Unknown Archont
Encyclopedia
The Unknown Archont is a conventional name given by historians to the Serbian
leader who led the White Serbs from their homeland
to settle in the Balkans
after 610, during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius
(610-641).
The main record of this person is in the De Administrando Imperio
, a book written in the 950s by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos
. He is described as being a successor alongside an unnamed brother to a Serb king and having led part of the Serbs from White Serbia
during the reign of Emperor Heraclius
(610-641). On their way south they vanquished the Avars
and eventually were settled by the Emperor in Servia (The place still bears its name), the hinterlands of Thessalonica, a province which Heraclius granted them with the task to protect Byzantium from future threats, such as Avars.
The Serbs left the province and moved northwards, until they came to Belgrade where the strategos
of the theme gave them the areas of Rascia
(with regions Bosnia
, Trebounia), Zachlumi
, Pagania, Neretvia and finally Duklja
(Byzantine Sclaviniae) after they swore allegiance to the Emperor. The date of his death is unknown, however it is attested before the arrival of the Bulgars in the Balkans (681).
The first Serb ruling dynasty, the House of Vlastimirović
, is named after the knez Vlastimir, who was reputedly the great-great-grandson of the Unknown Archont.
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Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
leader who led the White Serbs from their homeland
White Serbia
White Serbia or Bojka , is the mythical homeland of the ancestors of the Serbs, of the White Serbs .The area adjacent to White Serbia was known as White Croatia, where the Croats trace their origin...
to settle in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
after 610, during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
(610-641).
The main record of this person is in the De Administrando Imperio
De Administrando Imperio
De Administrando Imperio is the Latin title of a Greek work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is...
, a book written in the 950s by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos
Constantine VII
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959...
. He is described as being a successor alongside an unnamed brother to a Serb king and having led part of the Serbs from White Serbia
White Serbia
White Serbia or Bojka , is the mythical homeland of the ancestors of the Serbs, of the White Serbs .The area adjacent to White Serbia was known as White Croatia, where the Croats trace their origin...
during the reign of Emperor Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
(610-641). On their way south they vanquished the Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
and eventually were settled by the Emperor in Servia (The place still bears its name), the hinterlands of Thessalonica, a province which Heraclius granted them with the task to protect Byzantium from future threats, such as Avars.
The Serbs left the province and moved northwards, until they came to Belgrade where the strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
of the theme gave them the areas of Rascia
Rascia
Rascia was a medieval region that served as the principal province of the Serbian realm. It was an administrative division under the direct rule of the monarch and sometimes as an appanage. The term has been used to refer to various Serbian states throughout the Middle Ages...
(with regions Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
, Trebounia), Zachlumi
Záchlumí
Záchlumí is name of several locations in the Czech Republic:* Záchlumí , a village in Pardubice Region* Záchlumí , a village in Plzeň Region...
, Pagania, Neretvia and finally Duklja
Duklja
Doclea or Duklja was a medieval state with hereditary lands roughly encompassing the territories of present-day southeastern Montenegro, from Kotor on the west to the river Bojana on the east and to the sources of Zeta and Morača rivers on the north....
(Byzantine Sclaviniae) after they swore allegiance to the Emperor. The date of his death is unknown, however it is attested before the arrival of the Bulgars in the Balkans (681).
The first Serb ruling dynasty, the House of Vlastimirović
House of Vlastimirovic
The Vlastimirović Dynasty was the first Serbian royal dynasty, named after Prince Vlastimir , who was recognized by the Byzantine Empire.The dynasty starts with the Unknown Archont, who ruled during Emperor Heraclius ....
, is named after the knez Vlastimir, who was reputedly the great-great-grandson of the Unknown Archont.
From De Administrando Imperio, 31
- "But when two brothers succeeded their father in the rule of Serbia, one of them, taking a moiety of the folk, claimed the protection of Heraclius, the emperor of the Romans, and the same emperor Heraclius received him and gave him a place in the province of Thessalonica to settle in, namely Serbia, which from that time has acquired this denomination.
- Now, after some time these same Serbs decided to depart to their own homes, and the emperor sent them off. But when they had crossed the river Danube, they changed their minds and sent a request to the emperor Heraclius, through the military governor then governing Belgrade, that he would grant them other land to settle in.
- And since what is now Rascia
RasciaRascia was a medieval region that served as the principal province of the Serbian realm. It was an administrative division under the direct rule of the monarch and sometimes as an appanage. The term has been used to refer to various Serbian states throughout the Middle Ages...
(SerbiaSerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
) and Pagania and the so-called country of the ZachlumiZáchlumíZáchlumí is name of several locations in the Czech Republic:* Záchlumí , a village in Pardubice Region* Záchlumí , a village in Plzeň Region...
and Trebounia and the country of the KanalitesKanalitesKanalites were a Serb tribe in what is now present-day Dalmatia who were under Roman dominion. No more is known about the Kanalites after the unification of Serbia...
were under the dominion of the emperor of the Romans, and since these countries had been made desolate by the Avars (for they had expelled from those parts the Romans who now live in Dalmatia and Dyrrachium), therefore the emperor settled these same Serbs in these countries, and they were subject to the emperor of the Romans; and the emperor brought elders from Rome and baptized them and taught them fairly to perform the works of piety and expounded to them the faith of the Christians.- And since Bulgaria was beneath the dominion of the Romans * * * when, therefore, that same Serbian prince died who had claimed the emperor's protection, his son ruled in succession, and thereafter his grandson, and in like manner the succeeding princes from his family."
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