Pacta conventa (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "agreed accords") was an agreement concluded between King
Coloman of Hungary
Coloman the Learned, also the Book-Lover or the Bookish ( hu, Könyves Kálmán; hr, Koloman; sk, Koloman Učený; 10703February 1116) was King of Hungary from 1095 and King of Croatia from 1097 until his death. Because Coloman and his younge ...
and the
Croatian nobility
Croatian nobility ( hr, plemstvo, lit=vlastelin; french: la noblesse) was a privileged social class in Croatia during the Antiquity and Medieval periods of the country's history. Noble families in the Kingdom of Croatia included high ranking popu ...
in 1102 or afterwards, defining the status of
Croatia in the union with Hungary
The Kingdom of Croatia ( la, Regnum Croatiae; hr, Kraljevina Hrvatska, ''Hrvatsko kraljevstvo'', ''Hrvatska zemlja'') entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary in 1102, after a period of rule of kings from the Trpimirović and Svetosl ...
. The earliest manuscript of the document is of the fourteenth century, so some historians believe it is likely a forgery.
The document titled ''Pacta conventa'' or ''Qualiter'' (the first word in the document) was found in a
Trogir
Trogir (; historically known as Traù (from Dalmatian, Venetian and Italian: ); la, Tragurium; Ancient Greek: Τραγύριον, ''Tragyrion'' or Τραγούριον, ''Tragourion'') is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in S ...
library.
Until the 19th century it was considered that it dated to 1102. However, historians today hold that it is not an authentic document from 1102 and likely a forgery from the 14th century, but that the contents of the Pacta Conventa still correspond to the political situation of that time in Croatia.
[Pál Engel]
''Realm of St. Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary''
2005, p. 35-36[Bárány, Attila (2012). "The Expansion of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages (1000– 1490)". In Berend, Nóra. The Expansion of Central Europe in the Middle Ages. Ashgate Variorum. page 344-345] The document is preserved in the
Hungarian National Museum
The Hungarian National Museum ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum) was founded in 1802 and is the national museum for the history, art, and archaeology of Hungary, including areas not within Hungary's modern borders, such as Transylvania; it is not to ...
in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
.
[ Eduard Hercigonja, ''Tropismena i trojezična kultura hrvatskoga srednjovjekovlja'', ]Matica hrvatska
Matica hrvatska ( la, Matrix Croatica) is the oldest independent, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution. It was founded on February 2, 1842 by the Croatian Count Janko Drašković and other prominent members of the Illyri ...
, Zagreb, 2006.
Background
After
Petar Snačić
Petar Snačić (commonly misspelt Petar Svačić) was a feudal lord, notable for being one of the claimants of the Croatian throne between c. 1093 and 1097. It is assumed that he began as a ban (title), ban serving under king Demetrius Zvonimir of ...
, the last Croatian king of Croat descent, was killed on the battlefield in 1097, the Croats had refused to surrender. To end the war, an agreement was made, probably in 1102. The Croatian nobles allegedly concluded the ''Pacta conventa'' with King
Coloman Coloman, es, Colomán (german: Koloman (also Slovak, Czech, Croatian), it, Colomanno, ca, Colomà; hu, Kálmán)
The Germanic origin name Coloman used by Germans since the 9th century.
* Coloman, King of Hungary
* Coloman of Galicia-Lodomeria ...
before his crowning as the Croatian king in
Biograd
Biograd na Moru (), shortened to simply Biograd (), is a town in northern Dalmatia, Croatia and is significant for being another capital of the medieval Kingdom of Croatia. Biograd is administratively part of the Zadar County. It is located on th ...
.
[ Curta, Stephenson, 2006]
p. 267
/ref>
The Hungarian king offered "an agreement as pleases them" to the twelve noble Croatian tribes from the families of Čudomirić, Gusić, Kačić Kȁčić () is a Croatian surname. It is chiefly distributed in the city of Split, and the area of southern and central Dalmatia. Etymologically it derives from the word ''kača'' "snake".
It may refer to:
* Kačić noble family, which includes m ...
, Kukar, Jamomet, Lasničić, Lapčan and Karinjan, Mogorović, Poletčić, Snačić, Šubić, and Tugomirić.
Terms
The agreement determined that the Croatian nobles who signed the document with King Coloman Coloman, es, Colomán (german: Koloman (also Slovak, Czech, Croatian), it, Colomanno, ca, Colomà; hu, Kálmán)
The Germanic origin name Coloman used by Germans since the 9th century.
* Coloman, King of Hungary
* Coloman of Galicia-Lodomeria ...
would retain their possessions and properties without interference. It also granted the mentioned families exemption from tax or tributes to the king. Each of the twelve noble Croatian tribes were obliged to answer the king's call if someone attacked his borders and send at least ten armed horsemen to war, as far as the Drava River (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 =
, capit ...
's northern boundary with Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
) at their own expense. Beyond that point, the Hungarian king paid the expenses.
Validity of the document itself
The document's validity is questionable. While some claim the earliest text concerning the alleged agreement came from the second half of the 14th century others call it a late medieval forgery, not a twelfth-century source. While various items of the text seem anachronistic to some, other historians say these could be reworkings of a text from an actual agreement.
Since the 19th century, a number of historians have claimed that the ''Pacta conventa'' was not a genuine document.
In 1915 and then also in 1925, Milan Šufflay
Milan Šufflay (8 November 1879 – 19 February 1931) was a Croatian historian and politician. He was one of the founders of Albanology and the author of the first Croatian science fiction novel. As a Croatian nationalist, he was persecuted in th ...
mentioned the document in some of his works, first declaring it an outright forgery, and later saying it was a 14th-century "addendum" to the manuscript of Thomas the Archdeacon
Thomas the Archdeacon ( la, Thomas Archidiaconus; it, Tommaso Arcidiacono; hr, Toma Arhiđakon; c. 1200 – 8 May 1268), also known as Thomas of Spalato ( la, Thomas Spalatensis, hu, Spalatói Tamás), was a Roman Catholic cleric, historian and ...
. Hungarian historian János Karácsonyi
János or Janos may refer to:
* János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John
Places
* Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuahua
** Janos, Chihuahua, town in Mexico
** Janos Biosphere Reserve, a nature reserve in Chihuahua
* Janos ...
thought it was a 14th-century forgery, Slovene historian Ljudmil Hauptmann dated the document to the 13th century, Croatian historians Miho Barada and Marko Kostrenčić thought it was made in 1102, while later Croatian historian Nada Klaić
Nada Klaić (21 July 1920 – 2 August 1988) was a Croatian historian. She was a Croatian medievalist of the 20th century. A substantial part of the work was devoted to criticism of medieval sources.
Academic career
Nada Klaić was born in Zagre ...
thought it was a forgery probably made in the 14th century. Croatian historian Stjepan Antoljak in turn said the ''Pacta'' was an incomplete historical source, but not a forgery. Nada Klaić elaborated her "lack of opinion" over the matter of 1102 in a 1959 article disputing the Croatian writer Oleg Mandić's earlier work on the matter.
The dispute and uncertainty over the ''Pacta conventa'' matches the overall uncertainty and dispute over the relationship between the Croatian and Hungarian kingdoms in the 10th and 11th century, with Croatian historian Ferdo Šišić
Ferdo Šišić (9 March 1869 – 21 January 1940) was a Croatian historian, the founding figure of the Croatian historiography of the 20th century. He made his most important contributions in the area of the Croatian early Middle Ages.
Life
Ši ...
and his followers assuming Tomislav of Croatia
Tomislav (, la, Tamisclaus) was the first king of Croatia. He became Duke of Croatia and was crowned king in 925, reigning until 928. During Tomislav's rule, Croatia forged an alliance with the Byzantine Empire against Bulgaria. Croatia's strug ...
had ruled most of the area inhabited by Croats, including Slavonia
Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...
, while the Hungarian historians Gyula Kristó
Gyula Kristó (11 July 1939 – 24 January 2004) was a Hungarian historian and medievalist, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( hu, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA) is the most important and pres ...
, Bálint Hóman
Bálint Hóman (29 December 1885 – 2 June 1951) was a Hungarian scholar and politician who served as Minister of Religion and Education twice: between 1932–1938 and between 1939–1942. He died in prison in 1951 for his support of the fasc ...
and János Karácsonyi thought the area between and Sava
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...
belonged neither to Croatia nor to Hungary at the time, an opinion that Nada Klaić said she would not preclude, because the generic name "Slavonia" (lit. the land of the Slavs) may have implied so.
Though the validity of the document is disputed, there was at least a non-written agreement that regulated the relations between Hungary and Croatia in approximately the same way, since from 1102 until 1918 kings of Hungary were also kings of Croatia, represented by a governor (ban), but Croatia kept its own parliament (Sabor) and considerable autonomy.
The source of inspiration for the text of the document must have been the political and social developments that had taken place over a 300-year period following 1102 when the two kingdoms united under the Hungarian king, either by the choice of the Croat nobility or by Hungarian force.[ The Croatian nobility retained its laws and privileges including the restriction of military service that they owed to the king within the boundaries of Croatia.]
Interpretations of the agreement
According to the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
country study on the former Yugoslavia, King Coloman crushed opposition after the death of Ladislaus I of Hungary
Ladislaus I ( hu, László, hr, Ladislav, sk, Ladislav, pl, Władysław; 1040 – 29 July 1095), also known as Saint Ladislas, was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary and ...
and won the crown of Dalmatia and Croatia in 1102. The crowning of Coloman forged a link between the Croatian and Hungarian crowns that lasted until the end of World War I.[ Croatians have maintained for centuries that Croatia remained a sovereign state despite the voluntary union of the two crowns.] A number of Hungarian historians also accept the view that Croatia and Hungary entered in a personal union in 1102[Bárány, Attila (2012). "The Expansion of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages (1000– 1490)". In Berend, Nóra. The Expansion of Central Europe in the Middle Ages. Ashgate Variorum. page 344-345][Márta Font – Ugarsko Kraljevstvo i Hrvatska u srednjem vijeku [Hungarian Kingdom and Croatia in the Middlea Ages]]
"''Medieval Hungary and Croatia were, in terms of public international law, allied by means of personal union created in the late 11th century.''" and that, whatever the authenticity of the Pacta conventa, the contents of it correspond to the reality of rule in Croatia.[ However, some Hungarian and Serbian historians claim that Hungary annexed Croatia outright in 1102.] According to Frederick Bernard Singleton, the Croatians have always maintained that they were never legally part of Hungary. In the eyes of Croatians, Croatia was a separate state which happened to share a ruler with the Hungarians. The degree of Croatian autonomy fluctuated from time to time, as well as its borders. According to Daniel Power, Croatia became part of Hungary in the late 11th and early twelfth century. According to the country study on Hungary Croatia was never assimilated into Hungary; rather, it became an associate kingdom administered by a ban, or civil governor. In either case, Hungarian culture permeated Croatia, the Croatian-Hungarian border shifted often, and at times Hungary treated Croatia as a vassal state.[
In 1105 Coloman granted privileges to maritime cities in exchange for their submission. These included the election of their own bishops and priors which is later only confirmed by the king, prohibition of Hungarians settling in towns. Also, the cities did not pay tribute, while royal agents supervised the collection of custom duties without interfering in local politics.
While Croatian historian ]Nada Klaić
Nada Klaić (21 July 1920 – 2 August 1988) was a Croatian historian. She was a Croatian medievalist of the 20th century. A substantial part of the work was devoted to criticism of medieval sources.
Academic career
Nada Klaić was born in Zagre ...
thinks that some sort of surrender occurred in 1102, giving the Croatians light terms, Slovenian historians Matjaž Klemenčič and Mitja Žagar believe the Pacta Conventa never actually existed, but the story about it was important to support the Croatian position later in the Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
of rights on the basis of that agreement. Klemenčič and Žagar think that although Croatia ceased to exist as an independent state, the Croatian nobility retained relatively strong powers.[ Klaić thinks that the Trogir manuscript, the earliest text of the alleged pact, is not the text of that surrender, but describes contemporary relations between king and nobility and then traced that current 14th century reality back to an initial agreement.][
]
Later references
After the death of King Louis II at the Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...
in 1526, the Croatian parliament met at Cetin and elected Ferdinand of Austria king of Croatia. According to the Croatian historical narrative, the Croatian parliament took the opportunity in 1526 to reassert its autonomy from Hungary with the election of Ferdinand by the words:"...we joined the Holy Crown of Hungary
The Holy Crown of Hungary ( hu, Szent Korona; sh, Kruna svetoga Stjepana; la, Sacra Corona; sk, Svätoštefanská koruna , la, Sacra Corona), also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen, named in honour of Saint Stephen I of Hungary, was the c ...
by our own free will just as we do now, the rule of Your Majesty". Croatian historians also argue that the struggle for ascendancy to the Habsburg throne at this time provides evidence of Croatia's political autonomy. In the Croatian legal interpretation of the personal union, Louis II didn't leave any heirs and the legal carrier of the union (the king) didn't exist anymore so the right to elect the king belonged once more to the Croatian nobility. Unlike Hungarian historians, the Austrians never claimed they conquered Croatia by force and there appears to be little reason to doubt Croatian claims about the events of 1526.
The intro of The Hungaro-Croatian Compromise of 1868 (the Nagodba) starts as: "Since Croatia and Slavonia have alike de jure and de facto belonged for centuries to the Crown of St. Stephen
The Holy Crown of Hungary ( hu, Szent Korona; sh, Kruna svetoga Stjepana; la, Sacra Corona; sk, Svätoštefanská koruna , la, Sacra Corona), also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen, named in honour of Saint Stephen I of Hungary, was the ...
..." Although the Nagodba provided a measure of political autonomy to Croatia-Slavonia, it was subordinated politically and economically to Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
.
Footnotes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacta Conventa (Croatia)
Medieval charters and cartularies of Croatia
1102
1102 in Europe
12th century in Croatia
12th century in Hungary
12th century in law
14th-century documents
14th-century manuscripts
Croatian culture
Croatian documents
Document forgeries
Legal history of Croatia
Legal history of Hungary
Medieval Croatian texts
Old Croatian inscriptions
Political charters
Croatia–Hungary relations
Medieval charters and cartularies of Hungary