conventional long name	Serbian PrincipalitySrpska KneževinaRascia (''Raška'')
common name	Serbian Principality
continent	Europe
region	Balkans
country	Rascia
era	Medieval
year start	768
event start	Unification
year end	969
event end	Byzantine annexation
p1	Serbian Sklavinia
flag p1	Flag of PalaeologusEmperor.svg
s1	Catepanate of Ras
flag s1	Flag of PalaeologusEmperor.svg
s2	Duklja
flag s2	Konstantin Bodin.jpg
s3	Grand Principality of Serbia
flag s3	Flag of Serbia 1281.svg
flag	Flag of Serbia
coat	Coat of arms of Serbia
image map caption	Serbia, during the rule of Časlav (927–960)
capital	Dostinika (768–839)Ras (839–971)Skadar (1040)
government type	Monarchy
title leader	Prince
leader1	Višeslav (first)
year leader1	fl. 768–814
leader2	Vlastimir (notable)
year leader2	831-850
leader3	Mutimir (first Christian)
year leader3	850-891
leader4	Časlav (last dynastic member)
year leader4	927-960
leader5	Tihomir (last Prince)
year leader5	960-969
common languages	Serbian (Old Serbian)
religion	Slavic polytheism (768–869)†Eastern Christianity (Orthodoxy)
today	}}

Principality of Serbia^[name] () was the first independent state of the Serbs that existed from the Early to the High Middle Age. It was established in the 8th century following the Byzantine Empire's (Eastern Roman Empire) granting of independence through a ''foederati'' status, the territory had previously been ruled by Serb ''archons'' under the Emperor (as ''strategoi''). The period of the Principality is characterized with the establishment of Christianity as state-religion in 869 AD, and the wars against the Bulgars and Byzantines to retain suzerainty.

History

Upon their initial arrival, the Slavs formed "no uniform political organization", but rather remained divided into many tribes of various sizes, referred to as Sklaviniai by the Byzantines. These groups were led by native chiefs. Perhaps, the tribes were organized into zhupas, a form of territorial organization, being roughly equivalent to a county. Each zhupa consisted of several villages, linked by clan (i.e. extended family) relationships. It should be noted that the Serbs assimilated the much more populous Balkan natives (i.e. Illyrians, Thracians etc.) into the Serbian ethnos.

Vlastimir I, the great-great-grandson of the ''Unknown Archont'', ruled Serbia 836–851 and is the founder of the Vlastimir Dynasty which ruled directly until 960, through its cadet branches up to 1371.

Vlastimir Dynasty (825–1034)

The Serbian realm gained more power by the turn of the 9th century. At this time, the Bulgarian Khanate was expanding westward, and had already annexed the Slavic tribes of Syrmia and eastern Slavonia. At the same time, it pushed into Macedonia to the south, effectively encircling the Serbs. As a response to this, in Byzantine alliance, the Serbian Županate was led by Knez (‘Prince’) Vlastimir – the founder of the Vlastimirovic dynasty, to counter the Bulgars. The extent of the realm corresponds to modern southern Serbia, southeastern Bosnia, eastern Herzegovina and Konavli. At the Adriatic coastline existed a minor 'principality', Pagania. Travunia and Zachlumia were formed after the Bulgaro-Serbian Wars, evolving from city-states to broader administrative regions.

At this time Duklja did not exist as a political entity, as its eastern parts were part of Vlastimir's realm whilst the coastal cities were ruled by Byzantine governors. To the north, the Croats were beginning to consolidate into a Principality, whilst to the east loomed the Bulgarian Empire.

The Bulgaro-Serbian War took place 836–846 and ended with Serbian victory. Vlastimir gave his daughter's hand to Krajina Belojević, the son of the local lord Beloje of Trebinje. This established Travunia as a principality part of Rascia. Vlastimir's sons- Mutimir, Gojnik and Strojimir- defeated another Bulgarian attack c. 853, capturing Khan Boris’ son, Vladimir, and twelve leading bojars. They escorted Vladimir to Ras, at the Serb-Bulgarian border, exchanged gifts and concluded a peace treaty. However, this early princedom was far from a consolidated, centralized state, and the various zhupans retained considerable independence. Rather than practising primogeniture, Slavic rulers practiced staresina, where rule fell upon the eldest person in the extended family (rather than the son of the King). The realm would then be split between the surviving brothers, sons, nephews and cousins. Such tradition repeatedly caused succession strife.

Mutimir was baptized by missionaries Cyril and Methodius during the rule of Byzantine Emperor Basil I (867–886), who sent the priests after Mutimir acknowledged Byzantine suzerainty. The Serbs were fully Christianized by 873, seen in the tradition of theophoric names (e.g. Petar Gojniković, Pavle Branović) and the fact that he maintained the communion with the Eastern Church (Constantinople) when Pope John VIII invited him to recognize the jurisdiction of the bishopric of Sirmium. The Serbs and Bulgarians adopted the Old Slavonic liturgy instead of the Greek.

Mutimir founded the Bishopric of Ras, mentioned in the Fourth Council of Constantinople 878–880.

Wars of the throne

Sometime after defeating the Bulgarians, Mutimir ousted his brothers (who fled to Bulgaria). He kept Gojnik’s son Petar Gojniković in his court, but he managed to escape to Croatia. Mutimir ruled until 890, being succeeded by his son Prvoslav. However, Prvoslav was overthrown by Petar Gojniković, who had returned from his exile in Croatia c. 892. The name Peter the Christian; suggesting that Christianity had started to permeate into Serbia, undoubtedly through Serbia’s contacts with the Bulgarians and Byzantines. Peter secured himself on the throne (after fending off a challenge from Klonimir, son of Stojmir) and was recognised by Tsar Symeon of Bulgaria. An alliance was signed between the two states. Already having Travunia’s loyalty, Peter began to expand his state north and west. He annexed the Bosna River valley, and then moved west securing allegiance from the Pagania – who were fiercely independent, pirateering Serbian tribe. However, Peter’s expansion into Dalmatia brought him into conflict with Prince Michael of Zahumlje. Michael had also grown powerful, ruling not only Zachlumia, but exerting his influence over Travunia and Dioklea. Porphyrogenitus explains that Michael’s roots were different from Vlastimirovici, and was unwilling to yield authority to Peter.

Although allied to Symeon, Peter became increasingly disgruntled by the fact that he was essentially subordinate to him. Peter’s expansion toward the coast facilitated contacts with the Byzantines, by way of the strategos of Dyrrhachium. Searching for allies against Bulgaria, the Byzantines showered Peter with gold and promises of greater independence if he would join their alliance- a convincing strategy. Peter might have been planning an attack on Bulgaria with the Magyars, showing that his realm had stretched north to the Sava river. However, Michael of Zahumlje forewarned Symeon of this plan, since Michael was an enemy of Peter, and a loyal vassal of Symeon. What followed was multiple Bulgarian interventions and a succession of Serb rulers. Symeon attacked Serbia (in 917) and deposed Peter, placing Pavle Branović (a grandson of Mutimir) as Prince of Serbia, subordinate to Symeon (although some scholars suggest that Symeon took control over Serbia directly at this time. Unhappy with this, the Byzantines then sent Zaharije Prvoslavljevic in 920 to oust Pavle, but he failed and was sent to Bulgaria as prisoner. The Byzantines then succeeded in turning Prince Pavle to their side. In turn, the Bulgarians started indoctrinating Zaharije. Zaharije invaded Serbia with a Bulgarian force, and ousted his cousin Pavel in 922. However, he too turned to Byzantium. A punitive force sent by the Bulgarians was defeated.Thus we see a continuous cycle of dynastic strife amongst Vlastimir’s successors, stirred on by the Byzantine and Bulgarians, who were effectively using the Serbs as pawns. Whilst Bulgarian help was more effective, Byzantine help seemed preferable. Simeon made peace with the Byzantines to settle affairs with Serbia once and for all. Frustrated by the traitorous smaller neighbour militarily, the Bulgarians decided to finish the things once and for all. In 924, he sent a large army accompanied by Caslav, son of Klonimir. The army forced Zaharije to flee to Croatia. The Serbian zhupans were then summoned to recognise Caslav as the new Prince. When they came, however, they were all imprisoned and taken to Bulgaria, as too was Caslav. Much of Serbia was ravaged, and many people fled to Croatia, Bulgaria and Constantinople. Simeon made Serbia into a Bulgarian province, so that Bulgaria now bordered Croatia and Zahumlje. He then resolved to attack Croatia, because it was a Byzantine ally and had sheltered the Serbian Prince.

At the battle of the Bosnian highlands, Croatia’s King Tomislav defeated the Bulgarians, whilst Prince Michael of Zahumlje maintained neutrality. During the fall of central Serbia, Michael was the pre-eminent Serb prince, having been awarded the honorary title of Patriakos by the Byzantine Emperor, and may have ruled over Zachlumia, Travunia and Dioklea.

Unification under Časlav, annexation of Rascia (927–960)

The Bulgarian rule over Serbia lasted only three years. After Symeon died, Časlav Klonimirović (927- c. 960s) led Serb refugees back to Serbia. He secured the allegiance of the Dalmatian duchies and expelled Bulgarian rule from central Serbia. After Tomislav’s death, Croatia was in near anarchy as his sons vied for sole rule, so Caslav was able to extend his rule north to the Vrbas river (gaining the alliegence of the chiefs of the various Bosnian zhupas).

During this apogee of Serbian power, Christianity and culture penetrated Serbia as the Serb prince lived in peaceful and cordial relations with the Byzantines. However, strong as it had grown to be, Serbia’s power (as other early Slavic states) was only as strong as its ruler. There was no centralised rule, a confederacy of Slavic principalities existed instead. The existence of the unified Grand Principality was dependent on the allegiance of the lesser princes to Caslav. When he died defending Bosnia against Magyar incursions (sometime between 950 and 960), the coalition disintegrated.

After this, there is a gap in the history of Rascia as it is annexed by the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire. The dynasty continues to rule the maritime regions, and in the 990s, Jovan Vladimir (Vlastimirović) rises as the most powerful Serbian prince, with a realm of present-day Montenegro, eastern Herzegovina, and Koplik in Albania, this state becomes known as ''Duklja'', after the ancient Roman town of Doclea. However, by 997, it had been conquered and made subject to Bulgaria again by tsar Samuel.

When the Byzantines finally defeated the Bulgarians, they regained control over most of the Balkans for the first time in four centuries. Serbian lands were governed by a strategos presiding over the Theme of Sirmium. However, local Serbian princes continued to reign as suzerains to the Byzantines, maintaining total autonomy over their lands, such as the zhupanate of Rascia while only nominally being Byzantine vassals. Forts were maintained in Belgrade, Sirmium, Niš and Branicevo. These were, for the most part, in the hands of local nobility, which often revolted against Byzantine rule.

Aftermath

Seat at Duklja and Vojislav line

After Časlav died ca 960, Rascia was annexed by the Byzantines (Catepanate of Serbia 971–976) and Bulgars. Serbia lost its centralized rule and as before local rulers were subordinate to the Empires. The Vlastimir dynasty continued to rule their lands in Duklja, which now became the main Principality of the Serbs. One descendant, Jovan Vladimir emerged as the most powerful ruler of the maritime Zhupas. With his court centered in Bar on the Adriatic coast, he had much of the Serbian ''Primorje'' ('maritime') under his control including Travunia and Zachlumia- which was ruled by his uncle Dragimir. His realm may have stretched west- and northwards to include some parts of the ''Zagorje'' (inland Serbia and Bosnia) as well. Vladimir’s pre-eminent position over other Slavic nobles in the area explains why Emperor Basil approached him for an anti-Bulgarian alliance. With his hands tied by war in Anatolia, Emperor Basil required allies for his war against Tsar Samuel, who ruled a Bulgarian empire stretched over Macedonia. In retaliation, Samuel invaded Duklja in 997, and pushed through Dalmatia up to the city of Zadar, incorporating Bosnia and Serbia into his realm. After defeating Vladimir, Samuel reinstated him as a vassal Prince. We do not know what Vladimir’s connection was to the previous princes of Serbia, or to the rulers of Croatia- much of what is written in the Chronicles of the Priest of Duklja about the genealogy of the Doclean rulers is mythological.

Vladimir was murdered by Vladislav, Samuel’s brother and successor, circa 1016 AD. The last prominent member of his family, his uncle Dragimir, was killed by some local citizens in Kotor in 1018. That same year, the Byzantines had defeated the Bulgarians, and in one masterful stroke re-took vitrually the entire Balkans.

Rascia re-emerging as seat (1101)

Nemanjić Dynasty

Kingdom

Stefan Prvovenčani was the second eldest son of the Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, younger brother of Vukan who ruled over Zeta and older brother of Rastko Nemanjić (known as Saint Sava) who became the founder of the independent Serbian Orthodox Church. He inherited the title of Grand Prince in 1196 when his father retired into monastic life.

His reign began with a struggle against his brother Vukan, who expelled Stefan from Serbia with Hungarian support. Stefan turned to King Kaloyan of Bulgaria, who gave him an army of Cumans in exchange for eastern Serbian territories. The crisis ended when Sava negotiated a peace between the two brothers and Stefan's power was cemented. Pope Honorius III granted him the title of the "''King of Raška''" (King of Serbia) in 1217 resulted from his skillful diplomacy and persuasion. However, after Sava managed to gain an archbisphoric from Patriarch of Constantinople Manuel I, he crowned Stefan as an Orthodox King of the Serbs in 1219.

Name

The state(s) anachronistically called Raška were first known collectively as ''Serbia''.

The name ''Rascia'' () is used by modern historiography to refer to the mainland region (known in Serbian as the ''hinterlands'', in contrast to the maritime fiefs of the Adriatic coast) of the Principality of Serbia inhabited and ruled by Serbs; the seat of the early medieval state of Serbia. It is used to describe Serbia up to Stefan Nemanja (1166–1196) or the forming of the Kingdom of Serbia in 1217. "Rascia" continued to serve as an exonym for Serbia in West European sources since late 12th century, along with other names such as ''Servia'' and ''Slavonia''.

The name is derived from the name of the region's most important fort, Ras which first appears in the work ''de aedificiis'' of Byzantine Procopius as ''Arsa'' prior to the forming of Serbia. Ras eventually became the capital district and seat of the first bishopric of Serbia (Bishopric of Ras, ''Raška episkopija''). The name of the bishopric eventually started to denote the entire area under jurisdiction and later, under Stefan Nemanja, Ras was re-generated as state capital and the name spread to the entire land. The first attested appearance of the name Raška is in a charter from Kotor dated to 1186, in which Stefan Nemanja is mentioned as ''župan of Rascia'' (Prince of Serbia). Soon after Rascia became one of the common names for Serbia in western sources (Papacy, German, Italian, French etc.) often in conjunction with, Serbia (''Servia et Rascia''). However, ''Rascia'' appears scarcely in Serbian and never in Byzantine works to denote the state.

Between the 15th and 18th centuries, the term ''Raška'' (''Rascia'', ''Ráczság'') was used to designate the southern Pannonian Plain inhabited by Serbs (''Raci''), who settled there during the Great Serb migrations from medieval Serbia, "''Rácz''" has survived as a common surname in Hungary.

In "''Administration of the Empire''"

In Constantine Porphyrogenitus' ''De Administrando Imperio'', Ras is mentioned as an important town of Serbia under Časlav Klonimirović (927–960) near its border with the First Bulgarian Empire. Constantine's Serbia is often identified as Raška by modern historiography to differentiate it from the other provinces ruled by the Serbs: Zahumlje, Travunia, Duklja, Bosna and Pagania. Porphyrogenitus uses ''Serbia'' as a name for the mainland regions of Rascia; and Bosnia, although the name comes to denote "all of Serbian lands".

See also

List of Serbian monarchs

Stefan Nemanja

Stefan Prvovenčani

Raci

Serbian Empire

Duklja

Serbia in the Middle Ages

Serbian Despotate

References

Vladimir Ćorović, Ilustrovana istorija Srba, knjige 1–6, Beograd, 2005–2006.

Sima M. Ćirković, Srbi među evropskim narodima, Beograd, 2004.

Tim Džuda, Srbi, Beograd, 2003. (translation of: Tim Judah, The Serbs, 2000.)

Milan Tutorov, Mala Raška a u Banatu, Zrenjanin, 1991.

External links

Rascia – The Nucleus of the Medieval Serbian State

About Serbia – History

Map

Map

Principality Category:Former Slavic countries Category:8th century in Serbia Category:9th century in Serbia Category:10th century in Serbia Category:10th-century disestablishments Category:States and territories established in the 8th century Category:Byzantine Empire successor states in the Balkans

an:Raška bs:Raška bg:Рашка (държава) de:Raszien es:Rascia fr:Rascie gl:Raška hr:Raška (država) id:Raška (negara) it:Rascia he:רשקה mk:Рашка nl:Raška (staat) pl:Raszka (państwo) ru:Рашка (государство) sr:Рашка sh:Raška sv:Raška uk:Рашка (держава)

The History of the Serbs () spans from the first mention of the people by Roman historians to present.

Serbs (Срби, ''Srbi'') are a South Slavic people who live mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in Croatia. They are also a significant minority in the Republic of Macedonia. A Serbian diaspora dispersed people of Serbian descent to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the United States, Canada and Slovenia.

History

The Slavs invaded Balkans during Justinian I rule (527–565), when eventually up to 100,000 Slavs raided Thessalonica. The Western Balkans was settled with "Sclaveni", the east with Antes. Archaeological evidence in Serbia and Macedonia conclude that the White Serbs may have reached the Balkans earlier, between 550-600, as much findings; fibulae and pottery found at Roman forts point at Serb characteristics. and thus could have been a fraction of the early invading Slavs who upon organizing in their refuge of the Dinaric region, formed the ethnogenesis of Serbs and were pardoned by the Byzantine Empire after acknowledging their suzerainty.

Daurentius was a Sclavene chieftain (577-579) who, because of the earlier raids on Byzantine territory was targeted by the Avars to accept suzerainty and pay tribute to the Khagan. Daurentius rejected and killed the envoy sent by the khagan. He structured the Sclavene communities into tribes (political units) that acted on their own behalf.

White Serbs and establishment of Serbia

The Serbs migrated from White Serbia and settled in the Balkans in 610-626, led by the Unknown Archont. This migration was at the invitation of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, who sought aid in defeating the Avars in Dalmatia. Following their victory over the Avars, they were first given land and settled in the province of Thessalonica () in a town called "Servia". The Serbs are said to have been homesick and decided to leave the Balkans for their homeland in the north, but eventually decided to stay in Roman Dalmatia under the supervision of the Byzantine Empire, acting as guardians of the northern Byzantine frontier. Their area of settlement encompassed modern Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro (Pagania, Zahumlje, Bosnia, Travunia, Doclea, Rascia, later parts of the 14th-century Serbian Kingdom and Empire). The Serbs absorbed Paleo-Balkan tribes (Thracians, Dacians and Illyrians), and Hellenized (Byzantine) and Latin-speaking inhabitants (Romans, romanized tribes).

In 680, the Byzantine Emperor forcefully settled Anatolia with 30,000 Serb prisoners in a city called Gordoservon (''City of the Serbs''), in ancient Phrygia, where they would be part of the Byzantine army against the Umayyads, they had a battle in Sebastopolis in 692, the Serbs, however, defected after Umayyud persuasion, the Serbs left the army because of bad treatment and the Byzantines lost. (see ''Asia Minor Slavs'')

In 822, The Frankish chronicler Einhardt accounts that the "Serbs, which nation inhabits a large part of Dalmatia" ("Sorabi, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur") and also the protection of the Pannonian Slav ruler Ljudevit Posavski at the hands of the Serbs (Serbia) to the east.

The first war between Bulgarians and Serbs took place between 839 and 842. According to Byzantine sources both peoples co-existed peacefully until Bulgarian attacks in the Macedonia region.

The Serbian tribes, who were pagan (Slavic Mythology) came in immediate contact with Christianity when arriving at the Balkans: the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII recounts that they were initially baptized by "elders" from Rome, however Byzantine Cyril and Methodius from Constantinople are the missionaries that are venerated as the baptists. The process of Christianization is held to have been completed by 870, when Greek (Byzantine) and Theophoric given names became permanent tradition in Serbian culture. A Serbian bishopric may have been founded in Ras in 871 by Serbian Knez Mutimir, confirmed by the Council of Constantinople in 879-80.

At times, the Serbs struggled to gain independence from the Byzantines. The acceptance of Imperial authority and alliance in early Serb history can be seen in the Serbian tribes' alliance with the Byzantine Emperor Basil I the Macedonian and Louis the Younger against the Saracens (''Arabs'') in fl. 869-871.

The most powerful Serb states were Rascia and Doclea, that started breaking away from the Byzantine Empire in the late 10th and early 11th centuries, after Serbian rulers took power by force from the local Byzantine governors. The Serbs became more powerful under Saint Sava, who became the first head of the Serb Orthodox Church and his brother Stefan Prvovencani who was made son-in-law (''sebastokrator'') to Emperor Alexios III Angelos after marrying Eudokia Angelina, thus ensuring the autonomy of Serbia and continuing loyalty to the Byzantine Empire. At the time, Serbia did not exist as a state of that name but was rather the region inhabited and ruled by the Serbs; its kings and tsars were called the "King of the Serbs" referring to lands where the Serbs lived. The medieval Serbian state is nonetheless often, albeit anachronistically, referred to as "Serbia".

Serbia experienced its golden age under the House of Nemanjic, with the Serbian state reaching its apogee of power in the reign of Tsar Stefan Uros Dusan, when the Serbian Empire dominated the Balkans. Serbia's power subsequently dwindled amid interminable conflict between the nobility, rendering the country unable to resist the steady incursion of the Ottoman Empire into south-eastern Europe. The Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is commonly regarded in Serbian national mythology as the key event in the country's defeat by the Turks, although in fact Ottoman rule was not fully imposed until some time later. After Serbia fell, the kings of Bosnia used the title of "King of the Serbs" until Bosnia was also overrun.

Nemanyid Serbia

De administrando imperio 32. Of the Serbs and of the country they now dwell in.

The Serbs are descended from the unbaptized Serbs, also called 'white', who live beyond Turkey in a place called by them Boiki, where their neighbour is Francia, as is also Great Croatia, the unbaptized, also called 'white': in this place, then, these Serbs also originally dwelt. But when two brothers succeeded their father in the rule of Serbia, one of them, taking a moiety of the folk, claimed the protection of Heraclius, the emperor of the Romans, and the same emperor Heraclius received him and gave him a place in the province of Thessalonica to settle in, namely Serbia, which from that time has acquired this denomination. 'Serbs' in the tongue of the Romans is the word for 'slaves', whence the colloquial 'serbula' for menial shoes, and 'tzerboulianoi' for those who wear cheap, shoddy footgear. This name the Serbs acquired from their being slaves of the emperor of the Romans. Now, after some time these same Serbs decided to depart to their own homes, and the emperor sent them off. But when they had crossed the river Danube, they changed their minds and sent a request to the emperor Heraclius, through the military governor then governing Belgrade, that he would grant them other land to settle in. And since what is now Serbia and Pagania and the so-called country of the Zachlumi and Terbounia and the country of the Kanalites were under the dominion of the emperor of the Romans, and since these countries had been made desolate by the Avars (for they had expelled from those parts the Romani who now live in Dalmatia and Dyrrachium), therefore the emperor settled these same Serbs in these countries, and they were subject to the emperor of the Romans; and the emperor brought elders from Rome and baptized them and taught them fairly to perform the works of piety and expounded to them the faith of the Christians. And since Bulgaria was beneath the dominion of the Romans * * * when, therefore, that same Serbian prince died who had claimed the emperor's protection, his son ruled in succession, and thereafter his grandson, and in like manner the succeeding princes from his family.

And after some years was begotten of them Boiseslav, and of him Rodoslav, and of him Prosigois, and of him Blastimer; and up to the time of this Blastimer the Bulgarians lived at peace with the Serbs, whose neighbours they were and with whom they had a common frontier, and they were friendly one toward another, and were in servitude and submission to the emperors of the Romans and kindly entreated by thorn. But, during the rule of this same Blastimer, Presiam, prince of Bulgaria, came with war against the Serbs, with intent to reduce them to submission ; but though he fought them three years he not merely achieved nothing but also lost very many of his men. After the death of prince Blastimer his three sons, Muntimer and Stroimer and Goinikos, succeeded to the rule of Serbia and divided up the country. In their time came up the prince of Bulgaria, Michael Boris, wishing to avenge the defeat of his father Presiam, and made war, and the Serbs discomfited him to such an extent that they even held prisoner his son Vladimer. together with twelve great boyars. Then, out of grief for his son, Boris perforce made peace with the Serbs. But, being about to return to Bulgaria and afraid lest the Serbs might ambush him on the way, he begged for his escort the sons of prince Muntimer, Borenas and Stephen, who escorted him safely as far as the frontier at Rasi. For this favour Michael Boris gave them handsome presents, and they in return gave him, as presents in the way of friendship, two slaves, two falcons, two dogs and eighty furs, which the Bulgarians describe as tribute. A short while after, the same three brothers, the princes of Serbia, fell out, and one of them, Muntimer, gained the upper hand and, wishing to he sole ruler, seized the other two and handed them over to Bulgaria, keeping by him and caring for only the son of the one brother Goinikos, Peter by name, who fled and came to Croatia, and of whom we shall speak in a moment. The aforesaid brother Stroimer, who was in Bulgaria, had a son Klonimer, to whom Boris gave a Bulgarian wife. Of him was begotten Tzeeslav, in Bulgaria. Muntimer, who had expelled his two brothers and taken the rule, begat three sons, Pribeslav and Branos and Stephen, and after he died his eldest son Pribeslav succeeded him.

Now, after one year the aforesaid Peter, son of Goinikos, came out of Croatia and expelled from the rule his cousin Pribeslav and his two brothers, and himself succeeded to the rule, and they fled away and entered Croatia. Three years later Branos came to fight Peter and was defeated and captured by him, and blinded. Two years after that, Klonimer, the father of Tzeeslav, escaped from Bulgaria and he too came and with an army and entered one of the cities of Serbia, Dostinika, with intent to take over the rule. Peter attacked and slew him, and continued to govern for another 20 years, and his rule began during the reign of Leo, the holy emperor, of most blessed memory, to whom he was in submission and servitude. He also made peace with Symeon, prince of Bulgaria, and even made him god-father to his child. Now, after the time that this lord Leo had reigned, the then military governor at Dyrrachium, the protospatharius Leo Rhabduchus, who was afterwards honoured with the rank of magister and office of foreign minister, arrived in Pagania, which was at that time under the control of the prince of Serbia, in order to advise and confer with this same prince Peter upon some service and affair. Michael, prince of the Zachlumi, his jealousy aroused by this, sent information to Symeon, prince of Bulgaria, that the emperor of the Romans was bribing prince Peter to take the Turks with him and go upon Bulgaria. It was at that time when the battle of Achelo had taken place between the Romans and the Bulgarians. Symeon, mad with rage at this, sent against prince Peter of Serbia Sigritzis Theodore and the notorious Marmais with an army, and they took with them also the young prince Paul, son of Branos whom Peter, prince of Serbia, had blinded. The Bulgarians proceeded against the prince of Serbia by treachery, and, by binding him with the relationship of god-father and giving a sworn undertaking that he should suffer nothing untoward at their hands, they tricked him into coming out to them, and then on the instant bound him and carried him off to Bulgaria, and he died in prison. Paul, son of Branos, entered into his room and governed three years. The emperor, the lord Romanus, who had in Constantinople the young prince Zacharias, son of Pribeslav, prince of Serbia, sent him off to be prince in Serbia, and he went and fought, but was defeated by Paul; who took him prisoner and handed him over to the Bulgarians and he was kept in prison. Then, three years later, when Paul had put himself in opposition to the Bulgarians, they sent this Zacharias, who had previously been sent by the lord Romanus the emperor, and he expelled Paul and himself took possession of the rule over the Serbs ; and thereupon, being mindful of the benefits of the emperor of the Romans, he broke with the Bulgarians, being not at all wishful to be subjected to them, but rather that the emperor of the Romans should be his master. And so, when Symeon sent against him an army under Marmaim and Sigritzis Theodore, he sent their heads and their armour from the battle to the emperor of the Romans as tokens of his victory (for the war was still going on between the Romans and the Bulgarians) ; nor did he ever cease, just as the princes also that were before him had been used to send missions to the emperors of the Romans, to be in subjection and servitude to them.

Again, Symeon sent another army against prince Zacharias, under Kninos and Himnikos and Itzboklias, and together with them he sent also Tzeeslav. Then Zacharias took fright and fled to Croatia, and the Bulgarians sent a message to the 'zupans' that they should come to them and should receive Tzeeslav for their prince ; and, having tricked them by an oath and brought them out as far as the first village, they instantly bound them, and entered Serbia and took away with them the entire folk, both old and young, and carried them into Bulgaria, though a few escaped away and entered Croatia ; and the country was left deserted. Now, at that time these same Bulgarians under Alogobotour entered Croatia to make war, and there they were all slain by the Croats. Seven years afterwards Tzeeslav escaped from the Bulgarians with four others, and entered Serbia from Preslav, and found in the country no more than fifty men only, without wives or children, who supported themselves by hunting. With these he took possession of the country and sent a message to the emperor of the Romans asking for his support and succour, and promising to serve him and be obedient to his command, as had been the princes before him.

And thenceforward the emperor of the Romans continually benefited him, so that the Serbs living in Croatia and Bulgaria and the rest of the countries, whom Symeon had scattered, rallied to him when they heard of it. Moreover, many had escaped from Bulgaria and entered Constantinople, and these the emperor of the Romans clad and comforted and sent to Tzeeslav. And from the rich gifts of the emperor of the Romans he organized and populated the country, and is, as before, in servitude and subjection to the emperor of the Romans; and through the co-operation and many benefits of the emperor he has united this country and is confirmed in the rule of it. The prince of Serbia has from the beginning, that is, ever since the reign of Heraclius the emperor, been in servitude and submission to the emperor of the Romans, and was never subject to the prince of Bulgaria. In baptized Serbia are the inhabited cities of Destinikon, Tzernabouskei, Megyretous, Dresneik, Lesnik, Salines ; and in the territory of Bosona, Katera and Desnik.

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Serbian Empire, rise and fall

Ottoman domination

As Christians, the Serbs were regarded as a "protected people" under Ottoman law but in practice were treated as second-class citizens and often harshly treated. They were subjected to considerable pressure to convert to Islam; some did, while others migrated to the north and west, to seek refuge in Austria-Hungary.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the First Serbian Uprising succeeded in liberating at least some Serbs, for a limited time. The Second Serbian Uprising was much more successful, creating a powerful Serbia that became a modern European kingdom.

Serbian Revolution

20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, many Serbs were still under foreign rule – that of the Ottomans in the south and of the Austrians in the north and west. The southern Serbs were liberated in the First Balkan War of 1912, while the question of Austrian Serbs' independence was the spark that lit the First World War two years later. A Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip killed the Austro-Hungarian archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, initiating a chain of declarations of war that produced a continent-wide conflict. During the war, the Serbian army fought fiercely, eventually retreated through Albania to regroup in Greece and launched a counter-offensive through Macedonia. Though they were eventually victorious, the war devastated Serbia and killed a huge proportion of its population – by some estimates, over the half of the male Serbian population died in the conflict, influencing the region's demographics to this day.

After the war, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later called Yugoslavia) was created. Almost all Serbs now finally lived in one state. The new state had its capital in Belgrade and was ruled by a Serbian king; it was, however, unstable and prone to ethnic tensions. An interesting, if somewhat pro-Serb, window on Yugoslavia between the wars is provided by Rebecca West's classic of travel literature, "Black Lamb & Grey Falcon".

During Second World War, the Axis Powers occupied Yugoslavia, dismembering the country. Serbia was occupied by the Germans, while in Bosnia and Croatia Serbs were put under the rule of the Italians and the fascist Ustase regime in the Independent State of Croatia. Under Ustase rule in particular, Serbs and other non-Croats were subjected to systematic genocide in which hundreds of thousands were killed.

After the war, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed. As with the pre-war Yugoslavia, the country's capital was at Belgrade. Serbia was the largest republic, however, the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito diluted its power by establishing two autonomous provinces in Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina.

Communist Yugoslavia collapsed in the early 1990s, with four of its six republics becoming independent states. This led to several bloody civil wars as the large Serbian communities in Croatia and Bosnia attempted to remain within Yugoslavia, which now consisted of only Serbia and Montenegro. Another war broke out in Kosovo (see Kosovo War) after years of tensions between Serbs and Albanians. About 200,000 Serbs left Croatia during the "Operation Storm" in 1995, and another 200,000 left Kosovo after the Kosovo War, and settled mostly in Central Serbia and Vojvodina as refugees.

Ethnology

Byzantine sources report that part of the White Serbs, led by the Unknown Archont, migrated southwards from their Slavic homeland of White Serbia (Lusatia) in the late sixth century and eventually overwhelmed the 'Serbian lands' that now make up Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Dalmatia. After settling on the Balkans, Serbs mixed with other Slavic tribes (which settled during the great migration of the Slavs) and with descendants of the indigenous peoples of the Balkans: Illyrians, Thracians, Dacians, Celts, Greeks and Romans.

Afterwards, overwhelmed by the Ottoman wars in Europe which ravaged their territories, Serbs once again started crossing the rivers Sava and Danube and resettling the regions in Central Europe which are today's Vojvodina, Slavonia, Transylvania and Hungary proper. Apart from the Habsburg Empire, thousands were attracted to Imperial Russia, where they were given territories to settle: Nova Serbia and Slavo-Serbia were named after these refugees. Two Great Serbian Migrations resulted in a relocation of the Serbian core from the Ottoman-dominated South towards the Christian North, where it has remained ever since.

Serbs are genetically and culturally close to the other ethnic groups inhabiting the Balkans. The Serbs emanated in patriarchal tribal organizations (zadrugas, see also Roman ''pater familias''), with the Serb clan system surviving to this day, similarly maintained by Montenegrins but also in Montenegrin Bosniaks, Gheg Albanians and Maniote Greeks. This type of structure was initially part of the Serbian medieval society (feudalism), evolved to the zadruga system that declined in the late 19th century.

The Lapot and Krvna Osveta are practices which are of ancient characteristics registered in Serbian society.

Name and etymology

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the first Russian chronicle, Serbs are among the first five Slav peoples who were enumerated by their names.

Serbs are thought to be first mentioned by Tacitus in 50 AD, Pliny the Elder in 77 AD (''Naturalis Historia'') and Ptolemy in his ''Geography'' 2nd century AD, who associate the "Serbs" with the Sarmatian tribe of Serboi of the North Caucasus and Lower Volga. Ptolemy also mentions the town of Serbinum, present day Gradiška in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The works of Vibius Sequester also mention the ''Serbs''. Procopius uses the name ''Sporoi'' as an umbrella term for the Slavic tribes of Antes and Sclaveni, it is however not known whether the Slavs used this designation for themselves or he himself coined the term, it has been theorized however that the name is corruption of the ethnonym ''Serbs''.

Having defeated the Avars, under the ''Unknown Archont'', the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius invited Serbs (who came from Bojka, derived from Proto-Slavic *bojь. = battle, war, fight) to settle in the provinces of Salonica and Dalmatia, there they gave their name to the town of ''Servia''. The Unknown Archont's descendants (House of Vlastimirović and it's cadet branches) ruled the Serb states (''SURBIA'') for the most part of the medieval period (until 1371), mainly in Byzantine alliance.

The name is most likely derived from the Indo-European root *''ser-'' 'to watch over, protect', akin to Latin ''servare'' 'to keep, guard, protect, preserve, observe', Old English ''searu'' 'weapons, armor, skill', Lithuanian ''sárgas'' 'watchman'.

Exonyms:

Rascians, referring to the population of medieval Serb state Rascia (the one and same people as the other tribes of Duklja (Dukljans), Travunija (Travunians), Pagania (Neretvians/Paganians), Zahumlje (Zahumlians) that all belong to the Serb ethnos, initially also referring to Bosnia (Bosnians).

Triballians, a Thracian tribe assimilated by the local Slavs, by Byzantine and Greek authors.

Slavs, by West and East Roman Empire

*referred to as "Saqaliba" by the Arabs in the early medieval times

*Sclaveni, Slav allies settled in Byzantine lands (In Administrative regions of Sclaviniae)

Genetics

Y-chromosomal haplogroups identified among the Serbs from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are the following: I2a-P37.2 (with frequencies of 29.20 and 30.90%, respectively), E1b1b1a2-V13 (20.35 and 19.80%), R1a1-M17 (15.93 and 13.60%), R1b1b2-M269 (10.62 and 6.20%), K*-M9 (7.08 and 7.40%), J2b-M102 (4.40 and 6.20%), I1-M253 (5.31 and 2.5%), F*-M89 (4.9%, only in B-H), J2a1b1-M92 (2.70%, only in Serbia), and several other uncommon haplogroups with little frequencies.

I2a-P37.2 is the most prevailing haplogroup, accounting for nearly one-third of Serbian Y chromosomes. Its frequency peaks in Herzegovina (64%), and its variance peaks over a large geographic area covering B-H, Serbia, Hungaria, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Geneticists estimate that I2a-P37.2 originated some 10,000 years before present (ybp) in the Balkans, from where it began to expand to Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe about 7000 ybp. It is the second most predominant Y-chromosomal haplogroup in the overall Slavic gene pool. Slavic migrations to the Balkans in the early Middle Ages possibly contributed to the frequency and variance of I2a-P37.2 in the region.

E1b1b1a2-V13 is the second most prevailing haplogroup, accounting for one-fifth of Serbian Y chromosomes. Its frequency peaks in Albania at 24% (among Kosovo Albanians it is 44% due to genetic drift), and is also high among Greeks, Romanians, Macedonian Slavs, and Bulgarians. It is rare among other Slavs, and moderate frequencies of it are found in southern Italy and Anatolia. E-V13 probably originated in the southern Balkans about 9000 ybp. Its ancestral haplogroup, E1b1b1a-M78, could be of a northeast African origin.

R1a1-M17 accounts for about one-seventh to one-sixth of Serbian Y chromosomes. Its frequency peaks in Poland (56.4%) and Ukraine (54.0%), and its variance peaks in northern Bosnia. It originated around 20,000 ybp likely in southern Siberia, and some of its bearers migrated to the Balkans 10,000 to 13,000 ybp. About 5000 to 6000 ybp, they began to migrate from the Balkans to the west toward the Atlantic, to the north toward the Baltic Sea and Scandinavia, to the east to the Russian plains and steppes, and to the south to Asia Minor. It became the most predominant haplogroup in the general Slavic paternal gene pool. The variance of R1a1 in tha Balkans might have been enhanced by infiltrations of Indo-European speaking peoples between 2000 and 1000 BC, and by the Slavic migrations to the region in the early Middle Ages. A descendant lineage of R1a1-M17, R1a1a7-M458, which has the highest frequency in central and southern Poland (30%, more than half of total R1a1 there), is also observed among East Slavic and Finno-Ugric peoples, but it is very rare among South Slavs, including Serbs.

R1b1b2-M269 is moderately represented among the Serb males (6–10%). It has its frequency peak in Western Europe (90% in Wales), but a high frequency is also found in the Caucasus among the Ossetians (43%). It was introduced to Europe by farmers migrating from Western Anatolia, probably about 7500 ybp. Serb bearers of this haplogroup are in the same cluster as Central and Eastern European ones, as indicated by the frequency distributions of its sub-haplogroups with respect to total R-M269. The other two clusters comprise, respectively, Western Europeans and a group of populations from Greece, Turkey, the Caucasus and the Circum-Uralic region.

J2b-M102 and J2a1b1-M92 have low frequencies among the Serbs (6–7% combined). Variuos other lineages of haplogroup J2-M172 are found throughout the Balkans, all with low frequencies. Haplogroup J and all its descendants originated in the Middle East. It is proposed that the Balkan Mesolithic foragers, bearers of I-P37.2 and E-V13, adopted farming from the initial J2 agriculturalists who colonized the region about 7000 to 8000 ybp, transmitting the Neolithic cultural package.

An analysis of molecular variance based on Y-chromosomal STRs showed that Slavs can be divided into two distinct groups: one encompassing West Slavs, East Slavs, Slovenes, and western Croats, and the other encompassing Macedonian Slavs, Serbs, Bosniaks, and northern Croats (the latter six populations are South Slavic speakers). This distinction could be explained by a genetic contribution of pre-Slavic Balkan populations to the genetic heritage of South Slavs belonging to the latter group. Principal component analysis of Y-chromosomal haplogroup frequencies among the three ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbs, Croats, and Bosniacs, showed that Serbs and Bosniacs are genetically closer to each other than either of them is to Croats.

According to Serbian physical anthropologist Živko Mikić, the medieval population of Serbia developed a phenotype that represented a mixture of Slavic and indigenous Balkan Dinaric traits. Mikić, however, argues that the Dinaric traits, such as brachycephaly and a bigger average height, have been since then becoming predominant over the Slavic traits among Serbs.

Maps

References

See also

Serbs

History of Serbia

* Prehistoric, Ancient and Roman Serbia

List of Serbian monarchs

History of Montenegro

History of Bosnia and Herzegovina

*

fr:Histoire des Serbes sr:Историја српског народа