Upper South Asia (676–819 CE): Rise of Regional States and Cultural Flourishing

Tvrtcko I, the prominent ban of Bosnia who had earlier adopted the title of King of Bosnia and Serbia, has annexed eastern Herzegovina, part of Serbia/Raska (as far as the monastery at Mileseva), and Dalmatia nearly to Venice’s port of Zadar.

After the defeat of Nikola Altomanović, Prince Lazar had emerged as the most powerful lord on the territory of the former Serbian Empire.

He wants to reunite the Serbian state, and the Serbian Orthodox Church sees him as most fitted to succeed the Nemanjić dynasty.

The Church, which is the strongest cohesive force among the Serbs at the time, does not support Tvrtko's aspirations in this regard.

Tvrtko I had by 1390 expanded his realm to include a part of Croatia and Dalmatia, making Bosnia the major Slavic state in the Balkans.

At the peak of his power, he is "King of Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Hum, Usora, Soli, Dalmatia, Donji Kraji", but after his death on March 20, 1391, the power of the Bosnian state will slowly fade in power and influence.

The Ottoman Empire has already started its invasion of Europe and will pose a major threat to the Balkans throughout the first half of the fifteenth century.

The Bosnian kingdom begins to disintegrate in 1391; the southern part becomes the independent Duchy of Herzegovina.

Stephen Dabiša, an illegitimate son of Vladislav Kotromanić, born after his half-brother Tvrtko I, succeeds Tvrtko I in 1391.

At the time of his ascension to power, Bosnia is already decentralized by the semi-independent nobility.

Beljak and Radič Sanković rule independently in the Hum and Popovo.

The Sankovići give Konavle to the Republic of Ragusa, which then starts to stir Kotor and other Dalmatian cities to revolt against the Bosnian King's rule, asking them to reaccept the supreme rule of the Hungarian King Sigismund, but they refuse.

King Stephen Dabiša in 1391 dispatches vojvoda Vlatko Vuković and knez Pavle Radenović to Konavle, where they oust the Sankovići and distribute their lands among themselves.

Beljak dies and Radič is imprisoned; thiis marks the end of the Sanković family.

Rival nobles and religious groups vie to gain control of Bosnia in 1391 after the death of Tvrtko; …

…one noble, Sandalj Hranić, also engages in tactical alliances against the Bosnian rulers, establishing his own rule over the territory of Hum, only nominally recognizing Bosnian overlordship.

The Ottoman Empire has started to invade Bosnia again and in 1392 King Stephen Dabiša dispatches Hrvoje Vukčić, who decisively defeats the Ottomans.

Dabiša will spend the rest of his reign quarreling with the Hungarian King Sigismund and the King of Naples Ladislaus for control over Croatia and Dalmatia.

King Ladislaus manages to win the Vukčić family to his side.

Vuk Vukčić, Dabiša's Ban, takes Ostrovica and Vrana from Ivaniš Paližna.

Dabiša desires to put Zadar under his supreme rule, but Vuk works for Ladislaus.

Hrvoje Vukčić recognizes Dabiša's supreme rule, stating that he will serve him as long as he breathes, after which he will serve the Hungarian King Sigismund.

At the beginning of 1394, the nobility under Ivaniš Horvat, a subject of Ladislaus, refuses to serve King Dabiša.

Dabiša dispatches Prince Ivan Radivojević to take Omiš from Horvat as a punishment.

The Hungarian King Sigismund moves to destroy both Horvat and Dabiša.

The Hungarian Army besieges and burns to the ground Dobor in the lower stream of Bosna.

Dabiša arrives here, recognizes King Sigismund's suzerainty and gives up Dalmatia and Croatia in his name.

In turn, the Hungarian King nominates him Prince of the Szomod Principality.

King Stephen Dabiša dies of an illness on September 8, 1395 and King Sigismund takes control over most of Bosnia, but the Bosnian Rusag elects Dabiša’s wife and consort, Jelena Gruba, to ascend the throne as queen regnant.

Jelena Gruba had first became Queen of Bosnia as consort to King Stephen Dabiša, who had ascended in 1391, on the death of his relative, King Stephen Tvrtko I of Bosnia.

While Dabiša is a Roman Catholic, it is not certain which religion Jelena practiced.

Their only surviving child is a daughter named Stana, mentioned in a charter by which Stephen Dabiša gave her an area in Zachlumia to govern.

The charter, issued on April 26, 1395, also says that the area is to be inherited by Juraj Radivojević, husband of Stana's daughter Vladava and thus grandson-in-law of King Dabiša and Queen Jelena.

Vladava and her husband had already had at least two children by the time the charter was issued, making the King and Queen great-grandparents.

Assuming that each of the three women—Jelena, Stana, and Vladava—married at the age of fifteen and became mothers by the age of sixteen, the Queen must be more than fifty years old when she succeeds her husband.

When Stephen Dabiša dies in September 1395, Jelena ceases to be queen consort.

Her husband had designated King Sigismund of Hungary, the husband of his cousin, Queen Mary, as his successor.

Mary, however, has predeceased Dabiša, dying in May the same year.

The Bosnian nobility refuse to recognize Sigismund as king, as his right had rested in his status as Mary's husband.

Instead, the nobility installs Jelena as the successor to her husband.

Thus, during her reign Bosnian nobility will grow in power independently from the crown.

Among these are Sandalj Hranić, Hrvoje Vukčić and Pavle Radenović who all rule their own demesnes independently from the Queen.

The Queen's demesne is a small territory in central Bosnia, while she loses direct control over the territories of Usora in the valley of the river of Sava.

On the other hand, Jelena's reign will see successful trade with the Republic of Ragusa.