User:Zoupan/Zachumlia

Zahumlje or Hum was a medieval region, administrative unit and principality, which was part of the Serbian Principality, Serbian Kingdom, Croatian Kingdom and Bosnian Kingdom, at brief times independent. It was located in modern-day regions of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia (today parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, respectively).

Name (Etymology)
The principality is named Zahumlje or Hum in Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian (Захумље, Хум). It is Zachlumia in Latin, Хлъмъ in Old Church Slavonic, and Ζαχλούμων χώρα ("land of Zachlumians") in Greek. The names Chelmania, Chulmia and terra de Chelmo appear in later Latin and Italian chronicles.

South Slavic Zahumlje got its name from the mountain of Hum (za + Hum "behind the Hum"), above Bona, at the mouth of the Buna. Hum in turn derived its name from Vulgar Latin (Vlach) culme meaning "Hill".

Geography
Constantine described the administration of Hum under Časlav Klonimirović (927-~960), when it had the cities of Ston, Mokriskik, Josli, Galumainik and Dobriskik.

The 1300s Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja described the geography under the rule of the South Slavic rulers, Hum had two major cities: Bona and Hum. The main settlements in Zachlumia were Ston, Ošlje, Dobar, the towns of Mokriski and Glumainik. The Principality sprang from Dalmatia (Croatia) to the northwest and Pagania to the west; to the mountain of Kalinovik and the Field of Gatak, where it bordered Travunia. The most eastern border of Zahumlje went along the line Popovo-Ljubinje-Dabar and met with the Travunian border at the City of Ragusa, which had to pay the annual tax mogorish of 36 pieces of gold to the Zachlumian rulers and at times accept their rule. Zachlumia was split on 9 Zhupanates: that of Ston, that of Popovo, Dubrava's, Luka, Dabar, Žapska, goričku and Večenik around Neretva. Zahumlje had access to the Adriatic Sea with the Peninsular of Rat and faced Serbia northwards.

History
Historians recognize mediaeval Zachlumia politically as "Serbian". Constantine VII (r. 913–959) in his De administrando imperio describes Zachlumia as a Serbian land, inhabited by Serbs, Pagania to the west and Travunia to the east as well, he continues with the realm of the Croats, which ended to the north, with the cities: Pliva, Livno, Imotski.

The history of Zahumlje begins with the region being part of the Unknown Archont's dominion, which in Byzantine sources was called "Sclavinia" (Slavdom, i.e. Slav territory) which came to be ruled by the Vlastimirović Dynasty, that established the First Principality of Serbia (768-960).

9th century
Charlemagne, King of the Franks from 768 until his death in 814, expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of western and central Europe. Dalmatia which was southeast of the Frankish empire, was in the hands of the Croats and Serbs.

Radoslav of Serbia or his son was the ruler of Serbia during the uprisings (819-822) of Ljudevit Posavski against the Franks. According to the Royal Frankish Annals, in 822, Ljudevit went from his seat in Sisak to the Serbs who controlled a great part of Dalmatia ("ad Sorabos, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur"). Although some historians have concluded that Ljudevit was Croat, there is no contemporary mention of the ethnonym "Croat" in Dalmatia, only "Slavs" and "Serbs".

In 866, a major Arab raid along Dalmatia struck Budva and Kotor, and then laid siege to Dubrovnik in 867. The city of Dubrovnik appealed to Byzantine Emperor Basil the Macedonian, who responded by sending over one hundred ships. Finally, the 866–867 Saracens' siege of Dubrovnik, which lasted fifteen months, was raised due to the intervention of Basil I, who sent a fleet under the command of Niketas Oryphas in relief of the city (Zahumlje, Travunija and Konavle aided the intervention ). After this successesful intervention, the Byzantine navy sailed along the coast collecting promises of loyalty to the empire from the Dalmatian cities. At this moment the local Slavic tribes (Travunija, Duklja and Zahumlje) also accepted Byzantine suzerainty. Afterwards, the Slavs of Dalmatia and Zahumlje took part in the Byzantine military actions against the Arabs in Bari in 870-871. The Roman cities in Dalmatia had long been pillaged by the Slavic tribes in the mountaines around them. Basil I allowed the towns to pay tribute to the Slavic tribes to reduce the Slavs raiding. Presumably a large portion of this tribute went to the prince of Dalmatian (Littoral) Croatia.

In late 870s, the Theme of Dalmatia ("thema Dalmatias") was established, with the strategos seated at Dubrovnik (Ragusa, Ragusion). These small cities in the region (also Dyrrachium) did not stretch into the hinterlands, and had none military capacity, thus Basil I paid a tax of '72 gold coins' to the princes of Zahumlje and Travunia.

Knez Mihailo


The history of Zahumlje as a greater political entity starts with the emerging of noble Mihailo Višević (a Serb, the DAI says he descended from the Litziki of Upper Vistula), who during the rule of Prince Petar Gojniković (892-917), brakes away and gains independence. His realm was under papal jurisdiction (Pope John X), he maintained relations with Bulgaria, giving information on a planned attack by Serbia, he later received the titles of proconsul and patrikios by the Byzantine Emperor, suggesting he maintained diplomatic relations with all major political entities.

Serbian Archont Petar (Vlastimirović dynasty, r. 892-917) started to expand his reign at the expense of Zahumlje at the end of the 9th century, calling upon his old Grand Princely right of Zachlumia being historically only a Serbian fief. He pressured Mihailo Višević, pushing him to the islands, re-taking mainland Hum. Grand Prince Petar later met and negotiated with the Byzantines in Pagania, planning an attack on Bulgaria, the Bulgarians were however warned by Mihailo. In 912 Mihailo kidnapped the Venetian Doge's son Peter Badoari that was returning to Venice from Constantinople and sent him to Tsar Symeon as a sign of loyalty; he generally maintained a pro-Bulgarian foreign policy hoping that it would help restore power in his realm. After the Bulgarians deposed Petar, they put Pavle Branović (r. 917-921), the Great Prince Mihailo was able to restore the majority of control. In the following several years Mihailo reigned peacefully and carefully whilst the Vlastimirovid cousin princes battled eachother for the throne.

According to a 16th-century manuscript, in 925 Prince Mihailo attended the Ecclesiastical Council in Split, together with Tomislav of Croatia. Zahumlje may have been under papal jurisdiction (Archbishopric of Split), but remained a separate political entity to Croatia and Serbia. After the Italian city of Siponte was heavily jeopardized by the raiding Arabs and Langobards, Mihailo ousted a magnificent military victory by taking the city upon the recommendations from Constantinople and orders from his ally, King Tomislav Trpimirovic, but didn't keep it permanently. Mihailo Višević entered into closer relations with the Byzantine Empire, after the death of Bugaria's Tsar Simeon. He gained the title patrikios and hypatos, officially recognizing him as the ruler of his land in Byzantine name.

Shifting rules


After the death of Mihailo, Hum was re-integrated to the Principality of Serbia of Časlav Klonimirović, the last of the Vlastimirović dynasty. With the death of Časlav, Serbia disintegrated and Duklja absorbed most of Rascia along with Zahumlje and Trebinje. The Catepanate of Ras was established during the rule of John Tzimiskes (r. 969–976). A seal of a strategos of Ras has been dated to Tzimiskes' reign, making it possible for Tzimiskes' predecessor Nikephoros II Phokas to have enjoyed recognition in Rascia. In the meantime,

The title Prince of Hum given to son of Petar of Serbia, Dragislav Petrović, with the zupanias of Stantania, Papava, Yabsko, Luca, Vellica, Gorimita, Vecenike, Dubrava and Debre.

According to the the 13th-century work Historia Salonitana by Thomas the Archdeacon, when describing the reign of Croatian king Stephen Držislav (r. 969–997) in late 10th century, notes that the Duchy of Hum was a part of the Kingdom of Croatia.

In the 990s, Bulgarian Tsar Samuel made client states out of most of the Balkans, including Duklja and Zahumlje. In 998, Samuel launched a major campaign against Jovan Vladimir to prevent a Byzantine-Serbian alliance. When his troops reached Duklja, Vladimir withdrew to the mountains, Samuel left part of the army at the foot of the mountains and led the remaining soldiers to besiege the coastal fortress of Ulcinj. In an effort to prevent bloodshed, he asked Jovan Vladimir to surrender, but Jovan refused, some Serb nobles offered their services to the Bulgarians and, when it became clear that further resistance was fruitless, the Serbs surrendered. Jovan Vladimir was exiled to Samuel's palaces in Prespa. The Bulgarian troops proceeded to pass through Dalmatia, taking control of Kotor and journeying to Dubrovnik. Although they failed to take Dubrovnik, they devastated the surrounding villages. The Bulgarian army then attacked Croatia in support of the rebel princes Krešimir III and Gojslav and advanced northwest as far as Split, Trogir and Zadar, then northeast through Bosnia and Raška and returned to Bulgaria. The Croato-Bulgarian War allowed Samuel to install vassal monarchs in Croatia.

11th century
Dragomir Hvalimirović, ruled Travunia with Hlevna (Livno) before 1018. He was the last prominent ruler of John Vladimir's family and ruled Travunia and Hum until his murder in Kotor, in 1018.

Hum was annexed together with the rest of Serbia by the Byzantines in 1018. With the revolts of Vojislav of Duklja in the 1030s, Duklja managed to free itself from Byzantine rule, he had by 1040 had a portion of Zahumlje, as well as Trebinje and Duklja, as far north as Ston to Scodra in the south.

Ljutovid held the title of governor as "protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou, hypatos, strategos" of "Serbia (Rascia) and Zahumlje" in 1039 under Constantine IX. In 1042-3 Ljutovid (now princeps of Chelmana) assembled a combined army of Rascia, Bosnia and Hum to tackle Vojislav of Duklja (fl. 1018-1043), he was unsuccessful, and Vojislav proceeded to take Hum from the Byzantines when defeating Ljutovid.



During the rule of Constantine Bodin (r. 1081–1101), neither Bosnia, Rascia nor Zahumlje was ever integrated into Doclea, each retained its own nobility and institutions and simply acquired a Vojislavljević to head the local structure as Prince or Duke.

Soon civil war broke out among Bodin's relatives, which made Rascia, Bosnia and Zahumlje seccede from Duklja. Rascia became the center of the Serbia (as it was prior to 960). Bodin's heirs recognized Byzantine overlordship. Vukan of Serbia (r. 1083-1115) emerged as the most powerful of the Serbian royalty.

12th century
Kočapar, the Prince of Duklja (r. 1102–1103), ruled in the name of Vukan of Serbia. There was a split between the two, and Vukan sent forces to Duklja, making Kocapar flee to Bosnia and then Zahumlje, where he died.

Zavida (Vojislavljević) ruled Zahumlje before getting into a conflict with his brothers, resulting in him being exiled to Duklja, where he would have the title of Lord of Ribnica.

Grand Princes Desa I (r. 1148-1162) and Uroš II Prvoslav ruled Serbia together 1149-1153, Desa had the title of 'Prince of Duklja, Travunija and Zahumlje', mentioned in 1150 and 1151.

Slavogast is mentioned in 1154 confirmed as a Count (Ban) ("Banus Slauogast cum filiis et omnibus Zachulmie nobilibus") under Desa of Serbia (Dessa Dioclie, Terbunie et Zacholmie dux).

Stefan Nemanja and Miroslav


After Stefan Nemanja attacked Kotor in 1181, also seizing Bar, he installed Miroslav Zavidović as Prince of Hum, at the same time the Bosnian Banate is formed with lands to the north border of Hum. Miroslav built the Monastery of Saint Peter on Lim. He married a sister of Ban Kulin of Bosnia. Following the death of Emperor Manuel, Miroslav put the Narentine Kačić family under his protection, the orchestrators in the murder of Rajneri, Bishop of Split and kept the Bishopric's money for himself also reluctant to allow Catholicism prosper in his region which made him excommunicated by the Papacy in 1181, as a gesture, the Bishop of Ston abandoned his seat and since then the Bishopric of Ston has remained vacant. The Miroslav Gospel is the oldest Serbian Cyrillic document, the Gospel was very likely produced for the Church of St Peter in Lima, commissioned by Miroslav.

In 1190-1192, Stefan Nemanja briefly assigned the rule of Hum to his son Rastko Nemanjić (Saint Sava, the first Patriarch of the Serbs), meanwhile Miroslav held the Lim region with Bijelo Polje, Rastko however took monastic vows and Miroslav continued ruling Hum after 1192.

Miroslav died in 1198 of old age, his son Toljen Miroslavljević succeeded him as Prince of Hum ca 1192-1196, the younger son Petar Miroslavljević took over ruling until 1227. Miroslav's descendants had the level of local nobility.

13th century
When Rastko becomes the first Patriarch of Serbs in 1219, he appoints Ilarion as Archbishop of Hum.

Andrija Mirosavljević is entitled the rule of Hum, but the Hum nobility chose his brother Petar. Andrija is exiled to Rascia, to the court of his cousin, the Grand Prince Stefan Nemanjić. In the meantime, Petar fought successfully with neigbouring Bosnia and Croatia. Stefan Nemanjić sided with Andrija and went to war and secured Hum and Popovo field for Andrija sometime after his ascession. Petar was defeated and crossed the Neretva, continuing to rule the west and north of the Neretva, which had around 1205 been briefly occupied by Andrew the Jerosolimitan.

Toljen Toljenović, the son of Toljen I, succeeded as Prince, ruling 1227-1237.

Andrija's sons Bogdan, Radoslav and Djordje succeed as Princes of Hum in 1249, Radoslav held the supreme rule. During the war against Ragusa, he aided his kinsman Stephen Uroš I of Serbia, at the same time sworing liegance to Béla IV of Hungary. Following an earthquake in the Hum capital of Ston, the Orthodox bishop of Hum moved to the church of St Peter and St Paul built on the Lim River near the Serbian border in the 1250s.

Stephen Uroš I of Serbia (1243–1276) unified the Serbian titles (of "Hum, Trebinje and Zeta") into "King of all the Serbian and Maritime Lands". When he dies, the Queen Helen of Anjou rules Zeta, Travunia, Plav and Poibarje.

14th century


The Croatian Šubić family allied themselves with Charles I of Hungary during the civil war between Árpád and Anjou. Charles later awarded Paul Šubić all Croatia from Gvozd to the Neretva. In 1299 he becomes the Lord of All Bosnia.

In the course of the war between Stephen Uroš II Milutin and Stephen Dragutin, Ban of Croatia Paul Šubić (r. 1299-1312) expanded not only into western Hum, but also beyond the Neretva river to take the region towards Nevesinje and Ston. When Mladen Šubić succeeded Paul in 1312, "Hum" was added his title. In 1313, Milutin and Dragutin made peace, and Milutin went to war against the Šubićs, and during the war took captive the brother of Mladen; for his release Mladen restored part of Hum to Milutin. After this agreement in 1313 the Neretva again became the border between eastern (Serbian) and western (now Šubić) Hum.

Branivojevići and Bosnian annexation
After the death of Milutin, civil war broke out among Serbian nobles, the situation was particularly intense in Hum. By 1325, the Branivojevićs, based on the lower Neretva and holding Peljesac with a major court in Ston had asserted their control on several other Hum nobility. Although they had taken advantage of Serbia's difficulty to assert independence, they called themselves vassals and supporters of Serbia. They plundered Dubrovnik several times, and with their behaviour, they had stirred opposition among the Hum nobility.

According to Mavro Orbini, their power and behaviour had made them rule Cetina river to Kotor, thus having most of western Hum. They had also put the former ruling family under their vassalage, with Peter and his sons Toljen and Nikola continuing to rule only Popovo polje and the coastal lands bordering it.

In 1322 the Branivojevići murdered Crep, the deputy of Trebinje and Gacko, and took his lands. In 1326, the Hum nobles that had been dispossessed after the assassination of their deputy, turned against Stefan Decanski, because he had by now been able to tackle this problem, but did not intervene, seen as a gesture of support to the Branivojević. The Hum nobles turned to the other strong ruler in the area, Stephen Kotromanić, the Ban of Bosnia. Kotromanić allied himself to various noble families in Hum and Dubrovnik, and dispatched two armies, annexing most of Hum in April-June 1326. Two of the Branivojević were killed. Relations between Bosnia and Serbia were extremely tense in the years that followed.

The eastern parts of Herzegovina, upper Drina and Lim, with Gacko, was in the Serbian state, headed by Vojin, a loyal commander (caesar) of Emperor Dušan the Mighty. Vojin plundered Dubrovnik's territory in August 1325, resulting in Venice banning trade with Serbia.

The Draživojevići of Nevesinje as vassals of the Bosnian Ban, became the leading family of Hum in 1330s. Because of the war in 1327-1328 between Serbia and Dubrovnik, Bosnian lordship of inner Hum and the war in Macedonia, Stephen Uroš IV Dušan sold Ston and Pelješac to Dubrovnik, and turned fighting to east in Macedonia.

15th century


In the begining of the 15th century, Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić ruled over the western Hum, and Sandalj Hranić Kosača ruled over its eastern part, while the Neretva river remaind a border between thear possessions.

Bosnian vassal Stephen Kosača who ruled over Hum, in 1448 dropped his title "Vojvode of Bosnia", assuming the title "Duke [Herzog] of Hum and the Coast". He changed it again in 1449 to "Duke of Saint Sava" in recollection of the Serbian saint. This title had considerable public relations value, because Sava's relics were consider miracle-working by people of all Christian faiths. His lands were known as Herzog's lands or later Herzegovina.

12th and 13th century
Most of Hum's territory was inhabited by Serbs and belonged to the Eastern Church after the Great Schism (under the Archbishop of Ohrid until 1219, and afterwards under the Serbian Orthodox Church). Hum's coastal region, including its capital Ston, had a mixed population of Catholics and Orthodox.

14th and 15th century
In the 14th- and 15th centuries, there was an influx of settlers from the oblasts of Trebinje (the region around forts Klobuk Ledenica and Rudina) and the Hum lands (Gacko and Dabar) to Kotor. The people from Hum were mostly girls from Gacko, who took up working as servants to wealthy families.

In contrast to Bosnia, where Roman Catholicism and Bogomilism (see Bosnian Church) was firmly established, Hum was mostly Orthodox. The Bishopric of Hum, seated in Ston, was part of the Archbishopric of Serbia. The Catholic West referred to Hum Orthodox Christians as "Greeks" and "Rascians" (Graeci, Rasciani) or "schismatics", with the Orthodox religion being called "Rascian religion". The Hum Orthodox came into conflict with the Catholics, especially during the last years of the Bosnian Kingdom.

List of rulers
This list should only be of people having the title of Zahumlje/Hum, thus, rulers of states annexing the region should not be part of the list.

Hum

 * Michael of Zahumlje, Prince of Zahumlje - fl. 913-926 (independent)
 * Dragislav Petrović, Prince of Zahumlje - 10th century (under Hvalimir)
 * Ljutovid, Byzantine strategos of Serbia "princeps of Zahumlje" fl. 1039-1042.
 * Zavida, Prince of Zahumlje - fl. 1113
 * Desa Urošević, Prince of the Seaside "Duke of Zahumlje", 1148-1162
 * Slavogast, Ban of Zahumlje - 1151-1156 (under Desa of Serbia)
 * Stefan Nemanja, Grand župan of Rascia 1166–1196
 * Miroslav, the Great Prince of Zahumlje 1162-1190. He was the brother of Stefan Nemanja, Tihomir and Stracimir. He married a sister of Ban Kulin of Bosnia. In 1166 he ruled in Tihomir's name and since 1166 in the name of Duke of All Serbia, under Grand Prince of Rascia Stefan Nemanja
 * Rastko of Nemanja 1190 - 1192 ruling in the name of Stefan Nemanja
 * Toljen I, son of Miroslav 1192 - 1198
 * Stefan Radoslav, King of All Serbia and Seaside 1196-1234
 * Petar Miroslavljević, son of Miroslav, Duke of Zahumlje 1198-1227 and a count of the city of Split 1222-1225. He married a daughter of Duke Berthold von Meran, Margrave of Istria.
 * Andrija Miroslavljević, son of Miroslav, Prince of the Seaside and Duke of Lower Zahumlje up to 1250
 * Stefan Vladislav, 1233-1243
 * Andrew the Jerosolimitan, ca 1203 (brief occupation of the west of Neretva)
 * Toljen II, son of Toljen, Duke of Upper Zahumlje 1227-1237/1239
 * Bogdan I, son of Andrija, Prince of Zahumlje up to 1249, died 1252
 * Radoslav Andrijić, son of Andrija, Prince of Zahumlje in 1249 - 1255
 * Bodgan II, son of Bogdan, 1285 - 1299
 * Mladen II Šubić of Bribir, "Ban the Croats and Bosnia and general lord of Hum country" 1304 - 1321
 * Stefan Konstantin, Prince of Zahumlje, pretender to the Serbian throne in 1321-1322.
 * Vojvoda Vojin, Duke of Gacko (Upper Hum) 1322 - 1347
 * Nikola, Prince of Zahumlje. He married Katarina Kotromanić in 1338
 * Vojislav Vojinović, Duke of Hum 1358 - 1363
 * Nikola Altomanović, Duke of Hum 1368 - 1373
 * Tvrtko, the first Bosnian King 1373 - 1391, he was part of the coalition that defeated Nikola, he was given Konavli, Trebinje and Polimlje, while Knez Lazar had Rudnik and Podrinje
 * Jovan Uglješa, a descendant of the Serbian House of Mrnjavčević governed Zahumlje from approx. 1391 until his death in 1404.
 * Sandalj Hranić Kosača, Prince of Zahumlje and one of the Dukes of Saint Sava, rose to become became Grand Duke of Bosnia until his death in 1435, from ca. 1392
 * Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, Grand Duke of Bosnia, Prince of Zahumlje and Primorje from 1435 until his death in 1466
 * Vlatko Hercegović from 1466 to 1481


 * The honorific title "Grand Voivode/Duke of Zahumlije" has been granted at times to junior members of the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Montenegro until 1918. The last grand duke, Peter, died in 1932.