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Kingdom of Croatia (medieval)
Encyclopedia
The Kingdom of Croatia (Croatian
: Kraljevina Hrvatska), also known as the Kingdom of the Croats (Croatian
: Kraljevstvo Hrvata; Latin: Regnum Chroatorum or Regnum Croatorum), was a medieval kingdom covering most of what is today Croatia
and Bosnia and Herzegovina
in the Balkans
.
Established in 925, it ruled as a sovereign state
for almost two centuries. Its existence was characterized by various conflicts with the Venetians
, Bulgarians
, Magyars and, occasionally, the Pope
. The goal of promoting the Slavic language in the religious service was initially brought and introduced by the 10th century bishop
Gregory of Nin
. 1102, after a period of time defined as a succession crisis for the Trpimirović Dynasty, the kingdom lost its full sovereignty by the creation of a personal union
with the Kingdom of Hungary
. The Croatian kingdom de jure
existed until 1918.
No contemporary written records about the migration have been preserved, especially not about the events as a whole and from the area itself. Instead, historians rely on records written several centuries after the facts, and even those records may be based on oral tradition
.
The Croats
were a Slavic tribe, coming into the Balkans from an area in and around today's
Poland
or western Ukraine. Many modern scholars believe that the early Croat people, as well as other early Slavic groups, were agricultural populations that were ruled by the nomadic Iranian-speaking Alans
. It is unclear whether the Alans contributed much more than a ruling caste or a class of warriors; the evidence on their contribution is mainly philological
and etymological
.
The book De Administrando Imperio
, written in the 10th century, is the most referenced source on the migration of Slavic peoples
into southeastern Europe. It states that they migrated first around or before year 600 from the region that is now (roughly) Galicia and areas of the Pannonian plain, led by the Avars
, to the province of Dalmatia ruled by the Roman Empire. De Administrando Imperio reports a folk tradition that the Croats were led into the Roman province of Dalmatia by a group of five brothers, Klukas, Lobel, Kosenc, Muhlo and Hrvat, and their two sisters, Tuga and Buga.
The second wave of migration, possibly around year 620, began when the Croats
were invited by the Emperor Heraclius
to counter the Avar threat on the Byzantine Empire
.
De Administrando Imperio also mentions an alternate version of the events, where the Croats weren't actually invited by Heraclius, but instead defeated the Avars and settled on their own accord after migrating from an area near today's Silesia
. This record is supported by the writings of one Thomas the archdeacon, Historia Salonitana from the 13th century.
Archdeacon Thomas, as well as the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja
from the 12th century, state that the Croats remained after the Goths
(under a leader referred to as "Totila
") had occupied and pillaged the Roman province of Dalmatia. The Chronicle of Dioclea speaks of a Gothic invasion (under a leader referred to as "Svevlad", followed by his descendants "Selimir" and "Ostroilo").
The earliest record of contact between the Roman Pope
and the Croats dates from a mid-7th century entry in the Liber Pontificalis
. Pope John IV
(John the Dalmatian, 640-642) sent an abbot named Martin to Dalmatia
and Istria
in order to pay ransom for some prisoners and for the remnants of old Christian martyrs. This abbot is recorded to have travelled through Dalmatia with the help of the Croatian leaders, and he established the foundation for the future relations between the Pope and the Croats.
The Christianization
of the Croats began after their arrival, probably in the 7th century, influenced by the proximity of the old Roman cities in Dalmatia. The process was completed in the north by the beginning of the 9th century. The beginnings of the Christianization
are also disputed in the historical texts: the Byzantine texts talk of duke Porin who started this at the incentive of emperor Heraclius
, then of Prince Porga who mainly Christianized his people after the influence of missionaries from Rome, while the national tradition recalls Christianization during the rule of Dalmatian Prince Borna
. It is possible that these are all renditions of the same ruler's name.
Curiously enough, the Croats were never obliged to use Latin
-- rather, they held mass
es in their own language and used the Glagolitic alphabet
. This was officially sanctioned in 1248 by Pope Innocent IV
, and only later did the Latin alphabet prevail.
The Latin Rite prevailed over the Byzantine Rite
rather early due to numerous interventions from the Holy See
. There were numerous church synods held in Dalmatia in the 11th century, particularly after the East-West Schism
, during the course of which the use of the Latin rite was continuously reinforced until it became dominant.
Croatian lands in the Dark Ages were located between three major entities: the Eastern Roman Empire which aimed to control the Dalmatian city-states and islands, the Franks
which aimed to control the northern and northwestern lands, and the Avars
, later Magyars, and other fledgling states in the northeast. The fourth relevant group, but not so powerful with regard to the Croatian state, were the nearby Slavs in the southeast, the Serbs
and the Bulgarians
.
The north became subject to the Carolingian Empire
around 800, when in 796 a Croatian Pannonian prince Vojnomir switched sides between the Avars
and the Franks
. The Franks established control over the region between Sava, Drava
and Danube
which was under the Margrave
of Friuli
. The patriarchy of Aquileia
was then allowed to Christianize the remaining Slavs in the region. Charlemagne
invaded the Dalmatian portion of Croatia in 799, contesting its Byzantine suzerainty, and after a lengthy war, conquered it in 803. The prince who headed the Croats in the south at the time was called Višeslav
.
Charlemagne's invasion of the Dalmatian cities provoked a war with the Eastern Roman Empire — after a peace deal was signed, the Byzantium restored the city-states and islands while Charlemagne kept Istria and inland Dalmatia. After the death of Charlemagne
in 814, the Frankish influence decreased, and the Croatian prince Ljudevit Posavski
raised in Pannonia a rebellion (819). The Frankish
Margraves sent armies in 820, 821 and 822, but each time they failed to crush the rebels until finally Ljudevit's forces withdrew to Bosnia
. Most of the Pannonian Croatia would remain in Frankish suzerainty until the end of the 9th century. What is today eastern Slavonia
and Srijem fell to the Bulgarians
in 827 after a border dispute with the Franks. By a peace treaty in 845, the Franks were confirmed as rulers over Slavonia, whilst Srijem remained under Bulgarian clientage.
In the meantime, the Dalmatian Croats were recorded to have been subject to the Kingdom of Italy
under Lothair I
, since 828. The Croatian Prince Mislav
(835–845) built up a formidable navy, and in 839 signed a peace treaty with Pietro Tradonico
, doge of Venice
. The Venetians soon proceeded to battle with the independent Slavic pirates of the Pagania region, but failed to defeat them. The Bulgarian king Boris I
(called by the Byzantine Empire
Archont of Bulgaria after he made Christianity the official religion of Bulgaria) also waged a lengthy war against the Dalmatian Croats
, trying to expand his state to the Adriatic.
The Croatian Prince Trpimir I
(845–864) succeeded Mislav and managed to finally win the war against the Bulgarians and their Rascia
n subjects. Trpimir I expanded his realm to include the whole of Bosnia up to the Drina
river.
Trpimir I managed to consolidate power over Dalmatia and much of the inland regions towards Pannonia
, while instituting counties as a way of controlling his subordinates (an idea he picked up from the Franks). The first known written mention of the Croats, dates form March 4, 852, in statute
by Trpimir. Trpimir is remembered as the initiator of the Trpimirović dynasty
, that ruled in Croatia, with interruptions, from 845 until 1091.
In the meantime, the Saracens, a group of Arab
pirates, invaded Taranto
and Bari
in the 840s. The extent of their piracy forced the Byzantium to increase its military presence in the southern Adriatic. In 867 a Byzantine fleet lifted the Saracen
siege over Dubrovnik
(then known as Ragusa
) and also defeated the pirates of Pagania.
Facing a number of naval threats, the Croatian Prince Domagoj
(864–876) built up the Croatian navy again and helped the Franks conquer Bari
in 871. The Croatian vessels also forced the Venetians to start paying tribute for sailing near the eastern Adriatic coast. Domagoj's son, of unknown name, ruled Dalmatian Croatia between 876 and 878. His forces attacked the western Istrian towns in 876, but were subsequently defeated by the Venetian navy. His ground forces defeated the Pannonian duke Kocelj (861–874) who was suzerain to the Franks, and thereby shed the Frankish vassal status. Wars of Domagoj and his son liberated Dalmatian Croats from supreme Franks rule.
The next Prince Zdeslav
(878–879) owerthrew Domagoj's son, but reigned briefly, only to see the Byzantine Empire conquer large portions of Dalmatia. He was then overthrown by Prince Branimir
(879–892), who was supported by the Western Church, and the country was recognized by Pope John VIII
as an independent principality under Branimir in 879 (Branimir was dubbed dux Chroatorum). Branimir proceeded to repel the Byzantine incursion and strengthen his state under the ægis of Rome. After Branimir's death, Prince Muncimir
(892–910), Zdeslav's brother, took control of Dalmatia and ruled it independently of both Rome and Byzantium as divino munere Croatorum dux (with God's help, duke of Croats).
The last Prince of the Pannonian Croats under the Franks was Braslav (died in 897?), mentioned in 896, who died in a war with the Magyars, who then migrated to the Pannonian plain. In Dalmatia, Duke Tomislav
(910–928) succeeded Muncimir. Tomislav successfully repelled Magyar attacks, expelled them up to the Drava River on north, and united Pannonian and Dalmatian Croats into one state.
The Slavs arrived in the early 7th century in what is Croatia today. The first Croatian ruler recognized by the Pope
was duke Branimir
, whom Pope John VIII
called dux Croatorum ("duke of Croats") in 879. Croatia was elevated to the status of Kingdom
around 925, when King Tomislav received the crown from the Papal legate
. He united the Slavs of Dalmatia and Pannonia into a single Kingdom in 925. Tomislav's state extended from the Adriatic Sea to the Drava river
, and from the Raša river
to the Drina river
. Under his rule, Croatia became one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Balkans.
The state was ruled mostly by native Croats of Trpimirović dynasty
until 1102, when the crown passed into the hands of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty
. The act of union was sealed in Pacta conventa
. Kingdom of Croatia and Hungary was from 1102, a personal union
of two kingdoms, Kingdom of Croatia
and Kingdom of Hungary
, united under the Hungarian king. At first, they were united under Arpad
dynasty, and after its extinction, under Anjou
dynasty. Croatia retained its chief institutions such as the Parliament and the ban
(viceroy) responsible to the King of Hungary and Croatia. In addition, the Croatian nobles retained their lands and titles. Croatia remained a distinct crown attached to that of Hungary until the abolition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.
Tomislav, a descendant of Trpimir I, is considered the founder of the Trpimirović dynasty. Sometime between 923 and 928, Tomislav succeeded in uniting the Croats of Pannonia
and Dalmatia
, each of which had been ruled separately by dukes, and was crowned as king in the Duvno field (the central town in the Duvno field is still named Tomislavgrad
("Tomislav's city") in his honour). The chief piece of evidence that Tomislav was crowned king comes in the form of a letter dated 925, surviving only in 16th-century copies, from Pope John X
calling Tomislav rex Chroatorum. Tomislav's state covered most of Pannonia, Dalmatia, Bosnia
, and Slavonia
. He administered his kingdom
as a group of eleven counties (župa
nija) and one banate
(Banovina
). Each of these regions had a fortified royal town.
Tomislav soon came into conflict with the Bulgars
under Emperor Simeon I
(called Simeon the Great in Bulgaria). Tomislav made a pact with the Byzantine Empire
, which allowed him to control the Byzantine cities in Dalmatia as long as he curbed Bulgarian expansion. In 926, Simeon tried to break the Croatian-Byzantine pact, sending duke Alogobotur
with a formidable army against Tomislav, but Simeon's army was defeated in the Battle of the Bosnian Highlands
. According to the contemporary De Administrando Imperio
, Tomislav's army and navy could have consisted approximately 100,000 infantry
units, 60,000 cavaliers, and 80 larger (sagina) and 100 smaller warship
s (condura), but generally isn't taken as credible.
s and ceased being soldiers, causing the military power of Croatia to fade.
Tomislav was succeeded by Trpimir II
(928–935) and Krešimir I
(935–945), who each managed to maintain their power and keep good relations with both the Byzantine Empire and the Pope. This period, on the whole, however, is obscure. Miroslav
(945–949) was killed by his ban, Pribina
, during an internal power struggle, and Croatia again lost the islands of Brač
, Hvar
, and Vis
to the dukes of Pagania. The Dalmatian city-states and the Duchy of Bosnia were lost to Byzantium and eastern Slavonia and Srijem were taken by the Magyars.
Krešimir II
(949–969) restored order throughout most of the state. He kept particularly good relations with the Dalmatian cities, he and his wife Jelena
donating land and churches to Zadar
and Solin. A 976 inscription is preserved the Church of Saint Mary in Solin that names the Croatian royalty. Krešimir II was succeeded by his son Stjepan Držislav
(969–997), who established better relations with the Byzantine Empire from which he has received a royal insignia
.
(997–1000), Krešimir III
(1000–1030), and Gojslav
(1000–1020), opened a violent contest for the throne, weakening the state and allowing the Venetians under Pietro II Orseolo
and the Bulgarians under Samuil
to encroach on the Croatian possessions along the Adriatic. In 1000, Orseolo led the Venetian fleet into the eastern Adriatic and gradually took control of the whole of it, first the islands of the Gulf of Kvarner and Zadar, then Trogir
and Split
, followed by a successful naval battle with the Narentines upon which he took control of Korčula
and Lastovo
, and claimed the title dux Dalmatiæ. Krešimir III tried to restore the Dalmatian cities and had some success until 1018, when he was defeated by Venice allied with the Lombards
. His son, Stjepan I
(1030–1058), only went so far as to get the Narentine duke to become his vassal in 1050.
During the reign of Krešimir IV
(1058–1074), the medieval Croatian kingdom reached its territorial peak. Kresimir managed to get the Byzantine Empire to confirm him as the supreme ruler of the Dalmatian cities. He also allowed the Roman curia
to become more involved in the religious affairs of Croatia, which consolidated his power but disrupted his rule over the Glagolitic
clergy in parts of Istria
after 1060. Croatia under Krešimir IV was composed of twelve counties and was slightly larger than in Tomislav's time. It included the closest southern Dalmatian duchy of Pagania, and its influence extended over Zahumlje
, Travunia
, and Duklja
.
However, in 1072, Krešimir assisted the Bulgarian and Serb
uprising against their Byzantine masters. The Byzantines retaliated in 1074 by sending the Norman
count Amik to besiege Rab
. They failed to capture the island, but did manage to capture the king himself, and the Croatians were then forced to settle and give away Split, Trogir, Zadar, Biograd, and Nin
to the Normans. In 1075, Venice banished the Normans and secured the cities for itself. The end of Kresimir IV in 1074 also marked de facto end of the Trpimirović dynasty, which had ruled the Croatian lands for over two centuries.
According to the Kartular of Supetar, a new king was elected by seven bans (if the previous one died without a successor e.g. Krešimir IV): ban of Croatia, ban of Bosnia, ban of Slavonia
etc. The bans were elected by the first six Croatian tribes, while the other six were responsible for choosing župan
s.
Krešimir was succeeded by a rival: Dmitar Zvonimir (1075–1089). He was previously a ban in Slavonia. He gained the title of king with the support of Pope Gregory VII
, after which he aided the Normans under Robert Guiscard
in their struggle against the Byzantine Empire and Venice between 1081 and 1085. Zvonimir helped to transport their troops through the Strait of Otranto
and to occupy the city of Durrës
. His troops assisted the Normans in many battles along the Albanian and Greek coast. Due to this, in 1085, the Byzantines transferred their rights in Dalmatia to Venice.
Zvonimir's kinghood is carved in stone on the Baška Tablet
, preserved to this day as one of the oldest written Croatian texts, kept in the archæological museum in Zagreb
. Zvonimir's reign is remembered as a peaceful and prosperous time, during which the connection of Croats with the Holy See was further affirmed, so much so that Catholicism would remain among Croats until the present day. In this time the noble titles in Croatia were made analogous to those used in other parts of Europe at the time, with comes and baron used for the župani and the royal court nobles, and vlastelin for the noblemen. The Croatian state was edging closer to western Europe and further from the east.
There was no permanent state capital, as the royal residence varied from one ruler to another; five cities in total reportedly obtained the title of a royal seat: Nin
(Krešimir IV), Biograd (Stephen Držislav, Krešimir IV), Knin
(Zvonimir, Petar Svačić), Šibenik
(Krešimir IV), and Solin (Krešimir II).
Demetrius Zvonimir (died 1089) was the King of Croatia of the Svetoslavić branch of the House of Trpimirović. He began as the Ban of Slavonia
in the service of King Stephen I and then as Duke of Croatia for his successor King Peter Krešimir IV. Peter declared him his heir and, in late 1074 or early 1075, Demetrius Zvonimir succeeded to the Croatian throne. Demetrius Zvonimir married in 1063 to his distant relative Jelena Lijepa
("Jelena the Beautiful"). Queen Jelena (Ilona) was a Hungarian
princess, the daughter of King Bela I of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty
, and was the sister of the future King Ladislaus I of Hungary
. Demetrius Zvonimir and Jelena had a son, Radovan, who died in his late teens or early twenties. King Demetrius Zvonimir died in 1089. The exact circumstances of his death are unknown, but according to a later, likely unsubstantiated legend, King Zvonimir was killed during the revolt of the Sabor in 1089. With no direct heir to succeed him, Stephen II
(reigned 1089–1091) of the main Trpimirović line came to the throne at an old age and reigned for two years. This succession was contested by a faction of nobles from northern Croatia (Pannonia). The nobles offered the Croatian throne to King Ladislaus I of Hungary
, who claimed the Croatian crown through his sister Queen Jelena
, King Demetrius Zvonimir's widow. The Queen enjoyed significant influence in northern Croatia and apparently used it to bolster her brother's claim.
Stephen II was to be the last King of the House of Trpimirović. His rule was relatively ineffectual and lasted less than two years. He spent most of this time in the tranquility of the monastery of Sv. Stjepan pod Borovima (St. Stephen beneath the Pines) near Split
. He died at the beginning of 1091, without leaving an heir. Since there was no living male member of the House of Trpimirović, civil war and unrest broke out shortly afterward. At the same time (1091), with the death of Stephen II setting the stage, King Ladislaus I of Hungary at last accepted the nomination of northern nobles and claimed the Croatian crown. He entered the Croatian Kingdom with an army in 1094, and established his rule in northern Croatia (Pannonia) with little resistance. During the same year (1094) he founded the Zagreb
bishopric, which later became the ecclesiastical center of Croatia. However, Ladislaus' claim was rejected by the nobles of southern Croatia, who resisted his forces successfully in the mountainous southern terrain and maintained their independence. At this time, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus sent the Cumans
to attack Hungary and forced the Hungarian army to retreat from Croatia. Alexius did, however, allow the Hungarian Prince Álmos
to rule over northern Croatia (Pannonia).
In 1093, the southern Croatian feudal lords, struggling to remain independent of Hungary, elected a new ruler, King Peter Svačić
(reigned 1093–1097). He managed to unify the Kingdom around his capital of Knin
and force the Hungarian Prince Álmos from northern Croatia in 1095. With this he restored Croatian rule up to the river Drava
, reclaiming nearly all territory lost to Ladislaus I, who soon died in 1095.
Ladislaus' successor and nephew was King Coloman, and he resolved to press the Hungarian claim on the Croatian crown and continue the campaign. He made peace with Pope Urban II
and led a large army into the Croatian Kingdom in 1097. Under his leadership, a Hungarian army quickly defeated King Peter's defenses along the river Drava
and regained control over the Pannonian Croatian plains (northern Croatia). His forces were stopped however, as they approached the mountainous southern regions which resisted the Hungarian claim. He therefore reassembled his forces in Croatia and advanced on Gvozd Mountain, where he met the main Croatian army assembled under King Peter
. In the ensuing Battle of Gvozd Mountain
, King Peter was killed and the Croats were decisively defeated (because of this, the mountain was with time renamed to Petrova Gora
, "Peter's Mountain"). As a consequence of the battle, King Coloman gained control of most of Croatia without resistance. However, when in 1099 Coloman and his forces were called back to the northeast to fight the Ruthenians
and Cumans
in Galicia, the Croatian nobles took the opportunity to liberate themselves from Hungarian rule once again. In 1102, Coloman returned to the Kingdom of Croatia in force, and negotiated with the Croatian feudal lords from a position of power. As a consequence, King Coloman was crowned and the Hungarian and Croatian crowns were joined (with the crown of Dalmatia held separate from that of Croatia). The title now claimed by Coloman was "King of Hungary, Dalmatia, and Croatia".
According to the research of the Library of Congress
a faction of Croatian nobles contesting the succession after the death of Zvonimir offered the Croatian throne to King Ladislaus I. In 1091 Ladislaus accepted, and in 1094 he founded the Zagreb bishopric, which later became the ecclestical center of Croatia. King Coloman of Hungary crushed opposition after the death of Ladislaus I and won the crown of Dalmatia and Croatia in 1102. The crowning of King Coloman forged a link between the Croatian and Hungarian crowns that lasted until the end of World War I (1918). The status of the Croatian Kingdom in this new situation is disputed, however. Croats have maintained for centuries that, despite the voluntary union of the two crowns, the Kingdom of Croatia remained a sovereign state in a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary. Hungarians, however, claim that Hungary annexed Croatia outright in 1102. In either case, Hungarian culture permeated northern Croatia, the Croatian-Hungarian border shifted often, and at times Hungary treated Croatia as a vassal state. Croatia, however, had its own local governor, or Ban; a privileged landowning nobility; and an assembly of nobles, the Sabor.
Other sources say King Coloman established a personal union
of the Kingdom of Croatia
and the Kingdom of Hungary
by an alleged agreement called Pacta conventa. Although, the precise time and terms of Pacta Conventa
later became a matter of dispute; nonetheless there was at least a non-written agreement that regulated the relations between Hungary and Croatia in approximately the same way. According to Daniel Power Croatia became part of Hungary in the late 11th and early 12th century. The official entering of Croatia into a personal union with Hungary, becoming part of the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen
, had several important consequences. Institutions of separate Croatian statehood were maintained with the Sabor (parliament) and the ban (viceroy) in the name of the king. A single ban governed all Croatian provinces until 1225, when the authority was split between one ban of the whole of Slavonia
and one ban of Croatia and Dalmatia. The positions were intermittently held by the same person after 1345, and officially merged back into one by 1476.
In the union with Hungary, institutions of separate Croatian statehood were maintained through the Sabor (an assembly of Croatian nobles) and the ban (viceroy). In addition, the Croatian nobles retained their lands and titles. Coloman retained the institution of the Sabor and relieved the Croatians of taxes on their land. Coloman's successors continued to crown themselves as Kings of Croatia separately in Biograd na Moru
until the time of Bela IV. In the 14th century a new term arose to describe the collection of de jure independent states under the rule of the Hungarian King: Archiregnum Hungaricum (Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen
).
The Hungarian king also introduced a variant of the feudal system. Large fiefs were granted to individuals who would defend them against outside incursions thereby creating a system for the defence of the entire state.
However, by enabling the nobility to seize more and more economic and military power, the kingdom itself lost influence to the Frankopan, Šubić, Lacković, Nelipčić
, Kačić, Kurjaković, Drašković
, Babonić and other families. During this period, the Knights Templar
and the Knights Hospitaller
also acquired considerable property and assets in Croatia.
The later kings sought to restore their influence by giving certain privileges to the towns, making them Royal Boroughs or Free Royal Towns
, which the kings defended from the feudal lords in return for the town's support.
The princes of Bribir from the Šubić family became particularly influential during the time of Pavao Šubić Bribirski
(1272–1312) who asserted control over large parts of Dalmatia
, Slavonia
and Bosnia
during an internal conflict between the Árpád and Anjou
ruling dynasties. Later, however, the Anjouvines intervened and scattered the Šubić and Babonić (1322 ad) families across the country (an important offspring being the Zrinski
family). During that time, Angevian kings won a full control over Slavonia and Croatia. The reign of Louis the Great (1342–1382) is considered the golden age of Croatian medieval history. Hungarian power was restored in Dalmatia in 1358 AD by the Treaty of Zadar (later, in the time of reign king Sigismund I Luxembourg this province was sold to the Republic of Venice
in 1409.
started, Croatia once again became a border area between two major forces in the Balkans
. While Croats under Italian Franciscan priest fra
John Capistrano
and the Hungarian Generalissimo John Hunyadi contributed to the Christian victory over the Ottomans
in the siege of Belgrade of 1456, they suffered a major defeat in the battle of Krbava field
(in Lika
, Croatia) in 1493 and gradually lost increasing amounts of territory to the Ottoman Empire.
Pope Leo X
called Croatia the forefront of Christianity (Antemurale Christianitatis
) in 1519, given that several Croatian soldiers made significant contributions to the struggle against the Turks
. Among them there were ban
Petar Berislavić
who won a victory at Dubica on the Una river in 1513, the captain of Senj
and prince of Klis
Petar Kružić
, who defended the Klis Fortress
for almost 25 years, captain Nikola Jurišić
who deterred by a magnitude larger Turkish force on their way to Vienna in 1532, or ban Nikola Šubić Zrinski
who helped save Pest
from occupation in 1542 and fought in the Battle of Szigetvar
in 1566.
The 1526 Battle of Mohács
was a crucial event in which the rule of the Jagiellon dynasty
was shattered by the death of King Louis II. The defeat emphasized the overall inability of the Christian feudal military to halt the Ottomans, who would remain a major threat for centuries. The Croatian historical narrative insists that the decision to join the Habsburg Empire was the result of a free choice made by the Sabor. Austrian historians never claimed they conquered Croatia by force and there appears to be little reason to doubt Croatian claims about the events of 1526.
and the death of King Louis II ended Hungarian rule over Croatia. In 1526 the Hungarian parliament elected János Szapolya as the new king of Hungary, but a separate Hungarian parliament elected Ferdinand Habsburg. The Croatian parliament at Cetin unanimously elected Ferdinand Habsburg of Austria as King of Croatia on 1 January 1527, uniting both lands under Hapsburg rule. The Ottoman Empire expanded further in the 16th century to include most of Slavonia, western Bosnia and Lika
.
Croatia had now become so weak that it's parliament allowed Ferdinand Habsburg to reallocate large areas of Croatia and Slavonia adjacent to the Ottoman Empire, creating the Croatian Krajina
(Vojna Krajina, German: Militärgrenze) which was ruled directly from Vienna military headquarters. The area however became deserted and was subsequently settled by Serbs
, Vlachs
, Croats, Germans
and others. As a result of compulsory military service to the Habsburg Empire during the wars against the Ottoman Empire, the Military Frontier was free from serfdom and enjoyed a great deal of political autonomy, unlike areas ruled by the King.
After the Bihać
fort finally fell in 1592, only small areas of Croatia remained unrecovered. The Ottoman Army was successfully repelled for the first time in Croatia at the battle of Sisak
in 1593, restoring further areas of lost territory but failed to regain large parts of what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina
.
During the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire was driven out of Hungary, and Austria brought the empire under central control. Queen Maria Theresa was supported by the Croatians in the 1741-1748 War of Austrian Succession and subsequently made significant contributions to Croatian matters.
With the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, its possessions in the eastern Adriatic became subject to a dispute between France and Austria. By 1815 Dalmatia and Istria had been secured by the Austrian Empire, though they were annexed to Cisleithania
, while Croatia and Slavonia remained Hungarian territories.
Croatian romantic nationalism
emerged in mid-19th century to counteract the apparent Germanisation and Magyarisation of Croatia. The Illyrian movement
attracted a number of influential figures from the 1830s onwards, and produced some important advances in the Croatian language
and culture.
In the Revolutions of 1848 Croatia, driven by fear of Magyar nationalism, supported the Habsburg court against Hungarian revolutionary forces. However, despite the contributions of Ban
Jelačić
in quenching the Hungarian war of independence
, Croatia was not treated any more favourably by Vienna than Hungary itself and lost its domestic autonomy. In 1867 the Dual Monarchy
was created; Croatian autonomy was restored in 1868 with the Croatian–Hungarian Agreement
which, although not particularly favourable to the Croatians, recognised Croatia as a state within the Kingdom of Hungary.
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
: Kraljevina Hrvatska), also known as the Kingdom of the Croats (Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
: Kraljevstvo Hrvata; Latin: Regnum Chroatorum or Regnum Croatorum), was a medieval kingdom covering most of what is today Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
.
Established in 925, it ruled as a sovereign state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
for almost two centuries. Its existence was characterized by various conflicts with the Venetians
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
, Magyars and, occasionally, the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
. The goal of promoting the Slavic language in the religious service was initially brought and introduced by the 10th century bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
Gregory of Nin
Gregory of Nin
Gregory of Nin was a medieval Croatian bishop who strongly opposed the Pope and official circles of the Church and introduced the Croatian language in the religious services after the Great Assembly in 926. Until that time, services were held only in Latin, not being understandable to the majority...
. 1102, after a period of time defined as a succession crisis for the Trpimirović Dynasty, the kingdom lost its full sovereignty by the creation of a personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
with the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
. The Croatian kingdom de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
existed until 1918.
Arrival of Croats
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
.
The Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
were a Slavic tribe, coming into the Balkans from an area in and around today's
White Croats
White Croats is the designation for the group of Slavic tribes, of which seven tribes led by 5 brothers and 2 sisters migrated to Dalmatia as part of the migration of the Croats in the 7th century, being invited to settle on this vastly depopulated area by Roman...
Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
or western Ukraine. Many modern scholars believe that the early Croat people, as well as other early Slavic groups, were agricultural populations that were ruled by the nomadic Iranian-speaking Alans
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
. It is unclear whether the Alans contributed much more than a ruling caste or a class of warriors; the evidence on their contribution is mainly philological
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
and etymological
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
.
The book De Administrando Imperio
De Administrando Imperio
De Administrando Imperio is the Latin title of a Greek work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is...
, written in the 10th century, is the most referenced source on the migration of Slavic peoples
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
into southeastern Europe. It states that they migrated first around or before year 600 from the region that is now (roughly) Galicia and areas of the Pannonian plain, led by the Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
, to the province of Dalmatia ruled by the Roman Empire. De Administrando Imperio reports a folk tradition that the Croats were led into the Roman province of Dalmatia by a group of five brothers, Klukas, Lobel, Kosenc, Muhlo and Hrvat, and their two sisters, Tuga and Buga.
The second wave of migration, possibly around year 620, began when the Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
were invited by the Emperor Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
to counter the Avar threat on the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
.
De Administrando Imperio also mentions an alternate version of the events, where the Croats weren't actually invited by Heraclius, but instead defeated the Avars and settled on their own accord after migrating from an area near today's Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
. This record is supported by the writings of one Thomas the archdeacon, Historia Salonitana from the 13th century.
Archdeacon Thomas, as well as the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja
Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja
The Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja is a medieval chronicle originally written by a Catholic monk of the Cistercian order by the name of Roger for the Croatian Ban Paul Šubić because an order form by Ban Šubić and a quote of Catholic monk have been discovered...
from the 12th century, state that the Croats remained after the Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
(under a leader referred to as "Totila
Totila
Totila, original name Baduila was King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.A relative of...
") had occupied and pillaged the Roman province of Dalmatia. The Chronicle of Dioclea speaks of a Gothic invasion (under a leader referred to as "Svevlad", followed by his descendants "Selimir" and "Ostroilo").
Christianization
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
and the Croats dates from a mid-7th century entry in the Liber Pontificalis
Liber Pontificalis
The Liber Pontificalis is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II or Pope Stephen V , but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV and then Pope Pius II...
. Pope John IV
Pope John IV
Pope John IV was elected Pope of the Catholic Church, after a four-month sede vacante, December 24, 640.Pope John was a native of Dalmatia . He was the son of the scholasticus Venantius. At the time of his election he was archdeacon of the Roman Church, an important role in governing the see...
(John the Dalmatian, 640-642) sent an abbot named Martin to Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
and Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
in order to pay ransom for some prisoners and for the remnants of old Christian martyrs. This abbot is recorded to have travelled through Dalmatia with the help of the Croatian leaders, and he established the foundation for the future relations between the Pope and the Croats.
The Christianization
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
of the Croats began after their arrival, probably in the 7th century, influenced by the proximity of the old Roman cities in Dalmatia. The process was completed in the north by the beginning of the 9th century. The beginnings of the Christianization
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
are also disputed in the historical texts: the Byzantine texts talk of duke Porin who started this at the incentive of emperor Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
, then of Prince Porga who mainly Christianized his people after the influence of missionaries from Rome, while the national tradition recalls Christianization during the rule of Dalmatian Prince Borna
Borna of Croatia
Borna was the Knez of Littoral Croatia in 803–821 under the Frankish Empire. He was the son of his predecessor, Višeslav.- Ruler of Dalmatia :...
. It is possible that these are all renditions of the same ruler's name.
Curiously enough, the Croats were never obliged to use Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
-- rather, they held mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
es in their own language and used the Glagolitic alphabet
Glagolitic alphabet
The Glagolitic alphabet , also known as Glagolitsa, is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. The name was not coined until many centuries after its creation, and comes from the Old Slavic glagolъ "utterance" . The verb glagoliti means "to speak"...
. This was officially sanctioned in 1248 by Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV , born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was pope from June 25, 1243 until his death in 1254.-Early life:...
, and only later did the Latin alphabet prevail.
The Latin Rite prevailed over the Byzantine Rite
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
rather early due to numerous interventions from the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
. There were numerous church synods held in Dalmatia in the 11th century, particularly after the East-West Schism
East-West Schism
The East–West Schism of 1054, sometimes known as the Great Schism, formally divided the State church of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively...
, during the course of which the use of the Latin rite was continuously reinforced until it became dominant.
Rise of Croats
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
which aimed to control the northern and northwestern lands, and the Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
, later Magyars, and other fledgling states in the northeast. The fourth relevant group, but not so powerful with regard to the Croatian state, were the nearby Slavs in the southeast, the Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and the Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
.
The north became subject to the Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...
around 800, when in 796 a Croatian Pannonian prince Vojnomir switched sides between the Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
and the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
. The Franks established control over the region between Sava, Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
and Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
which was under the Margrave
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...
of Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
. The patriarchy of Aquileia
Aquileia
Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times...
was then allowed to Christianize the remaining Slavs in the region. Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
invaded the Dalmatian portion of Croatia in 799, contesting its Byzantine suzerainty, and after a lengthy war, conquered it in 803. The prince who headed the Croats in the south at the time was called Višeslav
Višeslav of Croatia
Višeslav was one of the first princes or dukes of Littoral Croatia.He ruled with the support of the Pope and Byzantium. The Croats warred against the Franks during his rule and avoided defeat until 803 - a year after his death...
.
Charlemagne's invasion of the Dalmatian cities provoked a war with the Eastern Roman Empire — after a peace deal was signed, the Byzantium restored the city-states and islands while Charlemagne kept Istria and inland Dalmatia. After the death of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
in 814, the Frankish influence decreased, and the Croatian prince Ljudevit Posavski
Ljudevit Posavski
Ljudevit Posavski was a Croatian Duke of Pannonian Croatia from 810 to 823. The capital of his realm was in Sisak. As the ruler of the Pannonian Slavs, he led an unsuccessful resistance to Frankish domination. He held close ties with the Carantanian and Carniolan tribes and with the Serbian tribe...
raised in Pannonia a rebellion (819). The Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
Margraves sent armies in 820, 821 and 822, but each time they failed to crush the rebels until finally Ljudevit's forces withdrew to Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
. Most of the Pannonian Croatia would remain in Frankish suzerainty until the end of the 9th century. What is today eastern Slavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
and Srijem fell to the Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
in 827 after a border dispute with the Franks. By a peace treaty in 845, the Franks were confirmed as rulers over Slavonia, whilst Srijem remained under Bulgarian clientage.
In the meantime, the Dalmatian Croats were recorded to have been subject to the Kingdom of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
under Lothair I
Lothair I
Lothair I or Lothar I was the Emperor of the Romans , co-ruling with his father until 840, and the King of Bavaria , Italy and Middle Francia...
, since 828. The Croatian Prince Mislav
Mislav of Croatia
Mislav was the Duke of Littoral Croatia in 835–845.Mislav succeeded Vladislav as the Duke of Littoral Croatia. He ruled from Klis in central Dalmatia, when he made Klis Fortress seat to his throne. Mislav was pious ruler. He built the Church of Saint George in Putalj . Today's Kaštel Sućurac...
(835–845) built up a formidable navy, and in 839 signed a peace treaty with Pietro Tradonico
Pietro Tradonico
Pietro Tradonico , an Istrian by birth, was the Doge of Venice from 836 to 864. He was, according to tradition, the thirteenth doge, though historically he is only the eleventh. His election broke the power of the Participazio. He was illiterate, and forced to sign all state documents with the...
, doge of Venice
Doge of Venice
The Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...
. The Venetians soon proceeded to battle with the independent Slavic pirates of the Pagania region, but failed to defeat them. The Bulgarian king Boris I
Boris I of Bulgaria
Boris I, also known as Boris-Mihail and Bogoris was the Knyaz of First Bulgarian Empire in 852–889. At the time of his baptism in 864, Boris was named Michael after his godfather, Emperor Michael III...
(called by the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
Archont of Bulgaria after he made Christianity the official religion of Bulgaria) also waged a lengthy war against the Dalmatian Croats
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, trying to expand his state to the Adriatic.
The Croatian Prince Trpimir I
Trpimir I of Croatia
Trpimir I was a duke of Croatia in 845–864, and the founder of the Croatian House of Trpimirović. Although he was formally vassal of the Frankish Emperor Lothair I, Trpimir used Frankish-Byzantine conflicts to rule on his own.-Reign:...
(845–864) succeeded Mislav and managed to finally win the war against the Bulgarians and their Rascia
Rascia
Rascia was a medieval region that served as the principal province of the Serbian realm. It was an administrative division under the direct rule of the monarch and sometimes as an appanage. The term has been used to refer to various Serbian states throughout the Middle Ages...
n subjects. Trpimir I expanded his realm to include the whole of Bosnia up to the Drina
Drina
The Drina is a 346 kilometer long river, which forms most of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps which belongs to the Danube river watershed...
river.
Trpimir I managed to consolidate power over Dalmatia and much of the inland regions towards Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
, while instituting counties as a way of controlling his subordinates (an idea he picked up from the Franks). The first known written mention of the Croats, dates form March 4, 852, in statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
by Trpimir. Trpimir is remembered as the initiator of the Trpimirović dynasty
Trpimirovic dynasty
Trpimirović dynasty was a native Croat dynasty that ruled, with interruptions, from 845 until 1091 in Croatia and was named after Trpimir I, the first member and the founder...
, that ruled in Croatia, with interruptions, from 845 until 1091.
In the meantime, the Saracens, a group of Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
pirates, invaded Taranto
Taranto
Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....
and Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
in the 840s. The extent of their piracy forced the Byzantium to increase its military presence in the southern Adriatic. In 867 a Byzantine fleet lifted the Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
siege over Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
(then known as Ragusa
Republic of Ragusa
The Republic of Ragusa or Republic of Dubrovnik was a maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia , that existed from 1358 to 1808...
) and also defeated the pirates of Pagania.
Facing a number of naval threats, the Croatian Prince Domagoj
Domagoj of Croatia
Domagoj was a duke of Dalmatian Croatia in 864–876. He is the founder of the House of Domagojević.Domagoj was a powerful Croatian nobelman, with lands around Knin. Following the death of Trpimir I in 864, he usurped the throne of Zdeslav in a civil war...
(864–876) built up the Croatian navy again and helped the Franks conquer Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
in 871. The Croatian vessels also forced the Venetians to start paying tribute for sailing near the eastern Adriatic coast. Domagoj's son, of unknown name, ruled Dalmatian Croatia between 876 and 878. His forces attacked the western Istrian towns in 876, but were subsequently defeated by the Venetian navy. His ground forces defeated the Pannonian duke Kocelj (861–874) who was suzerain to the Franks, and thereby shed the Frankish vassal status. Wars of Domagoj and his son liberated Dalmatian Croats from supreme Franks rule.
The next Prince Zdeslav
Zdeslav of Croatia
Zdeslav was a Knez of Dalmatian Croatia in 864 and again in 878–879. He was from the House of Trpimirović.-Biography:Zdeslav was a son of Trpimir I. After his father death in 864, an uprising was raised by a powerful Croatian nobleman from Knin - Domagoj, and Zdeslav was exiled with his...
(878–879) owerthrew Domagoj's son, but reigned briefly, only to see the Byzantine Empire conquer large portions of Dalmatia. He was then overthrown by Prince Branimir
Branimir of Croatia
Branimir was a ruler of Dalmatian Croatia who reigned as Knez from 879 to 892. He was recognized by Pope John VIII as the Duke of the Croats...
(879–892), who was supported by the Western Church, and the country was recognized by Pope John VIII
Pope John VIII
Pope John VIII was pope from December 13, 872 to December 16, 882. He is often considered one of the ablest pontiffs of the ninth century and the last bright spot on the papacy until Leo IX two centuries later....
as an independent principality under Branimir in 879 (Branimir was dubbed dux Chroatorum). Branimir proceeded to repel the Byzantine incursion and strengthen his state under the ægis of Rome. After Branimir's death, Prince Muncimir
Muncimir of Croatia
Muncimir was a knez of Dalmatian Croatia who reigned from 892 to 910. He was a member of the House of Trpimirović....
(892–910), Zdeslav's brother, took control of Dalmatia and ruled it independently of both Rome and Byzantium as divino munere Croatorum dux (with God's help, duke of Croats).
The last Prince of the Pannonian Croats under the Franks was Braslav (died in 897?), mentioned in 896, who died in a war with the Magyars, who then migrated to the Pannonian plain. In Dalmatia, Duke Tomislav
Tomislav
King Tomislav was a ruler of Croatia in the Middle Ages. He reigned from 910 until 928, first as Duke of Dalmatian Croatia in 910–925, and then became first King of the Croatian Kingdom in 925–928....
(910–928) succeeded Muncimir. Tomislav successfully repelled Magyar attacks, expelled them up to the Drava River on north, and united Pannonian and Dalmatian Croats into one state.
Establishment
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
was duke Branimir
Branimir of Croatia
Branimir was a ruler of Dalmatian Croatia who reigned as Knez from 879 to 892. He was recognized by Pope John VIII as the Duke of the Croats...
, whom Pope John VIII
Pope John VIII
Pope John VIII was pope from December 13, 872 to December 16, 882. He is often considered one of the ablest pontiffs of the ninth century and the last bright spot on the papacy until Leo IX two centuries later....
called dux Croatorum ("duke of Croats") in 879. Croatia was elevated to the status of Kingdom
Kingdom of Croatia (Medieval)
The Kingdom of Croatia , also known as the Kingdom of the Croats , was a medieval kingdom covering most of what is today Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Balkans.Established in 925, it ruled as a sovereign state for almost two centuries...
around 925, when King Tomislav received the crown from the Papal legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
. He united the Slavs of Dalmatia and Pannonia into a single Kingdom in 925. Tomislav's state extended from the Adriatic Sea to the Drava river
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
, and from the Raša river
Raša
Raša is a town and municipality in the inner part of the Raška Inlet in the south-eastern part of Istria, Croatia. Raša lies southwest of Labin at an elevation of ....
to the Drina river
Drina
The Drina is a 346 kilometer long river, which forms most of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps which belongs to the Danube river watershed...
. Under his rule, Croatia became one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Balkans.
The state was ruled mostly by native Croats of Trpimirović dynasty
Trpimirovic dynasty
Trpimirović dynasty was a native Croat dynasty that ruled, with interruptions, from 845 until 1091 in Croatia and was named after Trpimir I, the first member and the founder...
until 1102, when the crown passed into the hands of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty
Árpád dynasty
The Árpáds or Arpads was the ruling dynasty of the federation of the Hungarian tribes and of the Kingdom of Hungary . The dynasty was named after Grand Prince Árpád who was the head of the tribal federation when the Magyars occupied the Carpathian Basin, circa 895...
. The act of union was sealed in Pacta conventa
Pacta conventa (Croatia)
Pacta conventa was an alleged agreement concluded between King Coloman of Hungary and the Croatian nobility. While some claim it was a voluntary union of the two crowns, leaving Croatia as a sovereign state, others argue that Hungary simply annexed Croatia outright and forced an agreement...
. Kingdom of Croatia and Hungary was from 1102, a personal union
Croatia in personal union with Hungary
Kingdom of Croatia after the succession crisis become a part of Kingdom of Hungary and — depending on sources — either was incorporated into Hungary or Croatia existed in a personal union with Hungary....
of two kingdoms, Kingdom of Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia can refer to:* Kingdom of Croatia * Kingdom of Croatia * Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia...
and Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, united under the Hungarian king. At first, they were united under Arpad
Árpád dynasty
The Árpáds or Arpads was the ruling dynasty of the federation of the Hungarian tribes and of the Kingdom of Hungary . The dynasty was named after Grand Prince Árpád who was the head of the tribal federation when the Magyars occupied the Carpathian Basin, circa 895...
dynasty, and after its extinction, under Anjou
Anjou
Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
dynasty. Croatia retained its chief institutions such as the Parliament and the ban
Ban (title)
Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...
(viceroy) responsible to the King of Hungary and Croatia. In addition, the Croatian nobles retained their lands and titles. Croatia remained a distinct crown attached to that of Hungary until the abolition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, each of which had been ruled separately by dukes, and was crowned as king in the Duvno field (the central town in the Duvno field is still named Tomislavgrad
Tomislavgrad
Tomislavgrad is a town and municipality in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is in the Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Herzegovina region.- Name :...
("Tomislav's city") in his honour). The chief piece of evidence that Tomislav was crowned king comes in the form of a letter dated 925, surviving only in 16th-century copies, from Pope John X
Pope John X
Pope John X, Pope from March 914 to May 928, was deacon at Bologna when he attracted the attention of Theodora, the wife of Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, the most powerful noble in Rome, through whose influence he was elevated first to the see of Bologna and then to the archbishopric of...
calling Tomislav rex Chroatorum. Tomislav's state covered most of Pannonia, Dalmatia, Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
, and Slavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
. He administered his kingdom
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
as a group of eleven counties (župa
Župa
A Župa is a Slavic term, used historically among the Southern and Western branches of the Slavs, originally denoting various territorial and other sub-units, usually a small administrative division, especially a gathering of several villages...
nija) and one banate
Ban (title)
Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...
(Banovina
Banija
Banovina is a geographical region in central Croatia, between the rivers Sava, Una, and Kupa. Main towns in the region include Petrinja, Glina, Kostajnica, and Dvor. The area is almost entirely located in the Sisak-Moslavina county...
). Each of these regions had a fortified royal town.
Tomislav soon came into conflict with the Bulgars
Bulgars
The Bulgars were a semi-nomadic who flourished in the Pontic Steppe and the Volga basin in the 7th century.The Bulgars emerge after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the 5th century....
under Emperor Simeon I
Simeon I of Bulgaria
Simeon I the Great ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927, during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever, making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern Europe...
(called Simeon the Great in Bulgaria). Tomislav made a pact with the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, which allowed him to control the Byzantine cities in Dalmatia as long as he curbed Bulgarian expansion. In 926, Simeon tried to break the Croatian-Byzantine pact, sending duke Alogobotur
Alogobotur
Alogobotur was a Bulgarian noble and military commander during the reign of Tsar Simeon the Great . He was probably a komit of one of Bulgaria's provinces....
with a formidable army against Tomislav, but Simeon's army was defeated in the Battle of the Bosnian Highlands
Battle of the Bosnian Highlands
In 927 a battle was fought in the Bosnian highlands between the armies of the two Balkan rulers of the time: Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I, the great victor of the Battle of Anchialus over the Byzantine Empire ten years earlier, and King Tomislav of Croatia, the first king of the Croatian state.According...
. According to the contemporary De Administrando Imperio
De Administrando Imperio
De Administrando Imperio is the Latin title of a Greek work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is...
, Tomislav's army and navy could have consisted approximately 100,000 infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
units, 60,000 cavaliers, and 80 larger (sagina) and 100 smaller warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s (condura), but generally isn't taken as credible.
10th century
Croatian society underwent major changes in the 10th century. Local leaders, the župani, were replaced by the retainers of the king, who took land from the previous landowners, essentially creating a feudal system. The previously free peasants became serfSERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
s and ceased being soldiers, causing the military power of Croatia to fade.
Tomislav was succeeded by Trpimir II
Trpimir II of Croatia
Trpimir II was a King of Croatia from 928 to 935. He was from the House of Trpimirović. Trpimir was probably the son of Duke Muncimir and younger brother of Tomislav....
(928–935) and Krešimir I
Krešimir I of Croatia
Krešimir I was a King of Croatian Kingdom from 935 until his death in 945. He was a member of the House of Trpimirović.He succeeded his father Trpimir II as King. He managed during his reign, like his father, to hold Croatia as great military power...
(935–945), who each managed to maintain their power and keep good relations with both the Byzantine Empire and the Pope. This period, on the whole, however, is obscure. Miroslav
Miroslav of Croatia
Miroslav was the King of Croatia from 945 until his death in 949 and a member of the House of Trpimirović.He was the oldest son of Krešimir I and succeeded him as king in 945. During his reign Croatia suffered a civil war started by the followers of his brother, Mihajlo...
(945–949) was killed by his ban, Pribina
Pribina
Pribina was a Slavic prince whose adventurous career, recorded in the Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians , illustrates the political volatility of the Franco–Slavic frontiers of his time...
, during an internal power struggle, and Croatia again lost the islands of Brač
Brac
Brač is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of 396 km², making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. Its tallest peak, Vidova Gora, or Mount St. Vid, stands at 778 m, making it the highest island point in the Adriatic...
, Hvar
Hvar
- Climate :The climate of Hvar is characterized by mild winters and warm summers. The yearly average air temperature is , 686 mm of precipitation fall on the town of Hvar on average every year and the town has a total of 2800 sunshine hours per year. For comparison Hvar has an average of 7.7...
, and Vis
Vis (island)
Vis is the most outerly lying larger Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, and is part of the Central Dalmatian group of islands, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population of 3,617 . Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the farthest from the coast...
to the dukes of Pagania. The Dalmatian city-states and the Duchy of Bosnia were lost to Byzantium and eastern Slavonia and Srijem were taken by the Magyars.
Krešimir II
Mihajlo Krešimir II
Michael Krešimir II was a King of Croatia from 949 to his death in 969. He was a member of the House of Trpimir. Krešimir II was a son of Krešimir I and the younger brother of Miroslav, who preceded him as King of Croatia in 945....
(949–969) restored order throughout most of the state. He kept particularly good relations with the Dalmatian cities, he and his wife Jelena
Jelena of Zadar
Helen I , also known as Helen of Zadar or Helen the Glorious, was the queen consort of the Kingdom of Croatia, the wife of King Michael Krešimir II. They jointly ruled from 946 to 969, a period which was allegedly marked by "peace, order and expeditious growth"...
donating land and churches to Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
and Solin. A 976 inscription is preserved the Church of Saint Mary in Solin that names the Croatian royalty. Krešimir II was succeeded by his son Stjepan Držislav
Stjepan Držislav
Stephen Držislav was a King of Croatia from 969 AD until his death in 997. He was a member of the Trpimirović dynasty. He ruled from Biograd with Godemir as his Ban.-Early period:...
(969–997), who established better relations with the Byzantine Empire from which he has received a royal insignia
Insignia
Insignia or insigne pl -nia or -nias : a symbol or token of personal power, status or office, or of an official body of government or jurisdiction...
.
11th century
As soon as Stjepan Držislav had died in 997, his three sons, SvetoslavSvetoslav Suronja
Svetoslav Suronja was King of Croatia from 997 to 1000. He was a member of House of Trpimirović. He reigned with the help of his Ban, Varda. His name was Svetoslav, but because of his physiology and, probably, his temper, he was nicknamed Suronja which could be translated as dark man or cold man....
(997–1000), Krešimir III
Krešimir III of Croatia
Krešimir III was a King of Croatia in 1000–1030 from the House of Trpimirović and founder of its cadet line House of Krešimirović. He was the middle son of former King Stjepan Držislav. Until 1020, he co-ruled with his brother Gojslav.-Reign:...
(1000–1030), and Gojslav
Gojslav of Croatia
Gojslav was a monarch who co-ruled the Kingdom of Croatia with his brother Krešimir III from 1000 to his death in 1020. He was the youngest son of the former Croatian King Stjepan Držislav and a member of royal House of Trpimirović.- Revolt and reign :...
(1000–1020), opened a violent contest for the throne, weakening the state and allowing the Venetians under Pietro II Orseolo
Pietro II Orseolo
Pietro II Orseolo was the Doge of Venice from 991 to 1009.He began the period of eastern expansion of Venice that lasted for the better part of 500 years...
and the Bulgarians under Samuil
Samuil of Bulgaria
Samuel was the Emperor of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 980 to 997, he was a general under Roman I of Bulgaria, the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria, and co-ruled with him, as Roman bestowed upon him the command of the army and the effective royal...
to encroach on the Croatian possessions along the Adriatic. In 1000, Orseolo led the Venetian fleet into the eastern Adriatic and gradually took control of the whole of it, first the islands of the Gulf of Kvarner and Zadar, then Trogir
Trogir
Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 12,995 and a total municipality population of 13,322 . The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo...
and Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
, followed by a successful naval battle with the Narentines upon which he took control of Korčula
Korcula
Korčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...
and Lastovo
Lastovo
Lastovo is an island municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The municipality consists of 46 islands with a total population of 792 people, of which 93% are ethnic Croats, and a land area of approximately . The biggest island in the municipality is also named Lastovo, as is the...
, and claimed the title dux Dalmatiæ. Krešimir III tried to restore the Dalmatian cities and had some success until 1018, when he was defeated by Venice allied with the Lombards
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
. His son, Stjepan I
Stjepan I of Croatia
Stephen I Krešimirović was a King of Croatia from c. 1030 until 1058 and a member of House of Trpimirović, first of the Krešimirović branch. Stephen I is actually not first Croatian king that bore the name "Stephen" , but second...
(1030–1058), only went so far as to get the Narentine duke to become his vassal in 1050.
During the reign of Krešimir IV
Petar Krešimir IV of Croatia
Peter Krešimir IV, called the Great , was a notably energetic King of Croatia from 1059 to his death in 1074/1075. He was the last great ruler of the Krešimirović branch of the House of Trpimirović....
(1058–1074), the medieval Croatian kingdom reached its territorial peak. Kresimir managed to get the Byzantine Empire to confirm him as the supreme ruler of the Dalmatian cities. He also allowed the Roman curia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
to become more involved in the religious affairs of Croatia, which consolidated his power but disrupted his rule over the Glagolitic
Glagolitic alphabet
The Glagolitic alphabet , also known as Glagolitsa, is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. The name was not coined until many centuries after its creation, and comes from the Old Slavic glagolъ "utterance" . The verb glagoliti means "to speak"...
clergy in parts of Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
after 1060. Croatia under Krešimir IV was composed of twelve counties and was slightly larger than in Tomislav's time. It included the closest southern Dalmatian duchy of Pagania, and its influence extended over Zahumlje
Zahumlje
Zachlumia or Zahumlje was a medieval principality located in modern-day regions of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia...
, Travunia
Travunia
Travunia was a medieval region, administrative unit and principality, which was part of Medieval Serbia , and in its last years, the Bosnian Kingdom . The county became hereditary in a number of noble houses, often kin to the ruling dynasty. The region came under Ottoman rule in 1482...
, and Duklja
Duklja
Doclea or Duklja was a medieval state with hereditary lands roughly encompassing the territories of present-day southeastern Montenegro, from Kotor on the west to the river Bojana on the east and to the sources of Zeta and Morača rivers on the north....
.
However, in 1072, Krešimir assisted the Bulgarian and Serb
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
uprising against their Byzantine masters. The Byzantines retaliated in 1074 by sending the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
count Amik to besiege Rab
Rab
Rab is an island in Croatia and a town of the same name located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea.The island is long, has an area of and 9,480 inhabitants . The highest peak is Kamenjak at 408 meters...
. They failed to capture the island, but did manage to capture the king himself, and the Croatians were then forced to settle and give away Split, Trogir, Zadar, Biograd, and Nin
Nin, Croatia
Nin is a town in the Zadar county of Croatia, population 1,256 , total municipality population 4,603 .Nin was historically important as a centre of a Christian Bishopric in the Middle Ages. Up to the abolition and Latinization imposed by King Tomislav in the first half of the 10th century, Nin was...
to the Normans. In 1075, Venice banished the Normans and secured the cities for itself. The end of Kresimir IV in 1074 also marked de facto end of the Trpimirović dynasty, which had ruled the Croatian lands for over two centuries.
According to the Kartular of Supetar, a new king was elected by seven bans (if the previous one died without a successor e.g. Krešimir IV): ban of Croatia, ban of Bosnia, ban of Slavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
etc. The bans were elected by the first six Croatian tribes, while the other six were responsible for choosing župan
Zupan
Żupan was a long garment, always lined, worn by almost all males of the noble social class in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, typical male attire from the beginning of the 16th to half of the 18th century, still surviving as a part of the Polishnational dress.- Derivation :The name żupan has...
s.
Krešimir was succeeded by a rival: Dmitar Zvonimir (1075–1089). He was previously a ban in Slavonia. He gained the title of king with the support of Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII
Pope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...
, after which he aided the Normans under Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard
Robert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...
in their struggle against the Byzantine Empire and Venice between 1081 and 1085. Zvonimir helped to transport their troops through the Strait of Otranto
Strait of Otranto
The Strait of Otranto connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. Its width at Punta Palascìa, east of Salento is less than . The strait is named after the Italian city of Otranto.- History :...
and to occupy the city of Durrës
Durrës
Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...
. His troops assisted the Normans in many battles along the Albanian and Greek coast. Due to this, in 1085, the Byzantines transferred their rights in Dalmatia to Venice.
Zvonimir's kinghood is carved in stone on the Baška Tablet
Baška tablet
Baška tablet is one of the first monuments containing an inscription in the Croatian language, dating from the year 1100.The tablet was discovered by scholars in 1851 in the paving of the Romanesque church of St. Lucy in Jurandvor, near Baška, on the island of Krk...
, preserved to this day as one of the oldest written Croatian texts, kept in the archæological museum in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. Zvonimir's reign is remembered as a peaceful and prosperous time, during which the connection of Croats with the Holy See was further affirmed, so much so that Catholicism would remain among Croats until the present day. In this time the noble titles in Croatia were made analogous to those used in other parts of Europe at the time, with comes and baron used for the župani and the royal court nobles, and vlastelin for the noblemen. The Croatian state was edging closer to western Europe and further from the east.
There was no permanent state capital, as the royal residence varied from one ruler to another; five cities in total reportedly obtained the title of a royal seat: Nin
Nin, Croatia
Nin is a town in the Zadar county of Croatia, population 1,256 , total municipality population 4,603 .Nin was historically important as a centre of a Christian Bishopric in the Middle Ages. Up to the abolition and Latinization imposed by King Tomislav in the first half of the 10th century, Nin was...
(Krešimir IV), Biograd (Stephen Držislav, Krešimir IV), Knin
Knin
Knin is a historical town in the Šibenik-Knin county of Croatia, located near the source of the river Krka at , in the Dalmatian hinterland, on the railroad Zagreb–Split. Knin rose to prominence twice in history, as a one-time capital of both the Kingdom of Croatia and briefly of the...
(Zvonimir, Petar Svačić), Šibenik
Šibenik
Šibenik is a historic town in Croatia, with population of 51,553 . It is located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea...
(Krešimir IV), and Solin (Krešimir II).
Decline and war
Ban of Slavonia
The Ban of Slavonia was the governor of Slavonia, later appointed by the kings of Hungary in the 12th-15th centuries. According to the public law of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Bans were counted among the "barons of the realm" and thus they enjoyed several privileges connected to their office...
in the service of King Stephen I and then as Duke of Croatia for his successor King Peter Krešimir IV. Peter declared him his heir and, in late 1074 or early 1075, Demetrius Zvonimir succeeded to the Croatian throne. Demetrius Zvonimir married in 1063 to his distant relative Jelena Lijepa
Jelena Lijepa
-Biography:Helen was born a Hungarian princess and was the daughter of Árpád dynasty's King Bela I, sister to King Ladislaus I of Hungary, granddaughter of Polish King Mieszko II Lambert, and a great-granddaughter of Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria....
("Jelena the Beautiful"). Queen Jelena (Ilona) was a Hungarian
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
princess, the daughter of King Bela I of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty
Árpád dynasty
The Árpáds or Arpads was the ruling dynasty of the federation of the Hungarian tribes and of the Kingdom of Hungary . The dynasty was named after Grand Prince Árpád who was the head of the tribal federation when the Magyars occupied the Carpathian Basin, circa 895...
, and was the sister of the future King Ladislaus I of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
. Demetrius Zvonimir and Jelena had a son, Radovan, who died in his late teens or early twenties. King Demetrius Zvonimir died in 1089. The exact circumstances of his death are unknown, but according to a later, likely unsubstantiated legend, King Zvonimir was killed during the revolt of the Sabor in 1089. With no direct heir to succeed him, Stephen II
Stjepan II of Croatia
Stephen II was the last member of the Trpimirović dynasty and last native Croatian king to rule the entire medieval Croatian Kingdom...
(reigned 1089–1091) of the main Trpimirović line came to the throne at an old age and reigned for two years. This succession was contested by a faction of nobles from northern Croatia (Pannonia). The nobles offered the Croatian throne to King Ladislaus I of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, who claimed the Croatian crown through his sister Queen Jelena
Jelena Lijepa
-Biography:Helen was born a Hungarian princess and was the daughter of Árpád dynasty's King Bela I, sister to King Ladislaus I of Hungary, granddaughter of Polish King Mieszko II Lambert, and a great-granddaughter of Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria....
, King Demetrius Zvonimir's widow. The Queen enjoyed significant influence in northern Croatia and apparently used it to bolster her brother's claim.
Stephen II was to be the last King of the House of Trpimirović. His rule was relatively ineffectual and lasted less than two years. He spent most of this time in the tranquility of the monastery of Sv. Stjepan pod Borovima (St. Stephen beneath the Pines) near Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
. He died at the beginning of 1091, without leaving an heir. Since there was no living male member of the House of Trpimirović, civil war and unrest broke out shortly afterward. At the same time (1091), with the death of Stephen II setting the stage, King Ladislaus I of Hungary at last accepted the nomination of northern nobles and claimed the Croatian crown. He entered the Croatian Kingdom with an army in 1094, and established his rule in northern Croatia (Pannonia) with little resistance. During the same year (1094) he founded the Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
bishopric, which later became the ecclesiastical center of Croatia. However, Ladislaus' claim was rejected by the nobles of southern Croatia, who resisted his forces successfully in the mountainous southern terrain and maintained their independence. At this time, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus sent the Cumans
Cumans
The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...
to attack Hungary and forced the Hungarian army to retreat from Croatia. Alexius did, however, allow the Hungarian Prince Álmos
Prince Álmos
Álmos was a Hungarian prince, the son of King Géza I of Hungary, brother of King Kálmán. He held several governmental posts in the Kingdom of Hungary....
to rule over northern Croatia (Pannonia).
In 1093, the southern Croatian feudal lords, struggling to remain independent of Hungary, elected a new ruler, King Peter Svačić
Petar Svacic
Petar Svačić was the last king of Croatia. It is assumed that he began as a ban serving under king Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia and was then elected king by the Croatian feudal lords in 1093. Petar's seat of power was based in Knin. His rule was marked by a struggle for control of the country...
(reigned 1093–1097). He managed to unify the Kingdom around his capital of Knin
Knin
Knin is a historical town in the Šibenik-Knin county of Croatia, located near the source of the river Krka at , in the Dalmatian hinterland, on the railroad Zagreb–Split. Knin rose to prominence twice in history, as a one-time capital of both the Kingdom of Croatia and briefly of the...
and force the Hungarian Prince Álmos from northern Croatia in 1095. With this he restored Croatian rule up to the river Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
, reclaiming nearly all territory lost to Ladislaus I, who soon died in 1095.
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II , born Otho de Lagery , was Pope from 12 March 1088 until his death on July 29 1099...
and led a large army into the Croatian Kingdom in 1097. Under his leadership, a Hungarian army quickly defeated King Peter's defenses along the river Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
and regained control over the Pannonian Croatian plains (northern Croatia). His forces were stopped however, as they approached the mountainous southern regions which resisted the Hungarian claim. He therefore reassembled his forces in Croatia and advanced on Gvozd Mountain, where he met the main Croatian army assembled under King Peter
Petar Svacic
Petar Svačić was the last king of Croatia. It is assumed that he began as a ban serving under king Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia and was then elected king by the Croatian feudal lords in 1093. Petar's seat of power was based in Knin. His rule was marked by a struggle for control of the country...
. In the ensuing Battle of Gvozd Mountain
Battle of Gvozd Mountain
The Battle of Gvozd Mountain took place in the year 1097 and was fought on Petrova gora in central Croatia, between the army of Croatian king Petar Svačić and King Coloman I of Hungary...
, King Peter was killed and the Croats were decisively defeated (because of this, the mountain was with time renamed to Petrova Gora
Petrova Gora
Petrova Gora is a mountain range in central Croatia. The mountain used to be named Gvozd , but was renamed after 1097 to honour Petar Svačić, the last native king of Croatia who died on the mountain in a battle against Coloman of Hungary.During World War II, Petrova Gora was the location of the...
, "Peter's Mountain"). As a consequence of the battle, King Coloman gained control of most of Croatia without resistance. However, when in 1099 Coloman and his forces were called back to the northeast to fight the Ruthenians
Ruthenians
The name Ruthenian |Rus']]) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used. Initially, it was the ethnonym used for the East Slavic peoples who lived in Rus'. Later it was used predominantly for Ukrainians...
and Cumans
Cumans
The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...
in Galicia, the Croatian nobles took the opportunity to liberate themselves from Hungarian rule once again. In 1102, Coloman returned to the Kingdom of Croatia in force, and negotiated with the Croatian feudal lords from a position of power. As a consequence, King Coloman was crowned and the Hungarian and Croatian crowns were joined (with the crown of Dalmatia held separate from that of Croatia). The title now claimed by Coloman was "King of Hungary, Dalmatia, and Croatia".
Controversies
The events surrounding the union of Croatia and Hungary are the source of a major historical controversy. Croatian historians argue that the union was a personal one in the form of a shared king, while Hungarian historians insist that Croatia was conquered. The significance of the debate lies in the Croatian claim to an unbroken heritage of historical statehood which is clearly compromised by the other claim. The Hungarian claim was made in the 19th century during the Hungarian national reawakening, while the same argument could also be levelled about the idea of a personal union first articulated in the 14th century. The actual nature of the relationship is inexplicable in modern terms because it varied from time to time. Sometimes Croatia acted as an independent agent and at other times as a vassal of Hungary. However, Croatia retained a large degree of internal independence. The degree of Croatian autonomy fluctuated throughout the centuries as did its borders.According to the research of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
a faction of Croatian nobles contesting the succession after the death of Zvonimir offered the Croatian throne to King Ladislaus I. In 1091 Ladislaus accepted, and in 1094 he founded the Zagreb bishopric, which later became the ecclestical center of Croatia. King Coloman of Hungary crushed opposition after the death of Ladislaus I and won the crown of Dalmatia and Croatia in 1102. The crowning of King Coloman forged a link between the Croatian and Hungarian crowns that lasted until the end of World War I (1918). The status of the Croatian Kingdom in this new situation is disputed, however. Croats have maintained for centuries that, despite the voluntary union of the two crowns, the Kingdom of Croatia remained a sovereign state in a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary. Hungarians, however, claim that Hungary annexed Croatia outright in 1102. In either case, Hungarian culture permeated northern Croatia, the Croatian-Hungarian border shifted often, and at times Hungary treated Croatia as a vassal state. Croatia, however, had its own local governor, or Ban; a privileged landowning nobility; and an assembly of nobles, the Sabor.
Other sources say King Coloman established a personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
of the Kingdom of Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia (Medieval)
The Kingdom of Croatia , also known as the Kingdom of the Croats , was a medieval kingdom covering most of what is today Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Balkans.Established in 925, it ruled as a sovereign state for almost two centuries...
and the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
by an alleged agreement called Pacta conventa. Although, the precise time and terms of Pacta Conventa
Pacta conventa (Croatia)
Pacta conventa was an alleged agreement concluded between King Coloman of Hungary and the Croatian nobility. While some claim it was a voluntary union of the two crowns, leaving Croatia as a sovereign state, others argue that Hungary simply annexed Croatia outright and forced an agreement...
later became a matter of dispute; nonetheless there was at least a non-written agreement that regulated the relations between Hungary and Croatia in approximately the same way. According to Daniel Power Croatia became part of Hungary in the late 11th and early 12th century. The official entering of Croatia into a personal union with Hungary, becoming part of the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen
Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen
The historical term Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen was used to denote a group of territories connected to the Kingdom of Hungary within Austria-Hungary...
, had several important consequences. Institutions of separate Croatian statehood were maintained with the Sabor (parliament) and the ban (viceroy) in the name of the king. A single ban governed all Croatian provinces until 1225, when the authority was split between one ban of the whole of Slavonia
Ban of Slavonia
The Ban of Slavonia was the governor of Slavonia, later appointed by the kings of Hungary in the 12th-15th centuries. According to the public law of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Bans were counted among the "barons of the realm" and thus they enjoyed several privileges connected to their office...
and one ban of Croatia and Dalmatia. The positions were intermittently held by the same person after 1345, and officially merged back into one by 1476.
Union with Hungary
Biograd na Moru
Biograd na Moru is a city and municipality in northern Dalmatia, Croatia and is significant for being the former capital of the medieval Croatian Kingdom. Its population is 6,059 . Biograd is administratively part of the Zadar County...
until the time of Bela IV. In the 14th century a new term arose to describe the collection of de jure independent states under the rule of the Hungarian King: Archiregnum Hungaricum (Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen
Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen
The historical term Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen was used to denote a group of territories connected to the Kingdom of Hungary within Austria-Hungary...
).
Feudalism
However, by enabling the nobility to seize more and more economic and military power, the kingdom itself lost influence to the Frankopan, Šubić, Lacković, Nelipčić
House of Nelipić
The House of Nelipić, also called Nelipac or Nelipčić were a medieval Croatian noble family from Dalmatian Zagora in Croatia. They were greatly involved in political situations in Dalmatia, and in Bosnia...
, Kačić, Kurjaković, Drašković
House of Draškovic
The House of Drašković, also spelled Draskovich in English, is one of the oldest Croatian noble families, originally descended from lower-rank nobility of the Lika region.There are no reliable data on them before the 15th century...
, Babonić and other families. During this period, the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
and the Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
also acquired considerable property and assets in Croatia.
The later kings sought to restore their influence by giving certain privileges to the towns, making them Royal Boroughs or Free Royal Towns
Royal free city
Royal free city or free royal city was the official term for the most important cities in the Kingdom of Hungary from the 15th century until the early 20th century...
, which the kings defended from the feudal lords in return for the town's support.
The princes of Bribir from the Šubić family became particularly influential during the time of Pavao Šubić Bribirski
Pavao Šubic Bribirski
Paul I Šubić of Bribir was a Croatian leader and most outstanding member of the Šubić noble family from Bribir, was a Ban of Croatia and Lord of all of Bosnia. He ruled from his seat in the fortified town of Bribir, where he erected, along with his castle, the three-aisled basilica of St...
(1272–1312) who asserted control over large parts of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, Slavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
and Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
during an internal conflict between the Árpád and Anjou
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
ruling dynasties. Later, however, the Anjouvines intervened and scattered the Šubić and Babonić (1322 ad) families across the country (an important offspring being the Zrinski
Zrinski
The Zrinski family was a Croatian noble family, influential during the period in history marked by the Ottoman wars in Europe in the Kingdom of Croatia and Hungary and in the later Austro-Hungarian Empire...
family). During that time, Angevian kings won a full control over Slavonia and Croatia. The reign of Louis the Great (1342–1382) is considered the golden age of Croatian medieval history. Hungarian power was restored in Dalmatia in 1358 AD by the Treaty of Zadar (later, in the time of reign king Sigismund I Luxembourg this province was sold to the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
in 1409.
Ottoman wars
As the Turkish incursion into EuropeOttoman wars in Europe
The wars of the Ottoman Empire in Europe are also sometimes referred to as the Ottoman Wars or as Turkish Wars, particularly in older, European texts.- Rise :...
started, Croatia once again became a border area between two major forces in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. While Croats under Italian Franciscan priest fra
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
John Capistrano
Giovanni da Capistrano
Saint John of Capistrano, O.F.M., was a Franciscan friar and Catholic priest from Italy...
and the Hungarian Generalissimo John Hunyadi contributed to the Christian victory over the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in the siege of Belgrade of 1456, they suffered a major defeat in the battle of Krbava field
Battle of Krbava field
The Battle of Krbava field , was fought between the Ottoman Empire of Bayezid II and a Croatian army of the Kingdom of Croatia in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary on September 9, 1493 in the Krbava field, a part of Lika region, southern Croatia...
(in Lika
Lika
Lika is a mountainous region in central Croatia, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by the Malovan pass...
, Croatia) in 1493 and gradually lost increasing amounts of territory to the Ottoman Empire.
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X , born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was the Pope from 1513 to his death in 1521. He was the last non-priest to be elected Pope. He is known for granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica and his challenging of Martin Luther's 95 Theses...
called Croatia the forefront of Christianity (Antemurale Christianitatis
Antemurale Christianitatis
Antemurale Christianitatis was a country defending frontiers of Christian Europe from the Ottoman Empire....
) in 1519, given that several Croatian soldiers made significant contributions to the struggle against the Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. Among them there were ban
Ban (title)
Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...
Petar Berislavić
Petar Berislavic
Petar Berislavić , a member of the noble family of Berislavić, was the ban of Croatia from 1513 to 1520 and also bishop of Veszprém....
who won a victory at Dubica on the Una river in 1513, the captain of Senj
Senj
Senj , German Zengg, Hungarian Zeng and Italian Segna) is the oldest town on the upper Adriatic, and it was founded in the time before the Romans some 3000 years ago on the hill Kuk. It was the center of the Illyrian tribe Iapydes. The current settlement is situated at the foot of the slopes Mala...
and prince of Klis
Klis
Klis is a village located around a mountain fortress bearing the same name. It is located in central Dalmatia, Croatia, located just northeast of Solin and Split near the eponymous mountain pass...
Petar Kružić
Petar Kružić
Petar Kružić was a Croatian knez, captain, soldier and defender of Klis, and the captain of Senj.In the early 16th century Petar Kružić defended the Klis Fortress against Turk invasion...
, who defended the Klis Fortress
Klis Fortress
The Klis Fortress is a medieval fortress situated above a village bearing the same name, near the city of Split, in central Dalmatia, Croatia. From its origin as a small stronghold built by the ancient Illyrian tribe Dalmatae, becoming a royal castle that was the seat of many Croatian kings, to...
for almost 25 years, captain Nikola Jurišić
Nikola Jurišic
Baron Nikola Jurišić was a Croatian nobleman, soldier, and diplomat, who led the armies of the territory of the Croatian Krajina in defense against the invasion of the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman I, advancing towards Vienna.After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Jurisic's vote helped Ferdinand of...
who deterred by a magnitude larger Turkish force on their way to Vienna in 1532, or ban Nikola Šubić Zrinski
Nikola Šubic Zrinski
Nikola Šubić Zrinski , was a Croatian nobleman and general in service of Habsburg Monarchy, ban of Croatia from 1542 to 1556, and member of the Zrinski noble family...
who helped save Pest
Pest (city)
Pest is the eastern, mostly flat part of Budapest, Hungary, comprising about two thirds of the city's territory. It is divided from Buda, the other part of Budapest, by the Danube River. Among its most notable parts are the Inner City, including the Hungarian Parliament, Heroes' Square and...
from occupation in 1542 and fought in the Battle of Szigetvar
Battle of Szigetvár
The Siege of Szigetvár or Battle of Szigeth was a siege of the Szigeth Fortress in Baranya which blocked Suleiman's line of advance towards Vienna in 1566 AD...
in 1566.
The 1526 Battle of Mohács
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
was a crucial event in which the rule of the Jagiellon dynasty
Jagiellon dynasty
The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...
was shattered by the death of King Louis II. The defeat emphasized the overall inability of the Christian feudal military to halt the Ottomans, who would remain a major threat for centuries. The Croatian historical narrative insists that the decision to join the Habsburg Empire was the result of a free choice made by the Sabor. Austrian historians never claimed they conquered Croatia by force and there appears to be little reason to doubt Croatian claims about the events of 1526.
Union after 1526
The Battle of MohácsBattle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
and the death of King Louis II ended Hungarian rule over Croatia. In 1526 the Hungarian parliament elected János Szapolya as the new king of Hungary, but a separate Hungarian parliament elected Ferdinand Habsburg. The Croatian parliament at Cetin unanimously elected Ferdinand Habsburg of Austria as King of Croatia on 1 January 1527, uniting both lands under Hapsburg rule. The Ottoman Empire expanded further in the 16th century to include most of Slavonia, western Bosnia and Lika
Lika
Lika is a mountainous region in central Croatia, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by the Malovan pass...
.
Croatia had now become so weak that it's parliament allowed Ferdinand Habsburg to reallocate large areas of Croatia and Slavonia adjacent to the Ottoman Empire, creating the Croatian Krajina
Croatian Krajina
The Croatian Military Frontier was a territory in the Habsburg Monarchy, including the Austrian Empire and Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.-History:...
(Vojna Krajina, German: Militärgrenze) which was ruled directly from Vienna military headquarters. The area however became deserted and was subsequently settled by Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
, Vlachs
Vlachs
Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...
, Croats, Germans
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
and others. As a result of compulsory military service to the Habsburg Empire during the wars against the Ottoman Empire, the Military Frontier was free from serfdom and enjoyed a great deal of political autonomy, unlike areas ruled by the King.
After the Bihać
Bihac
Bihać is a city and municipality on the river Una in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosanska Krajina region. Bihać is located in the Una-Sana Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.-History:...
fort finally fell in 1592, only small areas of Croatia remained unrecovered. The Ottoman Army was successfully repelled for the first time in Croatia at the battle of Sisak
Battle of Sisak
The Battle of Sisak was fought on June 22, 1593, between Ottoman forces of the Bosnian governor-general, or Beylerbeyi, Hasan-paša Predojević, and forces of the Holy Roman Empire under the supreme command of the Styrian general Ruprecht von Eggenberg...
in 1593, restoring further areas of lost territory but failed to regain large parts of what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
.
During the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire was driven out of Hungary, and Austria brought the empire under central control. Queen Maria Theresa was supported by the Croatians in the 1741-1748 War of Austrian Succession and subsequently made significant contributions to Croatian matters.
With the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, its possessions in the eastern Adriatic became subject to a dispute between France and Austria. By 1815 Dalmatia and Istria had been secured by the Austrian Empire, though they were annexed to Cisleithania
Cisleithania
Cisleithania was a name of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status...
, while Croatia and Slavonia remained Hungarian territories.
Croatian romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
emerged in mid-19th century to counteract the apparent Germanisation and Magyarisation of Croatia. The Illyrian movement
Illyrian movement
The Illyrian movement , also Croatian national revival , was a cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of 19th century, around the years of 1835–1849...
attracted a number of influential figures from the 1830s onwards, and produced some important advances in the Croatian language
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
and culture.
In the Revolutions of 1848 Croatia, driven by fear of Magyar nationalism, supported the Habsburg court against Hungarian revolutionary forces. However, despite the contributions of Ban
Ban
Ban may refer to:* Ban , a decree that prohibits something, sometimes a form of censorship* The imperial ban, a form of outlawry in the medieval Holy Roman Empire* Cherem, usually translated as the Ban, a form of excommunication in Judaism...
Jelačić
Josip Jelacic
Count Josip Jelačić of Bužim was the Ban of Croatia between 23 March 1848 and 19 May 1859...
in quenching the Hungarian war of independence
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was one of many of the European Revolutions of 1848 and closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas...
, Croatia was not treated any more favourably by Vienna than Hungary itself and lost its domestic autonomy. In 1867 the Dual Monarchy
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
was created; Croatian autonomy was restored in 1868 with the Croatian–Hungarian Agreement
Croatian–Hungarian Agreement
Croatian–Hungarian Settlement was a pact signed in 1868, that governed Croatia's political status in the Hungarian-ruled part of Austria-Hungary...
which, although not particularly favourable to the Croatians, recognised Croatia as a state within the Kingdom of Hungary.
See also
- Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)The Kingdom of Croatia was an administrative division that existed between 1527 and 1868 within the Habsburg Monarchy . The Kingdom was a part of the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen, but was subject to direct Imperial Austrian rule for significant periods of time, including its final years...
- Kingdom of Croatia-SlavoniaKingdom of Croatia-SlavoniaThe Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia or Croatia Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was part of the Hungarian Kingdom within the dual Austro-Hungarian state, being within the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen or Transleithania...
- History of CroatiaHistory of CroatiaCroatia first appeared as a duchy in the 7th century and then as a kingdom in the 10th century. From the 12th century it remained a distinct state with its ruler and parliament, but it obeyed the kings and emperors of various neighboring powers, primarily Hungary and Austria. The period from the...
- Pacta conventa (Croatia)Pacta conventa (Croatia)Pacta conventa was an alleged agreement concluded between King Coloman of Hungary and the Croatian nobility. While some claim it was a voluntary union of the two crowns, leaving Croatia as a sovereign state, others argue that Hungary simply annexed Croatia outright and forced an agreement...
- Crown of ZvonimirCrown of ZvonimirThe Crown of Zvonimir was bestowed on King Dmitar Zvonimir of Croatia in 1076 by the papal legate. Zvonimir ruled Croatia until 1089 after which the crown was used in the coronation of his successor Stjepan II and presumably by the numerous Hungarian monarchs after the unification of Croatia and...
- Lands of the Crown of Saint StephenLands of the Crown of Saint StephenThe historical term Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen was used to denote a group of territories connected to the Kingdom of Hungary within Austria-Hungary...
- Ottoman HungaryOttoman HungaryHistory of Ottoman Hungary refers to the history of parts of the Ottoman Empire situated in what today is Hungary, in the period from 1541 to 1699.-History:...
- Bans of Croatia
- Timeline of Croatian historyTimeline of Croatian historyThis is a timeline of Croatian history. To read about the background to these events, see History of Croatia. See also the list of rulers of Croatia and years in Croatia.This timeline is incomplete; some important events may be missing...