Duklja

Duklja was a medieval South Slavic state in the territory of present-day south-eastern Montenegro, stretching from the Bay of Kotor to the Bojana river and north towards the sources of the Zeta and Morača. First recorded in tenth- and eleventh-century Byzantine chronicles, it was subordinate to the Bulgarian Empire between 997 and 1018 and then to Byzantium. It became independent around 1040 under Stefan Vojislav, who seized lands of the earlier Serbian Principality and founded the Vojislavljević dynasty. Under Mihailo Vojislavljević and his son Constantine Bodin, between 1043 and 1080, Duklja reached its height. Mihailo received the nominal title King of the Slavs from the Pope after leaving the Byzantine camp, and Bodin incorporated the Serbian hinterland, installing vassal rulers there. This maritime principality became the most powerful Serb polity of its age, and its rulers styled themselves Prince of Serbia. Its ascendancy was brief: Bodin was defeated and imprisoned by the Byzantines, while his relative Vukan made Raška independent. From 1113 to 1149 Duklja was the centre of Serbian–Byzantine conflict, as members of the Vojislavljević family fought one another as clients of the two powers. It was then incorporated as a crown land of the Grand Principality of Serbia and later became known as Zeta. Its coastal towns, churches and dynastic traditions made it a lasting point of reference in Serbian and Montenegrin history.