Archaeological evidence According to archaeological evidence in Serbia, mainly along Morava River Basin (which was settled by Bulgarian-Slavic tribes of Timočani, Eastern Obotrites and Moravians In the Danube Basin of Serbia (
Vojvodina) thirteen sites show that the earliest presence of Slavs in that area could be dated to the late second half of the 6th century or later (with radiocarbon dating of 7–8th century), and possibly served as
foederati protecting the Byzantine border fortresses. The sites have paralles with findings from both Central and Lower Danube and Sava Basin, with analogies showing that the southeastern part of Serbian Danube region most probably was settled by Slavs from
Ipotești–Cândești culture. The number of Slavic and Pannonian Avars findings in Serbia generally are very small, The findings indicating Slavic residence in Byzantine cities puts into question survival of local Roman population. The found coins indicate "renewal of life in the central Balkans from the middle of the 7th to the middle of the 9th century". The settlements were unfortified and of small size, at the outskirts of ancient
ramparts. Numerous finds give evidence to the conclusion that a good part of native Roman population remained and continued to live within and near those ramparts. After the Christianization, under influence of Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires, since the mid-9th century the settlements number increased and became fortified, also were re-settled ancient hillforts (more than 30%) but with reduced area size. No cemetery has been found, showing that the burial was mainly cremation and later biritual. Outside of Serbia, in lands which were settled by early Serbs (and other Slavs), main remains of the Slavic culture and social organization, from the 7th to the 9th century, includes several localities around
Doboj and in the
Drina river valley, in modern Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the large settlement near the village of
Batković. The settlement had furnaces for the ore melting and
smithing workshops. Serbian archaeologist
Đorđe Janković considered that the Serbian Danube ornamental ceramic pots' analogies northwest of the Carpathian Basin (in Moravia and Austria) are evidence of the Serbian migration from the northwest to the Danube region with consent of the Byzantine Empire, but such hypothesis based on ceramics is not well substantiated as closer ceramic analogies exist in Lower Danube and Wallachian region.
Early Serbs De Administrando Imperio on the Serbs The history of the early medieval Serbian Principality is recorded in the
DAI. The emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus assembled it from 948 to 952 for his son and heir
Romanos II. The aim was to
warn the young prince on the problems which might occur during his reign. The Serbs are mentioned in the total of 8 chapters, from 29 to 36. The most important is the chapter 32, which is titled "About the Serbs and the lands in which they dwell today". The
DAI drew information on the Serbs from, among others, Serbian sources. On the origin of the Serbs, the
DAI says that "Serbs originate from the unbaptized Serbs, also called White Serbs, which live on the other side of the Turkey (i.e.
Hungary), in the land which they call Bojka, close to the Frankish Empire and the great Croatia, unbaptized, also known as the
White Croatia". The emperor also describes how the Serbian tribe was divided in two, with one group migrating to the Balkans: Another source on early medieval Serbia are the
Royal Frankish Annals by
Einhard, that recorded Serbs (in 822) who controlled great part of
Dalmatia ("
ad Sorabos, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur"). It was the oldest historical record which mentioned the name Serbs and gave some details about them. In contemporary historiography and archaeology, the narratives of
De Administrando Imperio have been reassessed as they contain anachronisms and factual mistakes. The account in
DAI about the Serbs mentions that they requested from the Byzantine commander of present-day Belgrade to settle in the
theme of Thessalonica, which was formed ca. 150 years after the reign of Heraclius which was in the 7th century. For the purposes of its narrative, the DAI formulates a mistaken etymology of the Serbian ethnonym which it derives from Latin
servi (serfs). The
DAI mentioned that the Serbs from Polabia settled the Balkans during the reign of Emperor
Heraclius (r. 610–641); however, some scholars consider that the Serbian tribe was not part of some later migration, as usually held by historiography, rather than migrating with the rest of early Slavs from Eastern Europe (with Đ. Janković theorizing even earlier presence of the Serbs and Antes in the Danube region).
Range of settling and other Slavic principalities in ca. 814 AD. For the first two centuries after the settlement, from the early 7th century on, there are almost no historical records about the Serbs, and the region in general, as even in the entire Byzantine Empire almost no contemporary chronicles or historical works survived. But in this period the process of resettling of the Serbs in the central region of the peninsula was finished. They inhabited the narrow valleys in the watersheds of
Lim,
Tara,
Piva,
Ibar,
West Morava, Upper
Drina and Upper
Bosna. Certain groups possibly crossed the
Dinarides and reached the Adriatic coast, but a closer reading of the
DAI suggests that Constantine VII's consideration about the Serbian ethnic identity of the population of
Pagania,
Travunia and
Zachlumia is based on 10th century Serbian political rule and does not indicate ethnic origin, neither a small group of people led by "
Unknown Archon" could settle a large territory and they most probably arrived as a small military elite which managed to organize other already settled and more numerous Slavs. Historical source which reappeared in the 9th century mention Serbs as a people "which is said to be holding the large part of Dalmatia", but Dalmatia in the Roman sense, as a region between the Adriatic on the south, the Sava on the north and the Drina (or
Ibar) on the east, but according to
John (Jr.) Fine, the presence of Serbs in this area is disputable since the Byzantine sources were limited to the southern coast, but it is possible that among other tribes existed a tribe or group of small tribes of Serbs. According to Živković, the usage of the term Dalmatia in the
Royal Frankish Annals refers both to the land where Serbs ruled as well as to the lands under the rule of Croat duke, but doesn not necessarily mean settlement of the same area by the Serbs, and was likely a reflection of the Franks' territorial aspirations towards the entire area of the former Roman Province of Dalmatia. In the contemporary
Vita Hludovici that description of the Serbs is omitted. Though the described borders mark a large area, it is mostly a mountainous and inaccessible terrain, rugged with the high ranges of the Dinarides. Within this region, the Serbs settled only a small, isolated and mutually distant river valleys,
karst fields and fertile basins. Those patches of the territory had fertile land, suitable for the agriculture, while the barely accessible, some mountain regions remained uninhabited. By the 7th century, the Serbs scattered all the way south to the
Peloponnesus and other regions of Greece, while the emperor Heraclius originally settled them around Thessaloniki. However, the Serbs were not mentioned during first
Siege of Thessalonica (617) and second
Siege of Thessalonica (676–678), indicating the Serbs did not live in the area before and after that date. Emperor
Justinian II possibly resettled some Serbs from the surroundings of Thessaloniki to
Bithynia, in
Asia Minor, in 688–689, and there they founded the town/district of
Gordoservon. Among the participants of the
Trullan Council, held in Constantinople in 692, bishop Isidore of Gordoserba was mentioned, which is the possibly first mention of the Serbian name in the south of Europe.
Christianization of
Serbia, from the late 9th century receiving delegations of Serbs and Croats Prior to the migration to the south, while still living in the
Polabian region, Serbs may be among the first Slavic people who came in contact with Christianity. In the 7th century, they became part of the
Merovingian kingdom, which not only had Christianity as an official religion but also had a concept of spreading the religion. Though records mention no Christianization attempts toward the Serbs specifically, there are writings regarding the, more or less successful missionary attempts among the
Bavarians and
Thuringians, the neighboring Germanic tribes which were conquered by the Franks in the 6th century. Though the
DAI asserts that already during the reign of Emperor Heraclius the Serbs were Christianized and that the process was performed by the priests from
Rome, it took some time before the new religion spread through the entire population. Other reports confirm that the church missionary activities were organized among the
South Slavs already from the late 7th and mid-8th century. The process was mostly finished by the late 9th century during Byzantine Emperor
Basil I which is when the first Christian names appear among the Serbs. Prince
Mutimir, who ruled c. 850–891 named his son
Stefan Mutimirović, while his nephew was named
Petar Gojniković. Serbs who were relocated to Gordoserba in the Asia Minor were probably already Christianized by the end of the 7th century, as they had their bishop and were presumably part of the army of "selected peoples" (Christians) in 692. From this period originates the seal of the prince
Strojimir, Mutimir's brother. The seal has a representation of a cross and the inscription
Lord, help Strojimir (
ICE BOIΘ CTPOHMIP in Greek) around it.
Pope John VIII addressed prince Mutimir in 873 and called in the letter for Mutimir that, "following the tradition of his ancestors", he submits his land to the jurisdiction of the new
Pannonian bishop Methodius. Numerous arguments point to the fact that the major role in the Christianization of the Serbs had priests and missionaries from Rome, rather than from the closer Constantinople. This can also be seen in the earliest Christian terms in the Serbian language which came from the Latin language (
oltare from
altare, altar), the earliest Christian
toponymy and presence of several religious feasts and holidays which corresponded to the dates in the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church –
St. Vitus' Day (
Vidovdan),
Michaelmas (
Miholjdan),
Theodore the Studite (
Mratindan). Confirmation of the early missionary work by Rome, already in the 7th century, are writings of
Pope Agatho and
Thomas the Archdeacon. This wasn't unusual, as, following the ancient rules, this region of the still unified church was administered by Rome. This began to change after 732, when Byzantine emperor
Leo III the Isaurian began to transfer regions and cities to the jurisdiction of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, including some parts of the Balkans. Despite this, the division wasn't as sharp as it will become after the
East–West Schism in 1054. The most important material testimony of the Christianization of the Serbs and other Slavs is the oldest known Christian temple among in Serbian lands, the
Peter's Church in Ras, built in the 7–9th century. The oldest phase of the construction of the in
Bijelo Polje (Montenegro) was moved also to the 8th century after the recent re-examination of the construction works and stone ornaments, and was enhanced or finished in the 12th century. Remains of the 8th-century churches, before the Christianization process was finished, include localities of Bilimišće (
Zenica, previously thought to be late-Roman church from the 5th or the 6th century), Dabravine (
Visoko), Mali Mošunj (
Vitez), Lepenica (
Kiseljak), but also in the vicinities of
Stolac,
Ljubuški,
Livno,
Glamoč,
Foča,
Breza (all in modern Bosnia) and
Imotski (Croatia). However, though active during this period, many of them may be pre-Slavic, Roman churches. Either through the missionary works of Roman or Byzantine monks, local remnants of the
Romanized people or the Byzantine population in the cities, the Christianization of the Serbs appears to be peaceful and voluntary, unlike the forceful practices of the
Frankish Empire. Apart from the political implications – use of new religion for the strengthening of the central rule and concentration of the power in the hands of the ruler – there was also a cultural and spiritual dimension, which included acceptance of the basic cultural values and principles of the day, and the church was the founding stone of literacy and education in the Middle Age societies. The entire religious-cultural process spanned through three centuries.
First Serbian principalities Initial organization In those small, isolated areas, the Serbs formed their basic territorial and political units. Each unit comprised a small geographical area, usually a river valley or a basin with the villages in it, bounded by the surrounding hills. The unit was called
župa and the local chieftain who administered it was called
župan. Župans, in turn, were subordinated to the
knez or prince (
archon, ἄρχων in Greek;
dux in Latin). The knez was the
supreme elder and ruler of the entire people while župans were intermediaries between him and the people. As in the other parts of the early medieval Europe, Serbian "state" did not mean by default a rule over the territory, but over the people. So, the Serbian political organization included only areas which were populated by the Serbs, excluding the vast uninhabited areas in between. That way, the borders of the "state" cannot be accurately determined.
Early medieval Principality of Serbia in
Stari Ras, finished in the mid-9th century According to
DAI, "baptized Serbia" (known in historiography also as
Raška), included the inhabited cities (καστρα/kastra) of
Destinikon (or Serbian Dostinika) (Δεστινίκον), Tzernabouskeï (Τζερναβουσκέη), Megyretous (Μεγυρέτους), Dresneïk (Δρεσνεήκ), Lesnik (Λεσνήκ),
Salines (Σαληνές), while the "small land" (χοριον/chorion) of
Bosnia (Βοσωνα), part of Serbia, had the cities of Katera (Κατερα) and Desnik (Δέσνηκ). Almost all of them, apart Salines and possibly Destinikon, are still unidentified. Serbian towns could have been located more to the eastern or western border, with the latter more probable localization. They were not mentioned afterwards, possibly because of remote location, lost importance or became desolated after Bulgarian
Samuel's conquest in the end of the 10th century. It is considered that Destinikon was the ecclesiastical centre and capital of early medieval Serbia. There's no consensus in the scholarship whether
Stari Ras was located on the Serbian or Bulgarian side of the border, but newer research indicates that Ras since the mid-9th century was renovated, inhabited and controlled by the Bulgarians hence being "a frontier district of Bulgaria". The ruling princely line originated from the first archon who led the Serbs to the Balkans during the emperor Heraclius' reign. However, by the time of the emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, the names of those early princes faded from the collective memory. In the
DAI, the emperor basically gives the genealogy of the first Serbian ruling dynasty:
After the "Unknown Archon" of the Serbs who fled over to the emperor Heraclius, in the time when Bulgaria was under the rule of the Romans, by the inheritance (rules) his son took over the rule, then his grandson and so other archons from his family line. After a number of years, Višeslav was born who fathered Radoslav, who fathered Prosigoj, who fathered Vlastimir. There are no dates in this genealogy, but some can be extrapolated. The first archon arrived during the 610–626 period, and died (long time?) before the
Bulgar invasion which occurred in 680. Historian
Konstantin Jireček in his
History of the Serbs I, page 69, estimates the rule of Višeslav, the first Serbian ruler whose name is known, around 780. One of his two successors was in power in 822, as mentioned in the
Royal Frankish Annals. The work deals with an episode concerning the Pannonian ruler
Ljudevit Posavski. Under the Frankish attack he left his capital
Sisak and fled over to the Serbs, for which is "said to be as holding the large part of (Roman) Dalmatia":
Siscia civitate relicta, ad Sorabos, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur, fugiendo se contulit. However, the mentioning of "Dalmatia" in 822 and 833 as an old geographical term by the authors of Frankish Annals was
Pars pro toto with a vague perception of what this geographical term actually referred to. In the contemporary
Vita Hludovici that description of the Serbs is omitted. Ljudevit later killed the local župan who took him in and temporarily took over the rule in his župa, which is estimated to be either somewhere in western, central or eastern
Bosnia. Some historians pointed to the modern village of
Srb in the region of
Lika in modern Croatia, as the possible location as in the medieval period it was a town, described in the early 14th century as having "Serbian seat and court, like in the old times", while others opposed it. Frankish chronicle makes a distinctions between the settlements ruled by the Croats (referring to them as
castellis, or
castles) and those held by the Serbs (
civitas, or city-states). Ljudevit then fled to the Croatian domain, but was soon murdered. During the 822 uprising, Serbs supported the rebellion, thus siding against the Frankish Empire and indirectly supporting the Byzantines, but it is unknown to which extent they participated in the skirmishes between two empires in the 8th and the 9th century.
War periods In 680 the
Bulgars settled on the Balkans and allied with the more numerous
Slavs living in the region, forming an independent and well organized political entity, the
First Bulgarian Empire in 681. The major expansion of
Bulgaria began in the first half of the 9th century when they attacked Constantinople and conquered numerous Slavic tribes on the Balkans (
Guduscani, doubtful, and
Timočani, which fled to the Frankish controlled areas in the west,
Praedenecenti in c. 825,
Merehani – all of which disappeared from history afterwards), so as the remnants of the
Avars in the Pannonian plain. By acquiring the Morava Valley and Belgrade, they came in contact with the Serbs. Because of the ensuing Bulgarian-Serbian relations, the reign of prince Vlastimir can be determined with greater certainty. According to the
DAI,
Presian I,
Khan of Bulgaria, attacked the Serbs during his reign (
Bulgar–Serb War (839–842)) to "subdue them". Unlike the tribes on the east, Vlastimir decided to stand the ground and not to lead Serbs to the west. Aside from the Bulgarians, he was surrounded by the Franks on the entire north, west and southwest side, including the vassal Zachlumia. He tried to strengthen his position by connecting with the subordinated Travunija, marrying his daughter into Travunija's ruling family. However, after the three years-long warfare, Presian didn't gain any territories and, additionally, lost the majority of its army. Vlastimir died c. 850 and Presijan in 852. Serbian throne was inherited by Vlastimir's sons, Mutimir, Strojimir and
Gojnik. According to the conventional inheritance rules of the period, the state was probably administratively divided in three, but Mutimir held the "ruling right" as the eldest one. Presian's son and successor,
Boris I of Bulgaria, decided to avenge his father, and attacked Serbia again, instigating the
Bulgar–Serb War of 853, though the warfare is variously set by the historians in 854, 858, 863–864, 870 or even in the 880s. The war was also part of the larger skirmish in the region, which included the Bulgarian expansion in the direction of the central Danube Valley and the Byzantine efforts to weaken the Bulgarian-Frankish alliance against the
Great Moravia and cultural turning of the Bulgarians to Rome. The Serbian army led by Mutimir and his brothers was again victorious, capturing the leader of the Bulgarian army, and Boris' son and heir,
Vladimir of Bulgaria and 12
boyars. This pressured Boris to reluctantly agree to a peace treaty. As a guarantee that his son and the others will be freed, Boris asked for the Mutimir's sons to accompany the prisoners to the border. Mutimir sent his two younger sons,
Bran and Stefan, while the eldest and heir to the throne,
Pribislav, was precautionary kept at home. Pleased with the release of his son, Boris gave them "lush gifts", while the Serbian princes gave to Boris "two slaves, two falcons, two dogs, and 80 furs". Soon after the peace was reached with Bulgaria, the internal strife hit the ruling triumvirate. Mutimir, eldest and probably the most powerful in the state, expelled his brothers Strojimir (and his son
Klonimir) and Gojnik to khan Boris in Bulgaria, keeping only Petar Gojniković, Gojnik's son and his nephew. This happened between 863 and 873, when the pope John VIII in his letter addressed Mutimir only. However, Petar soon fled to Croatia. Strojimir remained in Bulgarian exile for the rest of his life. Boris married him to a Bulgarian noblewoman and they had a son,
Časlav Klonimirović. Mutimir's eldest son, Pribislav, succeeded to the throne after his father's death in 891. This was an opportunity for the descendants of the Mutimir's brothers to take over the Serbian throne. Already in 892 Petar Gojniković returned from Croatia, expelled all three Mutimir's sons to Croatia – Pribislav, Bran and Stefan – and began his rule which lasted until 917. In this period he suppressed two attempts for his dethronement. Petar defeated and blinded Bran who tried to overthrow him in 895 attacking from Croatia while in 897 he crushed Klonomir's attempt from Bulgaria to depose him. Klonimir, probably instigated by the Bulgarians, managed to briefly capture the city of Dostinika, but was ultimately defeated and killed by Peter. During his reign, Petar kept good relations with both the Byzantine emperor
Leo VI the Wise (ruled 886–912) and the emperor
Simeon I of Bulgaria, second son of late emperor Boris, (893–927). He was connected with Simeon by the peace treaty but also with the custom of
kumstvo. Strains between Bulgarian and Byzantine empires resulted in the
Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 894–896, which was continued as the
Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927. This affected Serbia a lot. One of the most important moments in this second war was the
Battle of Anchialus, held on 20 August 917, when Simeon defeated the Byzantines. Peter apparently leaned on the Byzantine side. Right before the battle, on the bank of the
Neretva river, he met with
Leo Rhabdouchos, Byzantine strategos of
Dyrrachium.
Michael Višević, ruler of Zachlumia, who held good personal relations with Simeon, dispatched this to the Bulgarian emperor, accusing Petar of collusion with the Byzantines. He also reported that the Byzantines are bribing Peter for him to cooperate with the Hungarians in the joint attack against Bulgaria. This was used by Simeon to start the
Bulgarian–Serbian wars of 917–924. Bulgarian army which attacked Serbia was headed by
Pavle Branović, son of blinded Bran. Despite that safety was granted to Petar because of his close relations with Simeon, he was captured and sent to Bulgaria where he died imprisoned, while Pavle became the new ruler by the end of 917. At the beginning, Pavle ruled as a Bulgarian
protégé. This prompted the new Byzantine emperor,
Romanos I Lekapenos, to organize a party in 921 to overthrow Pavle. The campaign was headed by Pribislav's son,
Zaharija Pribislavljević, who lived in Constantinople at the time, in the Romanos' court. He was defeated and Pavle sent him to Bulgaria as a prisoner. In 923 Pavle turned against his sponsors, the Bulgarians, so Zaharija was again dispatched against him, now by Simeon. This time he was successful, expelling Pavle and taking over the rule himself. But Zaharija soon switched back to his original allies, the Byzantines. Simeon sent an army to conquer the shifty archon. His troops, headed by
Theodore Sigritsa and
Marmais attacked the Serbs in 924, but were defeated. Both commanders were killed and their heads, so as the confiscated weapons, were sent to the Byzantine emperor as the trophies. Later that year Simeon sent much larger army. Among the soldier was Klonimir's son, Časlav Klonimirović. In front of the much larger Bulgarian army, Zaharija fled to Croatia.
Final years The
Bulgarian Empire summoned Serbian župans to gather and accept Časlav as the new archon, but they were all captured and sent to Bulgaria. In the next few years, 925 and 926,
Bulgarians completely ravaged Serbia. Part of the population was enslaved and taken to
Bulgaria, while some managed to escape to Croatia or to the Byzantine Empire. According to Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, the "country was left deserted". But situation changed after
Simeon I the Great died in 927. His son and heir,
Peter I of Bulgaria, changed completely the politics of his country, falling under the heavy Byzantine influence. This allowed for Časlav, who returned to live in Bulgarian capital
Preslav as Serbia was turned into the badlands, to come to Serbia and restore the state. This happened "7 years later", but historians are not sure is it 7 years after the 924 expedition to Serbia or after 927 and Simeon's death, but it had to be by 933–934, at latest.
DAI claims that he and his entourage of 4 encountered only "50 single men, without wives and children, who lived from hunting", it shows how thorough the destruction of Serbian state and society was by the Bulgarians, considered that "at this point, fortifications were temporarily abandoned". Časlav recognized the supreme authority of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, who became his mentor and protector. The emperor helped Časlav to restore Serbia, including the heavy financial aid. Časlav repopulated Serbia returning some of the people who fled to the neighboring countries. Serbia prospered, keeping good relations with the Byzantines and the emperor constantly pointed out the good relations with Serbia in this period. The borders of Časlav's state are uncertain, possibly expanding into Bosnia. It is presumed his reign stopped or died in the 940s. According to semi-fictional late 13th century
Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, a Hungarian local nobleman Kisa attacked a domain in Bosnia of certain
Ciaslavus (Časlav) with which some scholars identify Časlav from
DAI, but it is highly disputable. Supporting scholars date the event, known as the
Magyar–Serb conflict, sometime between 950 and 960. Časlav's death in the 940s or 960s marked the end of some 350 years of the Vlastimirović dynasty rule, the oldest Serbian ruling dynasty, which was unusually long for the period and the region. All early dynasties, so as the Vlastimirović dynasty which ruled Serbia c. 610-c. 960, are named by the modern historians, either after their progenitors or the most prominent members.
Other principalities The other principalities that were more or less under Serbian political influence include
Paganija,
Zahumlje,
Travunija and
Duklja. These polities bordered
Serbia to the north, but the exact borders of the early Serbian state are unclear. The Serbian ruler was titled "Prince (
archon) of the Serbs" (αρχων Σερβλίας). The
DAI mentions that the Serbian throne is inherited by
the son, i.e. the first-born; his descendants succeeded him, though their names are unknown until the coming of Višeslav. It is possible that there were two names used for the Serbs in this period. A general one, depicting the descendants of the first settlers while the other was a regional one. By the 11th century, most of the regional names disappeared and were replaced by the
ethnonym Serbs. In his work
Strategikon of Kekaumenos, the 11th century Byzantine general
Katakalon Kekaumenos refers to the duke of Duklja
Stefan Vojislav as both "Dioclean" and "Travunian Serbian".
John Skylitzes, a historian from the same period, calls Stefan Vojislav an "archon of the Serbs" and that he took over the "land of the Serbs".
Dioclea The region of
Duklja (Dioclea) stretched along the Adriatic coast from Bay of Kotor to the mouth of the
Drin river, excluding the major seaside towns like
Lezhë,
Ulcinj and
Bar, which remained under the Byzantine rule. It occupied the central regions of
Zeta nad
Morača, and, like Travunija and Zachlumia, on its northern, mountainous side, leaned on the central Serbian state under the Vlastimirović dynasty, referred to as the Baptized Serbia by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. On the south, it bordered the Byzantine Empire in the direction of Dyrrachium, a Slavic/Serbian-Byzantine border which constantly changed for several centuries.
Travunija The region of
Travunija was situated in the hinterland of Dubrovnik and the
Bay of Kotor, encompassing the fertile
župa of
Konavle. It had 5 towns:
Trebinje,
Vrm,
Rhizon, Lukavete and Zetlivi. The polity was given some autonomy during the rule of Vlastimir. Archon Vlastimir also had a daughter, who, although without a recorded name, was the first mentioned Serbian woman in history. Vlastimir married her to
Krajina, the son of
Beloje,
župan of Travunija and later awarded his son-in-law the title of
knez. Krajina's heirs
Hvalimir and
Čučimir also used the same title. In the
DAI, emperor Constantine writes that "the archons of Travunija were always under the rule of archons of Serbia". After 867, when
Basil I the Macedonian became Byzantine emperor, the
Arabs in the southern Italy attacked the Dalmatian cities, including Dubrovnik. The citizens asked for Byzantine help so the emperor sent the ships headed by
Niketas Ooryphas, the
Droungarios of the Fleet. He forced the Arabs into retreat and made them quit the blockade, thus reinstating the Byzantine maritime control in the Adriatic after several decades. This allowed for the Byzantines to use the local inhabitants from the Croatian and Serbian lands as the auxiliary naval detachments in the ensuing Byzantine-Frankish siege of the
Arabic Bari in 870–871. It was recorded that various Slavic people participated on ships dispatched by the Ragusans: Croats, Serbs, Zahumlians, Travunians,
Kanalites. The Byzantines ravaged the Adriatic coast then, setting administrative and political relations in the region, ordering for the towns and islands of Split, Trogir, Zadar, Cres, Rab and Krk to pay tribute to the Croatian state, and to Ragusa to pay tribute to the Serbian states of Zachlumia and Travunija.
Zachlumia The region of
Zachlumia occupied the lower Neretva region, between the upper Neretva on the north (Baptized Serbia), the Narentians (on the west) and Adriatic coast, to Dubrovnik. There were 5 cities in the polity (
Ston, Mokriskik, Josliu, Galumainik and Dobriskik), of which only the location of Ston is known as the settlement still exists, located in Croatia today. After Bulgarian emperor Simeon began to crush Serbia in 925 and 926, his ally up to that point, Michael Višević of Zachlumia, changed his political orientation. In 925, he was present at the
Council of Split which dealt with the church organization in the Croatian and Serbian lands, and in the Dalmatian cities. In 926, as a Byzantine ally, Michael conducted a bold navy attack on the town of
Siponto in southern Italy in an effort to strengthen his connections with the court in Constantinople. The emperor awarded to him the titles of
anthypatos and
patrikios.
Narentines (Pagania) The region of
Narentines occupied the area between the
Neretva and
Cetina rivers, and consisted of three
župas, Rastoc and Mokro on the coast, and Dalen, in the hinterland. The first two had fleets, while the third was agricultural. The Narentines also held islands of Mljet, Korčula, Brač and Hvar, left vacant by the Romanized population, but inhabited by the Narentines who kept herds there. They weren't Christianized with the rest of the Serbian tribes, hence the Greeks called them Pagans. Venetian chronicler
John the Deacon mentions the visit of the Narenties party to Venice in c. 830, which were still not Christianized, so they were baptized in Venice. The accord reached between the Narentines and Venetians wasn't lasting, as in 835 the Narentines again started to attack Venetian merchants and missionaries. Venetian dodge
Pietro Tradonico sent fleet in 839 to the Balkan coast of the Adriatic, reaching peace with
duke Mislav of the
Dalmatian Croatia, and alliance (
foedus) with Družak, Narentine chieftain. This didn't last either, and next year the dodge sent another fleet, but was defeated by the Narentines. Paganija was mentioned as being subordinated to Serbia during the reign of archon Petar. However, the polity took a more independent course later. The
DAI says that the Cetina river marked the extension of Paganija but that the river was also border of Croatia and Serbia, placing Paganija under the rule of prince Časlav Klonimirović, or the Baptized Serbia. He also said that the 917 meeting between prince Petar Gojniković and Byzantine strategos of Dyrrachium, Leo Rhabdouchos, occurred in Paganija, which was "under Serbian rule". However, Paganija was probably more often than not outside of the suzerainty of the Baptized Serbia. With further changes of the borders (Croatia, Zachlumia) and shifting influences (Venetians, Byzantines), Paganija was physically cut off from the central Serbian state.
Bosnia Bosnia was mentioned for the first time in the
DAI (χωριον βοσονα, small land of Bosnia), as a region of Baptized Serbia. The 12th century Byzantine historian
John Kinnamos for events dated to 1149 describes that the Drina river "divides Bosnia from the rest of Serbia. Bosnia itself is not subject to the Serbs's Grand Župan, but is a tribe which lives and is ruled separately", and to 1155 mentions the Bosnian
ban Borić exarch of Bosnia "a Serbian region, who was enrolled among the Hungarian ruler's allies".
Restored Byzantine dominance It is not known who inherited prince Časlav, or what were the circumstances in Serbia in this period. With the death of Časlav in c. 940s-c. 960s and Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in 959, information about area of the former Vlastimirović Serbia faded. When the new Byzantine emperor
John I Tzimiskes effectively crushed Bulgarian empire in 971, the Byzantine ("Roman") paramount rule stretched to the Danube again, for the first time in over three centuries. That way, Serbian lands came under the direct governance of the Byzantine Empire. Many coin hoards which were found show continuous conflicts between Byzantines, Bulgarians and Serbs in the end of 10th and early 11th century. At first, instead of the local prince, central Serbia was organized as the
Catepanate of Ras, and ruled by the Byzantine administrator. He had a high rank of
katepano (or
dux) and was seated in
Ras. However, this situation didn't last long, as soon after John I Tzimiskes died in 976, the
Cometopuli rebellion broke in the central Balkans restoring for a while Bulgarian state. The ensuing, decades old wars of the
Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria placed Serbs in a difficult position. There are records of the 991–992 Serbian delegation which travelled by sea to meet the Byzantine emperor
Basil II The Bulgar-Slayer. It is believed that this delegation came from some of the Serbian maritime states. In this period, it was recorded that the rule of
Jovan Vladimir, ruler of maritime Duklja in c. 1000, stretched over the "areas of Serbia". With the defeat of
Bulgaria in 1018 and the death of their emperor
Ivan Vladislav, the Byzantines used the anarchy and confusion in the Serbian lands and again restored the direct Byzantine rule. Central Serbia was organized as the new military-administrative province of
Theme Serbia, administrated by the
strategos. Duklja was subordinated to the Dux of Dyrrachium, while the situation in Travunia is obscure as there are no surviving records. Local Serbian princes remained in power in Zachlumia, but they were integrated into the established Byzantine administrative order. For example, Prince
Ljutovid was given the Byzantine title of
protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou (literally, "first sword-bearer") and at some point was appointed the
strategos of Serbia and Zachlumia. == High Middle Ages ==