Battle of Bar
Part of the Byzantine-Serbian Wars
Date7 October 1042
Location
Bar, Duklja
(now Montenegro)
Result Decisive Doclean Serb victory; Stefan Vojislav asserts his state's independence from Byzantium
Belligerents
Duklja Byzantine Empire
Commanders and leaders
Stefan Vojislav Michaelus Anastasii
Strength
5,000 40,000–60,000
Casualties and losses
670 2/3 of army killed, 7 strategoi killed, 50 captured

The Battle of Bar (Serbian Cyrillic: Битка код Бара, romanized: Bitka kod Bara) took place on October 7, 1042 between the army of Stefan Vojislav, the Serbian ruler of Duklja,[1] and Byzantine forces led by Michaelus Anastasii. The battle was actually a sudden attack on the Byzantine camp in the mountain gorge, which ended in the utter defeat of the Byzantine forces and the deaths of 7 of their commanders (strategoi). Following the defeat and retreat of the Byzantines, Vojislav ensured a future for Duklja without imperial authority,[2] and Duklja would soon emerge as the most significant Serb state.[3]

In memory of this victory, 7 October is commemorated as the day of the Military of Montenegro.

Background

Prior to the war, Duklja and the other principalities were subordinated to the suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire. However, around the start of the 11th century, Stefan Vojislav waged a series of successful attacks aimed at independence.

The Byzantine army, led by the dux Michael, moved towards Duklja in order to suppress the revolts, and they set up camp in the area near Bar. Byzantine historian John Skylitzes described their invasion of Duklja (in Latin translation by Immanuel Bekker):[4][5]

Servis, ut fertur, dedita opera cedentibus ac intrare eum sinentibus, neque de reditu solicitum neque iusto praesidio angustias occupantem. ita ingressus campestria direptionibus incendiisque vastabat. at Servi fauces itinerum ac praerupta insidere et reditum eius praestolari.
It is said that the Serbs had deliberately let them enter [Duklja], while he [Michael] took no care about their return, nor did he leave sufficiently strong guard in the gorges. After the incursion, he plundered and burned plains, while the Serbs took and kept the gorges and steep places along the road and waited for the return [of the Byzantine army].

Battle

Serbs massacre the Byzantines in the mountain passes, Madrid Skylitzes

The battle took place in the mountainous area between Bar and Crmnica after midnight, on October 7, 1042. Prior to the battle a man from Bar entered the Byzantine camp and spread false information about a huge army, causing panic among the Byzantines. Stefan Vojislav, along with three of his sons, led the Serbs into battle. Their army slowly moved down the hills along with shouting and blowing horns and trumpets to exaggerate their size. The Byzantines, trapped in the mountainous area, were caught unprepared and after heavy fighting were routed. Some historical records say that two thirds of the Byzantine army were killed. Byzantine historian John Skylitzes (1040–1101) said that 60,000 Byzantines participated in the battle, but these records are considered inaccurate. Most historians agree that there were about 40,000 Byzantines. Serbs numbers are unknown, but are considered to be greatly inferior to the Byzantines. Vojislav dispatched 50 Greeks to spread the news about it. The Strategikon described the outcome of the battle:[4][6]

ὁποῖον ἐποίησεν ὁ Τριβούνιος ὁ Σέρβος τῷ κατεπάνω Δυρραχίου Μιχαὴλ τῷ τοῦ λογοθέτου υἱῷ εἰς Διοκλείαν καὶ ἀπώλεσε τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπέκεινα τῶν τεσσαράκοντα χιλιαδῶν ὄντα.
Thus the Travunian Serb [Vojislav] did in Duklja to the katepano of Dyrrhachium, Michael, son of logothete, and he destroyed his army that numbered more than 40,000.

References

  1. ↑ Ćirković 2004, p. 24-25.
  2. ↑ Cedrenus II, col. 275,
  3. ↑ John Van Antwerp Fine (1991). The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. p. 207. ISBN 0-472-08149-7.
  4. 1 2 George Ostrogorsky; Franjo Barišić, eds. (1966). Византијски извори за историју народа Југославије [Byzantine Sources for the History of the Peoples of Yugoslavia]. Vol. 3. Belgrade: Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. pp. 160–61, 210–11.
  5. ↑ Immanuel Bekker, ed. (1839). Georgius Cedrenus Ioannis Scylitze Ope. Vol. 2. Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi. p. 544.
  6. ↑ Basil Wasilewski; Viktor Jernstedt, eds. (1896). Cecaumeni Strategicon et incerti scriptoris de officiis regiis libellus. Saint Petersburg: Typis Academiae Caesareae Scientiarum. p. 25. ISBN 9785424147531.

Sources

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