Toljen of Hum

Toljen
Prince of Hum (Zahumlje)
Reign	1190s
Predecessor	Miroslav
Successor	Petar
Spouse	daughter of Berthold of Andechs
Issue	Toljen II
Dynasty	Vukanović
Father	Miroslav of Hum
Mother	sister of Ban Kulin
Religion	Eastern Orthodoxy

Toljen (Serbian Cyrillic: Тољен^[a]; fl. 1189) was a Serbian prince (knez), who ruled Hum between 1192–1196, serving his uncle Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja (r. 1166–1196).

Life

His father was Miroslav of Hum (r. 1166–1190; 1192) and his mother was a sister of Ban Kulin of Bosnia. Miroslav had ruled Hum under nominal rule of his brother, Stefan Nemanja.

In order to secure Serbian-German relations, during the talks between Stefan Nemanja and Frederic Barbarossa during his passing through Serbia during the Third Crusade, it was arranged that Toljen was betrothed (between 27 Jul 1189 and 24 Apr 1190) to the daughter of Berthold IV, "Duke of Merano Marchese di Istria" and his wife Agnes von Wettin. Berthold IV, who was in Barbarossa's entourage at Niš, had an important part in the Serbian-German talks.^[1] It was also decided that knez Toljen would succeed his father before any of his brothers.^[1] Toljen was to await his spouse at Istria on the feast day of St. George the following year.^[2] In ca. 1190, Stefan Nemanja briefly assigned the rule of Hum to his son Rastko Nemanjić, meanwhile Miroslav held the Lim region with Bijelo Polje.^[3] Rastko however took monastic vows and Miroslav continued ruling Hum or parts of it after 1192. Miroslav died of old age in 1198.

Family

Together they had one son, Toljen II, who succeeded as Prince later in 1227-1239.

Ancestors of Toljen of Hum

Vukan Grand Prince of Serbia (1091–1112)               Uroš I Grand Prince of Serbia (ca. 1112–1145)                       Zavida Prince of Hum (fl. 1112)                             Constantine Diogenes Byzantine prince               Anna Diogenissa Byzantine princess                       Theodora Komnene Byzantine princess               Miroslav Prince of Hum (1166-1190; 1192)                                   Toljen                                         A sister of Ban Kulin of Bosnia (1180–1204)

Annotations

1. ^ According to naming culture, he had the patronymic Mirosavljević. He was also known as Toljen of Hum (Latin: Tolen de Chulmia).

References

1. Srejović 1892, p. 257

   Да би српско-немачке веае биле трајније, током разговора је било уТана- чено да се Тољен, син Немањиног брата кнеза Мирослава Хумског, ожени кћерком истарског маркгрофа Берхтолда од Андекса, који се налазио у царевој пратњи у Нишу и који је одиграо значајну улогу у српско-немачким преговорима. [...]

2. Miloš Crnjanski (1988). Sveti Sava. Glas Crkve. p. 27.
3. Fine 1994, pp. 19-20, 52

Sources

• Spiridion Gopčević (1914). Geschichte Von Montenegro und Albanien. Perthes.
• Dragoslav Srejović; Slavko Gavrilović; Sima M. Ćirković (1892). Istorija srpskog naroda: knj. Od najstarijih vremena do Maričke bitke (1371). Srpska književna zadruga.
• Конст. Јиречек: Тољен син кнеза Мир о слава хумског. Српска кр. А кадемија. Глас ХХХV. 1892