Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

OstojaHis name in Bosnian is rendered Stjepan Ostoja (), while in Croatian it's Stjepan Ostoja. In Serbian, he is called Stefan Ostoja (). ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Stjepan Ostoja, Стјепан Остоја; died September 1418) was King of Bosnia from 1398 to 1404 and from 1409 to 1418.

Family connections

He was a member of the House of Kotromanić, most likely son of Vladislaus and brother of King Stephen Tvrtko I. When duke Hrvoje Vukčić in 1416 died, King Ostoja divorced his old wife Kujava from the house of Radenović and married Hrvoje's widow Jelena Nelipčić the next year.John Van Antwerp Fine, Bosnian Institute; ''The Bosnian Church: Its Place in State and Society from the Thirteenth to the Fifteenth Century'', Saqi in association with The Bosnian Institute, 2007 Jelena Nelipčić was the sister of Prince

Ivan III Nelipac Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

from the Croatian noble Nelipić (Nelipac) family. That way Ostoja inherited most of Hrvoje's lands.

Rise to power

Ostoja was brought to power by the forces of

Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvoje is a Croatian male ethnic first name derived from "Hrvat" meaning "Croat". Notable people with the name include: * Hrvoje Čale (born 1985), Croatian football back * Hrvoje Horvat (born 1946), Croatian handball back * Hrvoje Klasić (bo ...

, (

Ban of Croatia Ban of Croatia ( hr, Hrvatski ban) was the title of local rulers or office holders and after 1102, viceroys of Croatia. From the earliest periods of the Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by bans as a ruler's representative (viceroy) an ...

, Grand Duke of Bosnia and a Herzog of

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, entertai ...

), which deposed

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Jelena Gruba Helen ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Jelena, Јелена; 1345 – after 18 March 1399), also known by the name sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=none, separator=/, Gruba, Груба, ruled the Kingdom of Bosnia from September 1395 until late April or early M ...

in 1398. In 1403 he sided with King Ladislaus of Naples in his plights against the Hungarian King Sigismund, Bosnia's liege. King Ostoja led a war against the

Republic of Dubrovnik hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century , currency = ...

, a Hungarian vassalage that year. In 1404, the Bosnians under Hrvoje Vukčić replaced him by his brother

Tvrtko II Stephen Tvrtko II ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Stjepan/Stefan Tvrtko, Стјепан/Стефан Твртко; died in November 1443), also known as Tvrtko Tvrtković (), was a member of the House of Kotromanić who reigned as King of Bosnia from 1404 to 1409 ...

because of his pro-Hungarian views. He had to flee to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning 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 ...

, after a stanak in Mile,

Visoko Visoko ( sr-cyrl, Високо, ) is a city located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 39,938 inhabitants with 11,205 liv ...

. In 1408, Hungarian King Sigismund managed to defeat the Bosnian nobility and King Stephen Tvrtko II and restore Ostoja to the throne in 1409. King Stephen Ostoja ended the decade-long dispute with the Hungarians but recognizing the suzerainty of the Hungarian crown and in 1412 visited the Hungarian throne in Buda together with the rest of the Bosnian and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n nobility including

Serbian Despot The Serbian Despotate ( sr, / ) was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and ...

Stefan Lazarević. King Stephen Ostoja died in September 1418 and his oldest son from his marriage with Kujava, Stephen Ostojić, was elected

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

of Bosnia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostoja, Stjepan Bosnian monarchs 14th-century monarchs in Europe 15th-century monarchs in Europe Year of birth missing 1418 deaths Kotromanić dynasty 14th-century Bosnian people 15th-century Bosnian people Dethroned monarchs Burials in Royal Chapel on Bobovac Kings of Bosnia

Family connections

Rise to power

See also

References