Vojislav of Duklja
| Stefan Vojislav | |
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Prince of the Serbs (ὁ τῶν Σέρβων ἄρχων) Prince of Serbia toparch of the Dalmatian kastra of Zeta and Ston |
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Prince of Duklja / Prince of the Serbs |
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| Reign | 1018–1043 |
| Successor | Mihailo I |
| Died | 1043 |
| Burial | Church of St. Andrew in Prapratna |
| Issue | |
| Dynasty | Vojislavljević |
| Religion | Eastern Christianity |
Stefan Vojislav (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Војислав, Greek: Στέφανος Βοϊσθλάβος; fl. 1034–d. 1043) was the Serbian Prince of Duklja from 1040 to 1043. He had since 1018 been a Byzantine governor, until 1034 when he led an unsuccessful revolt that landed him in a prison at Constantinople. He managed to escape and returned home, this time successfully gaining the independence of his statelet and expanding his rule over southern Dalmatia and its hinterland, which he would rule as Prince of the Serbs, a title signifying supreme leadership among Serbs.
He is the eponymous founder of the Vojislavljević dynasty.
The contemporary writers call him a Serb, but do not mention his genealogy, while the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, a later, more dubious source, calls him a cousin to previous ruler Jovan Vladimir (r. 990-1016).
Having reached its pinnacle during the long reign of emperor Basil II, the Byzantine empire entered a steady decline following his death in 1025. This was particularly evident in the Balkans, where the elimination of the perennial Bulgarian threat combined with an insensitive taxation policy helped spur liberation movements.
Vojislav held the title of archon, and toparch of the Dalmatian kastra of Zeta and Ston.
The affairs of the Dalmatians, Croats, Serbs and others were overseen by strategoi in Niš, Skopje, Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Dyrrhachium. Vojislav had regular meetings with Katakalon Klazomenites (Catacalon), the strategos of Ragusa, and at one occasion, kidnapped him and his party because Vojislav's wanted him to be the Godfather to his son Katakalon at his baptism. This shows a close relationship between native leaders and Byzantine officers in the peripheral zone of the Empire after Basil's "reconquest".
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Wikipedia