Created 10 September 1998; revised November 2006
Copyright Paul Stephenson
XXXVII. Meanwhile, Dragimir, the uncle of St. Vladimir heard of the emperor's death and gathered his people and army in order to lay claim to the land of his fathers. Therefore, arriving at the bay of the city of Kotor, he ordered his people to cross the sea. The citizens of Kotor prepared ships, and brought out to him bread, wine and abundant provisions for his journey, and invited him to dine on the island of St. Gabriel. Boarding one of the ships with a few followers, he sailed to the place where lunch would be prepared. When the citizens of Kotor saw that they were many and there were but a few men with Dragimir, and that because they were on an island nobody could rush to his aid from the land, they began to converse among themselves in this manner: "The emperor of the Bulgars is dead, and the kings of this country are also dead; therefore this land has passed from the hands of their progeny. If that fellow lived and captured the land it would not be good for us. For he might persecute us as other kings have persecuted us, and they [343] were his fathers and brothers. Therefore, we must kill him, so that he will have no offspring who will persecute and harass us or our children". So, while they were sitting down to dine, all together they returned to the offensive. Because [their tempers] had been stoked by wine they rose to kill him. When he saw this, he grabbed his sword and fled into a church, where he stood within, sword unsheathed to defend himself. Those standing outside did not dare to enter, until one of their number climbed up onto the roof of the church and began to rip up tiles and stones which he threw down into the church and killed him. After this they boarded a ship and fled. When the people learned what had happened they returned to their homes. However, Dragimir's wife, because of her husband's death, returned to her homeland. She was the daughter of Lutomir, the veliki zupan of Rassa. However, when she arrived with her two daughters and pregnant herself, she found that her father had died. Therefore she travelled to Bosna with her mother to join her uncles. However, on the way she gave birth to a male child in a place called Brusno, whom she named Dobroslav. He was nurtured in Bosna until his adolescence, after which his parents sent him away to Ragusium. [344] [However, Dragimir sired a son by his first wife, who was called Voislav], who married a beautiful virginal maiden, the niece of the emperor Samuel, with whom he had five sons whose names were: Goyslav, Michael, Saganec, Radoslav and Predimir.
XXXVIII. After the death of the Vladislav, emperor of the Bulgars, Emperor Basil mustered a mighty army and powerful fleet, which he set to attacking the land until he captured the whole of Bulgaria, Rassa and Bosna, the whole of Dalmatia and the maritime districts as far as the border of Dalmatia Inferior. [By the chronicler's reckoning this was the mouth of the river Cetina, i.e. Dalma. Cf. chapter IX; Sisic, p. 306.] Voislav, meanwhile, showing his wiles and ingenuity, suborned himself to the Greeks and rode with them through the provinces as an ally and comrade. He gave clandestine counsel to the Greeks so that they would treat the people harshly and unjustly. However, at the same time he was secretly talking to the people thus: " How great is the injury you have suffered at the hands of the Greeks ? They judge you unjustly and banish all that is good. They commit adultery with your wives, and they violate and rape your virginal daughters. [345] My forefathers, who were kings before me, never afflicted such evils upon you, so great and grave is this wickedness". As he did this in each locality, the people began to turn to him, and desire him as passionately as they despised the Greeks. The people consulted among themselves and reached a common decision, exchanging messengers and messages, that on a certain day by mutual agreement they would in turn rise up and kill all the Greek nobles that were found throughout the whole of Dalmatia.
Afterwards the people congregated and sent for Voislav and his sons, so that they might come and receive the realm and the land of their fathers. He arrived with his five sons, who were already youths and robust warriors, and obtained the kingdom. He then began to fight the Greeks, and captured the land as far as Topliza. The Greek emperor was enraged, and summoned one of his commanders, named Armenopolis, whom he ordered to seek out and fight King Voislav and his sons. He gathered a huge force of troops and infantry, and marched as far as the plain of Zenta.
[346] King Voislav mustered his army and gave part of the force to four of his sons, whom he sent to a place next to the eastern frontier called Vuranie, where they were to await the onset of battle. For his part, he burst out from the western region with his son Radoslav, and set about slaughtering the Greeks. Radoslav, a formidable youth and powerful fighter, maimed those to his left and right as he made for the commander. Once he had identified him, he hacked him with his sword and knocked him down from his horse to the ground. When they saw this the Greeks turned to flight, and so many of them were cut down that nobody could count them. More still thought they had saved themselves when they were butchered by the king's sons, who drove into them from the east. On that day the Greeks came to grief across a vast region. Voislav's kingdom grew and increased by the day, and the king gave his son Radoslav the zupania called Kezca because he had been courageous and victorious in battle. When he heard what had happened the Greek emperor flew into a towering rage and sunk into a great depression. Forthwith, he sent legates with piles of gold and silver for the zupan of Rassa, the ban of Bosna and the ruler of the region [347] of Chelmana, to incite them to send an army and host against the king. The zupan and ban mustered a multitude of people, and sent Lutovid, the ruler of the region of Chelmana, to direct the whole throng, and to be the leader and commander of all the people. This was done. For his part, the emperor assembled a greater force than before which he sent to Dyrrachium. He ordered a certain toparch named Cursilius [Chryselios, the powerful magnate whose family dominated the city of Dyrrachium at this time, known from Skylitzes; Cf. A. Ducellier, La façade maritime d'Albanie, pp. 65-8.] to muster the whole population of the lands of Dyrrachium, to take command of the whole army, and to set out to seize the king, his sons and whatever he had obtained.
Therefore, Cursilius came with his whole army and camped on the plain of the city of Skodra. Once everyone was mustered in that place [348] there were so many that the land could scarcely contain them. Then they crossed the river and reached the hinterland of the city of Bar, whence Prince Lutovid led his army into Tribunia. Meanwhile King Voislav remained in Cermeniza with his sons and folk, observing the huge Greek army with trepidation lest Lutovid cross the gulf and encircle him. He summoned his five sons and addressed them thus: "Behold, my dearest sons, how great is the army of the Greeks, and how few are we in comparison. It seems to me that we would achieve nothing by resisting them in battle. Therefore, let us act thus: two of you, Goyslav and Radoslav, should remain here, while you other three should each take ten strong men with trumpets and horns, climb into the mountains and disperse yourselves throughout the lofty peaks until the Greeks seem to be encircled. I, and those accompanying me, shall charge into their camp in the middle of the night. When you hear our horns and trumpets, you should at the same time blare forth with your own horns and trumpets, and also shriek at the tops of your voices from the encircling mountains. Shortly after this you should sweep down towards their camps, and as you approach be not afraid, but be strong and fight bravely, for almighty God will deliver them into our hands".
Therefore, as evening approached three of the king's sons clambered into the mountains and carried out the king's orders. At that time a certain citizen of Bar, a friend of the king, who wanted to scare the Greeks approached Cursilius with this advice: "Lord, beware what you have stirred up, and seek how you might escape with your hordes. Surely you know that you are surrounded on all sides by a mighty throng". His warning reverberated through the camp and impressed everyone with a mortal terror. Immediately Cursilius ordered all his troops to stand to, and posted watchmen and guards along the length of the camp. Meanwhile, under cover of night the king led his army slowly and smoothly towards their encampment. At midnight he burst in amongst the watchmen and guards, slaughtered them and more, while others turned to flee. The Greeks saw this and were greatly agitated. Forthwith the king gave a blast on his horn, and his followers, trumpets baring, began to shout in booming voices. The king's sons [350] similarly began to shriek and blast on their horns from their positions in the mountains. Then they descended slowly through the mountain passes and approached the enemy, at the same time as the king. The Greeks began to quake with fear, for since it was night and they were not able to see, they imagined that the slow descent signalled a vast throng, just as they learned from the citizen of Bar. When they heard the blare of the trumpets and horns, and the cries, fear drove them to turn and flee. As dawn approached the king and his followers saw that the Greeks had begun to bolt, so flooding into the camp, they set about mutilating, slaying and slaughtering them from behind as they chased them down. Similarly, the king's sons were vehemently hacking and killing. During the deadly pursuit, the king, his sons and their men had crossed a torrent which runs through Prapatna, and arrived at the forest. Goyslav did not recognise his father because he was splattered with dust and gore. Since they failed to identify each other, he leapt out on his father and threw him from his mount to the earth, but without wounding him. [351] In a mighty voice [the father] cried: "Boze pomiluj, Boze pomiluj". Immediately the son recognised his voice and sprung from his horse. Clutching his father's feet he said: "Forgive me father for I did not recognise you". The king replied: "Do not fear, my son, for God has been merciful to us, and you have not injured or killed me". The king arose and called that place "Bozija milost", which in Latin is called "Dei misericordia" [God's mercy] a name which it bears to the present day, because God had shown his mercy to the king in not allowing him to be killed by his own son, and in delivering such a multitude into the hands of so few. The king's sons chased the enemy as far as the river Drina, wounding and slaying them, taking many captives and binding more whom they brought to their father at Bozija milost. Cursilius was gravely wounded, but escaped to the plain by the city of Skodra where he died. A cross was placed on that spot, which is even today called "Crux Cursilii" [The cross(roads) of Chryselios].
[352] After this the king sent his son Goyslav with an army to meet Prince Lutovid, giving him 50 wounded captive Greeks, so that when he approached the enemy, he could send those maimed and blood-spattered Greeks into Prince Lutovid's encampment to tell him what had happened to them, to explain that if the Greeks did not want to go he would behead them all. The King's actions would strike fear into the hearts of the prince and his army, seeing them thus slaughtered. So Goyslav did everything that his father commanded. Setting off with his army, he sailed across the gulf and made the journey through Canala. He then climbed into the mountains called Clo[b]uco. When he was near Lutovid's army, he sent the aforementioned Greeks into his camp. Seeing them, and hearing what had happened, those with Lutovid were terrified. However, since he was a bellicose man and brave warrior, Prince Lutovid was not scared. Instead, he sent a messenger to Goyslav, who announced: "Nothing about your disposition alarms me. If you are a man and have anything about you, you, choose two soldiers, and I will come to the field in similar fashion so that we can duel, and you will know who I am". This appealed to Goyslav, who immediately [353] descended to the field accompanied by two robust warriors; the prince did likewise. As the duel commenced, one of Goyslav's warriors named Udobic charged at Prince Lutovid, struck him and threw him to the ground. Consequently one of the others began to shout: "Hurry, my comrades-in-arms, hurry, for he has beaten Lutovid and he is dead". All began to run to witness the death. However, Lutovid had only been wounded, and he remounted his horse and made to flee. Furthermore, when his entourage saw that he had been struck down and wounded they had all turned tail and deserted. Goyslav and his troops pursued them for the whole day, and returned home bearing the spoils of their victory. From that day forth peace prevailed in the land overseen by the king and his sons. None dared to resist them, but rather were pacific. King Voislav rewarded handsomely the citizen of Bar who had convinced Cursilius that he was surrounded by a huge army. He undertook that neither he nor his sons would ever forgot his act. After this the king's sons captured all the land of Dyrrachium as far as the river Vaiussius, and they built forts there which they garrisoned with sturdy men. These men marched out [354] every day to attack the Greeks and take them captive. The glorious King Voislav reigned for 25 years, and died falling into his bed at his court at Prapatna. His weeping sons gathered to bury him with great honour and glory in his own chapel in the church of St. Andrew.
XXXIX. With the king dead, his sons and their mother assembled to work out a satisfactory division of the paternal lands and territories, so that each would possess a portion. Therefore, Goyslav and Predimir, his youngest brother, received Tribunia and Grispuli, Michael Oblik [the Black Mountain], Prapatna and Cermeniza, [355] Saganec the zupania of Gorsca, Cupelnik and Barezi, and Radoslav [received] the zupania of Lu[s]ca, Podlugie, [and] Cuccevi [with] Budva.
Subsequently the queen ruled the kingdom with her first-born son Goyslav and her other sons. However, none of them was called King. So long as their mother, the queen, lived they were only called princes (knesii) [knesius=knez in Slavonic]. At a certain time Goyslav took to his bed, and while he was lying ill in bed, men from Tribunia called Scrobimesi came to consult him. They killed him where he lay, and after capturing his brother Predimir they also murdered him. They then set up their leader, who was called Domanech, as ruler.
When Michael, Saganec and Radoslav heard about this they mustered an army and marched to Tribunia (Travunija). They captured the murderers and brushing aside their assorted appeals, put them to death most horribly. However, some of them including Domanech escaped. Leaving Saganech there, Michael and Radoslav returned to Zenta. A short time later, Saganech took fright and also returned to Zenta and his zupanias, so Domanech returned and entered Tribunia. Seeing this [356] and knowing that Saganech did not want to go to Tribunia, Michael [356] summoned Radoslav and told him that he ought to march out to defend the region of Tribunia. He replied that on no account did he wish to leave his own lands which he had been given in Zenta. Michael and Saganech were also scared that the Greeks, who were preparing for an invasion, would attack their lands. They did not want to march out against them, so they summoned the magnates of their lands to court, and both brothers signed over their privileges to Radoslav, so that he and his heirs would possess their portion of Zenta. Also, if he was able to acquire Tribunia for himself, or any other region, this would pertain to him and his heirs by right of succession. This possession would not be challenged or disputed by them or their heirs, and never since has it been disputed by them or their heirs. In return Radoslav gathered a host and set off to attack Tribunia. He made war on Domanech, overcame him and killed him. Then he invaded the region of Chelmana and captured it.
XL. [357] At that time the queen died, and Michael received the kingdom. He had seven sons whose names were these: Vladimir, Priaslav, Sergius, Deria, Gabriel, Miroslav and Bodin. Because he had these seven sons, when he acceded to the realm he did not want to carry out his promise to his brother Radoslav. Instead he took from him the zupania of Zenta and gave it to his son Vladimir.
When Michael's wife died he took a Greek woman as his spouse, a relative of the emperor, he had a further four sons with her, with these names: First Dobroslav, second Petrislav, third Nicephorus, fourth Theodorus. Dobroslav, Nicephorus and Theodore did not produce heirs. Only to Petrislav was born ... [a lacuna in the text]
Bodin, who [afterwards] ruled the whole kingdom, [and] Vladimir with their brothers marched into Rassa and annexed it. [King Michael] gave it to his son Petrislav to rule. After this they invaded Bulgaria and fought many battles with the Greeks and Bulgars. They captured the whole [358] of Bulgaria, which King Michael gave to his son Bodin to rule as a province. Forthwith, Bodin placed a crown on his head and commanded that he be called emperor. When the Greek emperor heard this he was furious, and assembled a mighty host which he sent to wage war on Bodin. Bodin collected an army and set out to meet them. When they met men on both sides began to hack and wound. Bodin fell there, and was taken captive by the Greeks. At the emperor's orders he was sent into exile, to the city of Antioch. Bodin's remaining brothers rode hither and thither throughout their provinces fighting many battles, and because their father had provoked God's wrath by his sinful oath-breaking they all died in battle while their father was still alive, not all on a single day, but one at a time. King Michael died after he had reigned for 35 years. He was entombed with great ceremony in the monastery of the Martyr Saints Sergius and Bacchus.