| Stefan Vojislav Vojislav Dragomirović |
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| archon, and toparch of the kastra of Dalmatia, Zeta and Ston
Prince of Serbs[1] Prince of Serbia[2] |
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| Reign | 1018–1043 |
| Predecessor | Dragomir |
| Successor | Mihailo I |
| Issue | |
| Gojislav Predimir Mihailo Saganek Radoslav |
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| House | Vojislavljević |
| Father | Dragomir |
| Mother | Ljutimirova |
| Born | April Brusno |
| Died | 1043 |
| Burial | Church of St. Andrew in Prapratna |
| Religion | Eastern Christianity |
Stefan Vojislav (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Војислав, Latin: Stephanus Boisthlabus[A] ; 1000-1043) 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,[1] a title signifying supreme leadership among Serbs.
He is the eponymous founder of the Vojislav Dynasty.
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His origins are unclear, as well as his relations with the previous ruler Jovan Vladimir (r. 990-1016). Kekaumenos of Strategikon of Kekaumenos fame calls him a "Travunian 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 Rascian Župan Ljutomir (possible fabrication of Ljutovid[3]), he was raised in Bosnia by his mother.[4] His father had succeeded Jovan Vladimir in 1016, and ruled until his murder by Kotor locals in 1018.[5]
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.
Vojislav held the title of archon, and toparch of the kastra of Dalmatia, Zeta and Ston.[6][7]
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.[6] This shows a close relationship between native leaders and Byzantine officers in the peripheral zone of the Empire after Basil's "reconquest".[7]
| “ | ...Stefan Vojislav, arhon of Serbs, who not long ago escaped from Constantinople and took the land of the Serbs, banishing Theophilos Erotikos. | ” |
Around 1034 (according to John Skylitzes), 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[8] 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.[4][9]
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.[10]
The Byzantine Emperor Michael, waiting in Thessaloniki, was to receive a shipment of 10 kentenars of gold (7,200 gold nomismata[11]) 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.[1][10] 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[10]), Ban of Bosnia and Prince of Hum Ljutovid, receives piles of imperial gold and silver from the Byzantines for the support to overthrow Vojislav.[12] Ljutovid led the army against Duklja in 1043 but was ambushed at the Klobuk hill[13] 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.[14]
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 Radoslav.[15] 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.
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Stefan Vojislav
Born: 1000 Died: 1043 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Theophilos Erotikos as strategos of Serbia |
Prince of Duklja 1040-1043 |
Succeeded by Mihailo I |
| Political offices | ||
| First | archon, and toparch of the kastra of Dalmatia, Zeta and Ston (Byzantine) 1018-1034 |
Succeeded by Theophilos Erotikos |
| Royal titles | ||
| Preceded by Dragomir |
Prince of Serbs 1018-1043 |
Succeeded by Mihailo I |