Krešimir III ( la, Cresimir) was King of
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capi ...
from 1000 until his death in 1030. He was from the
Trpimirović dynasty and founder of the
Krešimirović branch of the family. He was the middle son of former King
Stjepan Držislav. Until 1020, he co-ruled with his brother
Gojslav.
Biography
Reign
After Croatia's King Stjepan Držislav died in 997, his brother
Svetoslav Suronja
Svetoslav Suronja (), was King of Croatia from 997 to 1000. A member of the Trpimirović dynasty, he reigned with the help of his '' ban'', Varda. John the Deacon (d. 1009) called him "Surinja" ( la, "Surigna"), adopted in Croatian historiogr ...
became King of Croatia. His two brothers,
Gojslav and Krešimir contested his accession, resulting in civil war. His brothers probably used his alliance with the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
to obtain help from
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
. The Bulgarian monarch
Samuil pillaged the Dalmatian cities and great parts of Bosnia. During the last two years (999–1000) of the Croatian civil war, the rebels, probably with some Bulgarian help, had managed to depose
Svetoslav Suronja
Svetoslav Suronja (), was King of Croatia from 997 to 1000. A member of the Trpimirović dynasty, he reigned with the help of his '' ban'', Varda. John the Deacon (d. 1009) called him "Surinja" ( la, "Surigna"), adopted in Croatian historiogr ...
, who allied himself with the Venetian Doge
Pietro II Orseolo in 1000. The Doge then began a successful campaign in Dalmatia.
In
Trogir, which was brought under Venetian control, the Doge and the deposed king reached an agreement in which Svetoslav's son Stephen was to be taken hostage and marry the Doge's daughter, Joscella (Hicela) Orseolo. It is assumed that he is the same one who succeeded Krešimir III as king, but this is controversial, since the father of
King Stephen is referred as Krešimir in other sources. At that point, all the Dalmatian rulers submitted to the Doge "except for the King of the Croats".
Around 1015, Krešimir was given the honorary title of
patrician from the Byzantines, possibly as a token of gratitude for his policy in the Balkans.
The war between Venice and Croatia was renewed in Summer 1018, when Krešimir launched a campaign against the Dalmatian cities in an attempt to retake the lost territories. The cities requested help from
Otto Orseolo
Otto Orseolo ( it, Ottone Orseolo, also ''Urseolo''; c. 992−1032) was the Doge of Venice from 1008 to 1026. He was the third son of Pietro II Orseolo and Maria Candiano, whom he succeeded at the age of sixteen, becoming the youngest doge in Ven ...
, who intervened on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and managed to successfully repel these incursions from Croatia. According to surviving legal documents, the islands
Krk and
Rab
Rab �âːb( dlm, Arba, la, Arba, it, Arbe, german: Arbey) is an island in the northern Dalmatia region in Croatia, located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea.
The island is long, has an area of and 9,328 inhabitants (2 ...
, previously under Croatian control, repledged their allegiance to Venice and promised to pay an annual tribute.
[Šišić, pp. 479]
Krešimir III and
Gojslav spent their reign attempting to restore control over the Dalmatian cities that were now under Venetian rule. After the defeat and absorption of the First Bulgarian Empire,
John Skylitzes records that certain Croats "who had two brothers as their rulers", after approaching Basil, had subjected themselves to him, after which the tribes did as well. The later chronicler Cedrenus makes a similar record, but implies instead that the two brothers had subjected themselves to him directly.
[Šišić, pp. 482]
Later years
On 1 September 1024,
Basil Boioannes, Byzantine general and governor of the
Catapanate of Italy, sailed across the Adriatic from
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...
and invaded Croatia. In subsequent clashes, he captured Krešimir's wife, who was first taken to
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...
, and then to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
as a hostage. Although Croatia and Boioannes possibly harbored ill will towards each other, this clash does not necessarily prove that Constantinople itself had poor relations with Croatia.
After the death of Emperor Basil II in 1025, Krešimir stopped paying tribute to the empire.
Around 1027, he collaborated with
Stephen I of Hungary against Venice in an attempt to regain the cities of Dalmatia. The Hungarian king previously took his nephew
Peter Urseolo, who was forced to flee from the republic when his father was deposed in a 1026 revolt.
[Šišić, pp. 484] It is also assumed by one chronicle that Krešimir took part in the 1030 war against the
Holy Roman Emperor Conrad on the Hungarian side, though this is not corroborated in any other source.
[Švab, pp. 138] Stephen I also might have betrothed his son,
Emeric, to one of Krešimir's daughters, but records show that the preparations were cancelled due to Emeric's sudden death.
[Profile](_blank)
fmg.ac; accessed 13 August 2015.
Krešimir was succeeded by his nephew Stjepan around 1030, when he returned to Croatia from Venice.
See also
*
Croatian-Bulgarian Wars
*
Trpimirović dynasty
*
History of Croatia
*
List of rulers of Croatia
Literature
*Ferdo Šišić, Povijest Hrvata u vrijeme narodnih vladara, 1925, Zagreb
*Fine (Jr), John V. A. (2006). When Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans: A Study of Identity in Pre-Nationalist Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia in the Medieval and Early-Modern Periods. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
*Mladen Švab
Prilog kritici "kronologije" dijela pripisivanog arhiđakonu goričkomu Ivanu Historijski zbornik, god. XXXVI pp. 119–160
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kresimir 03 Of Croatia
1030 deaths
Kings of Croatia
Trpimirović dynasty
Medieval Croatian nobility
Year of birth unknown
11th-century monarchs in Europe
11th-century Croatian people
Burials at the Church of St. Stephen, Solin