Katarina Velika

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katarina VELIKA

L A S T  Q U E E N  O F  B O S N I A

Katarina
Kosaca was born in 1424 in Blagaj, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ancient
town, once the Roman city of Bona, was one of the wealthiest
settlements east of Vienna and its inhabitants were the most nobel
members of Bosnian aristocracy. Even today it remains famous as it
boasts one of the most recognized Sufi shrines in the world.

Little Katarina was no exception to this
well-to-do culture. Her father, Stjepan Vukic, had close ties with
royal households throughout Europe and her mother, Jelena Balsic, was famous
for her beauty and intelligence.

It was clear from the start that
Katarina's life would be legendary and no one in the sleepy town of
Blagaj (whose name means 'mild' in Bosnian) was at all surprised when
the Prince of Bosnia, Stejpan Tomas Kotromanic, announced his intention
of marrying her.

When her husband was killed during the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and
Herzegovina in 1463, Katarina fled to Jajce where the legend of her
strength and defiance was born. The legend goes she managed to defend the capital of
Bosnia and Herzegovina for so long that, when it finally fell, much of
the Balkans was already on it's third generation of Ottoman occupation.

Although she was eventually exiled (most historians agree it was
self-imposed) and died in Rome, her battle cry: This is Bosnia, and I
am her Queen! can still be heard in plays, operas, and folk music in
Bosnia and Herzegovina today.

EDIT: She was beatified for her role by the Roman Catholic church and
although this means she should be called "The Blessed Katarina", she is
usually called "Saint Katarina".

She was the last Queen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of only four in
total. Her name, Katarina Velika, literally means "Catherine the Great"
and although she's not as famous as her Russian counterpart, as Marko
Vusovic said: "Put our little Katarina in that lesser Queen's place,
and we'd all be sending our zakat to Moscow".

Vusovic described Katarina Velika as the ideal woman:

"Beautiful but intelligent, delicate
but courageous, powerful but stubborn she was. Her physical and
personal traits and the balance between them were an ideal still viewed
with appreciation - and not a little lust and jealousy - by Bosnians of
both sexes today."

EDIT: For more information about her, a-Kotromani%C4%87">click here.

Edited by Mila