Duklja

Etymology

In historiography, Konstantin Jireček was the first to use the name "Duklja". Doclea was originally the name of the Roman city on the site of modern Podgorica (Ribnica), built by Roman Emperor Diocletian, who hailed from this region of Roman Dalmatia. The Romanized Illyrian tribe known as Docleatae that inhabited the area derived their name from the city. In later centuries, the Romans hypercorrected the name to Dioclea, wrongly guessing that an i had been lost due to vulgar speech patterns. Duklja is the later Slavic version of the name of this region, attributed to the principality under Byzantine suzerainty ("Diokleia", Διόκλεια). The demonym, or tribal name, appearing in De Administrando Imperio was "Dioklētianoí" (Διοκλητιανοί).

Geography

According to De Administrando Imperio (948–952), in chapter 35, Diókleia (Διόκλεια) included the "large, inhabited cities" of Gradetai, Nougrade, and Lontodokla. Gradetai may have been Starigrad, Nougrade may have been Prevlaka, while the location of Lontodokla is uncertain.

According to the later, somewhat dubious source, Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, a ruler named Hvalimir who was alleged to be an ancestor of Jovan Vladimir (ca. 990–1016), held Zeta and its towns, and the following counties: Lusca (Luška), Podlugiae (Podlužje), Gorsca (Gorska), Cupelnich (Kupelnik), Obliquus (Oblik), Prapratna, Cermeniza (Crmnica) and Budua (Budva) with Cuceva (Kučevo) and Gripuli (Grbalj).

Since the 12th century, the term Zeta began to replace the name Duklja.

De Administrando Imperio

The DAI claims that Duklja had been made desolate by the Avars and "repopulated in the time of the Emperor Heraclius, just as were Croatia and Serbia" (i.e. in the first half of the 7th century), by Slavs. While he clearly states that the neighbouring principalities of Serbia, Pagania, Zahumlje, Travunia and Kanalites had been settled by the 'unbaptized Serbs', he mentions Duklja simply as having been settled by 'Slavs'. The statements of various Byzantine writers in which the Diocleans are also called as Serbs, Croats, and Dalmati do not allow equalization of Duklja inhabitants until 12th century either with the Serbs or with the Croats. Scholars have debated at length as to the reliability of DAI. For example, Francis Dvornik and Florin Curta, among others, suggested that the DAI was a political document, rather than a strictly historical one and that it probably indicates that the coastal županijas were under the authority of the Serbian prince, Časlav Klonimirović, in the mid-10th century. Tibor Živković, Neven Budak and Hrvoje Gračanin also concluded that a closer reading suggests that Constantine consideration about regional ethnic identity is based on Serbian political rule and expansion in the 10th century which does not necessarily indicate ethnic origin. Relja Novaković also came to a similar conclusion. John V.A. Fine argues "given that Serbs settled in regions along its borders, presumably this would have also been a Serb region". Ivo Banac proposed that the DAI mention that a part of the Croats "split off and took control of Illyricum and Pannonia" after settling western part of the province of Dalmatia could be connected to Duklja, while Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja calls that area as Red Croatia. According to historian Sima Ćirković, although Constantine VII does not mention tribes of whom peoples of Duklja originate, the authors of the XI century considered rulers of Zeta to be Serbs and sometimes call their land Serbia. Ćirković also considers that this narrow scientific question has been politicized by opposing Diocleans to Serbs and ignoring historical sources from 11th and 12th century. The dubious Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, compiled in 1298–1301 by a Cistercian monk in the service of Paul I Šubić of Bribir, nevertheless if does again promote mere Byzantine confusion over Serbs and Croats, with other historical sources does allude to the existence of Croats and their political influence far into Montenegrin inland until the late 12th century.

Ultimately, the origins of Duklja are not known with certainty, for the literary evidence often rests on semi-legendary genealogies. Moreover, what actually constituted a people (gens) in the Middle Ages has been rigorously debated. There is no clear evidence that peoples known as Serbs or Croats migrated en masse as coherent nations able to resettle large territories, and that arrived as small military elites which assimilated and organized other already settled Slavs. Both Florin Curta and John Fine, among other medievalists, have argued that ethnonyms such as Serb or Croat were primarily political labels referring to a dux and his retinue of nobles as well as military elite, while on a lower level it also referred the mass of commoners who inhabited the territory under the often nominal and transient rule of such leaders. There is little evidence that a modern notion of nation-type ethnicity, and the values associated with it, existed in medieval societies. Rather, some sort of group identity began to form within the Balkans from the late 7th century as Slavic notables formed a system of alliances. This coincides with the final demise of Avar hegemony over the western Balkans. At the same time, the Byzantines had begun to re-establish some control in parts of the Balkans after the 7th-century collapse of imperial control. The establishment of the Byzantine theme of Dyrrhachium facilitated diplomatic contacts between the East Romans and the Adriatic Sclaviniae.

Early history

Little is known about Duklja prior to the 11th century. The main source on the history of early South Slavic states is De Administrando Imperio by Emperor Constantine VII (compiled before 952). The work mentions virtually nothing about Duklja apart from that it was settled by Slavs and was ruled by the Byzantine Emperors. It probably did not exist as an established, independent polity before the late 10th century. The Byzantines ruled over coastal cities such as Doclea, Bar, Kotor, and the hinterland surrounding these. Archaeological evidence (a personal seal belonging to "Peter of Diokleia") suggests that local officials governed this small region in the name of the Emperor. The Slav regions that were not directly under Byzantine rule (such as Travunia) were organized into numerous župa, (roughly, a county) ruled by local families.

Slav raids on Eastern Roman territory are mentioned in 518, and by the 580s they had conquered large areas referred to as Sclavinia ("Slavdom", from Sklavenoi). Duklja was settled by Slavs predominantly during the 7th century, although the area was subject to raids by Avars and Slavs from the 6th century. Being a mountainous region, it perhaps served as an area of refuge for pre-Slavic populations. According to Noel Malcolm, today's western Serbia was area where Serbs settled in 7th century and from there they expanded their rule on territory of Duklja.

Prince Višeslav (fl. 768–814), the first known Serbian monarch by name, ruled the hereditary lands (Županias, "counties") of Neretva, Tara, Piva, Lim. He managed to unite several more provinces and tribes into what would become the Serbian Principality. Višeslav was succeeded by his son Radoslav and then Prosigoj, during that time the Serbs were people "who are said to hold a great/large part of Dalmatia" (ad Sorabos, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur, Royal Frankish Annals, 822), 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, but it is possible that among other tribes existed a tribe or group of small tribes of Serbs. Prince Vlastimir further united Serbian tribes against the growing threat from the Bulgarian Empire, his realm spanned over southwestern Serbia, much of Montenegro, eastern Herzegovina and southeastern Bosnia. Prince Petar Gojniković expanded along the Neretva, annexing the Narentines, where he seems to have come into conflict with Michael Višević, a Bulgarian ally and the ruler of Zahumlje (with Trebinje and most of what would later be Duklja). Michael Višević heard of the possible alliance between Serbia and the Byzantines, and warned Symeon. Symeon defeats Petar and in the following years there is a power struggle between the Bulgars and Byzantines over Serbian overlordship. Prince Časlav ruled over a confederacy of tribes covering an expansive area. Some consider he took over regions previously held by Michael, who disappears from sources in 925.

Rise

The Byzantine victory over the Bulgarians was a critical development in Balkan history. The Byzantines ruled most of the Balkans – Bulgaria, Serbia, Duklja, and Bosnia all fell back under Byzantine rule for the first time since the 6th century.

Over much of the 11th century, we hear very little about events from the interior. Central Serbia was probably under the jurisdiction of the strategos (governor) of Sirmium – Constantine Diogenes. Some historians suggest that Duklja was ruled directly by the strategos of Dyrrhachium, while others posit that a native prince (whose name has not survived) was allowed to remain, ruling as a Byzantine vassal. Either way, the Slavic nobility was under Byzantine control.

Short-lived as it was, Vladimir's influence in Balkan politics shifted the centre of Serbian rule from inland Serbia to the coast. This was a "renewed Serbian state centered on Duklja".

In the 1030s, as Skylitzes and Kekaumenos have written, Stefan Vojislav, who held the title of "archont, and toparch of the kastra of Dalmatia, Zeta and Ston", led the "Serbs who renounced Byzantine rule". According to the CPD, he was a nephew of Vladimir. In 1034, he took "Duklja" while the Byzantines were switching thrones. The Byzantines retaliated by sending in troops from Dyrrhachium and captured Vojislav, who was taken prisoner to Constantinople. He managed to escape and began a guerrilla resistance from Duklja's mountains. He defeated several Byzantine expeditions and liberated most of Duklja. A Slav rebellion centered on Belgrade, organised by Peter Delian in the late 1030s, worked in Vojislav's favour by diverting attention from Duklja. He used this to assert rule from his capital in Scutari, and extended his rule from Duklja to Travunia and a part of Zachlumia. He besieged the Byzantine city of Dyrrhachium and held the lands surrounding it.

In 1042, another Byzantine attack was defeated. The Byzantines had sent a "coalition" of vassal Slavic chiefs to fight Voislav. The coalition consisted of the Župan of Bosnia, Knez (Prince) Ljutovid of Zachlumia and the Župan of Raska. Fine suggests that under Byzantine dominance, "Rascia" had in the 1040s emerged as yet another Serbian state (roughly centered on what is now southern Serbia and Kosovo. Vojislav won a great victory against his attackers. He overthrew ljutovid and placed the region entirely under his control. Duklja was undoubtedly the leading Slavic state.

Decline

With Bodin gone, his Norman wife, Jaquinta, feared that Bodin's nephew, Branislav, would try to seize power before her young children could take the throne. She ordered the arrest of Branislav and his family and Branislav died in captivity, while his other 6 brothers and sons found asylum in Ragusa. Thus in the haste to claim the throne, seeds of family hatred were planted among the extended family. After Bodin died, his half-brother Dobroslav II gained the throne of Duklja. Seeing a weak Duklja, the Byzantines started to meddle, sending Kočopar, one of Branislav's exiled brothers to capture the throne. He managed to get assistance from Vukan of Raška, and together they beat Dobroslav. However, there was a falling out between Kočopar and Vukan. Vukan drove out Kočopar, who then died in exile. The Doclean nobles then elected a Vladimir, yet another relative, who ruled in peace as a Byzantine vassal. But Jaquinta had not given up. After Vladimir died, she had Dobroslav II (who was still in jail) castrated and blinded in case he were to gain the throne, thus securing the throne for her son Đurađ (George), c. 1114–18. She had gained support from an anti-Byzantine faction of nobles. Branislav's family again fled to Byzantine safety, this time in Dyrrhachium. There they gained support from the Byzantines, who ousted Đurađ and imprisoned Jaquinta. Grubeša, one of Branislav's sons, was placed on the throne in 1118. He ruled peacefully until 1125. Đurađ had fled to Rascia, and secured the support of the new Rascian Grand Župan, Uroš, believed to be the nephew of Vukan. Uroš was aligned with the Hungarians, and was anti-Byzantine. He invaded Duklja and placed Đurađ back on the throne. Yet another Byzantine intervention ousted Đurađ for the second time, capturing him, and he died in captivity. Gradinja, one of Grubeša's brothers was then placed as King, the last ruler to hold such a title in Duklja. He died a natural death in 1146, and was succeeded by his son Radoslav. Radoslav only bore the title Knez (Prince).

Duklja's long internecine strife was devastating for its status, as it was reduced back to a Principality dependent on Byzantine support, and was increasingly losing territory to Raska. By the time of Radoslav's reign as prince, he only held a small strip of land on the Dukljan coast (From Kotor to Ulcinj). By 1166, much of Duklja was occupied by Rascia, and in 1186, Stefan Nemanja annexed Duklja in its entirety after defeating the last Doclean prince – Mihailo.

Princess Desislava, according to Professor Božidar Šekularac, was the last ruler of Duklja.

List of rulers

Petar, archon of Diokleia, 10th century

St. Jovan Vladimir, c. 1000 – 22 May 1016

Stefan Vojislav, archon, and toparches of the kastra of Dalmatia, Zeta and Ston, 1018 – c. 1043

Neda (female)

Mihailo I rex Sclavorum (King of Slavs), c. 1046 – 1081 (King in c. 1077)

King Constantine Bodin of Duklja and Serbia 1081–1101

King Mihailo II of Duklja 1101–1102

King Dobroslav II of Duklja 1101–1102

King Kočopar of Duklja 1102–1103

King Vladimir of Duklja 1103–1113

King George I of Duklja 1113–1118

Prince Grubeša of Duklja and Antivari 1118–1125

King George I of Duklja 1125–1131 (reinstated)

King Gradihna 1131–1142 or 1135–1146

Prince Radoslav 1146–1149

Prince Mihailo III 1180–1186

Princess Desislava (female) 1186–1189 (disputed)

The principality then came under the rule of the Nemanjić dynasty, through the branch of Vukan Nemanjić of Duklja, and his son George II of Duklja. At times, a royal title including "Duklja" was adopted, however, "of the Maritime lands" was mostly used throughout the Middle Ages.