Peter Kresimir IV

Peter Kresimir was born as one of two children to Croatian king Stephen I and his wife Hicela (or Mary), who was possibly of Venetian descent.

Before succeeding the throne, Krešimir had been under suspicion of murdering his brother Gojslav (or Častimir) in order to secure the throne for himself.

Eventually, the church had decided to interfere, and Pope Alexander II had sent one of his delegates to inquire about the death of Gojslav.

Only after the prince and twelve Croatian župans had taken oath that he did not kill his brother, had the Pope given his support to his claim and symbolically restored the royal power to Kresimir.

Raised in Venice, Kresimir had succeeded his father Stephen I upon his death in 1058 and had been crowned the next year.

It is not known where his coronation took place, but some historians suggest Biograd as a possibility.

From the outset, he had continued the policies of his father, but had immediately been requested by Pope Nicholas II, first in 1059 and then in 1060, to reform the Croatian church in accordance with the Roman rite.

This is especially significant to the papacy in the aftermath of the East-West Schism of 1054, when a papal ally in the Balkans is a necessity.

Kresimir and the upper nobility lend their support to the pope and the church of Rome.

The lower nobility and the peasantry, however, are far less well-disposed to reforms.

The Croatian priesthood is aligned towards Greek orthodox orientalism, including having long beards and marrying.

More so, the ecclesiastical service is likely practiced in the native Slavonic (Glagolitic), whereas the pope demands practice in Latin.

This had caused a rebellion of the clergy led by a priest named Vuk against celibacy and the Latin liturgy in 1063, but they are proclaimed heretical at a synod of 1064 and excommunicated, a decision that Kresimir supports.

He harshly quellsall opposition and sustains a firm alignment towards western Romanism, with the intent of more fully integrating the Dalmatian populace into his realm.

In turn, he can then use them to balance the power caused by the growing feudal class.

By the end of Kresimir's reign, feudalism will have made permanent inroads into Croatian society and Dalmatia will be permanently associated with the Croatian state.

The income from the cities further has strengthened Kresimir's power, and he had subsequently fosters the development of more cities, such as Šibenik, Biograd, Nin, Karin, and Skradin.

He also has several monasteries constructed, like the Benedictine monastery of St. John the Evangelist in Biograd, and donated much land to the Church.

Peter grants a charter in 1066 to the new monastery of St. Mary in Zadar, where the founder and first nun is his cousin, the Abbess Čika.

This remains the oldest Croatian monument in the city of Zadar, and becomes a spearhead for the reform movement.

Several other Benedictine monasteries are also founded during Peter’s reign, including the one in Skradin.

Sibenik, unlike other cities along the Adriatic coast, which had been established by Greeks, Illyrians and Romans, is founded by Croats.

Excavations of the castle of Saint Michael, have since proven that the place had ben inhabited long before the actual arrival of the Croats.

It is mentioned for the first time under its present name in 1066 in a charter of the Croatian King Peter Kresimir IV and, for a period of time, it will be a seat of this Croatian King.

For that reason, Sibenik is also called "Kresimirov grad" (Kresimir's city).

It is the oldest native Croatian town on the eastern shores of the Adriatic.

The ban of Croatia had at first been appointed by the kings of Hungary, and there was a single ban for all of the Kingdom of Croatia, but later the Slavonian domain received a separate ban.

It includes parts of present-day Central Croatia, western Slavonia and parts of northern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Demetrius Zvonimir is the only notable ban, under king Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia.

Although his exact origin is a speculation, a theory suggests that Demetrius Zvonimir was most likely a descendant of Svetoslav Suronja and the younger cousin of Peter Kresmir IV.

It is believed that he had no real connection with the Croatian royal family of Trpimirović but had been designated by Krešimir IV and later elected (confirmed) by an assembly of nobles (bans).

The only few things that are truly known about his background assert that he had a magister (Latin for "teacher") named "Šestak", who also contributed to building monasteries around Croatia, that his maternal uncle was named Streza and that his family owned some estates near Biograd.

From about 1064, during the reign of Peter Kresimir IV (his relative through the Orseoli family of Venice), Demetrius Zvonimir has ruled in Slavonia, specifically the land between the rivers Drava and Sava, with the title of ban.

The neighboring Holy Roman Empire invades Croatia in 1067 by sending the Carantanian army to occupy the northern Banate.

This is probably a result of Zvonimir's close ties with Hungary, which is also at war with the Empire.

Since the Croatian king is preoccupied with rebellion in Dalmatia, due to the prohibition of Slavic liturgy, Demetrius is compelled to seek protection from Solomon, King of Hungary instead.

After they jointly repel the enemy from Croatia, Ban Zvonimir sends gifts to Solomon as a sign of gratitude.

Kresimir greatly expands Croatia along the Adriatic coastland and in the mainland eastwards.

He makes the ban of Slavonia, Dmitar Zvonimir, of the related Svetoslavić brand of his house, his principal adviser with the title Duke (or ban) of Croatia.

This act brings Slavonia into the Croatian fold definitively.

It is notable that, according to some royal documents, Kresimir rules with three of his bans, each having a jurisdiction over a major part of the kingdom; Zvonimir as a Ban of Slavonia (circa 1065–1075), Gojčo (1060–1069), who is a Ban of Littoral Croatia, and a Ban of Bosnia.

He has the Constantinople recognize him in 1069 as supreme ruler of the parts of Dalmatia that the Empire had controlled since the Croatian dynastic struggle of 997.

The empire is currently at war both with the Seljuq Turks in Asia and the Normans in southern Italy, so Kresimir takes the opportunity and, avoiding an imperial nomination as proconsul or eparch, consolidates his holdings as the regnum Dalmatiae et Chroatia.

This is not a formal title, but it designates a unified political-administrative territory, which has been the chief desire of the Croatian kings.

Kresimir gives the island of Maun, near Nin, to the monastery of St. Krševan in Zadar in 1069, in thanks for the "expansion of the kingdom on land and on sea, by the grace of the omnipotent God" (quia Deus omnipotenus terra marique nostrum prolungavit regnum).

In his surviving document, Kresimir nevertheless does not fail to point out that it was "our own island that lies on our Dalmatian sea" (nostram propriam insulam in nostro Dalmatico mari sitam, que vocatur Mauni).

Peter Kresimir IV, ruler of Croatia, had in 1069 persuaded the emperor in Constantinople to recognize him as supreme ruler of the parts of Dalmatia that the empire had controlled since the Croatian dynastic struggle of 997.

At the time, the empire was at war both with the Seljuq Turks in Asia and the Normans in southern Italy, so Kresimir had taken the opportunity and, avoiding an imperial nomination as proconsul or eparch, had consolidated his holdings as the regnum Dalmatiae et Chroatia.

This is not a formal title, but it designates a unified political-administrative territory, which had been the chief desire of the Croatian kings.

The Normans first become involved in Balkan politics during Kresimir's reign, and he soon comes in contact with them.

After the 1071 Battle of Manzikert, where the Seljuq Turks routed the Eastern Imperial army, the Serbs had instigated a rebellion of Slavic boyars in Macedonia.

In 1072, Kresimir had lent his aid to the uprising.

However, against all odds, the empire had relatively quickly retaliated in 1074.

In 1075, the Norman Count Amico invades Croatia from southern Italy, either at the command of Constantinople or on behalf of the Dalmaitan cities (by invitation to protect them from Croatian domination).

Amico besieges Rab for almost a month (late April to early May).

He fails to take the island, but he allegedly does manage to capture the Croatian king himself at an unidentified location.