Sermon (ruler)
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- See also Sermon (disambiguation)
Sermon (Bulgarian and Serbian Cyrillic: Сермон) was an 11th century voivode (duke) of Syrmia and a local governor in the First Bulgarian Empire, vassal of Bulgarian emperor Samuil. His residence was probably in Sirmium (today Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia), where he produced his own golden coins.
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[edit] History
After the First Bulgarian Empire was defeated by the Byzantine Empire, Sermon was the last Bulgarian ruler who refused to comply with the new Byzantine authorities. Since Sermon was reluctant to recognize the supreme authority of the Byzantine emperor, the emperor ordered his regent in Belgrade, Constantine Diogenes, to forcefully subjugate Sermon.
However, Diogenes invited Sermon to a meeting at the estuary of the river Sava in the Danube, and there he killed the duke of Syrmia in the boat. After this, the Diogenes ruled over Syrmia as a duke until 1028.
[edit] Archaeology
Three golden coins produced by Sermon have been found near Novi Sad, in one vineyard in Petrovaradin, which means that this area was also under Sermon's rule. These golden coins are today kept in the Paris City Museum, where they are labeled as "Monnaies d'or d'un chef bulgare du XI siècle, Sermon gouverneur de Sirmium" (the golden coins of one Bulgarian ruler from the 11th century, Sermon, the governor of Syrmia). The inscription on the coins is in Medieval Greek, and the English translation of the inscription is: "Madonna, please help Sermon, the duke".
[edit] Literature
- Veljko Milković, Petrovaradin i Srem - misterija prošlosti, Novi Sad, 2003.
- Monografija Starih Ledinaca, Novi Sad, 1998.
