Stephen II of Bosnia

Infobox Emperor
name =Stefan II
title =Herceg of Bosnia


caption =Death of Stephen II Kotromanić, detail from St. Šimun's church, Zadar.
reign =1322-1353
coronation =
predecessor =Stephen I Kotroman
successor =Vladislav of Kotroman, Stefan Tvrtko
heir =
consort =Marija Lazarevic
issue =Elisabeth of BosniaVukKaterina
royal house =House of Kotromanić
royal anthem =
father =Stephen I Kotroman
mother =Jelisaveta
date of birth =14th century
place of birth =Bosnia
date of death =September, 1353
place of death =Bosnia
place of burial=Mile, near Visoko
religion =Christian

Stephen II Kotromanić of Bosnia (Bosnian and [Croatian language|Croatian] Stjepan II Kotromanić, Serbian: Стефан II Котроманић), nicknamed the "Devil's Student" was a "Bosnian Ban" from 1314, but in reality from 1322 to 1353 together with his brother, Prince Vladislav in 1326-1353. He was the son of Bosnian Ban Stephen I Kotroman and the Serbian Princess Jelisaveta, sister of king Stefan Vladislav II of Syrmia. Throughout his reign in the fourteenth century, Stjepan ruled the lands from Sava to the Adriatic and from Cetina to Drina. He was a member of the House of Kotroman. He was buried in his church in Mile, near Visoko, Bosnia.

Life

Exile and return

When his father died in 1314 and Croatian Ban Mladen II Šubić emerged as "Count of Zadar, Princeps of Dalmatia and Second Bosnian Ban", Stepan took his brothers and mother Jelisaveta and fled with them into exile to the Republic of Dubrovnik. Mladen was not popular in Bosnia and had fought bloody but losing wars against the Serbs of Rascia (led by King Stefan Milutin), and the Venetians (to whom he lost Zadar in 1313), along with numerous inner opponents of his regime. Mladen came to the idea to impose Stjepan Kotromanić as his vassal in Bosnia, for he was sure that he would be well accepted in Bosnia. The House of Šubić, vengeful enemies of the House of Kotroman now became their protectors. Mladen decided to keep Stepan II under his firm grip and to use him to eradicate the Bosnian Church, so he arranged a marriage between Stepan and a Princess from the family of the Count Meinhard of Ortenburg that ruled in Carniola. The Pope was against the marriage since both families were of same German roots, but it would give Stephen certain advantages, so he convinced the Pope to allow it.

Ban

Mladen's plight

Mladen had almost entirely retreated from Bosnia as he had numerous troubles with rebelling Šibenik in 1319 and also later Trogir. What's more, both cities recognized supreme Venetian rule in 1322. Mladen's Army could not crush the rebels, so they burned the surrounding fields and cut the nearby vineyards and fruit groves. In the Spring of 1322, Mladen called a Council to make the Croatian nobility help him crush the rebellion. The Croatian Princes have soundly refused that, which led to numerous accusations of treason by Mladen. This created a huge rift between Mladen and his subjects. His rule was now seriously threatened. This disorder helped greatly Stjepan II as he gained the chance to rule on his own and build up his realm. Stepan's supreme liege, King of Hungary Charles I Robert of Anjou had plans too. Charles Robert went on a campaign to eradicate the Croatian major nobility in order to become the sole ruler of his realm. He isolated Máté Csák and destroyed the Kőszegi(Güssing in German) family. Time has come for the Šubićs. Near the end of 1321, he ordered Stepan II to act from Bosnia supported by Ban Ivan Babonežić from Slavonia, encircling and isolating Croatia. Stepan II has now fell under King Charles Robert's direct command. Due to the fact that he wanted to revenge and get rid of the Subićs, this was useful to him for the time being, for if he could free himself of the Subićs, he could rule Bosnia almost entirely by himself; as his Hungarian Lieges would be too far away to watch his every move. Besides that, he also got a chance to expand his influence in Croatia. The decisive battle happened near Mladen's capital Skradin in 1322, where the Croatian nobility defeated him decisively. Mladen fell back to Klis and waited for Charles Robert to came, blindly believing that the King would help him keep his power because of the help that he received from the Subićs during his coming to power. The King came to Knin and invited Mladen to meet him there. Mladen was imprisoned and sent to a dungeon in Hungary where he died.

Early reign and other marriages

According to some sources, Stephen II Kotromanić converted to Catholicism from Orthodoxy under the Pope's demandsFact|date=June 2008.

Immediately after the death of Serbian King Stefan Milutin in 1321, he had no problem in acquiring his lands of Usora and Soli, which he fully incorporated in 1324. He supported his uncle Vladislav II of Syrmia to regain all Serbia, but after the fall of Ostrvica at Rudnik to the hands of Stefan Dečanski, there was no more point in supporting him during the struggles for the Serbian throne, so he took Usora and Soli for himself. The hostility caused by this between Bosnia and Serbia would lead to Stepan II of Kotroman's war against Stefan of Dechani several years later.

When his uncle Vladislav II died, he gained some parts of his realm of Syrmia.

After this, Stepan II spent the first years of his reign in relative peace. He gave numerous privileges to the local noblity to increase popularity. One of the most famous was the dict in which he gave some Zhupanates to Prince Vukoslav. In the dicts he refers to his brother Vladislav with the title "Prince of Bosnia" sharing equal rule with him since 1326, although Stepan had, being Ban, the real rule.

In 1323 Hungarian King Charles Robert wanted to increase influence in the eyes of Ban Stepan II Kotroman. He offered Stepan the hand of his wife's distant relative, Elizabeth, daughter of Duke Kazimir and received from the King as a gift with the marriage the lands to the west formerly held by Mladen Šubić and Usora and Soli in the north formerly held by Stefan Dragutin and his son, Vladislav II of the House of Nemanja. The marriage was legalized by 1339. Up to 1339 Stepan was still married to the daughter of the Bulgarian Czar.

Nelipac's plight

Hungarian King Charles I Robert of Anjou had placed the Slavonian Ban Ivan Babonežić as the new Ban of Croatia. After the King's return to Hungary, the most powerful Croatian nobleman Prince Nelipac moved fast and took Knin from the Royal Forces. He was supported by the three brothers of Mladen II Šubić; Paul, George and Juraj. He did not allow Ivan to assert to his throne in Knin, so King Charles Robert deposed Ivan from his duty in 1323. He ordered the new Ban of Slavonia Nikola Omodijev and Stepan II of Kotroman to launch a joint offensive against Nelipac in Croatia. Nikola's expedition eventually failed, although, it did rise up Juraj II Šubić (brother of Mladen II Šubić) against Nelipac, as well as the Princes from Krka Frangepans, the City of Zadar and eventually, Bosnian Ban Stepan II himself. The movement wanted to return the Šubić dynasty to power in Croatia with Juraj II Šubić at the Throne. Stepan again changed allegiances and now fought for the Šubićs again. It all eventually turned into an all-out war when the armies of Prince Nelipac and Juraj II Šubić clashed near the waterfalls of Krka in the Summer of 1324. Stepan gave considerable support to the Šubićs, but he did not dare involve into the fight himself. It was good that he didn't, because the Šubić's party was massacred near Knin and Juraj II Šubić himself was captured by Prince Nelipac soon. Stepan had attempted to liberate Juraj from imprisonment, but all attempts have reached failure.

Prince Nelipac immediately pushed the fight against Stepan II. Nelipac managed to conquer the city of Visuć, but Stepan's long-ago given privileges to the nobility had finally been proven useful, as "Vuk of Vukoslav" had helped him to retake the city. Although Stepan's military ambitions only relatively successful he continued to wage war against the enemies of the Šubićs. His target was the City of Trogir which was one of the major supporters of Nelipac's campaigning. Stepan has adopted a harsh tactic. His forces have raided Caravans from Trogir, which eventually forced its denizens to humbly sign peace and addressed to him as the "high and mighty lord Stepan free ruler and master of Bosnia, Usora and Soli and many other places and Prince of the Hum". It is because of this that Stepan opened a conflict with the Republic of Dubrovnik regarding trade. Stepan was shown as a very tough negotiator and the negotiations have finally ended in 1326.

After seeing that Ban Nikola Omodejev was unable to weaken the position of Prince Nelipac, Hungarian King Charles I Robert deposed him. The new man for the job was one o his most trusted men, Mikac Mihaljević. Ban Mikac advanced to Croatia in the Summer of 1325. Bosnian Ban Stepan II sent squadrons of troops to assist him in his offensive. In 1326, Mikac took the cities of the Babonežić family advance deeper into Croatia, meeting with Stepan's reinforcements. The expedition eventually reached little success, so Mikac sent a portion of his army to Bihać which would serve as defence against possible Nelipac's counterattacks and retreated to Hungary, to the King.

War against the Serbs

In 1326, Ban Stepan II attacked Serbia in a military alliance with the Republic of Dubrovnik and conquered Krajina, gaining access to the Adriatic Sea and including a large Serbian Orthodox Christian population and a highly advanced Serbian Orthodox Church. This changed balance in Bosnia, as the Bosnian Bogumils have lost majority in the realm. He also expanded to Završje, including the Fields of Glamoč, Duvanj and Livanj. The province of Zahumlje that he conquered was ruled by the Serbian noble rogue dynasty, the "House of Branivoj". That Serbian family has tricked Stefan of Dečani's vassalaged Prince, Crep, who was a close friend of the his faithful friend, so King Stefan had no desire to defend those areas from Ban Stepan's forces. Bosnia controlled the coast from the border with the Dubrovnik Republic across Neretva to Omiš. Ban Stepan himself killed two members of the House of Branivoj, while Branko of Branivoj fled to Serbia and seek help from King Stefan and Brajko of Branivoj fled to the Republic of Dubrovnik, from where he proceeded to Ston. Ban Stepan pursued chase of Brajko, but eventually the forces of Dubrovnik have caught the last member of the four brothers from the House of Branivoj. The Bosnian titles included "Lord of the Hum Land" ever since. Ban Stepan became the ruler of all the lands from Cetina to Neretva with the exception of Omiš which was taken by the Hungarians.

In 1329, Ban Stepan II of Kotroman pushed another military attempt into Serbia, assaulting Lord Vitomor of Trebinje and Konavli, but the main portion of his force was defeated by Young King Dušan who commanded the forces of King Stefan of Dečani at Pribojska Banja. The Ban's horse was killed in the battle, and he would have lost his life if his vassal Vuk of Vukoslav had not given him his own horse. By doing so, Vuk sacrificed his own life, and was killed by the Rascians in open battle. Thus the Ban managed to add Nevesinje and Zagorje to his realm.

Although the Zachlumoi mostly accepted the Ban's rule, some resisted, like "Peter of Tolien" who ruled the "Seaside" from his capital in Popovo; he was the grandson of the famous Zachlumian Prince Andrews. Peter raised a rebellion, wishing either more autonomy or total independence and the eventual restoration of the conquered territories to Serbia. He lost a battle against Ban Stepan II and was imprisoned and put in irons. Stepan had him thrown with his horse off a cliff. Peter survived for a full hour after the fall.

The Ban's vassal that governed the Hum started to raid Dubrovnik's trade routes, which worsened the Bosnia-Dubrovnik relations that were very high during the conquest of Zahumlje. To make matters worse, Ban Stepan II asked Dubrovnik to pay him the old traditional mogorish tax that it traditionally paid to the Zachlumian and Serbian rulers and even asked it recognize his supreme rule. Dubrovnik refused outright.

The Ban's edicts

Stjepan withdrew all demands as can be seen in his edict to the Republic from 1332 in which he guaranteed future friendships between the Banate of Bosnia and the Republic of Dubrovnik. In the edict he called his people Bosniens ("Bošnjani").

Ban Stjepan II issued several edicts to the Republic of Dubrovnik in 1333. There were four documents. Here is an excerpt of the documents edict' copies:

Of 60 words in the excerpt:
* 29 ("48.3%") are completely the same in contemporary Bosnian — or, for that matter Croatian or Serbian
* 15 ("25%") differ only in slightly changed sound of a letter (usually through iotation, or loss or it, or by transfer of "ou" to "u")
* 8 ("13.3%") differ in one phoneme
* * 8 ("13.3%") differ more but are fully recognisable

In the edict, Bosnian Ban Stephen II of Kotroman was possibly referring to his Latinized, of German origin father and his Serbian mother.

Religious tensions in Bosnia

The Pope was enraged by the religious tensions that grew in Bosnia, and implased "Fabian" of the Franciscan Order as the Inquisitor in Slavonia and gave him the task of rooting out heresy in Bosnia. The Pope requested Bosnian Ban Stjepan's full assistance. In 1327 the Dominicans and Franciscans have argued over who will be granted the task of burning the heretics. Although Fabian eventually took over the leadership over the movement, he utterly failed. Then the Pope wrote to the Hungarian King for a military intervention in Bosnia.

In 1334, the Bosnian Bishop Peter died, and a huge dispute appeared over his successor. Hungarian King Charles Robert managed to implace his supporter, but it would take until 1336 that the final dispute would be resolved in the Catholic Church's favour.

Pope Benedict XII lost all patience and eventually accepted the offer of Prince Nelipac of Croatia in 1337, who not only wanted to restore Bosnia under Croatian control, but also desired personal revenge to Stepan II Kotroman for the past troubles that he had made him. The still powerful Croatian Šubićs family protested Nelipac's decision. Talks of joining the House of Šubić and the House of Kotroman into one were taken. An arranged marriage was made between Bosnian Ban Stepan II's brother, "Vladislav of Kotroman" and the sister of Ban of Croatia Mladen III Šubić, "Jelena" in 1338 in Klis. Mladen's wife was Jelena of Nemanja, sister of the Serbian King Stefan Dušan, so this created a strong dynastic alliance of three families: the House of Kotroman, the House of Šubić and the House of Nemanja that strictly opposed Prince Nelipac's reign. The first to fall to Nelipac's hand were the Šubićs who were, despite constant help from Bosnian Ban Stjepan II, forced to sign a peace treaty with Prince Nelipac and compensate him for the war. The Hungarian King Charles Robert did not watch easily as his subjected lands were being war-torn. He was preparing to move to Croatia and depose Nelipac. Stjepan II seized the opportunity and pushed against Nelipac, talking some of his lands for himself.

Soon, Ban Stepan II of Kotroman would finally stop the constant threat of the Western Crusades to the Bogumil population of Bosnia. In 1339, during Franciscan General Gerard's stay at the Hungarian Court of King Charles Robert, Gerard paid a visit to the Bosnian Ban to negotiate an arranged prosecution of Bosnia's heretics. At first, Stepan II thought that it was time to bow to the Roman Catholic Church; but he realised that the neighboring Shismatics might stand up to him if he moved against the Bogumils, their allies. In addition, Serbia wanted a reason to involve itself in a conflict, for its King desired revenge for the losses in the Bosnian war against the Serbs, so Ban Stepan abandoned the thought. Nevertheless, Stepan's diplomatic efforts convinced the Pope that he was a loyal Roman Catholic Christian in February 1340, once again saving Bosnia.

After the final peace between the Bosnian Ban and the Papacy, the Roman Catholic Church started to grow in influence rapidly throughout Bosnia in 1340 - 1343. The Roman Catholic Monks have constructed numerous Monasteries in Usora and Hum and baptised a large number of Bosnia's heretics on their way to Ston in the Republic of Dubrovnik. This process eventually brought upon the demise of the Bosnian Church that help supremacy over the religious life in Bosnia.

Changes in the throne

In 1342 Hungarian King Charles Robert died and so did Bosnian Ban Stepan II of Kotroman's past ally, Ban Mikac of Slavonia in 1343. This gave rise to a new idea. The opportunity arrised to detach Bosnia from the Kingdom of Hungary and that Ban Stepan II ruled it independently, vassalaged to no one. He immediately sought help in Hungary's greatest foe, the Republic of Venice. In the Summer of 1343 he sent an emissary to Venice, proposing an alliance. The Venetians wanted to act only if victory was certain, so they wanted another member in their alliance; their traditional ally, the Kingdom of Serbs. The Serbian King was, unfortunately for the Venetians, busy with other matters. Venice was just waging war against Prince Nelipac of Croatia, so it only agreed to arm and help build up Bosnia's military, but begged Stepan II not to move against Hungary without it. It became evident that the Venetians only wanted to push Ban Stepan II of Kotroman against Nelipac for additional support.

In 1344 Croatia's Prince Nelipac unexpectedly died; so the new Hungarian King ordered the new Slavonian Ban Nikola to move and take Knin from Nelipac's widow Vladislava and son Ivan. Vladislava initially decided to cede to all Regal demands when she saw the Royal Hungarian Army in front of Knin. She attempted to negotiate help from Venetia, but the Croatian nobility have stopped her from this because of their most recent war with them. The Hungarian King became impatient, so he commanded Ban Nikola to move to Knin immediately and ordered Ban Stepan II of Kotroman to send help at once. Ban Stepan came leading his forces. A large 10,000 strong Army was amassed near Knin, and this was only the first wave as the main part of the Army was arriving headed by the Hungarian King himself. This time Princess Vladislava of Nelipac had no choice but to accept demands. The Hungarian King planned the shape of his coastal territories in the new order that he would create. He annexed several cities from the Nelipac family of Croatia, but left them two largest until Stepan II gives the Cetina region to Croatia. Ban Stepan II of Kotroman swore an Oath to respect the treaty in front of his "Twelve Knights", who he had just formed out of the most valiant and experienced of the Bosnian Nobility to assist him in his reign. In the middle of 1345 the new order was ratified in Bihać. The Hungarian King subsequently issued a proclamation in Zagreb accepting Ban Stepan II as a member of his family and returned with his 30,000 men to Hungary before attempting to reconquer the coastal cities taken by the Venetians.

Upon the numerous changes, Zadar switched side from Venetia back to Hungaru, but their letter missed the Hungarian King during his stay in Bihać, so they had to seek alternative allies which they found in the Croatian Šubić dynasty and the Serbian King Stefan Dušan. When it became evident that the Venetians were going to attack, Zadar asked Hungary directly to intervene. The Hungarian King ordered Ban Stepan II of Kotroman and Ban Nikola of Slavonia to move with their forces in assistance. The two Bans moved with their 10,000 man Army to Zadar, but only to find out that the Venetians have constructed an improvised Wooden Fortification with 28 "Bastidas" (Towers), huge enough to man the entire Venetian Army. Deciding not to move against the Venetians, the Bans have accepted a bribe of 1,000 florins each; although Zadar has accused them of treason.

The Hungarian King was amassing forces for a new strike against the Venetian positions, but both parties have elected the new Emperor of All Serbs, Albanians, Greeks and Bulgarians Stefan Dušan to assist Ban Stepan II of Kotroman and form a mediation party to decide a truce between the two warring sides. Eventually, all agreements failed. In the spring of 1346 the Hungarian King arrived with his vast Royal Army of 100,000 men of who more than 30,000 were Horsemen and Man-at-Arms and 10,000 soldiers under Ban Stepan II arrived. The Venetians have attempted to bribe several Hungarian Generals, including the Bosnian Ban. Ban Stepan II of Kotroman gave away the positions of Hungarian troops for a handsome sum of money, thereby earning the nickname the "Devil's Student". On 1 July 1346 fierce clash happened, which the Hungarian side eventually won only due to numerical superiority and achieved a "Pirus' Victory" with more than 7,000 Hungarian troops killed in battle Hungarians. The Hungarian King lost trust in Ban Stepan II of Kotroman and losing confidence as well, returned to Hungary.

Ban Stjepan II Kotromanić played tactically between Venetia and Hungary slowly ruling Bosnia more and more independently and soon initiated a conspiracy with some members of the Croatian and Hungarian nobility against his Hungarian Liege. In 1346 Zadar finally returned to Venetia, and the Hungarian King, seeing that he lost war the war, made peace in 1348. The Ban of Croatia Mladen II Šubić was greatly opposed of Stepan II's policy, accusing him of treason and the relations between the two Bans worsened ever since. Bosnian Ban Stepan II's relations with Venetia started to improve, as the Bosnian Bishop Peregreen was a notable Venetian member of the Franciscan Order.

More wars against the Serbs

The Serbian Czar Stefan Dušan was constantly demanding from Ban Stepan II of Kotroman to return the Hum area to the House of Nemanja, but Stepan II always refused.

Ban Stepen's Bosnia was weaker than Dušan's multi-cultural Empire, so he asked Venetia, as a mutual ally to act as a mediator. Eventually the Serbian Emperor accepted a three-year non-aggression pact because he was busy with his conflicts with the Byzantine Empire. The Bosnian Ban immediately proceeded to war preparations and went to construct a Fortress in the Hum land right near the river of Neretva. He also attempted to convince the Venetians to give him naval support in the case of war with the Tsar. The Venetians have discouraged him from building a Fort, but he constructed it anyway. The distant wars of Tsar Stefan Dušan have gave the chance to Stepan II of Kotroman to move the first. In the Christmas of 1349 Bosnia's Ban moved quickly, proceeding all the way across Konavli which he raided heavily until he reached the Bay of Kotor. Trebinje, Rudine and Gacko were razed during his military operations. Venetia attempted to make another peace between the warring sides, but the Serbian Emperor agreed only to stall his counterattack a little.

In October of 1350, Tsar Stefan Dušan crossed the river of Drina with 50,000 Horsemen and 30,000 Infantriers. Ban Stepan II of Kotroman did not have strength to meet his Army in open battle, so he decided to take a guerilla tactic. Using trees he blockaded all major Roads in Bosnia and slowly withdrew his forces to forests, mountains and forts that were easier to defend. He planned the defence of Bosnia, splitting his forces enough to defend every possible entryway into his realm. His plan soon fell to dust, as Tsar Dušan had bribed a number of his most trusted servants who crossed to the Serbian side.

Losing control over the conflict, Ban Stepan II was shocked. Not knowing what to do further, he retreated with his most trusted men to the most unreachable mountains of Bosnia. He no longer new who he could trust, so he regularly dismissed and recruited new men to serve him. His older daughter "Jelisaveta" hid from Dušan in Bosnia's strongest enfortification of Bubovac. Tsar Dušan's forces easily defeated the scattered Bosnian squadrons and went on a campaign to slowly conquer Bosnia. Bubovac was besieged, but Dušan failed to seize it, so he ordered his armies to raid Bosnia. After he created a strong foothold of his forces in Bosnia, he sent a portion of his Army on raiding quests towards Cetina and the other to Croatia towards Krka, while he returned with the rest of his troops to Serbia to resolve new conflicts that the Byzantines stirred in Macedonia.

The failed siege of Bubovac and the retreat of Dušan's from main Army from Bosnia gave hope to Stepan II of Kotroman. Ban Stepan II therefore won the war, even though he lost all battles. This encouraged the Ban to refuse all suggestions from Dušan to share Hum as a common area as joint rulers. Dušan ordered his forces to retreat to Hum and keep only it. Ban Stepan II soon launched a military campaign to conquer all the territories that he had previously lost to Dušan. The Republic of Dubrovnik was enraged by the war over the Hum because it greatly damaged their trade, so, backed up by the Venetian Republic, Dubrovnik suggested a peace to Tsar Dušan that would constitute a marriage between the Emperor's son King Uroš and Stepan II of Kotroman's daughter Jelisaveta. The Peace Treaty also required the giving of the Hum area to Stepan II, but as a land of the House of Nemanja. Stepan II had better plans for his daughter, so he refused the agreement. Ban Stepan gambled considering that a large multi-ethnic Empire ruled autocratically by one man could not succeed. He was eventually proved right, as he witnessed the first traces of demise of Dušan's Tsardom and retook control over Bosnia.

Later reign

The rest of Ban Stephen II of Kotroman's reign passed mostly in peace. The only conflict that he had was a dispute with Republic of Venice and Dubrovnik since the Ban's men have raided their trade caravan. The Ban managed to elevate his supporter, Monk Petergreen as the new Bosnian Bishop. Since 1352 Stepan II of Kotroman refers to himself as "Bosnia's Herzeg" (or "herceg") in resemblance to the German titulary. The same year he gave his sister or niece, Marija, in marriage to Count Ulrich of Helfenstein, which was sanctioned by the Hungarian King. He sent his daughter Catherine (some sources link Catherine as daughter of Stephen's brother Vladislav) to marry Count Herman I of Celje, but the actual marriage happened long after Stephen II's death.

Elisabeth of Poland, the mother of the Hungarian King had heard that Stephen II had a little daughter (Jelisaveta), and she insisted immediately to bring her to the Hungarian Court for fosterage. Stephen was reluctant first, but eventually dispatched Jelisaveta. After three years of life on the Hungarian Court, Jelisaveta fell in love with king Louis I of Hungary and the King's mother immediately invited Stepan II of Kotroman to Hungary and arranged a marriage so that she would become the King's third wife. The first queen, a Polish princess died earlier without children. The Bosnian Ban became heavily ill and could not present the actual wedding. On 20 June 1353 Stephen II of Kotroman's younger daughter Jelisaveta married with the Hungarian King himself, achieving a huge diplomatic success. It was discovered that Jelisaveta and the Hungarian King were related in fourth degree through a common ancestor, a Duke of Kujavia in Poland (some have also insinuated a link through a branch of the House of Nemanja), so the Roman Catholic Church regarded the marriage be in prohibited degree of consanguinity and some eccleasiastics were tempted to curse the couple. Later the same year Pope Innocent IV wrote to the Bishop in Zagreb granting a dispensation for the marriage and forgiving the sin.

After Stephen II's death, his daughter Elisabeth, Queen of Hungary gave birth to Stephen's three granddaughters (one died young), of whom Mary I of Hungary was to succeed her father as reigning Queen of Hungary, and Jadwiga was to succeed Louis as reigning Queen of Poland. Elisabeth of Bosnia acted as the Regent of Hungary from 1382 onwards on behalf of her daughter Queen Mary, but was murdered in 1387. However, these girls proved unable to have surviving children, so Elisabeth's progeny (of Kotroman blood) went extinct with the death of Jadwiga, the last surviving of them, in 1399.

Death

Stepan II Kotromanić died in September of 1353. He was ceremonially buried in his own foundation, the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Nicholas of the "Little Brother" in Mile, near Visoko. Upon his death his nephew, Tvrtko, son of Stephen's brother and co-regent Prince Vladislav inherited the title of Ban of Bosnia as Stephen II of Kotroman had previously arranged. Although, Tvrtko was still to young to rule, so Prince Vladislav asserted the actual rule over Bosnia. Tvrtko would become first Bosnian Serbs king being crowned in ortodox monastery Mileseva, on the Saint Sava grave.

Marriages and children

Bosnian Ban Stjepan II Kotromanić was married three times:
* daughter of Count Meinhard of Ortenburg in Carniola (concluded from sources, this remained an engagement only, the couple not having come to live together)
* daughter of a Czar of Bulgarians, unclear which tsar, up to 1329 (historical connections place this marriage during the Serbian activities of Michael Asen III of Bulgaria, but the bride's identity and parentage remains unclear - she most probably was not Michael's daughter, but possibly a daughter of his some predecessor, or a female relative of his)
* Elisabeth of Kujavia, daughter of Duke Casimir, nephew of Ladislaus the Short, king of Poland, since 1339

Bosnian Ban Stjepan II of Kotroman had three children:
* Vuk, who died during his life
* Elisabeth of Bosnia, who married Hungarian King Louis I the Great on 20 June 1353. Having become the Regent of Hungarian kingdom, she was murdered in 1387. Born c 1340.
* Katerina, who married Herman I of Celje in 1361. She was mother of Herman II, Count of Celje and died on 21 March 1385. Born c 1336.

References

* Franz Miklosich, "Monumenta Serbica", Vienna 1858, p. 105-109; obtained from slike/1333.gifat [http://members.tripod.com/cafehome/serbdom-eng.htm]

*¹Mak Dizdar, Antologija starih bosanskih tekstova, Alef

* "Istorija za I razred gimnazije opšteg i društveno-jezickog smera, Smilja Marjanović-Dušanić and Marko Šujica, Belgrade, 2002"

* "Srpske dinastije, Andrija Veselinović and Radoš Ljušić, Platoneum, Novi Sad, 2001"

ee also

* History of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* History of Croatia
* History of Hungary
* History of Serbia
* Zahumlje
* List of rulers of Bosnia
* List of Bosnians

External links

* [http://www.serbianunity.net/culture/history/Serb_History/Rulers/Stjepan_II_Kotromanic.html Stjepan II Kotromanić]
* [http://www.rastko.org.yu/istorija/zfajfric-kotromanici.html The Kotromanićs] (in Serbian)
* [http://www.zemljabosna.com/kotromanic.html Stjepan's document] (in Bosnian)