Vlastimir

the Serbian prince

Vlastimir (, 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, First Bulgarian Empire, which had expanded significantly toward Serbia. At the time, the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire were at 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 Bulgarian 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, 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, The DAI's account about the Serbian ethnic settlement and establishment of several future principalities by the 10th century is considered as highly disputable: 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"). Višeslav, the great grandfather of Vlastimir and first Serbian monarch known by name, was a contemporary with Charlemagne (fl. 768–814). He directly held the hereditary lands of Tara, Piva and Lim. Constantine VI conquered the Sclaviniae (slavdom "slav area") of Macedonia, situated to the south, in 785. Radoslav, then Prosigoj, succeeded Višeslav, and they ruled during the revolt of Ljudevit Posavski against the Franks (819–822). According to the Royal Frankish Annals, written in 822, Ljudevit went from his seat at Sisak to the Serbs, who controlled a great part of Dalmatia.

In the east, the Bulgarian Empire grew strong. In 805, khan Krum conquered the Braničevci, Timočani and Obotrites, to the east of Serbia, banished their tribal chiefs, and replaced them with administrators appointed by the central government. In 815, the Bulgarians and Byzantines signed a 30 year peace treaty. In 818 during the rule of Omurtag (814–831), the Braničevci and Timočani together with other tribes of the frontiers, revolted and seceded from Bulgaria because of an administrative reform that had deprived them much of their local authority. The Timočani left the societas (association, alliance) of the Bulgarian Empire, and sought, together with the Danubian Obotrites and Guduscani, protection from Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious (r. 813–840), and met him at his court at Herstal. The khan sent envoys to the Franks and requested that the precise boundary be demarcated between them, and negotiations lasted until 826, when the Franks neglected him. The Bulgarian state had a general policy of expansion in which they would first impose the payment of tribute on a neighboring people and the obligation of supplying military assistance in the form of an alliance (societas), leaving them internal self government and local rulers, and when the need for this kind of relationship expired, they would terminate the self government arrangement and impose direct and absolute power, integrating their neighbor fully into the Bulgarian political and cultural system.

Vlastimir succeeded his father, Prosigoj, as the archon of Serbia. The Serbs most likely consolidated due to alarm at the advance of Bulgaria towards their borders—a rapid conquest of neighbouring Slavs—in self defence, and possibly sought to cut off the Bulgarian expansion to the south (Macedonia). According to Porphyrogenitus, the Bulgarians wanted to continue their conquest to the west and force the Serbs into subjugation. Presian I (r. 836–852) launched an invasion into Serbian territory in 839, which led to a war that lasted for three years, in which the Serbs were victorious; the defeated Presian lost a large number of his men, made no territorial gains, and was driven out by Vlastimir's army. The Serbs held out in their easily defensible forests and gorges, and knew how to fight in the hills. According to Živković, it is possible that the Bulgarian attack came after the failed invasion of Struma and Nestos in 846 (see next section): Presian may have collected his army and headed for Serbia, and Vlastimir may have participated in the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars, which would mean that Presian responded to a direct Serbian involvement. The defeat of the Bulgarians, who had become one of the greater powers in the 9th century, shows that Serbia was an organized entity, fully capable of defending its borders, and possessing military and administrative organization. It is not known whether Serbia at the time of Vlastimir had a fortification system or developed military structures in which the župan had clearly defined roles. Vlastimir married off his daughter to Krajina, the son of a local župan of Trebinje, Beloje, in ca. 847/848. With this marriage, Vlastimir elevated Krajina's title to archon. Vlastimir's intent to connect to the ruling house of Travunia shows, in context, that his reputation among the neighbouring Serbian archontes and župani was on the rise, as well as the political importance and military strength of Serbia. Although Vlastimir's elevations of titles were merely symbolic, rather than a reflection of administrative political relations, it does show that he had the right to act this way, which undoubtedly puts him at the head of all Serbian archontes—viz., the leading ruler among the Serbian principalities. They lived in the valleys of the present day Morava river basin, and were still unconquered by the Bulgarians. The Byzantines were also active in the hinterland of Dalmatia, to the west of Serbia; the strategos of the cities of Dalmatia came into conflict with a Frankish vassal, Duke Trpimir I of Croatia, in 846/848, who defeated the strategos. Vlastimir was succeeded by his three sons about 851.