Stephen (; 1084–95) was the '' knez'' ("

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

") of

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 ...

mentioned in the late 13th century ''

Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea The ''Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea or Duklja'' ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ljetopis popa Dukljanina, Љетопис попа Дукљанина; ) is the usual name given to a medieval chronicle written in two versions between 1295 and 1301 by an eccles ...

'' ("''Bosnam posuitque ibi Stephanum knezium''", according to

Johannes Lucius Johannes Lucius (; ; September 1604 – 11 January 1679) was a Dalmatian historian, whose greatest work is ''De regno Dalmatiae et Croatiae'' ("On the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Croatia"), which includes valuable historical sources, bibliograph ...

), appointed in 1083–84 by his first cousin

Constantine Bodin Constantine Bodin ( Bulgarian and , ''Konstantin Bodin''; 1072–1101) was a medieval king and the ruler of Duklja, the most powerful Serbian principality of the time, from 1081 to 1101, succeeding his father, Mihailo Vojislavljević ( 10 ...

, the

king of Dioclea Duklja ( sr-Cyrl, Дукља; ; ) was a medieval South Slavs, South Slavic state which roughly encompassed the territories of modern-day southeastern Montenegro, from the Bay of Kotor in the west to the Bojana river in the east, and to the sou ...

. Bodin had also appointed his relative Vukan at Rascia. Bosnia,

Zachlumia 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 ...

and Rascia were never incorporated into an integrated state with Dioclea; each principality had its own nobility and institutions, simply requiring a member of the Dioclean royal family to rule as prince or duke. According to Jacob Luccari's ''Annals of Ragusa'' (1605), Stephen participated in the siege of Ragusa in 1094–95, as Bodin's vassal. After Constantine died, the principalities seceded from Dioclea, and Vukan became the most powerful Serb ruler, as grand prince. According to , after the death of Bodin ( 1099), one of the pretendants to the throne,

Kočapar Kočapar ( sr-cyrl, Кочапар) was the ''knez'' or ''župan'' of Duklja, a Serbian state, briefly in 1102–03 under the suzerainty of Vukan, Grand Prince of Serbia. He was the son of Branislav, the Prince of Duklja. Following Bodin's death ...

, tried to take the rule in Dioclea, relying on Vukan. As Kočapar felt danger from that side as well, he took refuge in Bosnia, where he married the daughter of the "Bosnian '' ban''" in ca. 1100–01, though he died soon afterwards while fighting in Zachlumia. This Bosnian ban was most likely Stephen. Luccari and Orbini mention Stephen's son and successor Vukmir (''Vutïmir''). The territory governed by Stephen cannot be precisely known, apart from the fact that the name of Bosnia was identified with the region of the upper and middle basin of the

Bosna river The Bosna ( sr-Cyrl, Босна, ) is the third longest river in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is considered one of the country's three major internal rivers, along with the Neretva and the Vrbas. The other three major rivers of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

, with the area of the

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

and

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 livi ...

fields.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen, Duke of Bosnia Dukes of Bosnia Principality of Bosnia (early medieval) 11th-century dukes in Europe 11th-century Serbian royalty Vojislavljević dynasty History of the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnian monarchs 11th-century Serbian people 11th-century Bosnian people 12th-century Bosnian people