Stecci: Monumental and mysterious

An interesting example of what can develop in a place independent of the main power blocs in the Middle Ages. Thanks Mila.

Originally posted by Mila The stecci are woven into the historical understanding of this part of the world. The sheer number of stecci and the enormous geographical area they cover are a testament, among Bosniaks, to the power of the Bosnian Church and the oral history passed down through the generations about how our people - while certainly simple, created something completely unique, completely our own - and managed to hold out against the invasions and attempted forced conversions or exterminations of both Rome and Constantinople.

Did really Constantinople try to convert these people,your ancestors, to eastern christianity by force?As far as I know the Greek church sent missionaries only if asked by the people who lived at a certain place or by their sovereign.
Especially since the time the  Croats and the Serbs settled in these places with the permission of the emperor,the region that became Bosnia was never  afterwards under the political  control of Constantinopolis.

Oh dear, the answer is very complicated - but you're only forced to ask because I oversimplified to begin with so I'll try my best to keep this short.

As far as Roman Catholicism is concerned, there was a constant pressure placed on Bosnia to adopt strict Roman Catholicism (the Bosnian Church was a heretical Roman Catholic sect that grew out of the Roman Catholic Church's weak hold on this region). Even devout members of the Bosnian Church, like King Kulin, renounced the Bosnian faith to please first and foremost Hungary but also Rome. From that point on, all Bosnian rulers claimed to be Roman Catholic for military, political gain but there is absolutely no evidence to suggest they adhered to this; and the population as a whole certainly remained loyal to the Bosnian Church. King Ostoja Kotromanic was the first to again publicly declare himself a member of the Bosnian Church, centuries after King Kulin renounced it. So there was always this duality present.

Despite this, there were several instances when Rome openly ordered the extermination of the "Good Bosnians" (Dobri Bosnjani). There were also near constant incursions by Roman Catholic forces from the Balkans. I remember reading at the national museum the most probable death toll and it was tens of thousands spead over several centuries, which is quite high given Bosnia's medieval population. On the other hand, Franciscan monks made their way to Bosnia at the same time that the Bosnian Church was taking root and by all accounts established themselves as a force for good appreciated and admired by all people in the kingdom. Even today they're still called "Uncles".

When it comes to Eastern Orthodoxy, there was a steady series of territorial wars with Serbia during this era that most certainly had religious undertones - as did the 1992-1995 war. While the main conflict was always between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, the Bosnian Church was trapped in the middle then as Islam in Bosnia is today. So it is not completely accurate to classify these wars as religious, any more than the 1992-1995 war was. However, they did contain elements of forced conversion and/or extermination as part of overall territorial conquest package. It was not as dramatic as the conflict with Roman Catholicism because Eastern Orthodoxy had no presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the formative years of the Bosnian Church. Bosnia's first Orthodox churches are built on territory that belonged to medieval Serbia when they were constructed and it was only through conquering these areas that Eastern Orthodoxy became a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It was at this point that the Ottoman Empire conquered the region and the Bosnian Church collapsed due to the enormous losses of members via conversion to Islam. Islam, obviously, became dominant so neither Roman Catholicism nor Eastern Orthodoxy were able to establish (or re-establish in the case of Roman Catholicism) authority in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It's also unclear what might have happened had the Ottoman Empire not arrived. When King Tvrtko Kotromanic of Bosnia conquered Serbia and much of Croatia, the Bosnian Church was no longer the dominant religion. All of Bosnia's rulers claimed to be Roman Catholic and put on a bit of a public show to assure Europe's continued patronage, and now with a large Roman Catholic population - that could have been expected to be much more sincere. The largest religion by population would have been Eastern Orthodoxy and with free movement of Serbs into Bosnia and the regions of Croatia held by the Kotromanic dynasty, that could have had a significant impact.

But we'll never know (Thank God).

Sorry it took so long to reply, I wanted to research a little myself first.

You're absolutely right! I always assumed everything the Serbian Orthodox Church did was sanctioned by the Orthodox Church in general in those early years. It still stands the church in general might have supported these wars, I mean - why wouldn't it? "No, Serbia. Don't attack the heretics growing stronger on our frontier." But the Serbian Orthodox Church would have had completely control over its own decisions and no authority in Constantinople could realistically order it to do anything.

That's what I've gathered - it's right?