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Michael of Zahumlje, also known as Michael Višević (Croatian/Bosnian/Serbian: ''Mihajlo Višević'', Cyrillic: Михаило Вишевић) or rarely as Michael Vuševukčić,〔Mihanovich, ''The Croatian nation in its struggle for freedom and independence: a symposium'', p. 112〕 was an independent Slavic ruler of Zahumlje, in present-day western Herzegovina and southern Croatia, who flourished in the early part of the 10th century. A neighbour of the Kingdom of Croatia and Serbia as well as an ally of Bulgaria, he was nevertheless able to maintain independent rule throughout at least a good part of his reign.〔 Michael came into territorial conflict with Petar of Serbia, who attempted to expand his power westwards.〔 To eliminate the threat, Michael warned his ally, the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I, about the alliance between Peter and Symeon's enemy, the Byzantine Empire.〔 Symeon attacked Serbia and captured Peter, who later died in prison.〔Constantine Porphyrogenitus, ''De administrando imperio'', ch. 32.〕 Michael was mentioned together with Tomislav of Croatia in Pope John X's letter of 925.〔 In that same year, he participated in the first church councils in Split,〔 something that some historians have taken as evidence of Zahumlje being a vassal of Croatia. In any case, Michael, with grand titles of the Byzantine court as ''anthypatos'' and patrician (''patrikios''), remained ruler of Zahumlje through the 940s, while maintaining good relations with the Pope.〔 ==Background== Compiled in ''c''. 950, the historical work ''De administrando imperio'', ascribed to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, notes that Michael was a son of Busebutze (Greek: Bouseboutzis)〔Constantine Porphyrogenitus, ''De administrando imperio'', ch. 33.〕 and that unlike many other Slavs in the Dalmatian region, his family did not descend from the "unbaptized Serbs".〔Curta, ''Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250'', p. 210.〕 According to Constantine, his family belonged to the Litziki (Λιτζίκη), a unbaptized people on the River Vistula from south Poland.〔〔Vlasto, ''The entry of the Slavs into Christendom'', pp. 381-382.〕 The region around upper Vistula was also known as a part of White Croatia (Chrobatia), from where the Croats have migrated to the Roman Dalmatia invited by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor Heraclius.〔Dvornik, ''The Slavs: their early history and civilization'', p. 63〕 However, H. T. Norris notes that Croats and Serbs were intermixed in those parts of Poland.〔Norris, ''Islam in the Balkans: religion and society between Europe and the Arab world'', p. 15〕 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 a good part of Duklja (modern Montenegro).〔Fine, ''The early medieval Balkans'', p. 149.〕 His territory therefore formed a block along the southern Dalmatian coast, from the Neretva river to Ragusa (Dubrovnik), latter serving as a tributary region.〔〔 Before the annexation of Serbia in 924, 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.〔John the Deacon, ''Chronicon Venetum'', ed. Pertz, pp. 22-3.〕〔Fine, ''When ethnicity did not matter in the Balkans'', p. 63 note 103.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael of Zahumlje」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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