Usora ( la, Vozora, hu, Ózora) was important '' zemlja'' (; feudalna oblast ) of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Bosnian state, first banate and later kingdom, although it also had some periods outside its jurisdiction and royal authority, when it was connected with neighboring banates of

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-Bar ...

, or Mačva at times. The administrative seat of this ''zemlja'' was Srebrenik, which also served as residence for its rulers for entire period of existence of the medieval Bosnian state. It took its name from the river Usora.

Ethimology

The name of the land of Usora derives from the eponymous river, which runs through its territories for approximately 80 kilometers, in direction south-southwest to north-northeast, and spills into the river Bosna just south of town of

Doboj Doboj ( sr-cyrl, Добој, ) is a city located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of Bosna river, in the northern region of the Republika Srpska. As of 2013, it has a population of 71,441 ...

Geography and location

Usora was the northernmost Bosnian land (''zemlja''), occupying very fertile Pannonian Plain, and its geographical location roughly correspond to modern-day Northern Bosnia gravitating toward

Posavina Posavina ( sr-cyr, Посавина) is a geographical region that stretches along the Sava river, encompassing only the inner areas of the Sava river basin, that are adjacent or near to the Sava river itself, namely catch region spanning fro ...

. Its territory stretched roughly from the area of Kulaši and Prnjavor to its west, to Srebrenik and Lukavac to its east, the river

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 t ...

to its north and Žepče to its south. The land of Usora had many strong fortresses and towns on its territory, the most famous ones being

(13th century), Srebrenik (1333), Dobor fortress (1387), Glaž (12th century),

Soko Soko ( sh-Cyrl, Соко) was a Yugoslav aircraft manufacturer based in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company was responsible for the production of many military aircraft for the Yugoslav Air Force. SOKO was created in 1950 by the ...

fortress (14th century), Tešanj (14th century),

Modriča Modriča ( sr-cyrl, Модрича) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, the town has a population of 10,137 inhabitants, while the municipality has a population of 25,72 ...

town (13th century), and Maglaj (15th century).

History

The region of Usora was first mentioned in a bull (decree) dated 20 July 1244 by the King

Bela IV of Hungary Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara * Bela, Dang, in Nepal * Bela, Janakpur ...

, in which he assigned some properties to the

Bishop of Bosnia Diocese of Bosnia (Latin: ''Dioecesis Bosniensis'') was a Roman Catholic diocese that existed in Bosnia between the 11th and 15th centuries, and remained formally in existence until 1773.Soli, and Olfeld to Donji Kraji). Although it was nominally included into the

Hungarian Crown Lands The "Lands of the Hungarian Crown"Laszlo PéterHungary's Long Nineteenth Century: Constitutional and Democratic Traditions in a European Perspective BRILL, 2012, pp. 51–56 was the titular expression of Hungarian pretensions to the various territo ...

, the Banate of Bosnia was a de-facto independent state for the course of its existence, including Usora, which under Bosnia always retained certain amount of autonomy.

Battles

Notable battles include Battle of Srebrenik (1363), Battle of Dobor (1394) and (1408), and the

Battle of Doboj Doboj Fortress ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Dobojska tvrđava'' / Добојска тврђава) or Gradina (Градина) is located in the city of Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Throughout its turbulent history, the fortress ha ...

(1415). During its history, this ''zemlja'' had been separated several times from the Banate of Bosnia and later Bosnian Kingdom, mostly by the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

which appointed rulers of this region, and sometimes attached it to Slavonian Banate. Prominent families, such as Babonići had estates there while the territories were part of Slavonian Banate. Bosnian bans and

kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

, starting with 1324 and Stephen II Kotromanić, who reclaimed Usora, and added both Usora and Soli to his title have relinquished direct rule over Land of Usora and started appointing their vassals as rulers, ending with the last Duke of Usora, Tvrtko Stančić, who died in May 1463 during Ottoman conquest of Bosnia.

Religion

On its territory

Bosnian Church The Bosnian Church ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Crkva bosanska, Црква Босанска) was a Christian church in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina that was independent of and considered heretical by both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodo ...

flourished since the 13th century, strongly supported by local nobility. The Church held spacious land possessions, located between Dobor, in the south, and Dubnica near the Sava, in the north. Presence of Christian slavery was outlawed and frowned upon in Southeastern Europe, however, there are numerous documents citing free sales of Usoran women and children on the slave-markets of Dubrovnik Republic, as late as mid 15th century, as they were considered adherents of heretical Bosnian Church and thus, non-Christian in the official canonical view.

Economy

Because of its geographical location, descending from the region of low hills in its south ends and spreading through north-Bosnian lowlands into the fertile Pannonian plains towards the

River, Usora had rich agriculture based economy. The Sava was always frequent trading route, and had rich fisheries. This economic potential, more often than not, made Usora most common battleground between

Bosnians Bosnians (Bosnian language: / ; / , / ) are people identified with the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina or with the region of Bosnia. As a common demonym, the term ''Bosnians'' refers to all inhabitants/citizens of the country, regardless ...

and the

Hungarian king This is a list of Hungarian monarchs, that includes the grand princes (895–1000) and the kings and ruling queens of Hungary (1000–1918). The Principality of Hungary established 895 or 896, following the 9th-century Hungarian conquest of the ...

s who viewed them as subordinate. Usora was also famous for well developed

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

among its nobility.

List of rulers

*1190s-1220: Stjepan, Ban of Bosnia, likely also ruled Soli, first historically documented ruler of Usora; *1220-1241: Sibislav, son of ban Stjepan, supported Hungary in its crusade against Bosnian Church; *1241–1247: Matej Ninoslav, the Ban of Bosnia, waged defensive war against Hungary, and after the loss of Usora to Hungarians, he remained the ban of all other Bosnian lands until his death in 1250; *1322-1329: Stjepan II, also ban of Bosnia, grandson of Vladislav; from 1322, when Stephen II Kotromanic became a ban of Bosnia, Usora was part of his realm and was included in the titles of all subsequent bans and kings in Bosnia; *1329-1353: Vojko, Duke of Usora (land of Soli absorbed into Usora as ''župa'' Soli by 1330), Bosnian nobleman and vassal to Stjepan II, ban of Bosnia; *1353-1377: Tvrtko Ivanić, Duke of Usora, Bosnian nobleman and vassal to the first Bosnian King Tvrtko I Kotromanić; *1377-1395: Vlatko Tvrtković, son of Duke Tvrtko of Usora, Bosnian nobleman and vassal to king Tvrtko I; *1395-1400: Vučina Vlatković, son of Duke Vlatko of Usora, Bosnian nobleman and vassal to Bosnian king Dabiša; *1400-1424: Vukmir Zlatonosović, Bosnian nobleman and vassal to Bosnian royal Kotromanić dynasty; *1424-1430: Vukašin Zlatonosović, Vukmir's brother, Bosnian nobleman and vassal to the Bosnian king Tvrtko II Kotromanić; *1435-1444:

Matko Talovac Matko Talovac ( la, Mathkoni de Thallowcz, hu, Tallóci Matkó) or Matija Talovac, was a Croatian nobleman, a member of the Talovac noble family. He served as Ban (Viceroy) of Slavonia from 1435 and Ban of Croatia from 1436, until his death ...

, ban of Usora, vassal to king Tvrtko II; *1444-1463: Tvrtko Stančić, Duke of Usora, Bosnian nobleman and vassal to kings Thomas Kotromanić and

Stjepan Tomašević Stjepan is a Croatian masculine given name, variant of Stephen, used by ijekavian speakers. In Croatia, the name Stjepan was among the top ten most common masculine given names in the decades up to 1969. Notable people with the name include: * ...

, died in May 1463 while defending Bosnia from the Ottoman conquest.

List of Usora rulers after 1463

Last Usora rulers governed re-organized region after the fall of Kotromanićs and conquest of the Bosnian Kingdom's territories south of

Jajce Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, wit ...

and Usora by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

in 1463. *1464-1477: Nicholas of Ilok, Duke of Usora, Macso, Slavonia and Dalmatia 1464-1471, and puppet king of Bosnia 1471-1477, installed by the Hungarians as a ruler of a buffer state against Ottomans. *1465-1476: Matija Sabančić-Radivojević, son of Radivoj Ostojić, younger brother of Bosnian king Tomas Kotromanić, puppet Bosnian king installed by Ottomans as a counter measure to Nicholas of Ilok. *1476-1476: Matija Vojsalić, second and last puppet king in Bosnia installed by Ottomans, ruled only 6 fortresses in central and south Usora (Doboj, Maglaj, Tešanj, Žepče, Vranduk and Travnik).

Interregnum and titular rulers under Hungarian suzerainty

Second half of the 13th century was a period after Matej Ninoslav lost it to Hungary, and the rulers were appointed by the King of Hungary. *1247–1262: Rostislav Mikhailovich, Russian prince from Rurik dynasty, also Duke of Macso. *1262–1272: Bela, son of Rostislav, also Duke of Macso. *1272–1273: Henry I Kőszegi, also titular ban of Soli. *1273-1275: Ernye Ákos, also titular ban of Soli. *1284-1316: Stefan Dragutin, also king of Syrmia. *1316-1322: Vladislav, also king of Syrmia, son of the preceding.

Sources

* * * * * * * *

References

{{coord, 44, 42, N, 18, 29, E, region:BA, display=title Zemljas of the medieval Bosnian state Banate of Bosnia Kingdom of Bosnia Historical regions in the Kingdom of Hungary Banates of the Kingdom of Hungary Medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina Historical counties of Bosnia and Herzegovina