User:Mhare/Donji Kraji

Donji Kraji or Donji Krajevi (Lower Regions or Lower Ends, Partes inferiores, Alföld), was a small medieval county (zemlja) in today's northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, mostly expanding within the territory of today's Bosanska Krajina.

Name and geography
At first, Donji Kraji referred to a region around Ključ on the Sana. Marko Vego derives the name of Donji Kraji from the name of Roman province Lower Pannonia, or later Lower Slavonia, while Pavao Anđelić deduce that the name Donji Kraji (Lower Ends) "also has a certain relation to the rest of (highland) Bosnia", where the terms "Lower" and "End" refers to a border area that is below from the geographical point of view, and in terms of altitude and terrain configuration, in relation to the rest of Bosnia. Jelena Mrgić reject existence of "Donji Kraji Slavonije" altogether, and reject previous etymological discussions among historians, such as Klajić, Jiriček and even Vego, and derives the county name, similarly to Pavao Anđelić, from geography (altitude and topography) and political demarcation as a product of solely local Bosnian origin. From the 13th century, texts referring to it as "Donji kraji Bosne" or "Donji kraji Bosanski, or "Donji kraji bosanske zemlje". During the reign of Hrvatinić family, since the beginning of 13th century, the territory of Donji Kraji included areas and parishes around Sana river, Glaž, to Grmeč mountain on the west and to the middle course of the Vrbas river on the east, thus covering entire region of Sanica, and later included Uskoplje, Pliva, Luka, Vrbas, Zemljanik (Resnik), Vrbanja, Tribava (Trijebovo), Mel, Lušci and Banjica, and on occasions Dubica and sometimes even Usora. Vjekoslav Klaić, by invoking primary sources and document from 1244, as well as Mrgić, placed the territory of Donji Kraji in northern Bosnia, west from Usora county. This is confirmed by Konstantin Josef Jireček who said: "The Lower Ends (das Unterland) lies in the northwestern (Bosnia) toward Croatia, encompassing Kotor on the Vrbanja, Jajce and Ključ on the Sana (Kotor ander Vrbanja, Jajce, Ključ an der Sana u. S. W.)". From the Bosnian Cyrillic scripts of the written monuments, we know that Lušci village was in the Lower Ends but this place is not known today.

Early history
First indirect mention of Donji Kraji is in 1230 where Matej Ninoslav granted right of tithe collection to the Bishop of Bosnia. That was mentioned in a bull (decree) by King Bela IV of Hungary dated July 20, 1244, where he emphasized that it was previously granted by Matej Ninoslav. Later, other rulers like Ban Prijezda had estates in these lands as evidenced by his granting of Zemunik župa to his daughter in 1287.

Hrvatin Stjepanić (Hrovatinus; 1299–1304) was mentioned as the knez ("count") in "the lower confines of Bosnia" (de inferioribus Bosne confinibus) in 1301, and was a vassal of Paul I Šubić of Bribir. In a charter issued by Charles II of Naples in 14. July 1299 they were mentioned as owners of these lands while pointing that Lower confines around Sana are located in Bosnian land.

14th century
When in 1315 count Hrvatin died he was inherited by Vukoslav Hrvatinić with his brothers. After Hungarian military operations supported by Ivan Babonić and Stephen II Kotromanić, Bosnian Ban Mladen II Šubić was deposed in 1322. Stephen II was now in power, and called himself Ban of whole Bosnia.

Count Vukoslav Hrvatinić abandoned his former overlord and stood firmly with new Bosnian ban Stephen II, for which he was confirmed all the belongings in lands of Donji Kraji, as evidenced by a charter issued in Mile by Stephen who confirmed to Vukoslav his ancestral parishes of Banica and Vrbanja, with towns Ključ and Kotor. After 1322. Stephen started to call himself lord of all Bosnian lands, including Soli, Usora, Donji Kraji, and Hum.

In coming years ban Stephen will grant Hrvatnić brothers several župas in Donji Kraji, but they were never counts of the whole Donji Kraji country, instead, in the example of Vukoslav, he refers to himself as "count of Ključ". Third Hrvatin son, Vukac, ruled the župa of Vrbanje. This trend of granting the brothers župas and towns continued in the last charter of Ban Stephen in 1351, which confirms to Paul and Vuk, heirs of Count Vukoslav, the inherited estates. The town of Ključ was attributed to his third son, Vlatko Vukoslavić. In addition to Vukoslavić, Pavlović (sons of Count Paul) and Vlatko Vukoslavić also later claimed their rights over Banjica. Vukac Hrvatinić was granted župa Luka by a new Bosnian ban Tvrtko I in a charter issued in 11 August 1366 for his loyalty during battles he waged against Hungarian king Louis I.

Donji Kraji under Hrvoje Vukčić
After Vukac supported Tvrtko I against Hungary, they quickly came up through the ranks in Bosnia, while their most prominent member, Hrvoje Vukčić, along with major new possessions in Donji Kraji and Tropolje was awarded with the title Grand Duke of Bosnia. Hrvoje was the eldest son of Duke Vukac Hrvatinić. He was married to Jelena Nelipčić, granddaughter of the powerful Croatian noble Ivan I Nelipac (Prince Nelipić) and sister of Ivan III Nelipac (Ivaniš Nelipić). He is first mentioned in 1376 as being prince and knight during the reign of Hungarian king Louis I. He called himself Count of Donji Kraji.

With the help of Hrvoje, King Ostoja came to the throne in 1398. Sigmund broke into the Donji Kraji, but was suppressed by Hrvoje army. Ladislaus of Naples awarded him the title of Duke of Split, giving him the islands of Brač, Hvar and Korčula. He was awarded administration of large territories and the title of Herceg Split Viceroy of Dalmatia and Croatia, grand Duke of Bosnia and Duke of Donji Kraji. In doing so, he became Sigmund's largest opponent in Bosnia.

In 1407, Sigmund led the Hungarian army and attacked Donji Kraji, but was stopped. The turning point came after the Sigmund victory in the Battle of Dobor (1408). Hrvoje did not personally participate in the battle, but the disaster of the Bosnian forces led him to reconcile with the Hungarian king. In doing so, he lost all the privileges he received from Ladislaus and his power declined. Hrvoje turned to the Ottomans and brought them to Bosnia resulting in the Battle of Doboj (1415) where Hungarians were defeated. He died at the beginning of 1416 after which his possessions disintegrated rapidly. His widow Jelena later married the Bosnian king Ostoja.

Jajce was built in the 14th century and initially was seat of Hrvoje Vukčić. It would become one of the capital cities of the Kingdom of Bosnia. After Hrvoje death Jajce has passed back to the royal domain. It was only royal domain located in Donji Kraji, as Stephen Thomas refers to it as "royal seat", and its citadel has a portal decorated by his Kotromanić royal coat of arms.

Internal struggles and Ottoman incursions
Hrvoje left behind his son Balša who bore the title of Prince of the Lower Lands, but he died in 1416 so the bulk of the Donji Kraji went to his cousin Juraj Vojsalić. Even before 1386, it is possible to see the effects of the Ottomans in medieval Bosnia, after numerous raids. Events during the 1410s marked the beginning of their active engagement. The Ottoman Empire supported the local nobility, led by Tvrtko II. After the Lašvanian battle on Lašva river (in 1415), the Ottomans and Hungary became the most powerful factor in the local affairs. Navigating between these two forces, bans and kings in Bosnia resisted pressures from both sides. Juraj supported 1434 Bosnian King Tvrtko II against Sandalj Hranić in the civil war.

Juraj was succeeded by his son Peter. The reign of Peter was marked by improved connections with The Pope who has repeatedly taken the Duke of Donji Kraji for protection, pointing out that he is the only one among the schismatic Bosnian rulers who has maintained true faith. He actively supported Vladislav Hercegović in the fight against Stjepan Vukčić Kosača. Peter was last mentioned as alive in a Venetian document from 1456.

Aftermath
After the fall of the Kingdom of Bosnia under the rule of the Ottomans, Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus captured northern Bosnia in late 1464, including Donji Kraji, where he formed the Jajce county which was held until 1528. In this period the Jajce county covered the entire area of Donji Kraji, except the parish (župa) of Uskoplje, which then was under Ottoman rule. After the fall of the Jajce county, the region became part of the Sanjak of Bosnia.

"Bosanska Krajina" is first mentioned in 1594.

List of parishes

 * Uskoplje
 * Pliva
 * Luka
 * Vrbas
 * Zemljanik
 * Vrbanja
 * Tribava (Trijebovo)
 * Mel
 * Lušci
 * Banjica
 * Sana
 * Glaž
 * Dubica