Ljutovid

Ljutovid ( sr-cyr, Љутовид) was an independent local Slavic chieftain and ruler of Zahumlje with a title of '' knez''. The region of Zahumlje included parts of present-day western Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina and southern Croatia along the coast. Ljutovid flourished in the middle of the 11th century as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire.

As the local Slavic ruler of Zahumlje, and recipient of Byzantine ranks and titles, he was styled as "''protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou, hypatos, strategos'' of Serbia and Zahumlje" in July 1039, and claimed supremacy in military ranks not only in his local domain but also to the entirety of Serbia.Stephenson 2003, pp. 42-43: "if the idea of developing a ''thema'' of Serbia existed briefly, it was swiftly abandoned and the title ''strategos'' passed to the local aristocracy. In a charter issued July 1039 the Slavic ruler of Zahumlje styled himself "Ljutovit, ''protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou, hypatos, strategos'' of Serbia and Zahumlje." Ljutovid's claim to be strategos not only of Zahumlje, but all Serbia suggests that he had been courted by the emperor, and awarded nominal rights neighbouring lands, including Duklja, which was at the time at war with the empire. Moreover, if we can trust the ''Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja'', our only narrative source, we must conclude that none of the Serbian lands was under direct Byzantine control in 1042. In that year, we are told, the ''ban'' of Bosnia, ''župan'' of Raška, and Slavic ''princeps'' of Zahumlje (Chelmana), Ljutovid, received Byzantine ambassadors offering piles of imperial silver and gold to support imperial efforts against the ruler of neighbouring Duklja, Stefan Vojislav. The use of Latin ''princeps'', rather than ''iupanus'' or ''banus'', to describe Ljutovid, supports the notion that he held the supreme authority among the Serbs at the time." This title was probably given to him by Emperor Michael IV, who might have also granted him nominal right over neighbouring lands, including Serbia.

Depending on different narratives by 11th century John Skylitzes and the 14th century ''Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja'', in 1042, the new emperor ordered Michael the governor of Dyrrhachium to gather a big army, and sent piles of imperial gold and silver to the ''Župan of Rascia'' (Serbia), ''Ban of Bosnia'' and instructed Ljutovid of Zahumlje to do the same in order to support the overthrow of Stefan Vojislav of Duklja. This was because Vojislav previously denounced the emperor's authority by stealing gold and attacking lands under Byzantine allies. In 1043, Michael, or Curcilius and Ljutovid, led the army of the allied forces against Duklja but they were disastrously ambushed in the ''Triballos'' mountains (possibly Klobuk hillMarko Vego, ''Naselja bosanske srednjevjekovne države'', Svjetlost, 1957
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/ref>), with Ljutovid having a duel with Vojislav's son Gojislav. Vojislav went on to pursue and annex the lands of Zahumlje, Travunia and Dyrrhachium.

There exist several documents (possibly forged, but recent research approves their authenticity),) one with two variants dated 1039 and 1151, and a third consisting of a transcript by duke Desa. In them, his title as "''protospatarius epi to chrusotriclinio, ypatus et strategos Servie et Zachlumie''" is confirmed. According to them, Ljutovid awarded the monastery on Lokrum with Babino Polje on the island of Mljet (modern Croatia). According to it, ''Protospatar Ljutovit'' declared that no one, neither Ragusan, nor citizen of Ston, neither Latin, nor Slav, could impede the donation.

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11th-century South Slavs
11th-century Serbian nobility
11th-century Byzantine people
Medieval Bosnian nobility
11th-century Croatian people
Medieval Herzegovina
Byzantine Serbia
Hypatoi