Miroslav Zavidović ( sr-cyr, Мирослав Завидовић) was a 12th-century

Great Prince Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) ( la, magnus princeps; Greek: ''megas archon''; russian: великий князь, velikiy knyaz) is a title of nobility ranked in honour below emperor, equal of king or ...

('' Veliki Župan'') of

Zachumlia Zachlumia or Zachumlia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Zahumlje, Захумље, ), also Hum, was a medieval principality located in the modern-day regions of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia (today parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia ...

from 1162 to 1190, an administrative division ( appanage) of the Grand Principality of Serbia ('' 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 #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

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, he had three brothers; Stefan Nemanja,

Tihomir Tihomir (Bulgarian, Macedonian and sr, Тихомир) is a South Slavic male given name which means "quiet" and "peace" (South Slavic: ''Tiho'' = quiet, ''mir'' = peace). In Russian however the word “mir” мир also means world. So in Rus ...

and Stracimir.

War among the brothers

Miroslav received the appanage of Zahumlje with seat at Ston, 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 in which Tihomir drowned in the

River of Sitnica The Sitnica ( sq, Sitnicë; sr-Cyrl, Ситница) is a river in Kosovo. It flows into the Ibar at Mitrovica, and it is the longest river that flows completely within Kosovo. History In the 14th century, during the reign of king Milutin, ...

. 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 Banate of Bosnia, 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 B ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

. Following the death of Emperor Manuel, Miroslav put the

Narentine The Narentines were a South Slavic tribe that occupied an area of southern Dalmatia centered at the river Neretva (), active in the 9th and 10th centuries, noted as pirates on the Adriatic. Named ''Narentani'' in Venetian sources, Greek source ...

Kačić Kȁčić () is a Croatian surname. It is chiefly distributed in the city of Split, and the area of southern and central Dalmatia. Etymologically it derives from the word ''kača'' "snake". It may refer to: * Kačić noble family, which includes m ...

family under his protection, the orchestrators in the murder of Rajneri, Bishop of Split and kept the Bishopric's money for himself also reluctant to allow Catholicism 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 and Vis. On 18 August 1184 Miroslav's fleet was devastated by the Ragusian navy at Poljice near

Koločep The island of Koločep (; locally known as Kalamota from it, Calamotta) is one of the three inhabited Elaphiti Islands situated near the city of Dubrovnik with an area of . Koločep is the southernmost inhabited island in Croatia. In the 2011 cen ...

, 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 and sacked

Svrljig Svrljig ( sr-cyr, Сврљиг, ) is a town and municipality located in the Nišava District of the Southern and Eastern Serbia, southern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a population of 7,553 inhabitants, while the municipality has ...

, Ravno and

Koželj Koželj is a village in the municipality of Knjaževac, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern an ...

. 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 Korčula was signed by the Normans (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, 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 writte ...

, 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 (disambiguat ...

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

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

References

Sources