Michael of Zahumlje

Michael of Zahumlje (reign usually dated c. 910–935), also known as Michael Višević (Serbo-Croatian: Mihailo Višević, Serbian Cyrillic: Михаило Вишевић) or rarely as Michael Vuševukčić, was a semi-independent, or independent Slavic ruler of Zahumlje, in present-day central Herzegovina and southern Croatia, who flourished in the early part of the 10th century. Prince Michael of Zahumlje had a common boundary with the Serbia and probably with the Kingdom of Croatia, but was an ally of Bulgaria. He was nevertheless able to maintain independent rule throughout at least a majority of his reign. although a closer reading of the source suggests that Constantine's consideration on the ethnic identity of the principality's population is based on Serbian political rule or influence and does not indicate ethnic origin.

According to the emperor, or even Michael himself according to the way the subchapter was structured, his family was not of Serbian origin since they belonged to the Litziki (Λιτζίκη), an unbaptized people on the river Vistula in Lesser Poland. His "own hostility to Serbia suggests that his family was in fact not Serb". Michael's tribal origin is related to the oral tradition from Historia Salonitana by Thomas the Archdeacon about seven or eight tribes of nobles called Lingones who arrived from Poland and settled in Croatia.

The area controlled by Michael comprised Zahumlje, later known as Hum (what is now western Herzegovina and southern Croatia), as well as Travunia (now eastern Herzegovina and southern Croatia with center at Trebinje) and majority of Duklja (modern Montenegro). His territory therefore formed a block along the southern Dalmatian coast, from the Neretva river to Ragusa (Dubrovnik), latter serving as a tributary region.

Bulgaria did not yet border on Zahumlje and a part of Croatia lay between both lands. For instance, the chronicler John the Deacon (d. 1009) says that in 912, a Venetian traveller who had just passed through Bulgaria and Croatia on his way home, next found himself in Zahumlje.

"Qui (Petrus) dum Chroatorum fines rediens transire vellet, a Michahele Sclavorum duce fraude deceptus...[While he (Peter) was returning from Croatian territory he was deceived through fraud by Michael, duke of the Slavs...]" -Chronicon Venetum, John the Deacon

Alliance with Simeon I of Bulgaria The earliest occurrence of Michael in the sources is from 912. Venetian chronicler John the Deacon recorded that at that time Pietro, son of the Venetian doge Ursus Particiacus II (912–932), was treacherously captured on his return from a diplomatic mission to Constantinople by Michael, "a prince of the Slavs" (dux Sclavorum), when he wanted to pass through the lands of the Croats. Before Pietro entered Croatia, on his way home, when he entered Zahumlje, or when he entered province of Narenta or Pagania, Michael dux Sclavorum had him captured and sent as a gift to Simeon I of Bulgaria. Since 912, Michael was a close ally of Simeon I of Bulgaria, who had been mounting a number of successful campaigns against the Byzantine Empire.

Simeon's march for power posed such a great threat to the Byzantine Empire that it looked for allies in the area. Leo Rhabduchus, the strategos of Dyrrhachium, found one such ally in Serbia, Petar, who had been subject to Bulgaria since 897. Petar had been busy extending his power westwards, and appears to have come into territorial conflict with Michael in the process of doing so. It seems probable that Michael remained loyal to Simeon until the latter's death in 927. Another major issue of concern was the language of liturgy: since the conversion of the Slavs by Cyril and Methodius in the previous century, the Slavic church was accustomed to use Slavonic rather than Latin for its church services.

The Historia Salonitana, whose composition may have begun in the late 13th century, cites a letter of Pope John X to Tomislav, "king (rex) of the Croats", in which he refers to the first council in some detail. If the letter is authentic, it shows that the council was attended not only by the bishops of Croatian and Byzantine Dalmatia, but also by Tomislav, whose territory also included the Byzantine cities of Dalmatia, and by a number of Michael's representatives.

Later years Constantine remembers Michael as a prince (archon) of the Zachlumi, but also uses such grand titles of the Byzantine court as anthypatos and patrician (patrikios) to describe his political rank and status. These titles have been interpreted as reflecting a more subordinate position after Simeon's death in 927, when Michael lost the Bulgarian support needed for any higher recognition. Michael does not appear in the sources for events after 925, but historian Fine thinks that his reign lasted into the 940s. Časlav, who became ruler of Serbia after Symeon's death, may have seized some of Michael's territory while securing his conquest of Travunia, but there's no evidence for it and in DAI Zachlumia is clearly stated as a separate polity. 13th century Thomas the Archdeacon claimed that the Croatian kingdom included Zachlumia before and after Stephen Držislav (969–997), but that's also disputable.