The Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja (Presbyter Diocleas), also known as the Chronicle of Dioclea is a medieval chronicle from Duklja. It is variously dated to the 12th or the 13th century. Historians have largely discounted the work, while acknowledging that the Chronicle contains material on the early history of the South Slavs.
Contents
Authorship
There are various theories on who was the author: either an anonymous Benedictine monk of Dioclea (modern Bar) around 1142-1199; or Gregory (Grgur), Archbishop of Antivari 1172-1196; or the Cistercian Rudger (Rudiger), Archbishop of Antivari 1299-1301.[1]
A few biographical notes identifying this author have been preserved in the introductory portion of his pseudo-historical work, The Kingdom of Slavs.
One of the prime controversies of the Chronicle lies in the fact that the Antivari Archepiscopate did not exist between 1142 and 1198 - and that is the time Grgur is supposed to have been the Archbishop.
The Presybyter Rudger (?????) was thought to have lived around 1300 because his perception of Bosnian borders coincides with an anonymous text Anonymi Descriptio Europae Orientalis (Cracow, 1916) that was dated to 1308.[2]
Language
The work is only preserved in its Latin redactions[3] from the 16th and 17th centuries.
It was first written in the Slavonic language, according to the following remark by the author:
"Requested by you, my beloved brethren in Christ and honorable priests of the holy Archbishopric See of the Church in Duklja, as well as by some elders, but especially by the youth of our city who find pleasure not only in listening to and reading about the wars, but in taking part in them also, to translate from the Slavic language into Latin the work entitled in Latin Regnum Sclavorum in which all their deeds and wars have been described...."
Content
The chronicle includes six major parts:
The book about Goths (Libellus Gothorum, or Barski Rodoslov)
Constantine's legend (modified legenda about the life of Saint Constantine)
The book about Slavs (Methodius), on the Christianization of the people of Duklja and church organization
Chronicle of Travunia
Hagiography of Saint Vladimir (the story of duke Vladimir and Bulgarian princess Kosara, daughter of Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria)
History of Duklja
The author attempted to present an overview of ruling families over the course of over two centuries from the 10th century up to the time of writing, the 12th century.[citation needed] There are 47 chapters in the text, of different sizes and varying subject matter.
Folklore and translations
It has been generally agreed that this Presbyter included in his work folklore and literary material from Slavic sources which he translated into Latin. Among the material he translated, rather than created, is "The Legend of Prince Vladimir" which is supposed to have been written by another clergyman, also from Duklja, more specifically, from Krajina in Duklja. In its original version, it was a hagiographic work, a "Life of St. Vladimir" rather than a "Legend." Prince Vladimir, the protagonist of the story, as well as King Vladislav, who ordered Vladimir's execution, were historical persons, yet "The Legend of Prince Vladimir" contains non-historical material. Another interesting fact concerning this work is that, although presented as a hagiography, it's treated like a "novel" which makes it even more interesting for a sophisticated reader of the present century.
The chronicle was also added to by a bishop of Bar intent on demonstrating his diocese' superiority over that of Bishop of Split.
Impact and assessment
Mavro Orbini, the author of Il Regno dei Slavi or Regnum Sclavorum (1601) borrowed the title of the Presbyter's "The Kingdom of Slavs" and based his account on the information contained in that book.
Various inaccurate or simply wrong claims in the text make it an unreliable source. Modern historians have serious doubts about the majority of this work as being mainly fictional, or wishful thinking. Some go as far as to say that it can be dismissed in its entirety, but that is not a majority opinion, rather, it is thought to have given us a unique insight into the whole era from the point of view of the indigenous Slavic population and it is still a topic of discussion.[4]
The work describes the Slavs as a peaceful people imported by the rulers of the Sorab, who invaded the area in the 5th century, but it doesn't attempt to elaborate on how and when this happened. This information contradicts the information found in the Byzantine text De Administrando Imperio.
The Chronicle also mentions one Svetopeleg or Svetopelek, the eighth descendant of the original Serbian invaders, as the main ruler of the lands that cover Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro (Duklja) and Serbia. He is also credited with the Christianization of the people who are Goths or Slavs a purely fictitious attribution. These claims about a unified kingdom are probably a reflection of the earlier glory of the Moravian kingdom. He may also have been talking about Avars.
The priest's parish was located at the seat of the archbishopric of Duklja. According to Bishop Gregory's late 12th century additions to this document, this Archbishopric covered much of the western Balkans including the bishoprics of Bar, Budva, Kotor, Ulcinj, Svac, Skadar, Drivast, Pulat, Travunia, Zahumlje.
Further, it mentions Bosnia (Bosnam) and Rascia (Rassa) as the two Serbian lands, while describing the southern Dalmatian Hum/Zahumlje, Travunia and Dioclea (most of today's Herzegovina, Montenegro, as well as parts of Croatia and Albania) as Croatian lands ("Red Croatia"), which is a description considered inconsistent with other historical works from the same period.
The region of Bosnia is described to span the area west of the river Drina, "up to the Pine mountain" (Latin: ad montem Pini, Croatian: do gore Borave).[5] The location of this Pine mountain is unknown. In 1881, Croatian historian Franjo Racki wrote that this refers to the mountain of "Borova glava" near the Livno field.[6] Croatian historian Luka Jelic wrote the mountain was located either between Maglaj and Skender Vakuf, northwest of epce, or it was the mountain Borovina located between Vranica and Radovan, according to Ferdo iic's 1908 work.[7] In 1935, Serbian historian Vladimir Corovic wrote that the toponym refers to the mountain of Borova glava, because of etymology and because it's located on the watershed (drainage divide).[8][9] In 1936, Slovene ethnologist Niko upanic had also interpreted that to mean that the western border of Bosnia was at some drainage divide mountains, but placed it to the southeast of Dinara.[10] Croatian historian Anto Babic, based on the work of Dominik Mandic in 1978, inferred that the term refers roughly to a place of the drainage divide between the Sava and Adriatic Sea watersheds.[11][12] In her discussion of Corovic, Serbian historian Jelena Mrgic-Radojcic also points to the existence of a mountain of "Borja" in today's northern Bosnia with the same etymology.[8]
The 9th chapter of the Chronicle names Methodus or Liber Methodios, a text from the year 753, as its source.
The archbishop of Bar was later named Primas Serbiae. Ragusa had some claims to be considered the natural ecclesiastical centre of South Dalmatia but those of Dioclea (Bar) to this new metropolitan status were now vigorously pushed especially as the Pope intended Serbia to be attached to Dioclea.
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