Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2.djvu/768

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BOSNIA


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BOSNIA


tained his position as Ban of Bosnia, he was not able to found a dynasty and after his deatli his princi- pality gradually fell to pieces. The districts of Herze- go\'ina near Ragusa aimed at individual independence, while the rest of the territory now included in Bosnia and Herzegovina gradually came into a more com- plete dependence on Hungary.

During the reign of Bela IV of Hungary (1235-70) ■upper Bosnia and the district of Posavina were formed into the Banat of Bosnia, the region in the west on the Usora into the Banat of Usora, and the region in the east on the Drina into the Banat of Soli or Tuzla, while the western part of the present territory of Herzego\-ina, the region of the Rama, and southern Bosnia were riJed by various powerful Croatian fam- ilies. At this time a relative of Ninoslav named Prj'ezda lived on the upper part of the Bosna River. Pryezda's son, Stephen Katroman (1322-53), was the first of the Katroman family from which for a cen- tury and a half came the bans and kings of Bosnia. Stephen was a vassal of the kings of Hungary, who were his relatives and members of the house of Anjou. Tlirough this connexion Stephen was able, after de- feating the rulers of the present Herzegovina, to unite this territory to his domains. From the tenth cen- tury HcrzegoNnna had formed a so-called buffer dis- trict between the Dalmatic coast and Bosnia on the one side and Serv-ia on the other. On the dismem- berment of the great Ser\'ian empire of Dusau the Strong, TvTtko, Stephen Katroman's nephew and successor, with the help of King Louis I (the Great) of Hungary, became master of the district of the upper Drina, Treliinjr, and Canale. Tvrtko now, with the consent of l.ciiis, tn.ik the title of King of Bosnia. A few years later (^13^4 ) Bosnia and Herzegovina were laid waste for the first time by the Turks. After the death of Louis the Great (1382) T\Ttko threw off the suzerainty of Hungary and conquered the cities on the Dalmatic coast. During the reigns of his suc- cessors vStephen Dabischa (1391-95), Queen Helena (1395-98), Stephen Osoja (1398-1418), Stephen Os- tojitsch (1418-21), Stephen Tvrtko II (1404-31) (the rival of the two last-named kings), Stephen Thomas (1443-61), and Stephen Thomaschewitz (1461-63) the kingdom rapidly declined in power so that these rulers were not able to maintain their authority over the conquered districts or to keep the insubordinate vassals and nobles in check. The nobles ruled their territories with little regard for the king; they had their own courts with state officials, granted pardons, had relations with foreign powers, and carried on bloody wars with one another.

The last king, who possessed only the land on the right bank of the Bosna, sought to strengthen his position by becoming a vassal of the pope. He hoped by this means to obtain the aid of the Christian countries of Western Europe in defending himself against the threatening power of the Turks. In 1462 he refused to pay tribute to the Sultan Mohammed II; but when in the following spring Mohammed invaded Bosnia with a powerful army, the young king found himself deserted. Deceit and treason, especially on the part of the Bogomili, completed his ruin. He was taken prisoner by the Turks and beheaded, by the order of the sultan, July, 1463, probably near Jajce (Jaitza). The campaign of the Turks ended in the overthrow of the Bosnian kingdom; only Herzegovina maintained its independence. One hundred thousand prisoners of both sexes were taken; 30,000 Bosnian youths were compelled to join the janizaries. The nobility, especially the Bogomili, became Mohamme- dans. A large part of the remaining population left the country. The following year King Matthias Cor- ■vinus of Hunisirj' freed from the Turkish yoke a part of Bosnia, the Banats of Jajce and Srebrenica (Sre- brenitza) which belonged to Hungary until the battle of Mohdcs (1526). Herzegovina came under the do-


minion of the Turks twenty years after the fall of Bosnia (1483). The long period of Turkish oppression is lightened by the daring feat of Prince Eugene, who in the autumn of 1697 after the battle of Zenta, with 4,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry advanced towards the capital of Bosnia; as the expected rising of the Cliristian population failed to take place, he retreated, carrying with him 40,000 liberated Cliristians. By the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718) the northern part of Bosnia and Servia was given to Austria, but the Treaty of Belgrade restored this district to the Turks.

Among the many revolts in Bosnia against the bureaucratic rule of the Osmanli Tmks that of 1830- 31 under Hussein Aga deserves mention; of the re- volts in Herzegovina that of 1875. Article 25 of the Treaty of Berlin, 13 July, 1878, granted Austria the right to occupy and govern Bosnia and Herzegovnna. The main column of the Austrian troops (thirteenth army corps), under the command of General of the Ordnance Joseph Freiherr von Philoppovich crossed the Save into Bosnia near Brod 29 July; two days later Major-General Jovanovic entered Herzegovina with a division. As the occupation took place with the consent of the Porte, it was thought that there would be no fighting. But the Jlohamniedan popu- lation, secretly incited by Servia, rose under the leadership of the adventurer, Hadsclii Loja, against the "foreign conquerors". They were joined by large bands of Arnauts from Albania and by the Turk- ish troops who had received no instructions. The insurgents were defeated in bloody battles at Maglaj, Zepce, Jajce, Tuzla, and other places. On the even- ing of 18 August the Austrian troops stood before Serajevo which was taken by storm the next day. In order to hasten the end of the revolt three other Austrian army corps entered the contested district; by the end of September, 1878, both territories were subdued with the exception of a few points in the north-western part. In the sanjak (subdivision of a Turkish province) of Novibazar Austria holds some important military positions and controls the com- mercial routes; the Turks still retain the civil admin- istration.

htiroduciion of Christicmitij. — Cliristianity was in- troduced into both Bosnia and Herzegovina from Salona at a very early date. Many of the dioceses which were suffragans of the Archdiocese of Salona in the sixth century must be sought within the present limits of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is especially true of the Bishopric of Bistue (Bestceetisis ecclesia) which was situated in the heart of the upper part of the present Bosnia. When the Ariau Ostrogoths came into possession of these districts they did not interfere with the orranization of the Church nor did they per- secute the Catholics. The acts of the two provincial sJ^lods of Dalmatia which were held at Salona in 530 and 532 have been preserved and these show that in the year 530 four dioceses existed in Bosnia-Herze- govina. At the second sjniod two new dioceses were founded, Ludricensis (Livno), and Sarscnterensis (Sarsitero), the last named lying north of Mostar. During the war that lasted twenty years between Justinian and the Ostrogotlis, the latter changed their policy towards the Catholics and persecuted them. Only one of the dioceses just mentioned, Bistue, sur- vived the Slavonic invasion. Until the middle of the eleventh century Bistue was suffragan to the Arch- diocese of Spalato; in 1067 it was tr.ansferred to the Archdiocese of Dioclea-Antivari, and shortly after it was made sulTragan to the Archdiocese of Ragusa, Disputes now arose between the two last mentioned archdioceses as to the administration of the Bosnian bishopric; the strife was unfortunate for it allowed the sect of the Bogomili to gain a firm footing in Bosnia.

The heresy of the Bogomili was started in the tenth century by Jeremiah, also called Bogomil, a Bulgarian