Vlastimirović dynasty
| Vlastimirović Властимировић |
|
|---|---|
| Royal house | |
| Country | Serbian Principality |
| Titles | Archon (ἄρχων), rendered "Prince" |
| Style(s) | "Prince of the Serbs" |
| Founded | 7th century |
| Founder |
Unknown Archon (mythological) Vlastimir (eponymous) |
| Final ruler | Časlav († 960s) |
| Dissolution | 960s |
| Ethnicity | Serb |
| Cadet branches | Vojislavljević |
The Vlastimirović dynasty (Serbian: Властимировићи, Vlastimirovići) was the first Serbian royal dynasty, named after Prince Vlastimir (r. 831–851), who was recognized by the Byzantine Empire. The dynasty starts with the Unknown Archont, who ruled during Emperor Heraclius (610–641).
The Vlastimirović ruled Serbia until the 960s, when some Serbian lands were annexed, first by Bulgaria, then the Byzantine Empire.
Slavs ravaged Eastern Roman territories beginning in 518, and had by the 580s conquered much of the Central Balkans. Archaeological evidence in Serbia and Macedonia point that the Serbs reached the Balkans between 550–600, as much findings; fibulae and pottery found at Roman forts point at Serb characteristics.
One of the fundamental sources for the early Serbian history is the work of Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos (913–959), De Administrando Imperio. In eight chapters, the settlement of Serbs and their early history is described up until the reign of the author. The 32nd chapter, with the sub-chapter On the Serbs and the lands that they currently inhabit, gives a short note on the origin of the Serbs, their homeland, and continues with the history of members of the oldest ruling family of the Serbs.
The progenitor, according to Porphyrogenitos, was the prince that led the Serbs to the Balkans during the reign of Heraclius (r. 610–641). The author gives the early genealogy: "As the Serb Prince who fled to Emperor Heraclius" in the time "when Bulgaria was under the Rhōmaíōn" (thus, before the establishment of Bulgaria in 680), "by succession, his son, and then grandson, and so on, of his family rules as princes. After some years, Višeslav is born, and from him Radoslav, and from him Prosigoj, and from him Vlastimir.". The time and circumstances of the first three rulers are almost unknown. It is supposed that Višeslav ruled in c. 780, but it is unclear when Radoslav and Prosigoj would have ruled. When the Serbs were mentioned in 822 (the oldest mention of them) in the Royal Frankish Annals ("the Serbs, who control the greater part of Dalmatia"; ad Sorabos, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur) one of those two must have ruled Serbia. Dalmatia, in the antique period, stretched from modern-day Dalmatia far into the hinterland, northwards close to the Sava river, and eastwards to the Ibar river. Višeslav's great-grandson Vlastimir began his rule in c. 830, and he is the oldest Serbian ruler of which there is substantial data on.
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