Principality of Littoral Croatia

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Principality of Croatia Primorska Hrvatska
c. 8th century–925 →
The Croatian Principality c. 850. Savia was probably under direct Frankish rule
Capital	Not specified
Language(s)	Latin
Religion	Christian, Roman Catholic
Government	Monarchy
Knez =Prince (Duke)
- 803-821	Borna (first) de jure
- 845-864	Trpimir I
- 910–925	Tomislav
Historical era	Medieval
- Establishment	c. 8th century
- Tomislav crowned as king	925
Today part of	Croatia  Bosnia and Herzegovina

History of Croatia
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Littoral Croatia (Croatian: Primorska Hrvatska) or Dalmatian Croatia (Croatian: Dalmatinska Hrvatska) is a name for a region of what used to be a medieval Croatian principality which was established in the former Roman province of Dalmatia. Throughout its time, the Principality had several capital cities, namely Klis, Solin, Biograd, Knin, Biaći^[1] and Nin, comprised the littoral, or coastal part of today's Croatia and included a big part of the mountainous hinterland. The Principality had the House of Trpimirović as the ruling dynasty, with interruptions by the House of Domagojević (864-878 and 879-892).

Geography

Within the defined Littoral Croatia, some other states, which are sometimes (by the Byzantines) called sklavinije (sqlaviniah), were settled along the Adriatic coast. The nearest one, Pagania (also called Neretvanian state), which stretched from the rivers Cetina to Neretva, had the islands of Brač, Hvar, Korčula, Mljet, Vis and Lastovo in its possession. In the southern part of Dalmatia, there was Zahumlje (Zachumlia), Travunia and Dioclea (today Montenegro). The central part of the Littoral state consisted partially of Bosnia. North of the state there was the Principality of Pannonian Croatia.

History

Early

In the 9th century, Croatia emerged as a political entity with a duke (also knez, translated as duke or prince) as a head of state, territorially in the basins of the rivers Cetina, Krka and Zrmanja. It was administered in 11 župa (Županije).

The earliest recorded prince, referred to by the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, was Porga, who was believed to have been invited into Dalmatia by the Byzantium Emperor Heraclius.

Trpimir I

Duke Mislav was succeeded around 845 by Trpimir I, who continued the formal legacy of being the vassal of the Frankish king Lothair (840–855), although he managed to strengthen his personal rule in Croatia. Arabian campaigns thoroughly weakened the Byzantine Empire and Venice, which was used in the advance of the Croatian prince in 846 and 848. Between 854 and 860, he successfully defended his land from the Bulgarian invasion, and defeated them finally in eastern Bosnia.

Delegation of Croats and Serbs to Basil I, in the Madrid Skylitzes.

In a Latin charter preserved in a rewrite from 1568, that dates, according to newer research, to about 840)^{[citation needed]}, Trpimir refers to himself as dux Croatorum iuvatus munere divino (leader of the Croats with the help of God); his land, called regnum Croatorum, "Kingdom of the Croats", can simply be interpreted as the land of the Croats, since the theory of an early kingdom is largely disputed. This charter also documents his ownership of castle Klis, from where his rule was centered. He is more expressly remembered as the founder of the House of Trpimirović, which was the first and the only native dynasty throughout the history of the Croats.

See also

• Dukes of Croatia
• Kingdom of Croatia (medieval)

Sources

• Rudolf Horvat, Povijest Hrvatske I. (od najstarijeg doba do g. 1657.), Zagreb 1924.
• Nada Klaić, Povijest Hrvata u ranom srednjem vijeku, Zagreb 1975.

External links

• Croatia — an independent principality (Richard C. Frucht: Eastern Europe, Edition 2005 /Santa Barbara, California, USA/)
• Prince Branimir put the Principality of Croatia "permanently beneath the wing of the Roman Church and Western Christian civilization (879)" (Richard Barrie Dobson: Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, Edition 2000 /Cambridge, England, UK/)