| Bosnia Bosna Босна | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/9th century–1154 | |||||||||
| Capital | possibly Katera or Desnik | ||||||||
| Demonym | Bosnians | ||||||||
| • Type | Principality | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 8/9th century | ||||||||
| 1154 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||||||||
Bosnia (Greek:Βοσωνα,romanized: Bosona,Serbo-Croatian:Босна,Bosna) in theEarly Middle Ages to earlyHigh Middle Ages was a territorially and politically definedSouth Slavic entity. It was situated, broadly, around the upper and middle course of theBosna river, between the valleys of theDrina river on the east and theVrbas river on the west, which comprise a wider area of central and eastern modern-dayBosnia and Herzegovina.
The very nucleus where the first Bosnian state emerged and had developed isVisoko valley, surrounding a wider area of modern-day town ofVisoko.[1][2]This area will be known asžupa Bosna, as nucleus of thezemlja Bosna.[3] The early Bosnia, according toVego and Mrgić, as well as Hadžijahić and Anđelić, was situated, broadly, around theBosna river, between its upper and the middle course: in the south to north direction between the line formed by itssource and thePrača river in the south, and the line formed by theDrinjača river and theKrivaja river (fromOlovo, downstream to town ofMaglaj), andVlašić mountain in the north, and in the west to east direction between theRama-Vrbas line stretching from theNeretva toPliva in the west, and theDrina in the east, which is a wider area of central and eastern modern-dayBosnia and Herzegovina.[4][5][6]
Confirmation of its emergence and territorial distribution comes from historiographical interpretation of late 13-14th centuryChronicle of the Priest of Duklja in modern and post-modern scholarship, which situate the state around theUpper Bosna river and theUpper Vrbas river, including Uskoplje, Pliva and Luka.[5] This also suggest that this distribution from the Bosna river valley into the Vrbas river valley is the earliest recorded. These three small parishes will later become a quintessence for emergence ofDonji Kraji county, before they were reclaimed as Kotromanić'sdemesne, after 1416 and death ofHrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić.[7][5]
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The western Balkans had been reconquered from "barbarians" by Roman EmperorJustinian (r. 527–565).Sclaveni (Slavs) raided the western Balkans, including Bosnia, in the 6th century.[8] The first mention of a Bosnian entity comes from theDe Administrando Imperio (DAI in further text),[9] which mention Bosnia (Βοσωνα/Bosona) as a "small/little land" or a "small country" (χοριον Βοσωνα/horion Bosona,[10]) withinSerbian Principality,[11][9] positioned in the upper course of the Bosna river.[12]
Historical and archaeological information on early medieval Bosnia remains inadequate.[13] According toDAI, Bosnia included two inhabited towns,[14] Katera and Desnik.[15] Katera has been thought to be identified asKotorac nearSarajevo, however, according toBulić 2013, archaeology refutes this. Katera may have been situated in the vicinity of modern-dayKotor Varoš, the potential site could be Bobac or Bobos, however, site only includes late medieval findings to date.[14] Desnik remains wholly unidentified, but was thought to be nearDešanj.[14] Hadžijahić wholly rejected the information about location of the two towns in Bosnia, arguing that the Greek preposition in the sentence is often erroneously translated (as "in" instead of "toward"), referring to two Serbian towns toward land of Bosnia.[16]Relja Novaković also questioned why there was an additional mention of a land with own cities if they should be part of Serbia, concluding that Bosnia almost always was a separate country.[17]Francis Dvornik stated to be, "most probable-and this is accepted by most historians of the period", initially formed as part ofCroatia and later in mid-10th century was ruled bySerbia.[18] Danijel Dzino considered that the "political and chronological context of this short passage could be connected with the rule of Časlav".[19]
IfDAI'skastra oikoumena does not designate inhabited towns, but ecclesiastical centers instead (in 6th century is mentioned Bestoen bishopric with several episcopal centers that belonged toSalonitan Archdiocese[20][21][22][23]), as theorized by lateTibor Živković, the two towns in question might be Bistua (Zenica orVitez) and Martar (probablyKonjic).[14] The existence of such centers is argued by Živković as evidence it was an independent state before 822.[24]
By the late 9th and early 10th century, Bosnia was mostly Christianized byLatin priests from theDalmatian coastal towns, though remote pockets remained unreached.[25] After theEast–West Schism (1054) the newly formedRoman Catholic Diocese of Bosnia was under jurisdiction of theArchbishop of Split,[26][27] but until the end of the 12th century changed jurisdiction between Split (1060, 1182),Bar (1089-1100, 1199) andDubrovnik (1102, 1124, 1153).[28] According toProvinciale vetus (late 12th century), itscivitas was Bosna (considered asVisoko), and in the mid-11th century was one of 19 bishopriccivitas of theKingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia.[29][30][31] In the 11-12th centuries the "Latin rite Christianity was prevalent in the west, the north and in central Bosnia", while the "Orthodox faith was predominant in the eastern districts near Serbia and the River Drina".[32]
Based on lack of information from not always reliable historical sources, which again are mainly about nearby polities and peoples, is often argued in historiography; that Northern and Northeastern Bosnia was captured byCarolingian Franks in the early 9th century and remained under their jurisdiction until 870s.[33] In what is now easternHerzegovina andMontenegro, semi-independent localities emerged under Serbian rule.[33] In the late 9th or early 10th centuryPetar of Serbia pushed intoPagania, coming into conflict withMichael of Zahumlje.[34] Croatian kingTomislav reintegrated parts of Western and Northern Bosnia,[33][35] battling the Bulgarians in theBosnian highlands (926).[36] In 949, a civil war broke out in Croatia leading to the conquest of Bosnia byČaslav, but after his death in c. 940s/960s,[37][33] it was possibly retaken byMichael Krešimir II of Croatia,[37][38][39] or became politically independent.[5][40] Bulgaria briefly subjugated Bosnia at the turn of the 10th century, after which followed period of Byzantine rule.[40] In the early 11th century, Bosnia was briefly part of the state ofDuklja.[40][32] In 1019 Byzantine EmperorBasil II forced the Serb and Croat rulers (including Bosnians) to acknowledge Byzantine sovereignty,[41] though this had little impact over the governance of Bosnia until the end of 11th century, for periods of time being governed by Croats or Serbs to the East.[39]Noel Malcolm considered that a later political link to Croatia will be observed "by the Croatian titleban from the earliest times",[42] but its use before the mid-12th century in sources (CPD) is probably an anachronism.[43]
All these deductions aren't based on relevant and reliable information, as Danijel Dzino concludes:
"While the 'land' of Bosnia was a political fact at the time, and the attested existence of Bosnian bishopric is sufficient evidence for this, there is nothing in the written sources that gives more about its rulers or social developments in the tenth and eleventh centuries ... The parallels with Hum and other neighbouring 'lands' suggest that this period was characterized by a fluidity in political arrangements, suggesting that Bosnia must have had different overlords or political allies (Serbs, Croats, Bulgars, Byzantines, Dukljani) in this period, who left the management of local affairs to the local elite. Such an assumption certainly challenges the popular misconception of Bosnia being an integral part of these other states, but also challenges the notion of 'Bosnian statehood' in this period".[43]
Based onsemi-mythicalChronicle of the Priest of Duklja (CPD, 13-14th century, and mostly its Slavic redaction), the earliest mythical rulers ofTransmontana (zagorska sklavinija) would be Silimir, Bladin, Ratimir (d. 838), followed by four unnamed rulers, then Satimir (c. 860 – c. 877), Budimir (877–917) and finally ban Svetolik-Stjepan (917 – d. 932/934).[44][45] Svetolik-Stjepan fled to Hungary because Bosnia was conquered by Croatian king Crescimirus (Krešimir I orMichael Krešimir II),[46] and that Crescimirus's son Stjepan (Stephen Držislav) and his descendants ruled over "White Croatia" and Bosnia.[47]Samuel of Bulgaria (997–1014) during his conquest of Croatia moved freely through Bosnia and Serbia (which probably captured as well), but is without further evidence.[48]
Later, according to the same CPD,Ljutovid of Zahumlje, an unnamed Ban of Bosnia, and unnamed župan of Raška (i.e. Serbia) accepted Byzantine's gifts in silver and gold to assistMichael Anastasii againstStefan Vojislav at theBattle of Bar (1042).[49][50]Constantine Bodin reportedly conquered Bosnia and appointed first cousinStephen (fl. 1084–1095) as the duke of Bosnia,[50][51] and Stephen reportedly participated in the siege of Dubrovnik but there's "a number of inconsistencies and chronological problems".[41]
According to laterAnnales Ragusini (14-17th century[52]), the death of childlessStiepan in 871 was followed by 17 years war which was ended by Croatian rulerBereslav's conquest of Bosnia, while in 972 Bosnian ruler was killed and land conquered by certainSigr. Ducha d'Albania, but another ruler of the lineage ofMoravia de Harvati (and related to previous Bosnian ruler) expelledSigr. Ducha and united Bosnia.[53][54]
First reliable information about Bosnia dates from the early 12th century.[43]Béla II of Hungary in 1135 adopted the title ofKing of Rama (possibly referring to Bosnia), and appointed his second sonLadislaus II of Hungary asDuke of Bosnia (Boznensem ducatum).[55][56] With presumed Hungarian conquest and political influence, in the mid-12th century emergedBanate of Bosnia under its first rulerBan Borić (fl. 1154–1163).[57] After theBattle of Sirmium (1165–1167), the Byzantine–Hungarian treaty regards Bosnia "as part of Hungarian dominion taken by the Byzantines",[58] and Byzantine emperorManuel I Komnenos used in honorific title of the "dalmatikos, ougrikos, bosthnikos, krobatikos", and panegyric of Michael Anchialos mentioned to "let the Croat and the Bosnian be enrolled in the tables of the Romans".[59][60] After 13 years of Byzantine rule, and Hungarians re-gained their South Slavic possessions,[58] withBan Kulin (1180–1204), Bosnia was by practical means an independent state, but that was constantly challenged by Hungarian kings who tried to reestablish their pre-Byzantine period authority or acted as "political seniors".[61][62]
In theEarly Middle Ages, Fine Jr. and Malcolm believe that westernmost parts of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina were part ofDuchy of Croatia, while the easternmost parts were part ofPrincipality of Serbia,[12][63] although, the harsh and usually inaccessible elevated terrains of the country most likely never came under direct control of either of the two neighboring Slavic states, and instead always had its own distinct political governance. This is reinforced by the Byzantine historianJohn Kinnamos (mid-12th century), who wrote:
...When he [Manuel I Komnenos] approached the Sava, he crossed from it to another river, by name Drina, which takes its origin somewhat higher up and divides Bosnia from the rest of Serbia. Bosnia itself is not subject to the Serbs'grand Župan, but is a tribe which lives and is ruled separately.[64][65]
According to Martin Dimnik, writing forThe New Cambridge Medieval History, in the 11th century land of Bosnia lived both Croats and Serbs.[32] Regarding the ethnic identity of the inhabitants of Bosnia until 1180, Malcolm concludes "it cannot be answered, for two reasons":
...first, because we lack evidence, and secondly, because the question lacks meaning. We can say that the majority of the Bosnian territory was probably occupied by Croats - or at least, by Slavs under Croat rule - in the seventh century; but that is a tribal label which has little or no meaning five centuries later. The Bosnians were generally closer to the Croats in their religious and political history; but to apply the modem notion of Croat identity (something constructed in recent centuries out of religion, history and language) to anyone in this period would be an anachronism. All that one can sensibly say about the ethnic identity of the Bosnians is this: they were the Slavs who lived in Bosnia.[26][66]
871. In Bosna si fece gran garbugli, perchè Re Stiepan morite senza herede, et non haveva chi sucedere Bosna; et tutta andò a signori, conti, baroni, per modo che tal guerra durò anni 17, e poi uno barone de Harvatia, Bereslavo vense, et oprimava tutta Bosna bascia ... 972. In Bosna vense de lochi d'Albania un Sigr. Ducha con gran hoste, e con lui furono Ragusei; et prese tutto paese de Bosna, et stette anni cinque in regname pacifico, poi morite. Et si faceva altro Re della linea de Moravia de Harvati; et sottomise tutto regno de Bosna sotto suo regname, per modo che con Ragusei non se voleva bene, per cagion perchè fu parente con quel Re, qual fu debelato per Signore venuto di Albania, (e) qual fu stato amazato per cagion de Ragusei. Perchè Ragusei son stati in ajuto con lui, per tale cagion voleva mal alli Ragusei. Quel che in ogni locho poteva, pigliava a sacco, et Ragusei sono stati assai danificati per detto regname de Bosna.
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