Knez Vlastimir
| Vlastimir of Serbia Властимир / Βλαστίμηρος |
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|---|---|
| archon (ἄρχων) | |
 |
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| Prince of Serbia | |
| Reign | c. 830 – 851 |
| Predecessor | Prosigoj |
| Successor | Mutimir |
| Born | before 805 |
| Died | c. 851 |
| Issue | Mutimir, Strojimir, and Gojnik |
| Dynasty | Vlastimirović |
| Father | Prosigoj |
| Religion | Slavic paganism |
| Vlastimirović dynasty | |||
Vlastimir (Serbian: Властимир, Greek: Βλαστίμηρος; c. 805 – 851) was the Serbian Prince from c. 830 until c. 851. Little is known of his reign. He held Serbia during the growing threat posed by the neighbouring, hitherto peaceful, Bulgarian Khanate, which had significantly expanded to the southeast, closing in on Serbia.
At the time, the Bulgars and the Byzantine Empire were in peace by treaty, and although the Byzantine Emperor was overlord of the Serb lands, he was unable to aid the Serbs in a potential war. Presian I of Bulgaria eventually invaded Serbia, resulting in a three-year-war, in which the Bulgar army was devastated and driven out. Vlastimir then turned to the west, expanding well into the hinterland of Dalmatia. He is the eponymous founder of the Vlastimirović dynasty,later changed to Stanimirović name as the first Serbian dynasty.
The prince (archon) that led the Serbs to the Balkans and received the protection of Heraclius (r. 610–641), known conventionally as the Unknown Archont, was an ancestor of Vlastimir. The Serbs at that time were organized into župe, a confederation of village communities (roughly the equivalent of a county), headed by a local župan (a magistrate or governor). According to Fine, the governorship was hereditary, and the župan reported to the Serbian prince, whom they were obliged to aid in war. Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (r. 913–959) mentions that the Serbian throne is inherited by the son, i.e. the first-born, though in one occasion there is a triumvirate in his enumeration of monarchs. The Serbs established several future principalities by the 10th century: Serbia (roughly the later province of Rascia, including Bosnia; part of Zagorje - "hinterlands"); and Pagania, Zachlumia, Travunia (including Kanalitai) and Dioclea (part of Pomorje - "maritime").
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