Stephen I Kotromanić ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Стефан I, Stjepan I) (1242–1314) was a Bosnian Ban from 1287 to 1290 jointly with Ban Prijezda II and 1290–1314 alone as a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

Origin

His ancestry is not known precisely. It is believed that he was the son of a German nobleman ''Gotfrid'', founder of the family he belonged to ''Kelad'' went to strengthen the Hungarian hold in Bosnia in 1162 or 1163. This German nobleman co-signed the

edict An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchies, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement". ''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum. Notable edicts * Telepinu ...

s for

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in the

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in 1163 with the Hungarian King Stephen IV. Apparently, the Hungarian King Stephen III invited him to place him as a regional ruler in Hungary's name because of his ancestor's successes. Kotroman ruled as a vassal of this

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

. Mauro Orbini claimed in his work The Kingdom of Slavs that the Ragusan document refers to him as "'' Cotrumano Goto''", i.e. ''Kotroman the German'' but it's unclear from where did Orbini make this reference. It has also been speculated that Kotroman might have been a son of Bosnian Ban Prijezda I.

Biography

Before Banate

Since 1287, when his father, Ban Prijezda I withdrew from power, Kotroman ruled jointly as Ban of

with another son of Prijezda I, Prijezda II. Kotroman separated the country with Prijezda II, and took eastern

. After the death of Prijezda II, Kotroman became the sole Ban of

in 1290.

Marriage

In 1284 he married Elizabeth of Serbia, daughter of the King of

Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...

Stefan Dragutin Stefan Dragutin ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Драгутин, ; died 12 March 1316), was List of Serbian monarchs, King of Serbia from 1276 to 1282. From 1282, he ruled a Realm of Stefan Dragutin, separate kingdom which included northern Serbia, and ...

of the

House of Nemanjić A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

, and Queen Catherine, daughter of Hungarian King

Stephen V Stephen V may refer to: *Pope Stephen IV, aka Stephen V, Pope from 816 to 817 *Pope Stephen V (885–891) *Stephen V of Hungary (born before 1239 – 1272), King of Hungary and Croatia, Duke of Styria *Stephen V Báthory (1430–1493), Hungarian co ...

and

Elizabeth the Cuman Elizabeth the Cuman (1244–1290) was the Queen consort of Stephen V of Hungary. She was regent of Hungary during the minority of her son from 1272 to 1277. The Cumans were the western tribes of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. Her people follo ...

. Dragutin had already controlled two banates in Bosnia: Usora and Soli and Kotroman immediately fell under his influence – many of his acts were at Dragutin's command. The marriage was political and arranged by Ban Prijezda II who had attempted to forge an alliance with

Hungarian War of Succession

In 1290 Hungarian King Ladislaus IV died leaving no heirs to the

throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign (or viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory ...

. The cousin of Ladislaus IV, Andrew III, was crowned

, despite the desire of the sister of the former King Ladislaus IV, Mary of Hungary, Queen of Naples, who wanted her son,

Charles Martel Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...

as the new King in Hungary. The latter party had much more support, so

Pope Nicholas IV Pope Nicholas IV (; born Girolamo Masci; 30 September 1227 – 4 April 1292) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1288 to his death, on 4 April 1292. He was the first Franciscan to be elected pope.McBrie ...

had crowned Charles Martel as King of Hungary. This movement was supported by the most powerful

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n nobility, the Šubićs,

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

s of Bribir. As the current head of the family, Paul Šubić was also son-in-law of King

, family connections made Kotroman support Charles Martel's crowning. To increase his influence in Kotroman's realm, Charles Martel issued numerous edicts to split the land among the lesser

gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

to gain support for his reign. It appears that he gave the reign over

to the Šubićs. Charles Martel died unexpectedly in 1295, before the campaign to seize the power in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

was finished. The Queen of Naples and sister of former King Ladislaus IV, Mary, had then decided to put her grandson, son of Charles Martel, Charles Robert as the future King of Hungary.

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII (; born Benedetto Caetani; – 11 October 1303) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 until his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of baronial origin with connections t ...

declared the twelve-year-old boy as King

Charles I of Hungary Charles I, also known as Charles Robert (; ; ; 128816 July 1342), was King of Hungary and Croatia in the union with Hungary, Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of Charles Martel of A ...

in 1297. Paul Šubić of

declared himself as " Dominus of

" in 1299 and gave the title of Bosnian Ban to his brother, Mladen I Šubić. All of Kotroman's land except for the '' Donji Kraji'' (), which was ruled by

Hrvatin Stjepanić as a vassal of the Šubićs, was held by the House of Šubić; as was confirmed by Charles I Robert. Paul Šubić wanted to bring

Charles Robert to

across

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, which would become the main station of his campaign against King Andrew III of Hungary. During the preparations for war, Andrew III died unexpectedly. Charles Robert assessed the Hungarian throne, but had to fight numerous opponents to his regime up to 1309.

Internal wars

Stephen Kotroman had resisted the growth of the Šubićs' power in Bosnia, but had lost by 1302 most control over the land to Mladen I Šubić. Although, Kotroman was not defeated as he still had some influence and power in Bosnia. His father-in-law King

could not send him aid since a succession-war had erupted in the Serbian Kingdom between him and his brother, the powerful

Stefan Milutin Stefan Uroš II Milutin ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош II Милутин, Stefan Uroš II Milutin; 1253 – 29 October 1321), known as Saint King, was the King of Serbia between 1282–1321, a member of the Nemanjić dynasty. He was one ...

. Additionally, during the problems over the Hungarian crown, Dragutin had attempted to insert his son Vladislav as the new

King of Hungary The King of Hungary () was the Monarchy, ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Magyarország apostoli királya'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...

. Despite the many difficulties, Stephen Kotroman had held out. The war turned into religious conflict, as Mladen I Šubić had started a campaign to exterminate the adherents of the

Bosnian Church The Bosnian Church ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Crkva bosanska, Црква босанска) was an autonomous Christian church in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina. Historians traditionally connected the church with the Bogomils, although this ...

– the kristjani. This balanced the conflict in Kotroman's favour, as number of kristjani had joined his side because of this. After his death Paul Šubić in 1305 proclaimed himself "lord of All Bosnia".

End of reign

Paul's reign did not last long as he died in 1312. The disappointed Ban Stephen Kotroman died in 1314, before he managed to act.

Issue

Stephen and Elisabeth had six children: * Vladislaus * Ninoslaus *

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

* Son * Catherine, who married

Nicholas of

Zahumlje Zachlumia or Zachumlia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Zahumlje, Захумље, ), also Hum, was a medieval principality located in the modern-day regions of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia (today parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, r ...

in 1338 * Mary Stephen II was to succeed Kotroman as Bosnian Ban; but had to flee to the

Republic of Ragusa The Republic of Ragusa, or the Republic of Dubrovnik, was an maritime republics, aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (''Ragusa'' in Italian and Latin; ''Raguxa'' in Venetian) in South Dalmatia (today in southernmost ...

to hide from the Šubićs with his brothers and their mother, Elizabeth.

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

Stjepan I Kotroman Ban of Bosnia 1242 - 1316
- The Douglas Archives (in English) {{House of Kotromanić Stephen 01, Ban of Bosnia 1242 births 1314 deaths Stephen 01, Ban of Bosnia Stephen 01, Ban of Bosnia Stephen 01, Ban of Bosnia People of the Banate of Bosnia 13th-century governors Bosnian monarchs