Kingdom of Croatia (medieval) - Decline and War

Decline and War

Demetrius Zvonimir (died 1089) was the King of Croatia of the Svetoslavić branch of the House of Trpimirović. He began as the Ban of Slavonia in the service of King Stephen I and then as Duke of Croatia for his successor King Peter Krešimir IV. Peter declared him his heir and, in late 1074 or early 1075, Demetrius Zvonimir succeeded to the Croatian throne. Demetrius Zvonimir married in 1063 to his distant relative Jelena Lijepa ("Jelena the Beautiful"). Queen Jelena (Ilona) was a Hungarian princess, the daughter of King Béla I of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty, and was the sister of the future King Ladislaus I of Hungary. Demetrius Zvonimir and Jelena had a son, Radovan, who died in his late teens or early twenties. King Demetrius Zvonimir died in 1089. The exact circumstances of his death are unknown, but according to a later, likely unsubstantiated legend, King Zvonimir was killed during the revolt of the Sabor in 1089. With no direct heir to succeed him, Stephen II (reigned 1089–1091) of the main Trpimirović line came to the throne at an old age and reigned for two years. This succession was contested by a faction of nobles from northern Croatia (Pannonia). The nobles offered the Croatian throne to King Ladislaus I of Hungary, who claimed the Croatian crown through his sister Queen Jelena, King Demetrius Zvonimir's widow. The Queen enjoyed significant influence in northern Croatia and apparently used it to bolster her brother's claim.

Stephen II was to be the last King of the House of Trpimirović. His rule was relatively ineffectual and lasted less than two years. He spent most of this time in the tranquility of the monastery of Sv. Stjepan pod Borovima (St. Stephen beneath the Pines) near Split. He died at the beginning of 1091, without leaving an heir. Since there was no living male member of the House of Trpimirović, civil war and unrest broke out shortly afterward. At the same time (1091), with the death of Stephen II setting the stage, King Ladislaus I of Hungary at last accepted the nomination of northern nobles and claimed the Croatian crown. He entered the Croatian Kingdom with an army in 1094, and established his rule in northern Croatia (Pannonia) with little resistance. During the same year (1094) he founded the Zagreb bishopric, which later became the ecclesiastical center of Croatia. However, Ladislaus' claim was rejected by the nobles of southern Croatia, who resisted his forces successfully in the mountainous southern terrain and maintained their independence. At this time, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus sent the Cumans to attack Hungary and forced the Hungarian army to retreat from Croatia. Alexius did, however, allow the Hungarian Prince Álmos to rule over northern Croatia (Pannonia).

In 1093, the southern Croatian feudal lords, struggling to remain independent of Hungary, elected a new ruler, King Peter Svačić (reigned 1093–1097). He managed to unify the Kingdom around his capital of Knin and force the Hungarian Prince Álmos from northern Croatia in 1095. With this he restored Croatian rule up to the river Drava, reclaiming nearly all territory lost to Ladislaus I, who soon died in 1095.

Ladislaus' successor and nephew was King Coloman, and he resolved to press the Hungarian claim on the Croatian crown and continue the campaign. He made peace with Pope Urban II and led a large army into the Croatian Kingdom in 1097. Under his leadership, a Hungarian army quickly defeated King Peter's defenses along the river Drava and regained control over the Pannonian Croatian plains (northern Croatia). His forces were stopped however, as they approached the mountainous southern regions which resisted the Hungarian claim. He therefore reassembled his forces in Croatia and advanced on Gvozd Mountain, where he met the main Croatian army assembled under King Peter. In the ensuing Battle of Gvozd Mountain, King Peter was killed and the Croats were decisively defeated (because of this, the mountain was with time renamed to Petrova Gora, "Peter's Mountain"). As a consequence of the battle, King Coloman gained control of most of Croatia without resistance. However, when in 1099 Coloman and his forces were called back to the northeast to fight the Ruthenians and Cumans in Galicia, the Croatian nobles took the opportunity to liberate themselves from Hungarian rule once again. In 1102, Coloman returned to the Kingdom of Croatia in force, and negotiated with the Croatian feudal lords from a position of power. As a consequence, King Coloman was crowned and the Hungarian and Croatian crowns were joined (with the crown of Dalmatia held separate from that of Croatia). The title now claimed by Coloman was "King of Hungary, Dalmatia, and Croatia".