Stefan Vojislav

Stefan Vojislav (, ; 1034–d. 1043) was the Prince of Duklja from 1018 to 1043. Beginning in the year 1018, he served as a Byzantine governor, until 1034 when he led an unsuccessful revolt that landed him in a prison at Constantinople. He managed to escape and returned home, this time successfully gaining the independence of his statelet and expanding his rule over southern Dalmatia and its hinterland. He is the eponymous founder of the Vojislavljević dynasty.

Origin and early life The contemporary Byzantine writers call him either a Serb or a Dukljan (Βοϊσθλάβος ὁ Διοκλητιανός), but do not mention his genealogy, while the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, a posterior, more dubious source, calls him a cousin to previous ruler Jovan Vladimir (r. 990–1016). Having reached its pinnacle during the long reign of emperor Basil II, the Byzantine Empire entered a steady decline following his death in 1025. This was particularly evident in the Balkans, where the elimination of the perennial Bulgarian threat combined with an insensitive taxation policy helped spur liberation movements. Vojislav the Dukljan held the title of archon, and toparch of the Dalmatian kastra of Zeta and Ston (ἦν δὲ εἰς τὰ κάστρα Δαλματίας εἰς τὴν Ζένταν καὶ εἰς τὴν Στάμνον τοπάρχης Βοϊσθλάβος ὁ Διοκλητιανός). Vojislav had regular meetings with Katakalon Klazomenites (Catacalon), the strategos of Ragusa, and at one occasion, kidnapped him and his party because Vojislav wanted him to be the godfather to his son Katakalon at his baptism. while his realm was put under the control of the strategos Theophilos Erotikos. In late 1037 or early 1038, he managed to break out of the prison and returned to Duklja, where he organized a new rebellion, also targeting the Serb allies of the Emperor in the neighbouring regions.

By means of guerilla tactics and the distracting effects of other uprisings, he staved off several punitive expeditions and asserted partial control over the principalities of Travunija and Zahumlje. Thus, by 1040 his state stretched in the coastal region from Ston in the north, down to his capital, Skadar, set up along the southern banks of the Skadar Lake, with other courts set up in Trebinje, Kotor and Bar.

Wars with Byzantines 1039

In 1039, the Byzantine Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian was waiting in Thessalonica for a shipment of 10 kentenars of gold (7,200 gold nomismata ) coming from his provinces in Southern Italy, but the cargo ship (galley) was wrecked off the Doclean coast due to stormy weather in the winter and the goods were taken by Vojislav, who refused to return it upon Michael's requests.

Last years Vojislav spent the rest of his rule in peace and died in 1043. He was succeeded by his widow and their five sons - , Predimir, Mihailo, Saganek and Radoslav. He was buried in the Church of St. Andrew in Prapratna, a town between Bar and Ulcinj. Duklja remained the center of the Serbian state, replacing (in terms of leadership) the inner regions (Grand Principality of Serbia i.e. Raška); it held this position for a few decades, under the rule of his son Mihailo I in Duklja while the other regions were later united under Vukan I of Serbia.

Titles "archon, and toparch of the Dalmatian kastra of Zeta and Ston", his Byzantine title, according to the Strategikon of Kekaumenos (1075–78). "Prince of Serbia", according to George Kedrenos (fl. 1050s).