The Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja (Presbyter Diocleas: Libellus Gothorum; Ljetopis popa Dukljanina, Barski Rodoslov) is a medieval chronicle originally written by a Catholic priest from Dioclea (modern Bar) around 1172-1196.

This chronicle, built round a core written in Slavonic, but added to by a bishop of Bar intent on demonstrating his diocese' superiority over that of Split, is one of the oldest known written sources, but it has survived only in several late and widely divergent Latin translations from the 16th century.

Historians have largely discounted it, in spite of the fact that the Chronicle contains material on the early history of the South Slavs (in particular the Serbs and Croats). The work talks of the Slavs as a peaceful people imported by the rulers of the Goths, who invaded the area in the 5th century, but it doesn't attempt to elaborate on how and when this happened. This information contradicts the information found in the Byzantine text De Administrando Imperio.

The Chronicle also mentions one Svetopeleg or Svetopelek, the eighth descendent of the original Gothic invaders, as the main ruler of the lands that cover Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. He is also credited with the Christianization of the people who are Goths or Slavs — a purely fictitious attribution. It also relegates Serbia to a province of Croatia. These claims about a unified kingdom are probably a reflection of the earlier glory of the Moravian kingdom.

The priest's parish was located at the seat of the archbishopric of Duklja. According to Bishop Gregory's late 12th century additions to this document, this Archbishopric covered much of the western Balkans including the bishoprics of Bar, Budva, Kotor, Ulcinj, Svac , Skadar, Drivast , Pulat , Travunia, Zahumlje.

Further, it mentions Bosnia (Bosnam) and Serbia (Surbia) as the two Serbian lands, while describing the four southern Dalmatian duchies, Pagania, Hum, Travunia and Duklja (most of today's Herzegovina and Montenegro) as Croatian lands, a description rather inconsistent with other historical works from the same period.

The archbishop of Bar was named later Primas Serbiae. Ragusa had some claims to be considered the natural ecclesiastical centre of South Dalmatia but those of Dioclea (Bar) to this new metropolitan status were now vigorously pushed especially as the Pope intended Serbia to be attached to Dioclea.

Various inaccurate or simply wrong claims in the text make it an unreliable source. This work is, as the majority of modern historians think, mainly fictional, or wishful thinking.

External link

• Paul Stephenson, Chronicle of the priest of Duklja (Ljetopis' Popa Dukljanina) partial translation and reconstructed transmission of the texts