Kotromanić dynasty

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Kotromanić
Котроманић
Despot of Serbia
Dissolutionc. 1500
Deposition25 May 1463

The House of Kotromanić (

King of Bosnia between 1461 and 1463, before losing both countries – and his head – to the Ottoman Turks
.

Origins

The origin of the Kotromanić family is unclear. The earliest mention of the name itself is from 1404, when the officials of the

German origin of the Kotromanić, and instead argued the family was indigenous to Bosnia.[1]

The first Bosnian ruler who is known for certain to have belonged to the Kotromanić family is

Ban of Bosnia c. 1250.[2] Europäische Stammtafeln suggests that Prijezda and Ninoslav were first cousins, fathered by different sons of a certain Kotroman (Cotromanus). The noblemen Radonja and Ugrin, who witnessed a charter issued by Ninoslav, are also suggested to be Kotroman's grandsons, brothers of Ninoslav.[3]

History

Consolidation and rise

Prijezda I's realm was significantly smaller than Ninoslav's, the northern regions of

Serbian king Dragutin. The same year Prijezda arranged the marriage of his son, Stephen I, with Dragutin's daughter Elizabeth. The marriage had great consequences in the subsequent centuries, when Stephen and Elizabeth's Kotromanić descendants claimed the throne of Serbia.[4]

Besides Stephen I, Prijezda I had two more sons,

Šubić rulers of Dalmatia, who succeeded in subjugating nearly all of Bosnia by the early 14th century.[1]

Deathbed of Stephen II, attended by his daughter Elizabeth, sister-in-law Jelena and nephews Tvrtko and Vuk

By 1314 Stephen had been succeeded by

Hermann II, was recognized as heir presumptive to the Bosnian throne in 1427,[1] and through him the Kotromanić dynasty is ancestral to the presently reigning European kings and queens.[6]

Kingship

Stephen II died in September 1353. His brother Vladislav was excluded from the succession for reasons unknown, and Stephen was succeeded directly by

Habsburg family, but the plan never materialized due to his death on 10 March 1391.[12]

The royal authority weakened after Tvrtko I's death but the

Helen (Gruba). Dabiša and his wife had a daughter, Stana, who left further issue.[1]

A reconstructed chapel in Bobovac which housed a burial vault of the Kotromanić royal family

In April 1398 Helen was dethroned in favour of

Stephen Ostojić (r. 1418–1420), who succeeded him, and two illegitimate sons, Radivoj and Thomas.[1]

Tvrtko II (r. 1420–1443) deposed Stephen Ostojić in 1420, and the latter appears to have died in exile soon afterwards. In 1424 Tvrtko's position was briefly threatened by a relative named

Frederick had no support in Bosnia; Tvrtko himself appears to have favored Ostoja's younger illegitimate son, Thomas, as his heir.[1]

Last decades

The election of Thomas (r. 1443–1461) to the Bosnian throne was not accepted by

Despotate of Serbia and with the Ottomans. The former ended in 1459 when Thomas arranged the marriage of his elder son, Stephen, with Helen, eldest daughter of the recently deceased Serbian despot Lazar. Stephen thus became the new Despot of Serbia. His reign in Serbia lasted two months, ending when the despotate was conquered by the Ottomans.[1]

All lands ruled by the royal Kotromanić Dinasty (Light green temporary: Parts of Donji Kraji and Serbian Despotate under Stjepan Tomašević)

Stephen (r. 1461–1463) became King of Bosnia upon his father upon the latter's death in 1461. His reign in Bosnia too was cut short by an

Matthias, functioned as the Ottoman puppet-king of Bosnia (with authority over only the valley of the Lašva) from 1465 until 1471. Sigismund, son of King Thomas, became an Ottoman statesman and sanjak-bey under the name Ishak Bey Kraloğlu. He is last mentioned in 1492.[1]

Demesne

Kotromanić demesne c. 1412 in olive green, surrounded by lands of the family's vassals

The demesne of the Kotromanić family was, for the most part, located in central Bosnia, including towns and mines such as Visoko, Bobovac, Sutjeska, Fojnica and Kreševo. From 1416 their demesne also included land formerly ruled by the Hrvatinić family, most notably Jajce, which was the dynasty's last seat.[1]

Religion

Most of the Kotromanić rulers were

Roman Catholics,[13] but were entirely indifferent to the other two denominations widespread in their realm, namely the Bosnian Church and (in Zachlumia) the Eastern Orthodox Church.[14] They also contracted marriages with adherents of all three churches. Ban Stephen II appears to have been Orthodox (like his mother) until 1347 at most, by which time he had converted to Catholicism.[15] Ostoja belonged to the Bosnian Church, as did his sons.[16] Thomas joined the Catholic Church, presumably having left the Bosnian, shortly after becoming king.[13]

Despite the nominal adherence of the family to Catholicism, the faith became important only to the last two Kotromanić kings, Thomas and his son Stephen. Thomas was the first in the dynasty to engage in religious persecution, following pressure from the Holy See.[14] Stephen, on the other hand, was the first (and ultimately only) king whose coronation received papal blessing.[1] The last known generation of the family, Thomas' son Sigismund and daughter Catherine, converted to Islam some years after their capture by the Ottomans.[1]

See also

  • List of rulers of Bosnia

Notes

  1. ^ King Stephen III of Hungary did send a German knight to dethrone the Bosnian ruler Borić, his enemy, but the knight was Godfrey of Meissen.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Ćošković 2009.
  2. ^ a b Ćirković 1964, p. 72.
  3. ^ Prinz zu Isenburg 1960, p. 158.
  4. ^ Ćirković 1964, p. 75.
  5. ^ Ćirković 1964, p. 121.
  6. ^ Šmid 2012.
  7. ^ Fine 1994, p. 284–285.
  8. ^ Ćirković 1964, p. 124.
  9. ^ Fine 1994, p. 369.
  10. ^ Ćirković 1964, p. 136-137.
  11. ^ Ćirković 1964, p. 164.
  12. ^ Ćirković 1964, p. 165.
  13. ^ a b Fine 1994, p. 582.
  14. ^ a b Fine 1994, p. 484.
  15. ^ Fine 1994, p. 280.
  16. ^ Fine 1994, p. 281.

Sources

  • Karatay, Osman (2003). "Contribution to the Debates on the Origin of the Medieval Bosnian Royal Dynasty Kotromanids". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  • Ćošković, Pejo (2009), Kotromanići (in Serbo-Croatian), Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography
  • Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press.
    ISBN 9780472082605
    .
  • Ćirković, Sima (1964). Историја средњовековне босанске државе (in Serbo-Croatian). Srpska književna zadruga.
  • Prinz zu Isenburg, Wilhelm Karl (1960). Europäische Stammtafeln (in German). Stargardt.
  • Šmid, Franc (2012). Predniki in potomci Celjskih grofov (in Slovenian).
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