Kingdom of Croatia (medieval)
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| History of Croatia | |
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| Early History | |
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| Before the Croats | |
| Origins of the Croats | |
| White Croatia | |
| Medieval History | |
| Red Croatia | |
| Medieval Croatian state | |
| Kingdom of Croatia | |
| Union with Hungary | |
| Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia | |
| Habsburg rule | |
| Modern History | |
| State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs | |
| Banovina of Croatia (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) |
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| Republic of Croatia | |
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Croatia Portal |
The Kingdom of Croatia was an independent state from circa 925 until 1102 covering most of what is today Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina 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. From 1097 onwards, the Kings of Hungary were also Kings of Croatia, because of the political union of the two states. After that, Croatia retained its chief institutions such as the Parliament and ban responsible to the King of Hungary and Croatia. [1]
Croatia remained a distinct crown attached to that of Hungary until the abolition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.
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[edit] Establishment
Tomislav I, 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[2] (the central town in the Duvno field is still named Tomislavgrad ("Tomislav's town") 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 (županija) 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 consisted of approximately 100,000 infantry, 60,000 cavaliers, and 80 larger and 100 smaller warships.
[edit] Migration of the Croatians
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 most commonly accepted facts about the origin of the Croats are that they originate from Slavic tribes that lived 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 says 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.
However, the record of archdeacon Thomas, as well as the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja from the 12th century, state that the Croats did not arrive the same way that the Byzantine texts say. Instead, these works claim that the Croats were a group of Slavs that remained after the Goths (under a leader referred to as "Totila") had occupied and pillaged the Roman province of Dalmatia. The Chronicle of Dioclea, on the other hand, speaks of a Gothic invasion (under a leader referred to as "Svevlad", followed by his descendants "Selimir" and "Ostroilo") after which the Slavs merely took over.
Regardless of the different interpretations, the Croat tribes eventually settled in the area between the Drava river and the Adriatic sea, the western Roman provinces Pannonia and Dalmatia; western Balkans in modern usage. The Croat tribes had been organized into two principalitys; the Pannonian duchy in the north and the Dalmatian duchy in the south.
[edit] Christianity
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 masses 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.
[edit] Rise of Croats
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 Furlania. 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 Rascian 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.
[edit] 10th century
Croatian society underwent major changes in the tenth 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 serfs 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. [3] 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.
[edit] 11th century
[edit] Succession crises
As soon as Stjepan Držislav had died in 997, his three sons, Svetoslav (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 [1], 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.
[edit] Krešimir IV
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.
[edit] Demetrius
Krešimir was succeeded by a rival, but also a relative, a Svetoslavić (Trpimirović junior line): Dmitar Zvonimir (1075–1089). [4] 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 assiated 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 the oldest written Croatian text, 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.
[edit] Decline and conquest
During the revolt of the parliament in 1089, Zvonimir was either killed[5] or committed suicide.[6] With no heir to succeed him, Stjepan II (1089–1091) of the main Trpimirović line came to the throne at an old age and reigned only two years. After his death it became apparent that Zvonimir's brother-in-law Ladislaus I of Hungary was the strongest candidate for the throne through his sister Jelena, Zvonimir's widow, who had much influence in Pannonian Croatia. Ladislaus' army penetrated Croatian territory after Stjepan's death, and quickly occupied all of Pannonia, after which they met some unorganised resistance in Dalmatia. The Emperor Alexius I sent the Cumans to attack the Hungarians and forced them to retreat from Croatia. Alexius did, however, allow the Hungarian Prince Álmos to rule over Slavonia.
In 1093, the Croatian feudal lords, struggling to remain independent of Hungary, elected a new Croat king, Petar Svačić (1093–1097). He managed to unify the kingdom around Knin and banish Álmos from Slavonia in 1095. However, Ladislaus' successor, Coloman, came to power that year, made peace with Pope Urban II and led an army into Croatia in 1097. Petar Svačić was defeated in the Battle of Gvozd Mountain and killed. When Coloman and his forces were called back to the northeast to fight the Ruthenians and Cumans in Galicia in 1099, the Croatian nobles took the opportunity to liberate themselves from Hungarian rule.
[edit] Hungarian rule
Coloman returned to Croatia in 1102, and negotiated with Croatian feudal lords to recognise him as the common king of Croatia and Hungary in a treaty called the Pacta Conventa. Croats agreed to recognise Coloman as king. In return, he promised to maintain Croatia as a separate kingdom. Under dynastic union with Hungary, institutions of separate Croatian statehood were maintained.[7] 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 [8]) and his Croatian nobility, so it would not be perceived as an interstate agreement in domain of public international law.[9]. 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 precise time and terms of Pacta Conventa later became a matter of dispute; nonetheless, even under dynastic 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. [10]
[edit] Sources
[edit] Notes
- ^ History of Croatia to the Ottoman conquests
- ^ http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/94524/frontmatter/9780521894524_frontmatter.pdf
- ^ Untitled Document
- ^ Croatian Coat Of Arms And Popes
- ^ http://www.travel-agency-jasna.com/eng/index.php?op=articles;id=34[dead link]
- ^ Na danasnji dan
- ^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/143561/Croatia
- ^ Curta, Stephenson, p. 267
- ^ Ana S. Trbovich (2008). A Legal Geography of Yugoslavia's Disintegration. Oxford University Press. p. 87. ISBN 9780195333435.
- ^ History of Croatia to the Ottoman conquests
