Tomislav
Encyclopedia
King Tomislav was a ruler of Croatia
in the Middle Ages
. He reigned from 910 until 928, first as Duke
(dux Croatorum) of Dalmatian Croatia in 910–925, and then became first King
(rex Croatorum) of the Croatian Kingdom
in 925–928.
He was probably the son of Muncimir
, Duke of Dalmatian Croatia
. Tomislav was one of the most prominent members of the House of Trpimirović. He united the Croats
of Dalmatia
and Pannonia
into a single Kingdom in 925
. He ruled over the territory of today's Croatia and Bosnia, rounding off his state from the Adriatic Sea
to the Drava
River, and from the Raša
River in Istria
to the Drina
River.
s of the Arpads in battle and forced them across the Drava River. Tomislav annexed a part of Pannonian Croatia
to his Croatian Dalmatia
. This included the area between the rivers Drava
, Sava and Kupa, so his Duchy
bordered with Bulgaria
for a period of time. This was the first time that the two Croatian Realms were united, and all Croats were in one state.
The Duke had to face renewed threats from the Bulgarians
under Tsar
Simeon I
who had already conquered the Serbs
. In 923
, the Patriarch of Constantinople
and the Byzantine Emperor offered to deal with Simeon's threat if Pope John X
would accept a rejoining of the divided Sees of Rome
and Constantinople
. The Pope also demanded that the Patriarch give him the sovereignty over the Dalmatian Byzantine Cities. After this was done, the Byzantine Emperor gave Duke Tomislav the coastal Cities under his Governency: the Byzantine Province of Dalmatia
(Zadar
, Split
, Trogir
...). In 921-924, the Bulgarian leader Simeon struck through Rascia
, enslaving the people, which made many Serbs
under the dethroned Prince
Zaharije Pribislavljević of the House of Vlastimirović
flee and seek shelter in Tomislav's Realm.
At the peak of his reign, according to Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos' De Administrando Imperio
, written around 950
, Tomislav could've raised a vast military force composed out of 100,000 infantrymen and 60,000 horsemen
and a sizable fleet of 80 large ships and 100 smaller vessels. These figures are largely disputed due to the historical period, historian
s argue that the numbers are a clear overexaggeration and an overemphasis that should be interpreted differently.
By the claiming of the coastal cities of Dalmatia, Tomislav raised the question of sovereignty of the Croatian
Bishopric
of Nin
. In 925 the Pope summoned a synod in Split
to resolve the situation, and in a letter sent to Tomislav, recognised him as king (rex) of Croats. According to the latter medieval sources, Tomislav was crowned at the field of Duvno (named Tomislav's City in his honour), although there are no contemporary records of this event. Although he was referred to as King, Tomislav's more frequently used title would be Princeps
instead.
On the Synod in Split, the Latin
Bishop
s and Abbey
s of the Dalmatian coastal towns outvoted Grgur
, bishop of Nin, and his supporters, so the supremacy of the Archbishopric of Split was affirmed. Furthermore, the use of the Slavic language in the ecclesiastical service was banned, allowing only the use of Latin. This, however, had very little effect in reality, as the number of clerics who knew Latin was sparse throughout the kingdom. Indeed, the great era of Glagolitic Slavic script was just beginning in Croatia. However, to gain support of the Pope
, Tomislav probably sided with the Latinist side and the metropolitan archdioceses of Split. At the council, Split was defined as the religious center of Croats, as well as some Serbs, who were represented by Michael of Zahumlje, who recognized Tomislav's rule. A second synod in Split was summoned in 927 to enforce the conclusions of the first one in 925; the supremacy of the metropolitan Archbishopric of Split was confirmed, and the diocese of Nin was abolished.
In 924 the Bulgarians under Emperor Simeon
destroyed the Serbian realm, and a large part of the Serbian population
fled to Croatia. They were chased by a Bulgarian army led by Alogobotur
, but Tomislav cut his advance into Croatian realm and entirely destroyed his army at the Battle of the Bosnian Highlands
in 927. The huge battle, considered to be one of the most important battles in the history of south-eastern Europe, took place in the north-eastern part of Bosnia
. The Croatians under Tomislav won a great victory, decimating the entire Bulgarian force.
It is unknown how Tomislav
's life ended, but he disappeared from the political scene after 928. One theory suggests that he might've been poisoned at the order of the Pope
. At the time of his death there was discord in the country over whether the liturgical language of the Roman Catholic Church
in Croatia would be Latin
or Croatian
. Decades of famine and pestilence raged through most of the Southern Europe. He was succeeded by Trpimir II, who was either his son or his younger brother.
The geographical extent of Tomislav's kingdom is not fully known. British writer Marcus Tanner suggested that it covered most of modern Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
, and the coastline of Montenegro
. However, Roger Lampe argued that the state did not go as far south as Dubrovnik
and that Istria
was not included. This view is supported by many Croatian scholars, who argue that the kingdom covered the whole region south of the Drava
river to the Drina
and Neretva
rivers north of Dubrovnik. A similar depiction is shown in J. Lučić and F. Šanjek's 1993 Hrvatski povijesni zemljovid (Croatian historical map).
Professor John Van Antwerp Fine addressed the relationship between Tomislav's territory and modern nationalist sentiment in Croatia. He wrote that 10th century sources are unreliable and "roughly a third" of Croatia's perceived eastern land is "entirely speculation". Fine stated, "It is possible that Croatia really did have some of it, but Bulgaria
may have had some of it; early Serb entities may have had some of it, not to speak of various župa
ns and other local Slavic lords who in any serious way answered to no one. If the last supposition is true (to any degree), then parts of this territory would not have been held by any 'state.'"
While acknowledging the possibility of Croatia having held all the depicted territory and more, Fine stated that whoever controlled the eastern land depicted in Tomislav's kingdom is unknown and should be marked as terra incognita
in maps. He criticised Lučić and Šanjek's delineation of Tomislav's eastern border as "nationalist map-making" and that "[s]uch maps, absorbed by schoolchildren, become part of their underlying perceptions on their nation's history. They grow up, and if they become historians of later periods, they may continue, without thinking to question this underpinning, to believe in these images of the earlier past, and thereby to accept uncritically ... that what is found in the fifteenth or sixteenth century must be territorial loss and fragmentation."
Croatian historians Nada Klaić
and Ivo Goldstein
disputed the extension of Tomislav's kingdom. Ivo Goldstein claimed that Tomislav never ruled Bosnia in his book Hrvatski rani srednji vijek. Still, dominant modern university history textbooks like Tomislav Raukar's Hrvatsko srednjovjekovlje (Croatia in the Middle Ages), as well as other university textbooks on the medieval Croatian state, consider that during Tomislav's rule his kingdom covered between 60% to 80% of contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina
. Other historical sources tend to be fuzzy: for instance, a European history site gives a similar picture. Even this can be, due to the lack of strong historical evidence, considered mere speculation. This issue is frequently debated due to modern Croatian national ideologies; it actually bears little importance on medieval Bosnian history
, since the pre-Ottoman ethno-cultural landscape of this country was formed mainly in the period from the 13th to the 15th century.
, there is a square dedicated to Tomislav. A monument in Zagreb by sculptor Robert Frangeš Mihanović
was raised in his honor. Near the place where he was crowned lies the town of Tomislavgrad
(literally:Tomislavcity) which was the name given in 1925 at the 1,000th anniversary of his coronation by Aleksandar Karađorđević
. In 1926, the obelisk
in his honor was made in Livno
.
Tomislav's statue in Zagreb is depicted on the reverse
of the Croatian 1000 kuna
banknote, issued in 1994. He also lends his name to an exquisite 'dark beer' which is brewed in the region.
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 ...
in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. He reigned from 910 until 928, first as Duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
(dux Croatorum) of Dalmatian Croatia in 910–925, and then became first King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
(rex Croatorum) of the Croatian 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...
in 925–928.
He was probably the son of 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....
, Duke of Dalmatian Croatia
Littoral Croatian Duchy
Littoral Croatia or Dalmatian Croatia is a name for a region of what used to be a medieval Croatian principality which was established in the former Roman province of Dalmatia...
. Tomislav was one of the most prominent members of the House of Trpimirović. He united 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...
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....
and 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....
into a single Kingdom in 925
925
Year 925 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Alfonso IV the Monk becomes king of Leon....
. He ruled over the territory of today's Croatia and Bosnia, rounding off his state from the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
to the 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...
River, and from the Raša
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 ....
River in 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...
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.
Early Duke of Croatia
Tomislav defeated the Magyar mounted invasionInvasion
An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...
s of the Arpads in battle and forced them across the Drava River. Tomislav annexed a part of Pannonian Croatia
Pannonian Croatia
Pannonian Croatia was a medieval duchy from the 7th to the 10th century located in the Pannonian Plain approximately between the rivers Drava and Sava in today's Croatia, but at times also considerably to the south of the Sava. Its capital was Sisak...
to his Croatian Dalmatia
Littoral Croatian Duchy
Littoral Croatia or Dalmatian Croatia is a name for a region of what used to be a medieval Croatian principality which was established in the former Roman province of Dalmatia...
. This included the area between the rivers 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...
, Sava and Kupa, so his Duchy
Duchy
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
bordered with Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
for a period of time. This was the first time that the two Croatian Realms were united, and all Croats were in one state.
The Duke had to face renewed threats from 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:...
under Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
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...
who had already conquered 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...
. In 923
923
Year 923 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* June 15 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed, and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.- Americas :* Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl becomes...
, the Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....
and the Byzantine Emperor offered to deal with Simeon's threat if 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...
would accept a rejoining of the divided Sees of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. The Pope also demanded that the Patriarch give him the sovereignty over the Dalmatian Byzantine Cities. After this was done, the Byzantine Emperor gave Duke Tomislav the coastal Cities under his Governency: the Byzantine Province 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....
(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...
, 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...
, 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...
...). In 921-924, the Bulgarian leader Simeon struck through 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...
, enslaving the people, which made many 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...
under the dethroned Prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
Zaharije Pribislavljević of the House of Vlastimirović
House of Vlastimirovic
The Vlastimirović Dynasty was the first Serbian royal dynasty, named after Prince Vlastimir , who was recognized by the Byzantine Empire.The dynasty starts with the Unknown Archont, who ruled during Emperor Heraclius ....
flee and seek shelter in Tomislav's Realm.
At the peak of his reign, according to Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos' 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 around 950
950
Year 950 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Duke Boleslav I of Bohemia makes peace with Otto I....
, Tomislav could've raised a vast military force composed out of 100,000 infantrymen and 60,000 horsemen
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
and a sizable fleet of 80 large ships and 100 smaller vessels. These figures are largely disputed due to the historical period, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
s argue that the numbers are a clear overexaggeration and an overemphasis that should be interpreted differently.
Coronation and Croatian Kingdom
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...
Bishopric
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of 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...
. In 925 the Pope summoned a synod in 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...
to resolve the situation, and in a letter sent to Tomislav, recognised him as king (rex) of Croats. According to the latter medieval sources, Tomislav was crowned at the field of Duvno (named Tomislav's City in his honour), although there are no contemporary records of this event. Although he was referred to as King, Tomislav's more frequently used title would be Princeps
Princeps
Princeps is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person."...
instead.
On the Synod in Split, the 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...
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...
s and Abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
s of the Dalmatian coastal towns outvoted Grgur
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...
, bishop of Nin, and his supporters, so the supremacy of the Archbishopric of Split was affirmed. Furthermore, the use of the Slavic language in the ecclesiastical service was banned, allowing only the use of Latin. This, however, had very little effect in reality, as the number of clerics who knew Latin was sparse throughout the kingdom. Indeed, the great era of Glagolitic Slavic script was just beginning in Croatia. However, to gain support of 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...
, Tomislav probably sided with the Latinist side and the metropolitan archdioceses of Split. At the council, Split was defined as the religious center of Croats, as well as some Serbs, who were represented by Michael of Zahumlje, who recognized Tomislav's rule. A second synod in Split was summoned in 927 to enforce the conclusions of the first one in 925; the supremacy of the metropolitan Archbishopric of Split was confirmed, and the diocese of Nin was abolished.
In 924 the Bulgarians under Emperor Simeon
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...
destroyed the Serbian realm, and a large part of the Serbian population
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...
fled to Croatia. They were chased by a Bulgarian army led by 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....
, but Tomislav cut his advance into Croatian realm and entirely destroyed his army at 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...
in 927. The huge battle, considered to be one of the most important battles in the history of south-eastern Europe, took place in the north-eastern part of 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...
. The Croatians under Tomislav won a great victory, decimating the entire Bulgarian force.
It is unknown how 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....
's life ended, but he disappeared from the political scene after 928. One theory suggests that he might've been poisoned at the order of 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...
. At the time of his death there was discord in the country over whether the liturgical language of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in Croatia would be 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...
or 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...
. Decades of famine and pestilence raged through most of the Southern Europe. He was succeeded by Trpimir II, who was either his son or his younger brother.
Geographical extent
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...
, and the coastline of Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
. However, Roger Lampe argued that the state did not go as far south as 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...
and that 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...
was not included. This view is supported by many Croatian scholars, who argue that the kingdom covered the whole region south of the 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...
river 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...
and Neretva
Neretva
Neretva is the largest river of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. It has been harnessed and controlled to a large extent by four HE power-plants with large dams and their storage lakes, but it is still recognized for its natural beauty, diversity of its landscape and visual...
rivers north of Dubrovnik. A similar depiction is shown in J. Lučić and F. Šanjek's 1993 Hrvatski povijesni zemljovid (Croatian historical map).
Professor John Van Antwerp Fine addressed the relationship between Tomislav's territory and modern nationalist sentiment in Croatia. He wrote that 10th century sources are unreliable and "roughly a third" of Croatia's perceived eastern land is "entirely speculation". Fine stated, "It is possible that Croatia really did have some of it, but Bulgaria
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
may have had some of it; early Serb entities may have had some of it, not to speak of various 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...
ns and other local Slavic lords who in any serious way answered to no one. If the last supposition is true (to any degree), then parts of this territory would not have been held by any 'state.'"
While acknowledging the possibility of Croatia having held all the depicted territory and more, Fine stated that whoever controlled the eastern land depicted in Tomislav's kingdom is unknown and should be marked as terra incognita
Terra incognita
Terra incognita or terra ignota is a term used in cartography for regions that have not been mapped or documented. The expression is believed to be first seen in Ptolemy’s Geography circa 150 CE...
in maps. He criticised Lučić and Šanjek's delineation of Tomislav's eastern border as "nationalist map-making" and that "[s]uch maps, absorbed by schoolchildren, become part of their underlying perceptions on their nation's history. They grow up, and if they become historians of later periods, they may continue, without thinking to question this underpinning, to believe in these images of the earlier past, and thereby to accept uncritically ... that what is found in the fifteenth or sixteenth century must be territorial loss and fragmentation."
Croatian historians Nada Klaić
Nada Klaic
Nada Klaić was a Croatian historian. She was influential and controversial Croatian medievalist of the 20th century.-Academic career:...
and Ivo Goldstein
Ivo Goldstein
Dr. Ivo Goldstein is a Croatian historian.He received his PhD in history at the University of Zagreb. Since 2001 he is a full professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb...
disputed the extension of Tomislav's kingdom. Ivo Goldstein claimed that Tomislav never ruled Bosnia in his book Hrvatski rani srednji vijek. Still, dominant modern university history textbooks like Tomislav Raukar's Hrvatsko srednjovjekovlje (Croatia in the Middle Ages), as well as other university textbooks on the medieval Croatian state, consider that during Tomislav's rule his kingdom covered between 60% to 80% of contemporary 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...
. Other historical sources tend to be fuzzy: for instance, a European history site gives a similar picture. Even this can be, due to the lack of strong historical evidence, considered mere speculation. This issue is frequently debated due to modern Croatian national ideologies; it actually bears little importance on medieval Bosnian history
History of Bosnia and Herzegovina
-Pre-Slavic Period :Bosnia has been inhabited at least since Neolithic times. In the late Bronze Age, the Neolithic population was replaced by more warlike Indo-European tribes known as the Illyrians. Celtic migrations in the 4th and 3rd century BCE displaced many Illyrian tribes from their former...
, since the pre-Ottoman ethno-cultural landscape of this country was formed mainly in the period from the 13th to the 15th century.
Legacy
Tomislav is celebrated as the founder of the first united Croatian state. In the Croatian capital of ZagrebZagreb
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...
, there is a square dedicated to Tomislav. A monument in Zagreb by sculptor Robert Frangeš Mihanović
Robert Frangeš Mihanovic
Robert Frangeš-Mihanović was a Croatian sculptor. He was a pioneer of modern Croatian sculpture. He was also one of the initiators and organizers of the artistic life in Zagreb at the turn of the centuries.-Life:...
was raised in his honor. Near the place where he was crowned lies the town of 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 :...
(literally:Tomislavcity) which was the name given in 1925 at the 1,000th anniversary of his coronation by Aleksandar Karađorđević
Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Alexander I , also known as Alexander the Unifier was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as the last king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes .-Childhood:...
. In 1926, the obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
in his honor was made in Livno
Livno
Livno is a town in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located between Tomislavgrad, Glamoč, Bosansko Grahovo, Kupres and the Croatian border.- Position :...
.
Tomislav's statue in Zagreb is depicted on the reverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
of the Croatian 1000 kuna
Croatian kuna
The kuna is the currency of Croatia since 1994 . It is subdivided into 100 lipa. The kuna is issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins are minted by the Croatian Monetary Institute....
banknote, issued in 1994. He also lends his name to an exquisite 'dark beer' which is brewed in the region.