Hrvoje Vukčić

Hrvoje Vukčić (Kotor around 1350 – 1416) was a Ban of Croatia, Grand Duke of Bosnia and a Herzog of Split. He was the most prominent member of the Croatian House of Hrvatinić and the strongest of the three main large feudalists of early feudal medieval Bosnia.

Hrvoje was the eldest son of Vukac Hrvatinić. He had three brothers: Vuk (who was Ban of Croatia), Dragiša and Vojislav. He was married to the daughter of the powerful Croatian Prince Nelipac. He is first mentioned in 1376 as being prince and knight during the reign of Hungarian king Louis I. The territories over which he reigned where the Lower Edges in Bosnia, facing Croatia and Slavonia westwards.

He was made Duke by King Stephen Tvrtko Kotromanić of Bosnia in 1380, granting him a seat in Lašva. In 1387 Duke Hrvoje's first action is leading a squadron of Bosnian troops to Croatia to raise the siege of Bishop Ivan Horvat in Zagreb. After the death of king Louis I he participated in the battles of succession between Sigismund Luxembourg and Ladislas of Naples. He sided with Ladislaus with the promise of becoming ban of Croatia and Dalmatia in 1391. During the reign of King Stefan Dabiša, he participated in the fights against the Ottoman Turks in Bosnia in 1392 - earning Dabiša's eternal gratitude. Hrvoje became Dabiša's main guarantee of staying at the throne - as he declared that he is a faithful servant of the Hungarian King in all cases but those that might damage King Dabiša in 1393. In the heat of internal struggles in Bosnia in 1397 during the reign of Queen Jelena Gruba Hrvoje invited the Ottomans to offer assistance. As an opposer of Queen Jelena, he participated in the selection of Stephen Ostoja as the new King of Bosnia in May of 1398. Opposing King Sigismund's Hungarian pretensions, Hrvoje greatly influenced King Ostoja and was the real ruler of Bosnia.

Duke Hrvoje opposed King Sigismund's rule in Bosnia and actively worked to brin Ladislaus of Naples as the new King of Hungary - that would leave Bosnia alone since 1389, and the same year King Sigismund invaded Bosnia. Duke Hrvoje defeated his forces before they reached the City of Vrbas and chased them across the river of Una, invading and conquering the župa of Dubica. King Sigismund counterattacked in the fall by assaulting Bosnia. Here, Duke Hrvoje led the forces together with King Stephen Ostoja, Duke Sandalj Hranić and Pavle Radenović. By the end of 1402, Duke Hrvoje made all Dalmatian cities with the exception of Dubrovnik to recognize King Ladislaus' rule.

After the crowning of Ladislaus as the Hungarian King in Zadar in 1403, Hrvatinić was appoint regent of Croatia (with Dalmatia) and Slavonia as a political enemy of the former King Sigismund - and he exerted his influence over Bosnia. He was also named Duke of Split and given the islands of Brač, Hvar and Korčula. From then on he carried the title of "Herzog (duke) of Split, viceroy of Dalmatia and Croatia, Duke of Bosnia and Prince of the Lower Edges". He was able to forge his own coins.

During this time the Hval Manuscript and Hrvoje's Missal were written in cyrillic and glagolitic respectively. These documents were both dedicated to Hrvoje and are of great significance to Croatian history. The Hval Manuscript is now located at the University of Bologna while Hrvoje's Missal was plundered by the Turks and taken to the Topkapi Sarai library in Constantinople today's Istanbul), where it still remains.

He came into conflict with king Ostoja and participated in the plot to remove him from the throne and replacing him with Tvrtko II Kotromanić in 1404. Together with Tvrtko II he formed a movement against Hungary and king Sigismund Luxembourg. After Sigismund's military intervention in 1408 and the massacre of the Bosnian army, he allied himself with Sigismund. However, Hungary's victory in Bosnia and the retaking of the throne by king Ostoja weakened him severely. He soon lost control over the islands he had been given, as well as Split. At this point he sought help from Bosnia and the Ottoman Empire. The Hungarian army was defeat at Lašva in 1415, but this would open the door to Ottoman expansion into Bosnia. Hrvoje died the following year.

External links

* [http://www.danstopicals.com/hvalovzbornik.htm A selection of the miniatures from the Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić Missal and the Hval Manuscript]