His father had with his brothers
Strojimir and
Gojnik, defeated the
Bulgar Army sent by TsarBoris I of Bulgaria and led by his son
Vladimir.[1] Vladimir was captured together with 12
boyars. Boris I and Mutimir agreed on peace (and perhaps an alliance[1]), and Mutimir sent his sons
Bran and
Stefan beyond the border to escort the prisoners, where they exchanged items as a sign of peace: Boris himself gave them "rich gifts", while he was given "two
slaves, two
falcons, two
dogs, and eighty
furs".[2]
In the 880s, Mutimir seized the throne, exiling his younger brothers and
Klonimir, Strojimir's son, to the court of Boris I in the Bulgar Khanate.[1] This was most likely due to treachery.[3]Petar, the son of Gojnik, was kept at the Serbian court of Mutimir for political reasons,[3] but he soon fled to
Branimir of Croatia.[1]
Mutimir died in 890 or 891, leaving the throne to his eldest son, Pribislav.[1] Pribislav had only ruled for a year when Petar returned in 892, defeating him in battle and seizing the throne. Pribislav fled to
Croatia with his brothers
Bran and Stefan.[1] Bran later returned and led an unsuccessful rebellion against Petar in 894.[4] Bran was defeated, captured and blinded (a
Byzantine tradition meant to disqualify a person from taking the throne[5])
His only son,
Zaharija, remained in
Constantinople for a long period before successfully seizing the throne with Byzantine aid, ruling from 922–924.
Name: The first attestation of his name is the Greek Pribeslavos (Πριβέσθλαβος[9]), in Latin Pribesthlabus[10] or Preuuisclao,[11] in Serbian Pribislav or Prvoslav (Прибислав/Првослав, meaning "First-glorified"; from the words prvo - first, and slava - glory). He was a descendant of Vlastimirović, his father was Mutimir, hence, according to the contemporary naming culture, his name was Pribislav Mutimirović Vlastimirović.
Vizantološki institut SANU (Božidar Ferjančić), „Vizantijski izvori za istoriju naroda Jugoslavije (II tom)“ (fototipsko izdanje originala iz 1957), Beograd 2007
ISBN978-86-83883-08-0