Stjepan was a son of
Croatian King
This is a complete list of dukes and kings of Croatia under domestic ethnic and elected dynasties during the Croatian Kingdom (925–1918). This article follows the monarch's title number according to Hungarian succession for convenience. For exam ...
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 historiograph ...
, member of
Trpimirović dynasty.
As his father was allied with Venetian Republic in Croatian civil wars and
Croatian-Bulgarian wars, as well as in campaign of Pietro Orseolo II against Croatia in 1000, it was decided to strengthen those bonds even more.
After the
coup d'état in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, Svetoslav Suronja and his family went to Hungary in exile and died.
Stjepan used the anarchy and made a conquest in Croatian Slavonia with Hungarians against the
fratricide king. Stjepan later received the title
Ban of Slavonia
Ban of Slavonia ( hr, Slavonski ban; hu, szlavón bán; la, Sclavoniæ banus) or the Ban of "Whole Slavonia" ( hr, ban cijele Slavonije; hu, egész Szlavónia bánja; la, totius Sclavoniæ banus) was the title of the governor of a territor ...
.
He was the father of
Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia.
[Neven Budak: Prva stoljeća Hrvatske, Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada, Zagreb 1994, p. 31-33]
References
Medieval Croatian nobility
Bans of Croatia
11th-century Croatian people
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