page_title: Bay of Kotor
section_title: Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: Bay of Kotor / History / Middle Ages
caption_attribution_description: English: Churches in the Bay of Kotor&#160;: 1. Monuments of the ninth century&#160;; 2. Monuments (X -th and XI -th century) .
context_page_description: The Bay of Kotor, also known as the Boka, is the winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay.
  The bay has been inhabited since antiquity. Its well-preserved medieval towns of Kotor, Risan, Tivat, Perast, Prčanj and Herceg Novi, along with their natural surroundings, are major tourist attractions. The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Its numerous Orthodox and Catholic churches and monasteries attract numerous religious and cultural pilgrims.
context_section_description: The Sklavenoi, South Slavs, settled in the Balkans in the 6th century. The Serbs, mentioned in the Royal Frankish Annals of the mid-9th century, controlled a great part of Dalmatia ("Sorabos, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur").Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos in  De Administrando Imperio  mentione that from Croats who came to Dalmatia  one part is separated and take rule in Illyricum (Roman province). The Slavic, Serbian tribes, consolidated under the Vlastimirović dynasty (610–960). The two principalities of Doclea and Travunia were roughly adjacent at Boka. As elsewhere in the Balkans, Slavs mixed with the Roman population of these Byzantine coastal cities. The Theme of Dalmatia was established in the 870s. According to De Administrando Imperio (ca. 960), Risan was part of Travunia, a Serbian principality ruled by the Belojević family.
  After the Great Schism of 1054, the coastal region was under both Churches. In 1171, Stefan Nemanja sided with the Venetian Republic in a dispute with the Byzantine Empire. The Venetians incited the Slavs of the eastern Adriatic littoral to rebel against Byzantine rule and Nemanja joined them, launching an offensive towards Kotor. The Bay was thenceforth under the rule of the Nemanjić dynasty. In 1195 Nemanja and his son Vukan constructed the Church of Saint Luka in Kotor.   In 1219 Saint Sava founded the seat of the Eparchy of Zeta on Prevlaka, one of the eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Due to its protected location, Kotor became a major city for the salt trade. The area flourished during the 14th century under the rule of Serbian emperor Dušan "The Mighty" who, notorious for his aggressive law enforcement, made the Bay of Kotor a particularly safe place for doing business.
  The city of Kotor was under Nemanjić rule until 1371. It was followed by a period of frequent political changes in the region. Local lords from Vojinović and Balšić noble families fought over the influence in the region. Since 1377, northern parts of the Bay region came under the rule of Tvrtko I Kotromanić, who proclaimed himself King of the Serbs and Bosnia. For several years (1385-1391), the city of Kotor also recognized the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Bosnia. After 1391, it gained political independence, and functioned as a city-state until 1420. Its merchant fleet and importance gradually increased, but so was the interest of the powerful Republic of Venice for the city and the bay region. From 1405 to 1412, the First Scutari War was fought in the region.
caption: Churches in the Bay of Kotor: 1) from the 9th and 2) 10th and 11th century
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