Early Middle Ages Tribulium was the original name for this settlement and the etymology of it may be analyzed as
tri-bulium, or the place of the 'three hills', from the numeral 'three' (
*trei-) and an appellative derived from the IE root *b(h)eu- 'to swell, puff'. The Slavs invaded the Balkans during the reign of
Justinian I (r. 527–565), when eventually up to 100,000 Slavs raided
Thessalonica. The Western Balkans was settled with
Sclaveni (Sklavenoi), the east with
Antes. The Sklavenoi plundered Thrace in 545, and again the next year. In 551, the Slavs crossed
Niš initially headed for Thessalonica, but ended up in
Dalmatia. In 577 some 100,000 Slavs poured into
Thrace and
Illyricum, pillaging cities and then settling down.
Charlemagne,
King of the Franks from 768 until his death in 814, expanded the Frankish kingdom into an
empire that incorporated much of western and central Europe. Dalmatia which was southeast of the Frankish empire, was in the hands of the Croats and Serbs.
Radoslav of Serbia or
his son was the ruler of Serbia during the uprisings (819–822) of
Ljudevit Posavski against the Franks. According to the
Royal Frankish Annals, in 822, Ljudevit went from his seat in
Sisak to the
Serbs who controlled a great part of
Dalmatia ("
ad Sorabos, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur") but according to
John (Jr.) Fine, it was hard to find Serbs in this area since the Byzantine sources were limited to the southern coast, also it is possible that among other tribes exists tribe of group of small tribes of Serbs. 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 late 870s, the
Theme of Dalmatia ("
thema Dalmatias") was established, with the strategos seated at
Dubrovnik (Ragusa, Ragusion). These small cities in the region (also
Dyrrachium) did not stretch into the hinterlands, and had no military capacity, thus Basil I paid a tax of '72 gold coins' to the princes of Zahumlje and Travunia.
Trebinje is first attested in
DAI by
Constantine VII (905–959), when describing the migration and geography of the Serbs in 7th century, but the population's 7th Century identity remains a matter of dispute as it rather indicates Serbian political and ethnic connection during the time of
Časlav in 10th Century.
Travunia (Τερβουνια) was a province subservient to
Serbian Principality under the
Vlastimirović Dynasty. The first known office holder was
Beloje, a count, who ruled under
Prince Vlastimir (also possibly under
Radoslav or
Prosigoj, fl. 819). In the mid 9th century, Vlastimir marries his daughter to
Krajina, the son of Beloje, and gives him the
Župa of Trebinje to govern under his suzerainty. The
Belojević noble family is entitled the rule of Travunia;
Hvalimir, and his son
Čučimir continue the office under the Serbian crown. From 927 to 960,
Časlav Klonimirović, the last of the
Vlastimirović dynasty, held supreme rule of Travunia which at the time bordered
Zahumlje to the west, the city of Ragusa or
Dubrovnik to the southwest,
Duklja to the south and
Serbia (crownland, see
Rascia) to the north. Its coastline spanned from Dubrovnik to
Boka Kotorska. With the death of Časlav, Serbia disintegrated and Duklja absorbed most of Rascia along with Zahumlje and Trebinje. The
Catepanate of Ras was established during the rule of
John Tzimiskes (r. 969–976). A seal of a
strategos of Ras has been dated to Tzimiskes' reign, making it possible for Tzimiskes' predecessor
Nikephoros II Phokas to have enjoyed recognition in Rascia. In the 990s, Bulgarian Tsar Samuel made client states out of most of the Balkans, including Duklja and Zahumlje. In 998, Samuel launched a major campaign against
Jovan Vladimir to prevent a Byzantine-Serbian alliance. When his troops reached Duklja, Vladimir withdrew to the mountains, Samuel left part of the army at the foot of the mountains and led the remaining soldiers to besiege the coastal fortress of
Ulcinj. In an effort to prevent bloodshed, he asked Jovan Vladimir to surrender, but Jovan refused, some Serb nobles offered their services to the Bulgarians and, when it became clear that further resistance was fruitless, the Serbs surrendered. Jovan Vladimir was exiled to Samuel's palaces in
Prespa. The Bulgarian troops proceeded to pass through
Dalmatia, taking control of
Kotor and journeying to
Dubrovnik. Although they failed to take Dubrovnik, they devastated the surrounding villages. The Bulgarian army then attacked
Croatia in support of the rebel princes
Krešimir III and
Gojslav and advanced northwest as far as
Split,
Trogir and
Zadar, then northeast through
Bosnia and
Raška and returned to Bulgaria. Prince of
Zachlumia Ljutovid exerted his influence over Travunia, even though Stefan Vojislav claimed it. After inflicting a sound defeat to the Byzantines at
Bar, Vojislav dispatched 50 captured Greeks to demoralize Liudevit's army that was awaiting at Klobuk. Vojislav's son Gojislav led the Dioclean forces and easily defeated Liutovid's forces, killing Liutovid himself with the help of two bodyguards. Travunia was fully incorporated into Doclea. When Gojslav became the ruler, he elected Trebinje as the new Serbian capital. He was assassinated by Travunian Prince Ljutovid who raised a rebellion in 1047–1050 and
Mihailo I Vojislavljević had to depose Domanec, Liutovid's son, and move the capital from Travunia, placing his brother Saganek as Prince of Travunia. Saganek was overthrown in 1055, and it took Radoslav, Mihailo's faithful brother to finally kill Domanec and seize control over Travunia. In 1077 a Slavic Kingdom of Doclea and Dalmatia was proclaimed. It commanded the road from
Ragusa to
Constantinople, traversed, in 1096, by
Raymond of Toulouse and his
crusaders. With the coming of the 12th century, Travunia was fully incorporated into the unified
Serbian state. Later, the
Nemanjić dynasty took over since 1166/68. In 1217, the Serbian Kingdom was proclaimed. With the death of Stefan Vojislav, the rule was divided between the five sons. Gojislav had received Travunia (Trebinje), and briefly ruled until he was killed by local nobles, who set up
Domanek as Prince. There is a medieval tower in Gornje Police whose construction is often attributed to
Vuk Branković. The old
Tvrdoš Monastery dates back to the 15th century. Travunia got a neighbour by 1326, as the Bosnians conquered Zachlumia. In 1345, the
Serbian Empire was created. After the collapse of the Serbian Empire in 1371, the area of Trebinje became ruled by the
House of Vojinović Serbian dynasty from
Hum. With
Nikola Altomanović's defeat, the Bosnian King Tvrtko took the area in 1377 and it has been a component of Herzegovina ever since. ==List of Rulers==