The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) submitted a text by its member, historian Dragutin Papović, "The Nemanjićs and Duklja".
We transmit the text in its entirety:
The Serbian (Raška) Grand Prefect Stefan Nemanja waged war against Duklja in late 1180 and early 1181. He then managed to conquer Zahumlje (Hum), which was a part of Duklja. Nemanja continued his attack on Duklja between 1183 and 1186. The fortified coastal towns resisted the longest. For this reason, they were severely punished. The Raška army destroyed: Danj, Sard, Shkoder, Svač, Ulcinj and Bar. He killed and expelled all the Greeks (Byzantines) from these towns, because Byzantium was the patron of Duklja, and Nemanja was an opponent of Byzantium at the time. Only Kotor was spared so that Nemanja could build a palace there. The last ruler of Duklja, Grand Prince Mihailo, left the country and went to Dubrovnik. Bar resisted Nemanja's attacks the longest, retaining its autonomy even after the conquest, and was home to the wife of Grand Duke Mihailo, Princess Desislava. She left Bar for Dubrovnik no later than mid-1189. This marked the end of the Vojislavljević dynasty.
Stefan Nemanja divided the Duklja territory among his family members. He gave Duklja and Dalmatia to his eldest son, Vukan. Dalmatia refers to the Byzantine province of Upper Dalmatia, which included the territory between Ston and Kotor. Dubrovnik managed to repel the Nemanjić attack. Hum belonged to Nemanja's brother, Prince Miroslav, and then Nemanja granted it to his youngest son, Rastko, around 1190. Rastko went to Mount Athos in 1192, where he became a monk and was named Sava, and Hum was inherited by Miroslav's sons. While Nemanja conquered Duklja through war and the destruction of cities, Vukan pursued a different policy. He accepted the conquered Duklja as a new homeland. He did not adapt it to his origins, but rather adapted to the state, ethnic, and ecclesiastical circumstances of Duklja. While Nemanja was still the supreme ruler, Vukan titled himself "king of Diocletian, Dalmatia, Trebinje, Hvosno and Toplice". On the church of St. Luke in Kotor, built by citizen Mavro Kazafrank in 1195, a founding inscription was carved stating that the church was built during the time of the great prefect Nemanja and his son Vukan, king of Duklja (sub tempore domine Nemane magni iupani et filii sui Velcanni regi Dioclie). Historian and academician of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Sima Ćirković states that Vukan's royal title "continued on the title of his predecessors from Duklja and contributed to the preservation of the traditions of the previously independent Duklja kingdom."
Nemanja abdicated in 1196 and, at the invitation of his youngest son Sava, went to Mount Athos, where he became a monk and took the name Simeon. Nemanja appointed his middle son Stefan as supreme ruler, while giving Vukan the title of Grand Prince (knez velija), confirmed his authority in Duklja and Dalmatia, and obliged him to be obedient to the new ruler. Vukan did not agree. After Nemanja left for Mount Athos, Vukan declared Duklja independent and received the support of the majority of the Duklja nobility. He turned to Pope Innocent III for recognition of the crown and state independence. In 1198, Vukan sent him a letter in which he asked him to send envoys who would, among other things, "confirm the people in the Catholic faith" and Vukan himself declared that he wanted to "love and respect the Roman See as his mother and be obedient to all its commands." The Pope accepted Vukan's request and in his response titled Vukan as "illuminated king of Duklja and Dalmatia" (Vulcani illustris regis Diocliae et Dalmatiae). The Pope's letter was brought to Duklja by the papal legates, chaplain Ivan and subdeacon Simon. Together with Vukan, they organized a council in Bar in the summer of 1199, at which they presented the Duklja-Bar Archbishop John with the mantle (pallium), and then adopted numerous decrees on the organization of the church and the life of the clergy and believers in the Kingdom of Duklja and Dalmatia.
After the council in Bar, Archbishop Jovan sent a letter to the Pope stating that “the lord king [Vukan] and all the people...have become in every way very loyal to your Holiness”. Vukan then addressed the Pope with a letter in which he titled himself “King of Doclea and Dalmatia” (Diocliae atque Dalmatiae Rex). Vukan stressed that he was convinced that the “holy and salvific teaching” of the Pope’s envoys who led the council in Bar would “enlighten my entire kingdom”. Vukan emphasized that the council in Bar was held “where councils have always been held”. He then expressed his loyalty to the Pope, or as Vukan himself puts it, “to your apostolate”. On the other hand, Vukan emphasized that he had been “recognized as a king”. Thus, Vukan achieved his goal. In accordance with the religious situation in Duklja, he converted to Catholicism and accepted the supreme authority of the Pope, and Rome recognized Vukan's royal title, the state and ecclesiastical independence of the Kingdom of Duklja and Dalmatia. Vukan entered into an alliance with the Hungarian King Emeric against Stephen with the aim of taking over the Serbian throne and for the Hungarian king to become the supreme ruler in Serbia. Vukan attacked Serbia in 1202 and overthrew Stephen, who fled the country. Vukan assumed the title of Grand Prefect and recognized Hungarian supreme authority in Serbia. From then until 1918, the Hungarian king mentioned Serbia in his title.
It is assumed that Stefan, with the help of the Bulgarian emperor Kalojan, managed to regain power in Serbia around 1204. Peace was probably concluded in 1205, when Stefan again became the Grand Prefect, and Vukan the Grand Duke with a share of the territory. It is certain that at that time Vukan's and Stefan's brother Sava returned to Serbia from Mount Athos. He transferred Nemanja (Simeon) to Serbia and then canonized him between 1204 and 1207. Sava became the abbot of the Studenica Monastery. Vukan is last mentioned around 1209. Although he submitted to Stefan, he retained his royal title. He abdicated in favor of his son Đorđe. Sima Ćirković points out that "by transferring the administration of Zeta and the royal titles of Duklja to Vukan's son, the traditions of independent development of Duklja [were] extended for another generation". Đorđe assumed the royal title and soon renounced his obedience to the Grand Prefect Stefan. Along with George, power in Duklja was held by his brothers: Vladin, Stefan and Dimitrije. The great prefect Stefan Nemanjić subdued George around 1216 and established supreme power in Duklja, but Vukan's sons retained part of the power and possessions.
Stefan established an alliance with Venice. He married Anna, granddaughter of the Venetian Doge Henry Dandol. Historian and academician of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Božidar Ferjančić states that Stefan Nemanjić renounced Orthodoxy at the urging of his new wife and converted to Catholicism. Stefan sent Bishop Methodius to Rome to request royal insignia from Pope Honorius III, and in doing so he also referred to the fact that his family ruled the former Kingdom of Doclea. In this letter, Stefan declared that he wanted to be a faithful son of the Holy Roman Church and to ask the Pope for his blessing for the crown and state. The legates sent by the Pope crowned Stefan in 1217, and he became the first Serbian crowned king (the First-Crowned).
After his coronation, the First-Crowned was titled "by the grace of God, king of all Serbia, Duklja, Trabunija, Dalmatia and Zahumlje" (Stephanus Dei gratia totius Serviae, Diocliae, Tribuniae, Dalmatiae, atque Ochumliae Rex). In an inscription on the wall of his endowment church in the Žiča monastery, Stefan the First-Crowned was titled "by the grace of God, the first crowned king of all Serbian land, Diocletian and Trabunija and Dalmatia and Zahumlje". In a charter to the monastery of St. Bogorodica on the island of Mljet, he was titled: "great king, regent lord of all Serbian land and Diocletian and Dalmatia and Trabunija and the land of Hum". This clearly separated the Serbian lands from: Duklja, Dalmatia, Trabunija and Zahumlje. In the Mileševa Monastery near Prijepolje, which was built by Stefan's son Vladislav, above the fresco of Stefan the First-Crowned, which was painted between 1222 and 1228, according to the reading of historian Božidar Ferjančić, it is written that Stefan the First-Crowned was the king and sevast (okrator) of all the lands of Raška and Diocletian. Art historian and academician of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Vojislav J. Đurić interprets the preserved part of the inscription from Mileševa as meaning that Stefan the First-Crowned ruled the "kingdom of the lands of Diocletian". The difference between the Serbian and Duklja lands was also emphasized by the Ohrid Archbishop Dimitrije Homatijan. In a letter (probably from 1217), he addresses Stefan Nemanjić as the "great prefect of all Serbia and Duklja" (μεγάλᾠ ζουπάνᾠ Σερβίας καί Διοκλείας). The statehood of Duklja is also emphasized in later Serbian chronicles. In the mid-XNUMXth century, the biographer Domentian, in his "Life of Saint Sava and the Life of Saint Simeon", stated that Diocletian was "called a great kingdom from the beginning". The biographer Theodosius, in his "Life of Saint Sava", written at the end of the XNUMXth century, states that Nemanja ruled a country called Diocletia. Theodosius points out that Diocletia had access to the "western sea".
One of the most significant events of this period was the establishment of the autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Archbishopric. In 1219, Sava Nemanjić received permission from the Patriarch of Constantinople Manuel Sarantes Haritopoulos and the Emperor of Nicaea Theodore I Laskaris to form a Serbian Archbishopric, and he was appointed the first Serbian Archbishop. The Emperor of Nicaea and the Patriarch did this in order to prevent Serbia from entering the sphere of influence of the Roman Church after receiving the crown from Rome. This was done against church rules, because it violated the canonical structure of the Ohrid Archbishopric, which was responsible for the church in Serbia. Historian and academician of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Dimitrije Bogdanović says about this: "This is not a canonical, but primarily a political issue: the canons are interpreted in accordance with the goal that is desired to be achieved or that has already been achieved". Sava chose the Žiča Monastery as the seat of the Archbishopric, and in 1220 he formed subordinate bishoprics. Three bishoprics were established on the territory of the former Duklja state: Zeta with its seat in Prevlaka near Tivat (although there are other assumptions), Hum with its seat in Ston (since the mid-1250s in the church of St. Peter in Bijelo Polje), and Budimlje with its seat in Đurđevi stupovi near Berane. The Serbian archbishopric and its bishoprics did not have much influence on the territory of the former Duklja state at that time. During the period when he was archbishop, it is not recorded that Sava Nemanjić built a single Orthodox church in Duklja. Given that Duklja was exclusively Catholic, the Orthodox bishoprics were actually formed as missionary outposts that had yet to gain believers. The Serbian archbishopric also recognized the statehood and uniqueness of Duklja. Above the fresco of St. Sava in Mileševa there is an inscription that art historian Vojislav J. Đurić read as "Sava, the first archbishop of all the Raška and Diocletian lands". According to Serbian chroniclers, Sava only stayed in Duklja once. When he set out on his last journey to the Holy Land in 1234, he did so, according to his biographer Domentijan, from the coast of the Diocletian Sea. Serbian Archbishop Danilo II wrote at the beginning of the 1236th century that Sava sailed from Stari Grad. Stari Grad was another name for Budva, so most historians believe that Budva was the town on the Duklja coast from which Sava sailed. That was his last journey, because on his return he stayed in Bulgaria and died at the court of the Bulgarian emperor John II Asen in Trnovo in XNUMX. Given the fact that Sava only stayed in Duklja once, it is clear that the stories about Sava's frequent stays in the area of present-day Montenegro, the naming of numerous toponyms after him, and the stories about his cult are the products of much later legends, traditions, and fabrications. The cult of Saint Sava only spread in the XNUMXth century, while Saint Sava is a clerical-nationalist ideology from the first half of the XNUMXth century.
Until the second half of the 1217th century, Vukan's sons ruled directly in Duklja. After 1242, Đorđe held the title of prince, but used the royal title of Duklja. Around 1251, he tried once again to become independent, but without success. His residence was in Ulcinj. His brother, Prince Stefan, is remembered for having built the Morača monastery in 2-XNUMX. In a fresco from the XNUMXth century, he is called king. The third brother, Župan Dimitrije, had estates in Polimlje. He built a church in Brodarevo, and then became a monk and took the name David. Based on these indicators, it can be concluded that Vukan's sons were regional administrators in Duklja. Đorđe ruled the coastal part with its center in Ulcinj, Stefan the central part with its center in Morača, and Dimitrije in Polimlje. George and Stephen are recorded in local tradition as kings, and with their death the tradition of the kingdom of Duklja was interrupted. Although they were of Serbian origin, Vukan and his line accepted Duklja as their homeland and tried to restore its independence. This was prevented by the Serbian king Uroš I. He abolished the joint principalities in Duklja and Zahumlje. In Hum he suppressed Miroslav's successors, and in Duklja he suppressed Vukan's successors. While his predecessors had listed Duklja, Zahumlje and Travunija in their royal titles, Uroš I called himself "king of all Serbian lands and the coast". Since then, the titles of Serbian rulers have emphasized "Serbian (Raška) lands" and "maritime lands". The name Duklja was gradually suppressed, and the regional name Zeta was increasingly used for its territory.
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