Stjepan Tomaš

Stephen Thomas ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Stefan Tomaš, Стефан Томаш, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, label=none, Stjepan Tomaš, Стјепан Томаш; 1411 – July 1461), a member of the House of Kotromanić, reigned from 1443 until his death as the penultimate king of Bosnia.

An illegitimate son of King Ostoja, Thomas succeeded King Tvrtko II, but his accession was not recognized by the leading magnate of the Kingdom of Bosnia, Stjepan Vukčić Kosača. The two engaged in a civil war which ended when the King repudiated his wife, Vojača, and married the insubordinate nobleman's daughter, Catherine. Thomas and his second wife, both raised in the Bosnian Church tradition, converted to Roman Catholicism and sponsored construction of churches and monasteries throughout the kingdom.

Throughout his reign, Thomas waged a war with the Serbian Despotate over the lucrative mining town of Srebrenica and its surroundings, in addition to (or in conjunction with) multiple conflicts with his father-in-law. Moreover, he had a tense relationship with the menacing Ottoman Empire. After years of skirmishes and raids, Thomas appeared willing to lead the Christian coalition against the Turks, but received no assistance from fellow Christian rulers. Having failed to expand into Croatia proper, Thomas turned again to the east in 1458, arranging a match between his son Stephen and the Serbian heiress Helena. Bosnian control over the remnants of the Serbian Despotate lasted merely a month before the Ottoman conquest of the state. King Thomas' failure to defend Serbia permanently damaged his reputation in Europe. Wishing to improve his image among Europe's Catholics, Thomas turned against the Bosnian Church, thus becoming the first ruler of Bosnia to engage in religious persecution.

Thomas' sometime contradictory traits earned him both admiration and scorn from his contemporaries. His son Stephen succeeded him, and immediately proved more apt at dealing with the challenges of the time.

Background

Thomas was the son of King Ostoja, who died in 1418, and his mistress, whose name is not recorded. He was a doubly adulterine child, as both his father and mother were married at the time of his birth. Ostoja was the only non-Catholic king of Bosnia, and Thomas was raised as a member of the Bosnian Church, to which his parents adhered. Tvrtko II deposed Stephen Ostojić, Ostoja's only known legitimate child and successor, in 1421. Thomas' illegitimate older brother, Radivoj, unsuccessfully contested Tvrtko's rule with the help of the Ottoman Turks and the Kosača family, the leading magnates of the Kingdom of Bosnia.

The narrative sources refer to Thomas (as well as his father and brother) as a Kristić, which is thought to be the name of a cadet branch of the Kotromanić dynasty. Thomas was thus closely related to Tvrtko II, likely his first cousin.

Avoiding the limelight during the reign of Tvrtko II, Thomas lived with a commoner named Vojača and their children. He was loyal to King Tvrtko, and together the two took part in a skirmish in Usora, where Thomas was wounded. His loyalty likely influenced the childless and ailing King to ensure his succession; Thomas was certainly preferable to his brother Radivoj, whom Tvrtko detested. Count Hermann II of Celje, a descendant of the Kotromanić family once designated as heir presumptive, had died in 1435.

Accession to coronation

Tvrtko II died in November 1443. The ''Stanak'' approved his choice of heir, and Thomas was duly elected king by 5 December. Like his predecessors, he added the royal name Stephen to his own. However, the kingdom's most powerful magnate, Grand Duke Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, refused to accept Thomas as king, and announced his support for Radivoj. The authorities of the neighbouring Republic of Ragusa immediately expressed concern about the situation. Kosača and Radivoj appealed to Ragusa not to recognize Thomas as king, but to no avail. Simultaneously, Hermann's grandson Ulrich II pressed his claim to the Bosnian throne and tried to gather support among Thomas's opponents. Because of this, Thomas hastened to send word of his accession to foreign rulers, including the German king Frederick IV, Ulrich's rival, and Ragusan and Venetian authorities, hoping to receive recognition. Ulrich was occupied with the feud waged against him by Frederick, as well as with the succession struggle in Hungary, where he had taken side with his cousin, queen dowager Elizabeth of Luxembourg and her infant son Ladislaus against the reigning monarch Vladislav I, leaving Thomas ample space of maneuver.Vjekoslav Klaić, ''Povijest Hrvata, od najstarijih vremena do svršetka XIX. stoljeća'', Vol. 3 (Zagreb: 1974), pp 206-207.

Succession war

King Thomas acted resolutely to strengthen his position. In January 1444, he penetrated the Bosnian-held region of Zachlumia, ruled by the Kosačas. Kosača's nephew Ivaniš Pavlović accompanied him, and the Radivojević family, the discontented vassals of the Kosačas, joined them upon their arrival. The party soon took Drijeva, thus restoring the important customs town to the royal domain for the first time in three decades. Pressed by his simultaneous war with Venice, and receiving no help from the Ottoman Turks, Kosača agreed to a truce in March. Both sides hoped to buy time to regain strength for future clashes. King Thomas tried to exact the promise of help from Venice in the event of a Hungarian offensive against him, even offering 25-year-long control over some of his towns and mines to the Republic in return. However, throughout May successful negotiations with Hungary rendered this cession unnecessary. János Hunyadi's intercession with King Vladislaus I led to Hungarian recognition of Thomas in June, for which the grateful King of Bosnia promised Hunyadi free passage, shelter, an annual income and assistance in any matter. Thus, by summer, Thomas had secured his grip on the throne.

In July 1444, the Hungarian king informed Thomas of his intention to break the truce with the Ottomans. King Thomas decided to make the best of his membership in the Christian coalition. In May he had already conquered the lucrative silver mining town of Srebrenica, taken by the Ottomans from the Serbian Despotate, which in turn had taken it from Bosnia. He now decided to resume his war against the rebellious Kosača, an Ottoman tributary. The Turks were now ready to assist the Duke and broke into Bosnia, forcing the King to flee from Kozograd to Bobovac, and enabling Kosača to reverse all his losses. In August, the Ottomans restored Serbia to Đurađ Branković, who allied with Kosača against King Thomas. The destruction of the Hungarian army in November 1444 at the Battle of Varna, where King Vladislaus himself perished, left Thomas vulnerable. Forced again to rely solely on Venice, Thomas repeated his earlier offer, but the Republic declined and made peace with Kosača. In April 1445, Thomas lost Srebrenica and the entire Drina Valley to Branković. Ivaniš Pavlović came to his aid again, and the two advanced towards Pomorje. Thomas retook Drijeva, but his advance was suddenly halted, perhaps by another Turkish incursion or a truce. Hostilities finally ended in September.

Conversion and marriage

Having failed to strengthen royal authority by force, King Thomas decided to seek another way to pacify the kingdom. A rapprochement with Kosača via marriage with his daughter Catherine was probably already envisaged in 1445, when Thomas improved relations with the Holy See in order to be cleared of the "stain of illegitimacy" as well as to receive an annulment of his union with Vojača. Pope Eugene IV responded affirmatively on 29 May. By that time, Thomas appears to have decided to join the Roman Catholic Church. Negotiations with Kosača intensified in the beginning of 1446. King Thomas was then finally converted from Bosnian Christianity to Roman Catholicism by Tommaso Tommasini, Bishop of Lesina; however, Cardinal Juan Carvajal only performed the baptism in 1457.

Thomas' intention to marry Kosača's daughter Catherine was made known in April, their lands and borders reverting to ''status quo ante bellum''. The prospective bride, a Bosnian Christian, also had to convert to Catholicism for the marriage to proceed. These developments angered Ivaniš Pavlović and Petar Vojsalić, another vassal, but in the end no conflict with them took place. Elaborate festivities marked the royal wedding in mid-May in Milodraž, conducted by Catholic rite, followed by the couple's coronation in Mile. For the first time, a crown was sent from Rome to be placed on the head of a Bosnian king. The Bishop of Feltre to Bosnia, another Tommaso Tommasini, fetched the crown from the Cathedral of Saint Domnius in Spalato in July, but it never reached Thomas.

As it facilitated alliances with Western rulers and came along with Western cultural influences (in art, architecture, music and fashion) that penetrated Bosnia, Roman Catholicism became the preferable faith early in Thomas' reign. Many Bosnian noblemen followed the King's example in converting to Catholicism, but some soon returned to the Bosnian Church; Kosača wrote that he considered conversion, but never went through with it. Churches and Franciscan monasteries sprang up throughout Bosnia during Thomas' reign, some erected by the King himself. Despite his efforts to project an image of a good Catholic king, Thomas' religious policy was not initially so resolute. He continued honoring Bosnian Christians and their clergy as his predecessors had done, which led to disputes with local Franciscans. Pope Eugene agreed that, for political reasons, King Thomas had to tolerate heretics.

Peak

Peace brought unusual stability to Bosnia as well as security to Thomas. He retook Srebrenica once again in the autumn of 1446, and eventually struck a short-lived compromise with Branković by which the two would share the town and its mining revenues. It was not to last, however. Unfounded rumour had it that Hungarian noblemen considered offering the Holy Crown of Hungary to him, which testified to his growing reputation. The Ottomans, who wanted to weaken Bosnia by encouraging internal division, were very displeased by the kingdom's stability. At the request of Đurađ Branković, the Turks broke into both King Thomas' personal lands, and those of his father-in-law, in March 1448, plundering and burning towns. Kosača, who now called himself "'' Herzog'' of Saint Sava", was thus forced to side with Branković against his son-in-law and king. In mid-September, Branković's brother-in-law Thomas Kantakouzenos, leading an army that included Kosača himself, soundly defeated King Thomas.

King Thomas reconquered Srebrenica again in February 1449, but hostilities continued until 1451, when the King made peace again with his insubordinate father-in-law. The dispute was even taken before the Diet of Hungary. To finance this incessant warfare, as well as to sustain the royal court, King Thomas engaged in vigorous commerce and made business deals with Dalmatian traders. He relied heavily on his silver mining, but profited most from his salt trade monopolies.

In-laws' conflict

In 1451 when Kosača sought to improve his own economy through a war with the Republic of Ragusa, Thomas refused to join either side, but still interceded with Pope Nicholas V to prevent his father-in-law's excommunication. However, Ragusa persisted and promised to return the favor by helping Thomas take Drijeva from Kosača, and Hodidjed from the Turks. In the summer, Thomas was even approached by Kosača's family, namely the King's brother-in-law Vladislav and mother-in-law Jelena, who were gravely offended when the Duke took his son's charming Sienese bride as his concubine. In mid-December, Thomas finally agreed with Ragusa on a pact against his infamous father-in-law, but the war ended abruptly when Hungary and the Ottomans signed a truce which specifically forbade the latter's tributary to attack Ragusa.

Open rebellion against Stjepan Kosača broke out in March 1452. Vladislav, along with his mother and grandmother, raised an army and took control over most of his father's territory. Thomas, Vladislav's king and brother-in-law, answered his call for help and arrived with his army the following month. Ragusa also joined them. However, King Thomas proved reluctant to attack and soon went back north to ward off a Turkish incursion. Kosača seized the opportunity to enlist help from Venice, which took Drijeva from Vladislav, and to entice uprisings against the rebels themselves. Thomas returned, as he had promised, chasing the Venetians from Drijeva and easily defeating his brother-in-law's enemies. The coalition then suddenly fell apart when it became clear that Vladislav would not hand over parts of his patrimony that Thomas claimed as his due, namely Drijeva and Blagaj, which was the Kosača seat and the key to Zachlumia.

New conflict emerged in 1453 upon the death of Petar Talovac, who had governed Croatia proper as ban on behalf of the Hungarian king. Both Thomas and his recently widowed father-in-law wished to gain control of Talovac's allodial land by offering marriage to his widow, Hedwig Garai; Kosača proposed himself, while Thomas suggested his son Stephen. Kosača invited Turks to Bosnia in autumn, but neither prevailed as Venice moved in to protect Talovac's heirs. They then made peace, realizing that the Ottomans, who had just stunned Europe by conquering Constantinople, would soon be at their gates as well. Another concern was the end of regency for the hitherto underage Hungarian king Ladislaus the Posthumous, which decreased the influence of Thomas' friend János Hunyadi, and led to the rise of Ulrich of Celje, who was supported by Kosača. After Ladislaus made Ulrich the new Ban of Croatia, the latter started seizing control of Croatian towns, which met strong opposition from Thomas. The Bosnian king feared that Ulrich would take Talovac's land and have his territory border Kosača's. Not wishing to break peace with his father-in-law yet again, the King turned to Venice for help.

Christian coalition

The Holy See put King Thomas under its protection in 1455, and promised that he would be given back the lands taken by Turks and his treacherous magnates if the Christians defeated the Ottomans. In 1456, Thomas sent a letter to Pope Callixtus III asking him to find a bride for his son Stephen, hoping that the Holy See would provide him with a daughter-in-law of royal blood. Preparations were under way for another Ottoman attack on Hungary in the beginning of that year. Mehmed the Conqueror, the Ottoman sultan, issued unusual demands to the King of Bosnia and his nobles, the Kosačas and the Pavlović family. He asked Thomas to send 10,000 loads of food, his father-in-law 8,000 and Petar Pavlović 4,000. Mehmed also demanded that they commit their troops and personally take part in the war on the Ottoman side. He also requested from Thomas the cession of four towns: two in the middle of Bosnia and two bordering Hungary and Venetian Dalmatia. This was all refused.

By now Thomas suspected that Mehmed also intended to conquer his kingdom. Therefore, he started taking more interest in a Christian coalition against the Turks, and cooperating more closely with his father-in-law. The lack of a firmer action against the Ottomans was blamed on Bosnian Christians, whom he described as being more inclined towards the Muslims than towards other Christians. The heavy Ottoman defeat by Hungarians at the Battle of Belgrade in July 1456 did nothing to alleviate Thomas' situation, as Mehmed started exerting an even greater pressure on Bosnia. In addition to financial extortion, Thomas was now forbidden to export silver, which Mehmed claimed for himself. This severe crippling of the Bosnian economy suffocated the kingdom.

The situation in Hungary took a sharp turn for the worse immediately after the celebrated victory over the Turks. The victorious commanders, including János Hunyadi, died of plague, Ulrich of Celje was murdered, and even the young King Ladislaus died suddenly the following year. The aged Đurađ Branković also died, his despotate passing to his son Lazar. Realizing that Hungary was drastically weakened, and that he had crossed the point of no return by refusing the Sultan's demands, Thomas decided to step forward to head the Christian coalition. In August 1456, Ragusa received an information from the King in the utmost secrecy: he was intent on declaring war on the Turks. He was far from capable of succeeding, and even suffered a Turkish raid in the beginning of 1457.

Pope Callixtus III took King Thomas very seriously: he ordered that the King of Bosnia be handed the Crusaders' cross, the papal flag