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| | titles = ]/] ('']'') ] (''Велики Жупан''/''Veliki Župan''), ] (''Краљ''/''Kralj'') | | titles = ]/] ('']'') ] (''Велики Жупан''/''Veliki Župan''), ] (''Краљ''/''Kralj'') | ||
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Revision as of 12:46, 19 February 2006
| House of Voislav | |
|---|---|
| Country | Serbia |
| Founded | 1034 |
| Founder | Stefan Dobroslav I Voislav |
| Titles | Prince/Archont (Knez) Grand Prince (Велики Жупан/Veliki Župan), King (Краљ/Kralj) |
| Estate(s) | of Doclea, Dalmatia, Rascia, Bosnia |
The House of Vojislav was named a Slav ruler named Vojislav. His descendents ruled over the territories of Duklja/Zeta between ca. 1050 and ca 1160, and at times expanded their rule over other Serb states.
From 1036 to 1042 the leader of Duklja was Dobroslav or Stephanus Vojislav, who revolted and liberated Duklja and Raška from the Bulgarians. Vojislav considered himself the lawful heir of the House of Vlastimirović from Raška (which was extinct since the Bulgarians had taken over) because he was the maternal grandson of Ljutomir, the last prince of Serbia. On his father's side, he originated from an old family from Duklja.
Later the Byzantines again occupied Raška, but Vojislav's son Mihajlo (Michael), born after 1042, who became the Grand Župan of Zeta/Duklja around 1050/1055, restored the country's independence and maintained independence from the Byzantine Empire. Mihajlo installed his son Petrislav as the grand prince of Serbia. After the abortive rebellion in Bulgaria the military governor of Dyrrhachium, Nicephorus Bryennius, restored Byzantine rule to Raška in 1073.
Mihailo reportedly received royal insignia in 1077 from the Pope Gregory VII, although this is still a matter of debate. An image of King Mihajlo with his crown is still found in the Church of St. Mihajlo in Ston, a town in the Pelješac peninsula (in present-day Croatia). Mihajlo's rule ended in 1080.
His successor was his son Konstantin Bodin, who ruled from 1080 to 1101. Bodin fought Byzantium and Normans further to the south, and took the town of Dyrrachium. He established vassal states in Bosnia (under Stefan) and Raška (under Vukan and Marko), which recognized his supremacy.
Vukan and Marko, the new princes of Raška were probably sons of the aforementioned Petrislav. Vukan (1083-1115) was the Grand Župan while Marko headed administration of a part of the land. The Byzantine Emperor Alexius later forced Vukan to acknowledge Byzantine suzerainty in 1094.
After Bodin died in 1101, incessant struggles for power among his heirs weakened the state. Bodin had previously exiled Dobroslav, his younger brother, together with their cousin Kočapar. In 1101 they returned, and vied for power together with another grandson of Mihajlo's, Vladimir. Vladimir at one point married the daughter of Vukan of Raška.
In 1114, Đorđe, son of Konstantin Bodin, came to power in Duklja. The next year Vukan was replaced in Raška by his nephew Uroš I. (ca. 1115 - 1131). Đorđe's rule lasted until 1118.
In these struggles, the pro-Raška rulers eventually managed to rise to power in Duklja, culminating in the rise of Stefan Nemanja (around 1166). Nemanja introduced Orthodoxy as the state religion of Raška and took over Duklja, resulting in the conversion of Zeta/Duklja from Catholicism to Orthodoxy.
Sources
- Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja
- Ferdo Šišić: Letopis popa Dukljanina, Beograd-Zagreb, 1928