Stephen, Duke of Bosnia

Stephen
Duke of Bosnia
Realm of Constantine Bodin
Duke of Bosnia
Reign	fl. 1084–1095
Issue	A daughter who married Kočapar
Dynasty	Vojislavljević
Religion	Christianity
Occupation	Vassal of Constantine Bodin

Stephen (Latin: Stephan, Bosnian: Stjepan, Serbian: Stefan/Стефан; fl. 1084–95), was the knez ("duke") of Bosnia, mentioned in the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja ("Bosnam posuitque ibi Stephanum knezium", according to Johannes Lucius),^[1] appointed in c. 1083–84 by Constantine Bodin, the King of Duklja.^[2] He was the first Bosnian ruler known by name.^[2] Bodin had appointed his relative Vukan at Raška (Rascia).^[3] According to Fine Jr.: Bosnia, Zahumlje and Rascia were never incorporated into an integrated state with Duklja; each principality had its own nobility and institutions, simply requiring a member of the royal family to rule as Prince or Duke.^[3] According to Jacob Luccari's Annals of Ragusa (1605^[4]), Stefan participated in the siege of Ragusa in 1094–95, as Bodin's vassal.^[2]

After Constantine died, the principalities seceded from Duklja, and Vukan became the most powerful Serb ruler, as Grand Prince.^[3] According to CPD, after the death of Bodin (c. 1099), one of the pretendants to the throne, Kočapar, tried to take the rule in Duklja, relying on Vukan.^[2] As Kočapar felt danger from that side as well, he took refuge in Bosnia, where he married the daughter of the "Bosnian ban", though he died soon afterwards while fighting in Zahumlje.^[2] The territory governed by Stefan cannot be precisely known, apart from the fact that the name of Bosnia was identified with the region of the upper and middle basin of the Bosna river, with the area of the Sarajevo and Visoko fields.^[2]

References

1. Vjekoslav Klaić (1882). Poviest Bosne do propasti kraljevstva. Tiskom Dioničke tiskare. Presbyteri Diocleatis regnum Slavorum apud Lucium p. 293. • Deinde caepit Bosnam posuitque ibi Stephanum knezium.
2. Јелена Мргић; Тибор Живковић (2008). Северна Босна: 13-16. век. Историјски институт. p. 52. Кнез Стефан, кога је око 1083/84. на власт у Босни поставио дукљан- ски краљ Бодин, први је босански владар познат по имену. Према најстари- јим дубровачким аналима, Стефан је као Бодинов вазал учествовао у опса- ди Дубровника 1094/95. године. Преманаводима77ето«мса попаДукљани- на, после смрти краља Бодина (око 1099), један од претендената на престо, Кочапар, покушао је да се домогне власти у Дукљи, ослањајући се на ра- шког жупана Вукана. Како је, међутим, осетио опасност и с те стране, Ко- чапар се склонио у Босну, где се оженио ћерком босанског бана, али је убр- зо погинуо ратујући у Захумљу 49 О територији којом је Стефан управљао, нажалост, не може се ништа прецизније рећи, осим што је сасвим извесно да се име Босне доводило у везу са облашћу горњег и средњег слива истои- мене реке, с подручјем Сарајевског и Височког поља.
3. Fine 1991, pp. 223–224
4. John V. A. Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 630. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.

Sources

• Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1991). The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08149-7.