"Duchy of Croatia" (Croatian: Kneževina Hrvatska; also "Duchy of the Croats", Kneževina Hrvata; "Dalmatian Croatia", Dalmatinska Hrvatska; "Littoral Croatia", Primorska Hrvatska; Greek: Χρωβατία, Chrovatía), was a medieval Croatian duchy that was established in the former Roman province of Dalmatia. Throughout its time it had several seats, namely Klis, Solin, Knin, Biaći and Nin, comprised the littoral, or coastal part of today's Croatia and included a big part of the mountainous hinterland. The Duchy was in the center of competition between the Carolingian Empire and the Byzantine Empire for rule over the area. Rivalry with Venice emerged in the first decades of the 9th century and was to continue for the following centuries. Croatia also waged battles with the Bulgarian Empire, with whom the relations improved greatly afterwards, and the Arabs and sought to extend its control over important coastal cities under the rule of Byzantium. Croatia experienced periods of vassalage of the Franks or Byzantines and de facto independence until 879, when Croatian Duke Branimir received recognition from Pope John VIII as an independent realm. The ruling dynasty of Croatia was the House of Trpimirović, with interruptions by the House of Domagojević (864-878 and 879-c. 892). The Duchy existed until around 925 when, during the rule of Duke Tomislav, Croatia became a kingdom.
Geography
Within the area of the
Roman province of Dalmatia, various tribal groupings, which were called
sclaviniae by the
Byzantines, were settled along the
Adriatic coast. Croatia in the early Middle Ages was an area bounded by the Eastern Adriatic hinterland on one side, then extended to a part of western
Herzegovina, western and central
Bosnia, then into Lika,
Gacka and
Krbava, and North-West to
Vinodol and
Labin in the
Croatian Littoral area.
Several coastal Dalmatian cities were under the rule of the Byzantines, including
Split,
Zadar,
Kotor and
Dubrovnik, as well as islands of
Hvar and
Krk.
To the south Croatia bordered with the land of the
Narentines, which stretched from the rivers
Cetina to
Neretva, and had the islands of
Brač, Hvar,
Korčula,
Mljet, Vis and
Lastovo in its possession.
In the southern part of
Dalmatia, there was
Zahumlje (Zachumlia),
Travunia and Dioclea (today
Montenegro). North of Croatia there was the
Duchy of Pannonia. Croatia, as well as other early medieval states, didn't have a permanent capital and Croatian dukes resided in various places on their courts. The first important center of Croatia was
Klis near Split, where Duke Trpimir I resided. Other dukes ruled from the towns of
Solin,
Knin,
Biaći and
Nin.
Historical background
Most of Dalmatia in the 7th century was under the
Avar Khaganate, a nomadic confederacy led by the
Avars who subjugated surrounding Slavic tribes.
In 614 the Avars and Slavs sacked and destroyed the capital of the province of Dalmatia,
Salona, and retained direct control of the region for a few decades until they were driven out by the Croats.
The earliest recorded Croatian leader, referred to by the
Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, was
Porga. After their participation in
Samo and
Kubrat 's 632 defeat of the Avars,
White Croats were either invited into
Dalmatia by the Byzantine Emperor
Heraclius (r. 610-641) and allowed to settle there,
or prevailing the Avars after that lengthy war the Croats migrated across the Sava from Pannonia Savia and settled Dalmatia on their own.
The Franks gained control of Pannonia and Dalmatia in the 790s and the first decade of the ninth century. In 788 Charlemagne, after conquering Lombardy, turned further east and subjugated Istria. In the 790s Duke Vojnomir of Pannonia accepted the Frankish overlordship, whose land the Franks placed under the March of Friuli and tried to extend their rule over the Croatians of Dalmatia. In 799 the Franks under the leadership of Eric of Friuli were defeated in the Battle of Trsat in Liburnia. However, from 803 Frankish rule was recognized in most of northern Dalmatia. The Franks also waged wars with the Byzantine Empire until a peace treaty, known as the Pax Nicephori, was signed in 812. By that treaty the Byzantines retained control of the coastal cities and islands in Dalmatia, while acknowledging Frankish rule over Istria and the Dalmatian hinterland. From c. 810 Borna, who resided in Nin, ruled most of northern Dalmatia and was a vassal of the Carolingian Empire. Borna was Duke of the Guduscani, a Croatian tribe that lived along the river Guduča near Bribir in northern Dalmatia, later the center of the Croatian state. His rule was marked by the rebellion of Ljudevit Posavski against the Franks, who defeated Borna in 819 somewhere near the River Kupa and began to ravage Dalmatia, but harsh conditions and constant attacks from Borna's men forced Ljudevit to retreat. In 821 Borna died and was succeeded by his nephew Vladislav.
East and West
The Duchy of Croatia was located between two major powers of the Middle Ages: the Eastern Roman Empire in the East which controlled the Dalmatian cities and islands and aimed to extend their rule over the entire former Roman province of Dalmatia, and the Franks in the West seeking to control the northern and northwestern lands. The Byzantine influence on Croatia was also reflected on the creation of Croatian law and in trade with the Byzantine coastal cities.
In the second quarter of the 9th century the Croats began developing a navy. Along with the Narentines, who were still pagan at the time and occupied the territory of the river Neretva mouth, they were active in the Adriatic Sea and made shipping and traveling in the area hazardous, especially for Venice.
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