Early rule With the death of
Stefan Vojislav, his dominion was divided among his five sons (according to the
Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja). received
Travunia (Trebinje) ruled briefly until he was killed by local nobles, who set up
Domanek in his place. While in no imminent danger from that side, Mihailo found it favorable to further strengthen ties with Byzantium and, in 1050, he received the title of
protospatharios and married a niece of
Constantine IX Monomachos, In the fall of 1072, Michael I gladly sent Constantine Bodin with 300 troops, which arrived at
Prizren and met with Voiteh and other magnates. There they crowned Bodin "Emperor of the Bulgarians" and gave him the name 'Peter III', recalling the names of the Emperor-Saint
Peter I (d. 970) and of
Peter II Delyan (who had led the
first major revolt against Byzantine rule in 1040–1041).
Papal vassalage; crown receival, and Byzantine enemy After the uprising, Mihailo began looking for support westward - to the
Pope. This came as a result not only of his alienation from the Byzantines, but also from a desire to create an independent
archbishopric within his realm and to finally to obtain a royal title. In the aftermath of the
Church schism of 1054,
Pope Gregory VII was interested in bestowing royal crown on rulers in the rift area and Mihailo was granted his in 1077. Thereafter, Duklja was referred to as a kingdom, a situation that lasted until its reduction in the following century. It is not known whether his brothers accepted him as supreme ruler or if he forced it upon them. Onwards, Mihailo was the ruler of All Duklja, and his brothers may at most have had only
appanages.
Last years Having sealed ties with the Normans through marriage of his heir,
Constantine Bodin, with
Jaquinta of Bari, Mihailo died in 1081, after a rule of 30 or so years. He left St. Michael's Church in
Ston, north of
Dubrovnik, a small church following mostly an early Byzantine style, which contains one of the oldest known fresco portraits of a South Slavic ruler. ==Titles==