Kotor is a Latin commune of Romance-speaking citizens at the head of the deep bay (Boka), self-governing under the Serbian prince since it accepted Nemanja's rule (1184 or 1185; sources differ).
It keeps its republican institutions, its council of nobles and its courts, and by the Italian account even the right to make treaties and war; its bishop belongs to the Latin archbishopric of Bari in Apulia, not to Bar or Ragusa. The Serbian lives say Nemanja fortified the town and built a court there. In 1195 the citizen Mauro Kacafrangi built the church of St Luke, whose inscription names the grand zupan Stefan Nemanja and his son King Vukan.
Kotor is the Nemanjic lands' chief port for the road inland to Ras.
Who he is
- Title
- The commune of Kotor (its prior or count and council; officers in 1200 not pinned)
- Since
- under the Nemanjici since 1184 or 1185
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia (Kotor: conquered by Nemanja in 1185; partly autonomous city with its republican institutions under Nemanjic rule; bishop under Bari).
Overlord
Vukan as king of Dioclea, under the grand zupan.
What it holds
- Kotor town with the cathedral of St Tryphon (built 1166)
- the inner bay (Dobrota, Prcanj, Perast) by later evidence
- the commune's shipping and trade
How it was acquired
Accepted Nemanja's rule about 1185, keeping its liberties.
Allies and rivals
Trade partner and rival of Ragusa; tied to Bari through its bishop; under Vukan.
How things stand that morning
Self-governing under Vukan.
Wealth
Shipping, the trade between the Serbian interior and Italy, salt, wine.
Military
Town walls climbing to the fort of St John above the town; the citizens' galleys. No figures.
Threats
- Ragusa's competition.
- A war between the Nemanjic brothers.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Its privileges are known from the statute of 1301 and later; its officers in 1200 are not named in the sources checked.
On the map: The commune's district in 1200 is not documented.
Primary sources for Zeta
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea, Anonymous (the priest of Dioclea; Rudger, archbishop of Bar, by Zivkovic's attribution) (disputed: the 12th century on the older view, about 1295 to 1301 on the current one). The chronicle ends before 1200 and gives no event of that year. Read online
- History of the bishops of Salona and Split, by Thomas the Archdeacon, Thomas of Split (about 1266). Written two generations later by a Split churchman born about 1200. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III (pontifical years 1 to 3, 1198 to 1201), Innocent III (Lotario dei Conti di Segni) and the papal chancery (1198 onwards, year by year). The register for the second and third pontifical years (February 1199 to February 1201) holds the letters that set the eastern stage for 1200: the exchange with Kaloyan of Bulgaria opened in December 1199 and continued through 1200 over union with Rome and a crown, letters to Vukan of Zeta and to Stefan of Serbia, letters to Alexios III and the patriarch John Kamateros pressing for church union and help for the crusade, the preaching commissions and the legation of Peter Capuano, the Antioch succession quarrel between Bohemond and Leo of Armenia, letters to Aimery of Cyprus and Jerusalem, and the French interdict over Ingeborg. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
- Charters of the kingdom of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia, volume 2, 1101 to 1200 (documents of 1101 to 1200, edited 1904). The Croatian and Dalmatian charters to 1200: the acts of Duke Andrew as lord of Croatia and Dalmatia (1197 to 1204), the Hungarian kings' grants, the Templars and the bishops of Zagreb, Split, Zadar and Trogir, the communal statutes of the coastal towns, and the papal letters of 1200 to Emeric about Ban Kulin of Bosnia and heresy. Read online
- The Lives of St Simeon (Stefan Nemanja) by Sava and by Stefan the First-Crowned, Sava of Serbia (Rastko Nemanjic) and Stefan the First-Crowned (Sava's Life 1208, as the preface to the Studenica typikon (a short Life stands in the Hilandar typikon of 1199); Stefan's Life 1216). The two sons' lives of Stefan Nemanja are the Serbian witness to the situation of 1200: Nemanja's abdication at Ras in 1196 in favour of Stefan, his monastic years at Studenica and on Mount Athos, the founding of Hilandar (1198) and his death there on 13 February 1199, and, in Stefan's version written after the event, the war with the elder brother Vukan of Zeta, who seized the throne with Hungarian help in 1202. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.