QuoteReplyTopic: The Golden Age of Kulin Posted: 26-Dec-2005 at 19:16
KING KULINand the golden age O F B O S N I A A N D H E R Z E G O V I N A
In the year 925, King Tomislav of
Croatia unified Pannonia and Dalmatia to form the nation state of
Croatia, a Roman Catholic territory.
Centuries later, in 1102, Croatia's King Petar Svacic died and the
country fell under the patronage of Hungary. At this time, several
regions that were a part of or were associated with Croatia took a
separate path.
Vrhbosna, Usora, Soli, Donji Kraji, and Rama were incorporated under the name Bosnia in the year 1180 - these regions are equivalent to the modern day territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The country was ruled by King Kulin, a strict adherent of the
indigenous Bosnian Church. He was so devoted to this belief system that
the Prince of Zeta, Duklja Vukan Nemanjic, reported him to the Pope for
heresy.
Swift and brutal reprisals were launched by the forces of Roman
Catholicism in Croatia and of Eastern Orthodoxy in Serbia. Three years
after it was created, Bosnia successfully attacked the Byzantine Empire
and afford itself the longest stretch of peace and prosperity it has
ever known.
In 1189, the Charter of Kulin was signed. It was intended to be a
free-trade agreement with the Roman Catholic city-state, Dubrovnik -
but today it is recognized more as a declaration of Bosnian statehood.
The document defined Bosnia's borders and detailed its political
organization.
The reign of Kulin is remembered as the
Golden Age of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian Church grew to become
a powerful force that successfully stood against the forces of Roman
Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. As Bogumilism in Bulgaria was wiped
out by the Byzantine Empire, Bogumilism in Bosnia and Herzegovina
thrived until the Ottoman conquest of this region.
Skeletal remains have shown Bosnians in this period were among the
healthiest people in Europe. Bones have demonstrated the population was
well-nourished, free from disease, and lived relatively long lives when
compared to other regions of the Balkans and Europe.
The Bogumil rulers continued to reign over Bosnia and Herzegovina
following Kulin's death in the year 1204. In 1353, Stejpan Tvrtko
became the King of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the age of 15 when his
uncle, Stejpan Kotromanic, died fighting a territorial war with Stejpan
Dusan of Serbia.
Bosnia and Herzegovina became the most powerful state in the region
during his rule, growing to encompass the islands of Korcula and Hvar.
When he finally conquered the monastery of Saint Sava, he declared
himself the King of Bosnia, and of the Serbs, and of the Croats.
While he did exercise control in the areas of Croatia under his rule,
he wisely never tried to exercise this authority in Serbia.
The centuries came and went. The Bosnian Church fell to Islam and the
modern state of Bosnia and Herzegovina developed into the country we
see today.
But it all started with one man, one King. Our first King.
Beautiful topic,but far away from the true. On the same stone wich you present he start with: In the name of father,son and the holly ghost. The same year(1188) POPE send a letter to Dubrovnik where he mensioned Bosnia "regnum Servilie, quod est Bosna"! That was a period of Ban Kulin!
When your heart is empty,your
mind is worth nothing.
anonimus
Bosnian rulers called themselves Serbs, as they called Serbs their own subjects.
Tvrtko Kotromanic was crowned as 'the King of SERBS, Bosnia, the Seacoast and Western Parts" on the grave of St. Sava in the Mileseva. In order to emphasize the relationship of the Nemanjic (Serb in Rascia, the first Serbian state within the borders of modern Serbia) and Kotromanic (Bosnian Serb) dynasties , Tvrtko puts before his own name, the title Stefan, which indicates that he is crowned. In this letter the name Stefan is mentioned often (see for example the last word in the first sentence), just as it is also emphasized in the letter the concept of "Serbian land" or "Serbs" (Srbljem) as one ethnic categorization. For example, in the fifth line, Tvrtko clearly indicates the roots of his 'parents of Serb nobility". Also, at the end of the letter, on the right side in big letters there is emphasized the title "King of the Serbs.
For a source, see the letters of the medieval rulers which are microfilmed in their original and are kept in the Dubrovnik archives. Also see the letters of the Bosnian ban (viceroy) Ninoslav.
The letters of the Bosnian nobles of the Kotromanic dynasty in which we clearly see how they felt their ethnicity to be
Serbian
When your heart is empty,your
mind is worth nothing.
anonimus
I'm not even going to bother. Yes, we're all Serbs. So please, come
kill us and repopulate our land with new Serbs. That's the purpose of
all this, is it not?
Nationality was rarely referenced in these letters written by Bosnian
nobility and aristocracy. When it was referenced, Croatian and Serbian
were referenced roughly equally and only once each in the sense of
nationality (all other references were to language). For example, the
same Stejpan Kotromanic you say claimed he was Serbian also told the
Pope he spoke Croatian. But both are overshadowed by "Dalmatian" and "Slavic", which were the most common terms used to reference nationality - especially in legal or otherwise official texts.
"One can tally ethnic traits of medieval Bosnian rulers and find either
Croat or Serb characteristics in the list. However, such simplistic
approach is dated and discarded: there is no sign that population of
pre-Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina, whichever social stratum, had
developed Croatian or Serbian ethnic consciousness even in a medieval
sense of the word."
- Franz Miklosic, Monumenta Srbica
On the Administration of the Empire (De Administrando Imperio), 10-th century
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus aka: CONSTANTINE VII FLAVIUS PORPHYROGENITUS (b. September 905, Constantinople [now Istanbul, Turkey]. Nov. 9, 959), the Byzantine emperor from 913 to 959.
His writings are an immense source regarding the empire and neighboring lands. His work "De Administrando Imperio" is kept in its original manuscript in the Vatican library. It deals primarily with the Slavic peoples of the Balkans and its a huge account of geographical and cultural as well as political situation of the Balkans at the time. Porphyrogenitus does not only discuss the events of his lifetime, but of earlier periods such as that of Heraclius (610-641) and earlier.
Heading 32 of De Administrando Imperio of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, is called "On the Serbs and the lands in which they live". It speaks of the territories inhabited by Serbs in which he mentions Bosnia, specifically two inhabited cities, Kotor and Desnik, both of which are in an unidentified geographic position.
I have even more information if you want to learn.
When your heart is empty,your
mind is worth nothing.
anonimus
The annals of the Frankish chronologist Einhard, 9-th century
A source older than that of the is that of the Frankish chronicler Einhard . In his annals (Royal Frankish Annals), so precious to Serb history, he describes the uprising of the Pannonian prince Ljudevit (818-823). In his work, he claims that Ljudevit "withdrew from the city of Sisak and fled to the Serbs". Accordingly, Serbs must have lived somewhere around Una, maybe even to the west, likely where the modern Serbian Krajina (region of Lika) lies.
"Liudevitus Siscia civitate relicta, ad Sorabos, quae natio magnam Dalmatie partem obtinere dicitur, fugiendo se contulit"
, that is: "Ljudevit (prince of Lower Pannonia 822. - prim. CafeHome) having left the city of Sisak, fled to the Serbs, people inhabiting the greater part of Dalmatia).
Franjo Racki, the Croatian historian, says, that as the Roman province of Dalmatia stretched from the Adriatic to Pannonia, under those Serbs, who are mentioned by Einhard, we must look at all those lands between, and the people inhabiting them, ie: Bosnia to be considered Serbian land, inhabited by Serbs.
When your heart is empty,your
mind is worth nothing.
anonimus
That's alright. You can tackle your initial claims first. Should keep you busy for... well, forever.
EDIT: Anyone who would believe the Serbian perspective of Croatian and
Bosnian history certainly already does and would never change their
mind, mainly for religious reasons. There being no purpose for this
debate with no possible settlement, I refuse to have it.
Anyone who would like to know more information about medieval Bosnia
and Herzegovina, research it yourself - and try to expand your sources
beyond .yu and .gr websites.
According to the census of 22 April 1895, Bosnia has 1,361,868 inhabitants and Herzegovina 229,168, giving a total population of 1,591,036. The number of persons to the square mile is small (about 80), less than that in any of the other Austrian crown provinces excepting Salzburg (about 70). This average does not vary much in the six districts (five in Bosnia, one in Herzegovina). The number of persons to the square mile in these districts is as follows: Doljna Tuzla, 106; Banjaluka, 96; Bihac, 91; Serajevo, 73, Mostar (Herzegovina), 65, Travnik, 62. There are 5,388 settlements, of which only 11 have more than 5,000 inhabitants, while 4,689 contain less 500 persons. Excluding some 30,000 Albanians living in the south-east, the Jews who emigrated in earlier times from Spain, a few Osmanli Turks, the merchants, officials. and Austrian troops, the rest of the population (about 98 per cent) belong to the southern Slavonic people, the Serbs. Although one in race, the people form in religious beliefs three sharply separated divisions: the Mohammedans, about 550,000 persons (35 per cent), Greek Schismatics, about 674,000 persons (43 per cent), and Catholics, about 334,000 persons (21.3 per cent). The last mentioned are chiefly peasants. The Mohammedans form the mass of the population in the region called the Krajina in the north-west, in the district of Serajevo and in the south-eastern part of the territory; the Greek Schismatics preponderate in the district of Banjaluka. The Catholics of the Latin Rite exceed the other two denominations only in the district of Travnik and in northern Herzegovina. There are in addition 8,000 Jews and 4,000 Protestants. Divided according to occupation 85 per cent of the population are farmers or wine-cultivators (1,385,291). There are 5,833 large estates, the owners of which are chiefly Mohammedans, 88,970 cultivators of land not their own (kmeten), 88,867 free peasants who own the land they till, and 22,625 peasants who own farming-land and also cultivate the land of others. The population of the towns is small.
Source:http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02694a.htm
P.s. I like you when you are nervose
When your heart is empty,your
mind is worth nothing.
anonimus
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