir got the job to take the islands
Korčula and
Vis in
1185. The smaller part of his force managed to raid heavily
Vis. Stracimir's galleys landed his forces on
Korčula and took the island, but didn't manage to control it, so they raided the island's fertile regions on the western part. The inhabitants of
Korčula hailed the
Dubrovnik Republic for assistance and it managed to capture all of Stracimir's galleys. Prince Stracimir managed to sign an agreement with the island's inhabitants: he guaranteed that the island will have autonomy, separated from
Zahumlje; while the islanders agreed to help his forces set sail back to the mainland.
Although Prince Stracimir was the factual ruler of Duklja, Prince
Mihailo of the old ruling Voislav family and
Stefan Nemanja's nephew remained as the titulary ruler. After Stracimir's passing away, Mihailo had claims to rule Duklja in the name of the Byzantine Emperor, rather than the Serbian Duke. In
1186, while
Stefan Nemanja was at war with the Byzantine Empire, he went on a military campaign to incorporate Duklja into his realm. He besieged
Bar which was under the leadership of the local Archbishop, Grgur. Grgur wrote the
Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja in
1172-
1196 to boost the morale of the people, attempting first to keep Duklja independent, and then only to mark its former glory. He predicted the return of the old regal power in Duklja, but his hopes were all in vain. Stefan Nemanja demanded 800 perpers of ransom to abandon the siege of Bar, while Prince Mihailo of Duklja was under attack by Nemanja's brothers. Stefan Nemanja gave Duklja in 1186 to his oldest son,
Vukan, who asserted to power with the old regal title of
King of Duklja and Dalmatia. In
1189, Prince Mihailo died and his Princess Desislava escaped with the remaining loyal nobility of Duklja and the Archbishop of Bar in her two ships to the
Republic of Dubrovnik. Desislava then moved to
Omis, where she died. Archbishop Grgur was exiled and his post temporarily abolished after Nemanja's capture of Bar, so he continued his chronicles in exile.
Vukan of
Nemanya maintained good relations with the
Papacy, as he married the
Pope's relative and accused
Bosnia's
Ban Kulin of
heresy to the Pope. Vukan was enraged that he didn't inherit from Stefan Nemanja the Grand Princely throne which was contrary to the traditional system of
primogeniture, so he rebelled against the new
Grand Prince Stephen II the First-crowned of
Nemanya with the help of the Dukljan nobility and managed to assess to the Grand Princely throne in
1202, but was deposed in
1204 by Stephen II with
Bulgarian assistance. Vukan withdrew to Duklja where he continued to rule and kept fighting the Grand Prince.
Around this time, the name
Zeta replaced the ancient name of the region (name deriving from the river of
Zeta). Its population is henceforward defined as
Serbian.
List of rulers
- Višeslav
- Mutimir
- Petar (Predimir) Gojniković, Prince of Doclea and Travunia, died 969
- Petrislav, Prince of Doclea and Travunia 971 - 990
- St. Jovan Vladimir, Prince of Doclea and Travunia ca. 990 - 22 May, 1016
- Prince Dragomir (1016-1018), Byzantine vassal
- Stephen Dobroslav I Voislav, Prince of Duklja 1018 - ca. 1043
- Grand Prince, King Mihailo I of Duklja ca. 1046/1077? - 1081
- King Constantine Bodin of Duklja and Dalmatia 1081 - 1101
- Brothers Kings Dobroslav II and Mihailo of Duklja 1101 - 1102
- King Dobroslav III of Duklja 1102
- King Kočopar of Duklja 1102 - 1103
- King Vladimir of Duklja 1103 - 1114
- King George of Duklja 1114 - 1118
- Prince Grubeša of Duklja and Antivari 1118 - 1125
- King George of Duklja 1125 - 1131 (reinstated)
- King Gradihna 1131-1148
- Prince Radoslav 1146-1148/1162
- Prince Desa 1148-1162
- Prince Mihailo of Zeta 1162-1186
- Prince of Rascia, Grand Prince of Rascia, Duke of All Serbia Stefan I Nemanja 1186 - 1196
- King Vukan II of Nemanja of Duklja and Dalmatia 1196 - 1208 as a vassal of first Stephen I Nemanya and then Stefan II the First-crowned of Nemanja; 1202 - 1204 independent
Chronology
mid-late 10th century - Travunian Princes defeat the Ban of Doclea and absorb his realm
22 May 1016 - Jovan Vladimir loses his life in a plot by the Bulgarian Czar, Ivan Vladislav
1018 - the denizens of Kotor corner and lynch Prince Dragomir
1034 - the beginning of a rebellion led by a Travunian nobleman by the name of Dobroslav or Voislav against Byzantine rule
winter 1039/1040 - a Byzantine Galley loaded with Gold crashes on the Doclean coast
1042 - Stefan Dobroslav I Voislav decisively defeats the Byzantine Army at the Battle of Bar, keeping Duklja's independence
1047-1050 - Travunian rebellion under Domenec
1054 - the Great Schism
1067 - an autocephalous branch of the Serbian Catholic Church in the new Bishopric of Bar
1072 - The Slavic rebellion in Macedonia and the central balkans under Constantine Bodin (Peter III)
1074 - end of the hard Byzantine aggression on Doclea
1077 - Duklja becomes a Kingdom, with Mihailo Voislav as its first King; Mihailo captures Ragusa
18 October 1081 - Battle for Dyrrachion
1089 - Autocephalous Serbian Archbishopric of Bar founded under Constantine Bodin
winter 1096/7 - the Crusaders of Raymond of Toulouse pass through Skadar
1150 - Battle of Tara
1185 - Prince Stracimir raided Korčula and Vis
1186 - Stefan Nemanja's annexation of Duklja and establishment of Duklja as a Serbian Province
1189 - Duke Stefan Nemanja's annexation of Duklja is finishedFurther Information
Get more info on 'Duklja'.
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