| War of Hum | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Banate of Bosnia Republic of Ragusa | Kingdom of Serbia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Stephen II Kotromanić | Stefan Dečanski Stefan Dušan | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| unknown | unknown | ||||||||
TheWar of Hum was fought in 1326–1329 between theBanate of Bosnia underStjepan II Kotromanić and theKingdom of Serbia underStefan Dečanski Nemanjić.
Branivoje who served KingStefan Milutin Nemanjić (r. 1282–1321) was given to rule over the city ofSton andPelješac peninsula.His family had by 1325 emerged as the strongest inZahumlje (or Hum).[1] Probably at their highest point they ruled fromCetina river to the town ofKotor.[1] Though nominal vassals of Serbia, the Branivojević family attacked Serbian interests and other local nobles of Hum, who in 1326 turned against Serbia and the Branivojevići.[1] The Hum nobility approachedStjepan Kotromanić II, the ban of Bosnia, who then entered conflict with Serbia.[1]
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In 1326,Ban Stephen II attacked Serbia in a military alliance with theRepublic of Ragusa and conqueredZahumlje, gaining access to theAdriatic Sea and including a largeEastern Orthodox Christian population and theEastern Orthodox Church. This changed the balance of religion in Bosnia, as theBosnianKrstjani, as the adherents of theBosnian Church called themselves, had lost its majority in the realm. He also expanded intoZavršje, including the fields ofGlamoč,Duvanj andLivanj. The province of Zahumlje was ruled by the local noble family ofBranivojevićs who had trickedStefan Dečanski's vassal Prince,Crep, who was a close friend, so King Stefan had no desire to defend those areas from Ban Stephen's forces.
Bosnia controlled the territory from the border with Ragusa inDubrovačka Rijeka along the coast toNeretva, and further toOmiš. Ban Stephen II killed two members of the Branivojević, whileBranko Branivojević fled to Serbia and sought help from King Stefan and then headed to Ragusa, from where he proceeded toSton. Ban Stephen pursued Branko, but eventually the Ragusan forces caught the last of the four Branivojević brothers.
The Bosnian titles includedLord of theHum Land ever after. Ban Stephen became the ruler of all the lands fromCetina toNeretva with the exception ofOmiš, which was taken by the Hungarians.
In 1329, Ban Stephen II of Kotromanić pushed another military attempt into Serbia with limited success, assaulting Lord Vitomir ofTrebinje andKonavli, but the main portion of his force was defeated by the Young KingStefan Dušan who commanded the forces of KingStefan of Dečani at Pribojska Banja. The Ban's horse was killed in the battle, and he would have lost his life if his vassal and retainer,Vuk Vukoslavić, had not given him his own horse. By doing so, Vuk sacrificed his own life, and was killed in open battle. Thus, the Ban's campaign was partially successful, as he managed to addNevesinje and parts ofžupa Zagorje (area between rivers ofUpper Neretva,Bistrica andSutjeska) to his realm.
Although the Zahumljans mostly accepted the Ban's rule, some resisted, likePetar Toljenović who ruled thePrimorje (transl. Seaside) from his capital inPopovo; he was the grandson of the famous Zachlumian Prince Andrew. Petar raised arebellion, wishing either more autonomy or total independence. He lost a battle against Ban Stjepan II and was imprisoned and put in irons. Ban Stjepan had him thrown with his horse off a cliff. Peter survived for a full hour after the fall.
The Ban's vassal that governed Zahumlje started to raid Ragusan trade routes, which worsened Bosnian-Ragusan relations that were very high during the conquest of Zahumlje. To make matters worse, Ban Stjepan II asked Ragusa to pay him the old traditionalmogoriš [bs] tax that they traditionally paid to the Serbian rulers and even asked them to recognize his supreme rule. The Republic of Ragusa refused with the explanation that it belongs to certain Dedić family fromžupa Popovo and that neither the Serbian nor the Bosnian rulers nor theKnez of Hum have a right to it.[2]