King
Constantine Bodin of
Duklja conquered the Byzantine territories of Serbia ("Raška") and Bosnia in 1083–1084, and appointed
Vukan, Marko, and
Stefan, his vassals there. Vukan and Marko were most likely brothers, and the LPD claims how "two župans of his [Bodin's] court, Vukan and Marko, swore that they and their sons would be rightful vassal of king Bodin and his sons and heirs". The territory of Vukan and Marko included parts of the former
Catepanate of Ras and Theme of Serbia. Marko's territory most likely included
Mačva, northeastern
Bosnia and the lower
Drina. Vukan's territory included what is today southwestern Serbia (including
Raška), northern and western
Metohija, and eastern
Montenegro. In
Serbia ("Raška"), Vukan and Marko founded a new dynasty. In 1093–1094, Vukan started an offensive against the Byzantine Empire to expand to the south and southeast, which ended with a peace treaty where Vukan sent his two nephews (Marko's sons) Uroš and Stefan Vukan (or Stefan
and Vukan), along with 20 notables, as security. The fact that his sons were given as hostages means that Marko actively participated in the war. According to T. Živković (2006), Marko's wife was likely Hungarian, judging by the name of his son Uroš (derived from
ur, "prince", equivalent of Serbian
Prvoslav and Latinized version
Primislav), while according to Ž. Veljković (2009) the name was rather an Old Serbian
hypocoristic of
Uro, itself a hypocoristic of three given names of
Dalmatian origin. Marko must have very early on entered marital relations with an influential Hungarian family. T. Živković dates the marriage to 1084/1085. Vukan's heir
Zavida was ousted in 1112 by Marko's sons
Uroš and Stefan Vukan (or Stefan
and Vukan), most likely with Hungarian help. This shows that Marko had good relations with the Hungarian elite. Marko, as
comes is mentioned in two Hungarian charters dating to 1111 and 1124 among
counts. According to T. Živković (2006), Zavida was reinstated in 1123, having imprisoned Uroš I, only to be captured during the incursion of
Stephen II of Hungary into Serbia in 1126, while according to Komatina (2021), Zavida was ousted before 1113, then returned to Serbia some time between 1129 and 1134, upon the death of Uroš I, and regained the Serbian throne. Stefan Vukan is mentioned in
Anna Komnene's
Alexiad (1148), but is not found by name in other contemporary Byzantine accounts.
Panta Srećković (1884) believed that Stefan Vukan was "a descendant of
župan Bela of Trebinje; the son of
veliki župan Marko; nephew of
veliki župan Vukan; brother of
veliki župan Uroš I; maternal grandchild of King Bodin; father-in-law of King Gradinja; and for some time the
veliki župan of
Raška", in 1123–1124.
I. Kukuljević believed Stefan Vukan was the same as
Vakhin of the
Battle of Tara (1150). S. Mandić (1986) theorized that Komnene dubbed Vukan a
stephanos (crowned) as she had heard stories that he had been a
župan or
veliki župan in Serbia ("Raška"). The name
Vukan is next found in the first-born son of
Stefan Nemanja,
Vukan Nemanjić. ==References==