Miroslav Zavidović ( sr-cyr, Мирослав Завидовић) was a 12th-century Great Prince ('' Veliki Župan'') of Zachumlia from 1162 to 1190, an administrative division (

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

) of the

Grand Principality of Serbia Grand Principality of Serbia ( sr, Великожупанска Србија, Velikožupanska Srbija), or Rascia ( sr, Рашка, Raška), was a medieval Serbian state that existed from the second half of the 11th century up until 1217, when it ...

('' Rascia'') covering

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geogra ...

and southern

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...

Biography

He was born in the second half of the 12th century to

Zavida Zavida (Serbian Cyrillic: Завида) or Beli Uroš (Бели Урош, "White Uroš") was a 12th-century Serbian royal who briefly ruled as ''Župan of Zachumlia'' and later held the title ''Lord of Ribnica''. He was a close kinsman, or even a ...

, a Serbian royal that briefly ruled as ''Prince of Zahumlje'', a member of the

Vukanović dynasty The Vukanović dynasty ( sr-cyr, Вукановић, Vukanovići / Вукановићи), was a medieval Serbian dynasty that ruled over inner Serbia, centered in the Raška region ( la, Rascia), during the 11th and 12th century. Several memb ...

, he had three brothers;

Stefan Nemanja Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince ( Veliki Župan) of the Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška, lat. ) from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nema ...

, Tihomir and Stracimir.

War among the brothers

Miroslav received the appanage of Zahumlje with seat at

Ston Ston () is a settlement and a municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located at the south of isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula. History Because of its geopolitical and strategic position, Ston has had a rich history since ant ...

, where he would rule as ''Prince'' or ''Grand Prince'' (2nd highest title). Miroslav and his brothers imprisoned Stefan Nemanja after he had built several monasteries, without the approval of Tihomir. Stefan Nemanja rebelled against his eldest brother Tihomir in 1166, who fled with his brothers Stracimir and Miroslav to Greece to seek help. In the same year, Stefan Nemanja defeated the Byzantine army of mercenaries near the town of Pantino on

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

in which Tihomir drowned in the River of Sitnica. Miroslav and his brothers were stripped of their titles and the unifification of title is evident as Stefan Nemanja was named " Ruler of All Serbia", Nemanja pardoned his brothers and they continued to rule their lands under him.

Rule

He built the Monastery of Saint Peter on Lim. He married a sister of

Ban Kulin Kulin ( sh-Cyrl, Кулин; d. November 1204) was the Ban of Bosnia from 1180 to 1204, first as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire and then of the Kingdom of Hungary, although his state was de facto independent. He was one of Bosnia's most prom ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...

. 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 Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

and kept the Bishopric's money for himself also reluctant to allow

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

prosper in his region which made him excommunicated by the

Papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

in 1181, as a gesture, the Bishop of Ston abandoned his seat and since then the Bishopric of Ston has remained vacant. In 1184, Miroslav went to retake the islands of

Korčula Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after ...

and Vis. On 18 August 1184 Miroslav's fleet was devastated by the Ragusian navy at Poljice near Koločep, and signed peace with the Dubrovnik Republic. He channelled the order to his brother, Prince Stracimir. In 1185, Prince Stracimir raided Korčula and Vis with the fleet of Doclea. He joined the war against the Republic of Ragusa, but was forced to withdraw because Miroslav already made peace by the time Stracimir marshaled his forces. The same year the Byzantines launched a counter-attack on Serbia, but a Bulgarian uprising was raised in the Danubian areas which made the offensive get called-off, so Duke Stefan Nemanja utilized the situation and conquered the Timok Valley with

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, whi ...

and sacked Svrljig,

Ravno Ravno is a village and municipality located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ravno was a separate municipality until 1963, when it became a part of the Trebinje muni ...

and Koželj. While Stefan Nemanja held Niš, it served as his capital and base of operations. Miroslav was at war with Dubrovnik in 1185, the peace in 1186 was followed by cordial relationship between the two until his death. The treaty that ended the dispute of

was signed by the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

(who held Korčula) and Serbs on 27 September 1186, by Stefan Nemanja and Miroslav. Hum renounced its claims on Korčula and Vis. In 1190–1192, Stefan Nemanja briefly assigned the rule of Hum to his son Rastko Nemanjić''The Late Medieval Balkans'', p. 19-20 (''Saint Sava'', the first Patriarch of the Serbs), meanwhile Miroslav held the Lim region with

Bijelo Polje Bijelo Polje ( cnr, Бијело Поље, ) is a town in northeastern Montenegro on the Lim River. It has an urban population of 15,400 (2011 census). It is the administrative, economic, cultural and educational centre of northern Montenegro. ...

, Rastko however took monastic vows and Miroslav continued ruling Hum after 1192. When Stefan Nemanja besieged and retook the power of Duklja in 1180s, Stracimir and Miroslav attacked the forces of Doclean ruler Mihailo.

Death, family and legacy

He died in 1198 of old age, his son Toljen succeeded him as Prince of Hum ca 1192–1196. He had two sons with the sister of Ban Kulin; Andrija Miroslavljević and Toljen Miroslavljević who married the daughter of Berthold of Andechs. It is thought he had one more son, called Petar Miroslavljević, although this is not fully determined.

Miroslav's Gospel Miroslav Gospel ( sr, Мирослављево jеванђеље / Miroslavljevo jevanđelje, ) is a 362-page Serbian illuminated manuscript Gospel Book on parchment with very rich decorations. It is one of the oldest surviving documents written ...

, the oldest known book written in

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking co ...

, was commissioned by and written in his honour.MIROSLAV'S GOSPEL IN TYPOGRAPHY
author: Vedran Eraković Among his foundations is the Saints Peter and Paul Church in

, on the Lim river, to which he gave 20 villages.

References

Sources