# Murder of Jovan Vladimir (22 May 1016)

URL: https://allhistories.com/montenegro/timeline/1016-murder-of-jovan-vladimir
Location: Prespa
Themes: Rulers & Successions

After the death of Tsar Samuel in 1014, Bulgaria was weakened by the defeat at Kleidion and by internal power struggles. Samuel's nephew Ivan Vladislav seized the throne in 1015 after murdering Samuel's son Gavril Radomir. Fearing that Vladimir of Duklja, Samuel's son-in-law and a former Byzantine ally, might go over to Basil II, Ivan Vladislav decided to remove him. According to the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja and Byzantine sources, Ivan Vladislav invited Vladimir to Prespa, giving him a guarantee of safe conduct. On 22 May 1016 Vladimir was seized and beheaded in front of a church. His body was buried at Prespa and later, at the request of his widow Kosara, moved to Krajina in Duklja. In later centuries his relics were taken to the monastery of Saint Jovan Vladimir near Elbasan in Albania. Ivan Vladislav then attacked Duklja's ally Dyrrhachium, where he was killed in 1018. Vladimir was soon venerated as a martyr. He is a saint of the Orthodox Church, and a cross said to be his is carried each year in a procession to the summit of Mount Rumija near Bar, a tradition shared by Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim inhabitants of the area.

## Why it matters
The death of Vladimir created the first native saint of Duklja and an enduring symbol of Montenegrin and Balkan Christianity.

Ruler at the Time: [Jovan Vladimir](https://allhistories.com/montenegro/rulers/jovan-vladimir)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Jovan Vladimir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jovan_Vladimir)
- [Wikipedia — Duklja (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duklja)