Administrative divisions of Serbia in the Middle Ages
Serbian Principality and Principality of Duklja
The Byzantine Empire called the lands of the South Slavs "Sclaviniaes" (from the Sclaveni, the Southwestern branch), and they were initially outside Imperial control. By the second half of the 7th century, most of the Slavs in proximity to Byzantium had recognized the Emperor's supreme rule.
The prince (archon) that led the Serbs to the Balkans and received the protection of Heraclius (r. 610–641), known conventionally as the Unknown Archont, was an ancestor of the Vlastimirović dynasty.[1] The Serbs at that time were organized into župe, a confederation of village communities (roughly the equivalent of a county),[2] headed by a local župan (a magistrate or governor).[3] According to Fine, the governorship was hereditary, and the župan reported to the Serbian prince, whom they were obliged to aid in war.[4] Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (r. 913–959) mentions that the Serbian throne is inherited by the son, i.e. the first-born,[1] though in one occasion there is a triumvirate in his enumeration of monarchs.[5][6]
Višeslav, the first Serbian monarch known by name, was a contemporary with Charlemagne (fl. 768–814). He directly held the hereditary lands of Neretva, Tara, Piva and Lim.[7][8] Radoslav, then Prosigoj, succeeded Višeslav, and they ruled during the revolt of Ljudevit Posavski against the Franks (819–822). According to the Royal Frankish Annals, written in 822, Ljudevit went from his seat at Sisak to the Serbs somewhere in western Bosnia, who controlled the greater part of Dalmatia.[9][10]
The Serbs established several future principalities by the 10th century: Serbia (roughly the later province of Rascia, including Bosnia; part of Zagorje - "hinterlands"); and Pagania, Zachlumia, Travunia (including Kanalitai) and Dioclea (part of Pomorje - "maritime").[11][12]
Division | Notes |
---|---|
Serbia/Rascia (Raška) | Stari Ras |
Bosnia (part of Serbia) (Bosna) | Vrhbosna |
Travunia (Travunija)[a] |
|
Doclea (Duklja) | Duklja |
Pagania (Paganija) | Omiš |
Zachlumia (Zahumlje) |
|
Hinterland (Zagorje) · Maritime (Pomorje) | |
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Serbian Grand Principality
- Luška
- Budva
- Onogošt
- Oblik
- Ribnica
- Ston
- Popovo
- Dubrava
- Luka
- Dabar
- Žapska
- Gorička
- Večenik
- Trebinje
- Urmo
- Konavlje
- Risan
- Rudina
- Ras
- Drina
- Patkovo
- Hvosno
- Podrimlje
- Toplica
- Ibar
- Rasina
- West Morava
- Dubočica
- Kostrc
- Draškovina
- Sitnica
- Lab
- Lipljan
- Glbočica
- Reke
- Uska
- Pomoravlje
- Zagrlata
- Levče
- Belica
- Lim
- Kujavča
- Zatrnava
- Raban
- Pilot
References
- 1 2 Živković 2006, p. 11
- ↑ Fine 1991, p. 304
- ↑ Evans 2007, p. xxi
- ↑ Fine 1991, p. 225
- ↑ Živković 2006, p. 21
- ↑ Fine 1991, p. 141
- ↑ Mijatovic 2007, p. 3
- ↑ Cuddon 1986, p. 454
- ↑ Einhard, year 822
- ↑ Ćorović 2001, ch. 2, II
- ↑ Fine 1991, pp. 53, 225
- ↑ Forbes 2004, p. 59
- ↑ Moravcsik 1967, p. 145
Primary sources
- Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (1993). De Administrando Imperio (Moravcsik, Gyula ed.). Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies.
- Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (1830). De Ceremoniis (Reisky, J. ed.). Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies.
- Einhard. Annales regni Francorum [Royal Frankish Annals] (in Latin).
Secondary sources
- Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1966). Études historiques. 3. Éditions de l'Académie bulgare des sciences.
- Bury, J. B. (2008). History of the Eastern Empire from the Fall of Irene to the Accession of Basil: A.D. 802-867. ISBN 1-60520-421-8.
- Carter, Francis W. (1977). An historical geography of the Balkans.
- Ćorović, Vladimir (2001). Istorija srpskog naroda (Internet ed.). Belgrade: Ars Libri.
- Ćirković, Sima M. (2004). The Serbs. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-20471-7.
- Cuddon, John Anthony (1986). The companion guide to Jugoslavia. Collins. ISBN 0-00-217045-0.
- Evans, Arthur (2007). Through Bosnia and the Herzegovina on Foot During the Insurrection, August and September 1875. Cosimo, Inc. ISBN 1-60206-270-6.
- Ferjančić, Božidar (1997). "Basile I et la restauration du pouvoir byzantin au IXème siècle" [Vasilije I i obnova vizantijske vlasti u IX veku]. Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta (in French). Belgrade (36): 9–30.
- Ferjančić, Božidar (2007). Vizantijski izvori za istoriju naroda Jugoslavije II (fototipsko izdanje originala iz 1959 ed.). Belgrade. pp. 46–65. ISBN 978-86-83883-08-0.
- Forbes, Nevill (2004). The Balkans: A History of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Rumania, Turkey. Digital Antiquaria. ISBN 978-1-58057-314-6.
- Fine, John Van Antwerp (1991). The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08149-7.
- Houtsma, M. Th. (1993). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913–1936. BRILL. ISBN 90-04-08265-4.
- Komatina, P. (2010). "The Slavs of the mid-Danube basin and the Bulgarian expansion in the first half of the 9th century" (PDF). Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta. Belgrade: Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts - SASA, Institute for Byzantine Studies (47): 55–82. doi:10.2298/ZRVI1047055K.
- Mijatovic, Cedomilj (2007) [1908]. Servia and the Servians. Cosimo, Inc. ISBN 1-60520-005-0.
- Runciman, Steven (1930). A history of the First Bulgarian Empire. London: G. Bell & Sons.
- Slijepčević, Đoko M. (1958). The Macedonian question:the struggle for southern Serbia. American Institute for Balkan Affairs.
- Stephenson, Paul (2000). Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-77017-3.
- Vlasto, A. P. (1970). The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521074599.
- Živković, Tibor (2006). Portreti srpskih vladara (IX—XII vek). Belgrade. pp. 11–20. ISBN 86-17-13754-1.
- Zlatarski, Vasil (1918). История на Първото българско Царство. I. Епоха на хуно-българското надмощие (679—852) (in Bulgarian) (Internet ed.). Sofia.