Vlastimir

Vlastimir was a Serbian ruler who, around 850 CE, established the first state to which Serbs attach a political identity. This state was centered in Raška, an area encompassing parts of modern-day eastern Montenegro and southern Serbia. Vlastimir's kingdom initially acknowledged the supremacy of the Byzantine Empire.1

The significance of these early Serbian proto-states lies in their lasting connection between the Serbian people and Orthodox Christianity, which was reintroduced to the region by Byzantine missionaries in the late 9th century. This period also saw the development of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets, crucial for the dissemination of Christianity in the vernacular.1