Gojnik Vlastimirović

Gojnik
Župan (Prince)
Reign ca. 850-860
Died before 896
Predecessor Vlastimir
Offspring Petar Gojniković
Royal House House of Vlastimirović
Father Vlastimir
Religious beliefs Eastern Christianity

Gojnik Vlastimirović or Gojnik of Serbia (Serbian: Гојник, Latin: Goinicus) was a Serbian Župan who was subject to his elder brother Mutimir, the Grand Župan of the Serbian lands (Rascia) from ca. 850-860 with his brother Strojimir. He was the youngest son of Vlastimir of Serbia, the first independent ruler of Rascia.[1]

Gojnik, together with his brothers Strojimir and Mutimir, defeated the Bulgar Army sent by Tsar Boris and led by his son Vladimir, who was together with 12 boyars captured by the Serbs. Peace was agreed and two sons of Mutimir (Pribislav and Stefan) escorted prisoners towards the border at Stari Ras. There Boris gave them rich gifts and was given 2 slaves, 2 falcons, two dogs, and 80 furs by Mutimir.[1]

Soon after this in the 860s the younger brothers start a rebellion against Mutimir after he had given them less and less power. Mutimir crushes the rebellion and the two brothers are sent as prisoners, a guarantee of peace, to Tsar Boris I court at Pliska, the Bulgar capital. He was treated well by the Bulgarians, Khan Boris himself chose the wife of Klonimir Strojimirović, the only son of Strojimir.[1]

Seal

On July 11, 2006, A Golden seal of Strojimir dated to 855-896 was bought by the Serbian state from an auction in Munich, Germany, by an unknown Russian. It was sold for a total 20,000 €, outpaying the Bulgarian offer of 15,000 €. It is of Byzantine handcraft (from Athens, Thessaloniki or Constantinople), weighs 15.64 g, has a cross and Greek inscriptions that say: "Strojimir" and "God, Help Serbia."[2]

Regnal titles
Preceded by
Vlastimir
Knez of Serbia
Co-ruler with Mutimir and Strojimir

ca. 850-860s
Succeeded by
(Depositioned)
Mutimir
Sole ruler

References

Sources

  • De Administrando Imperio by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, edited by Gy. Moravcsik and translated by R. J. H. Jenkins, Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, Washington D. C., 1993
  • Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472082604, 0472100793. 
  • Ferjančić, B. 1997, "Basile I et la restauration du pouvoir byzantin au IXème siècle", Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta, no. 36, pp. 9–30.