Mutimir of Serbia

He was the eldest son of Knez Vlastimir, great-great-grandson of the Unknown Archont, who managed to unite the Serb tribes into a state.

[2] The annexation of western Macedonia by the Bulgars changed the political situation, Malamir or Presian may have seen a threat in the Serb consolidation, and opted to include them in their conquest of Slav lands.

The Bulgars may have been threatened by the Serbs, or, perhaps, the Byzantines wanted to divert Bulgarian attention so that they could cope with the Slavic uprising in the Peloponnese.

[6] The war ended with the death of Theophilos in 842, which released Vlastimir from his obligations to the Byzantine Empire, but also gave the Bulgarians the opportunity to annex the areas of Ohrid, Bitola and Devol in 842–843.

[12] In 853 or 854, the Bulgar Army, led by Vladimir, the son of Boris I of Bulgaria, invaded Serbia in an attempt to exact vengeance for the previous defeat.

[15] The pagan Narentines sacked a ship with emissaries returning from Constantinople, which enraged Basil I, resulting in him sending a fleet and subsequently subduing them.

[34] "The priests there loose and wandering, coming from all sides, occupy some church services against canons, certainly commit many wicked acts against God's rules, for being acephali.

And since there has just been ordained a bishop, thanks to God, by the See of the Blessed Apostle Peter, place yourself back under his pastoral care" Mutimir seemingly decided to maintain the communion of Church in Serbia with the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople when Pope John VIII of Roman Church invited him to get back to the jurisdiction of the bishopric of Sirmium (see also Archbishopric of Moravia) in a letter dated to May 873.

[19][40] The lasting Christian identity is evident in the tradition of theophoric names in the next generation of Serb royalty: Petar Gojniković, Stefan Mutimirović and Pavle Branović.

[19] Alexis P. Vlasto argued that the Eparchy of Ras was founded during Mutimir's rule, as a bishopric of Serbia, at Ras with the church of Saint Apostles Peter and Paul,[41] as part of the general plan of establishing bishoprics in the Slav lands of the Empire, confirmed by the Council of Constantinople in 879–880,[41] most significantly related to the creation of the autonomous Archbishopric for Bulgaria of which Roman Church lost jurisdiction.

[44] The imperial charter of Basil II from 1020 to the Archbishopric of Ohrid, in which the rights and jurisdictions were established, has the earliest mention of the Bishopric/Episcopy of Ras, stating it belonged to the Bulgarian autocephal church during the time of Peter I (927–969) and Samuel of Bulgaria (977–1014).