CROATIA
511
CROATIA
their own king, Thoniislav, on tlie field of Duvno
oefore the cathedral. He was crowned by the legate
jf John X. The boundaries of the kingdom were, on
the north, the Daniilie and the Drave; on the east,
the River Drina; on the west and south, the Adriatic.
The reigns of Zvoniniir and Peter Kreshiniir, sucees-
jors of Thoniislav, are glorious in the recortls of C'roa-
tian history, and both Church and State became
firmly established. Native rulers reigncil until 1102,
when the last, Peter Svachich, died in defence of his
country, and Croatia offered the crown to King Colo^
man of Himgary. The Croats, represented by twelve
deputies, administered the oath and stipulated that
the new monarch shouUl observe the Constitution and
rights of the Croats, exercise the judicial power only
when on Croatian soil, and allow no Hmigarian to
settle upon Croatian territory. This agreement was
lonly partially kept. Croatia was ruled by the Arpdd
il\ nasty from 1102 to 1301, but was not made a part
lit Hungary. The monarchs never resided perma-
II' ntly in Croatia, but were represented by bans, who,
as supreme administrators of the kingdom, convened
(III' legislature, exercised the highest judicial power in
the ,State, and commanded the army. The national
sabor regulated the coinage of gold and silver. The
Arpdd rulers introduced the feudal system in opposi
tion to public opinion, reorganized the nobility, and
gave the lands taken from the peasants (krnet) to the
hoklers of titles. During the reign of Croatian rulers
the Church flourished. The primas (primate) held
the office of chancellor of State and the bishops were
the principal advisers, spiritual and temporal, of the
kings. There were nine bishoprics. Under the Ar-
pad rulei-s, a change was made, and new sees were
erected suffragan to the ecclesiastical province of
Hungary. The following religious orders were repre
sented in the kingdom: the Benedictines, favoured b\
Croatian rulers, Cistercians, Dominicans, Franciscans,
Templars, Hermits of St. Paul, or White Friars. Lit-
erature, both secular and ecclesiastical, made much
progress and the arts w'ere cultivated.
Andrew, the last of the Arpdds, died while makinc; preparations for war against the Croats and their ban Paul Shubich, who hail declared for Charles Robert rt Anjou, nephew of the King of Naples, as King ot Croatia, Bosnia, and Dalmatia. Charles was crowned in the church of St. Stephen in Agram (Zagreb), the capital of the state, by Archbishop Gregory. The family of Anjou occupied the throne of Croatia from l.'iOl to 1380, mainly through the support of Pope Boniface VIII. Charles as a ruler was an absolutist and adopted French methods in conducting the army and the judiciary, and in raising money. His son, Louis the Great (d. 11 Nov., 13S2), waged war against Venice. He became King of Poland 17 November, 1370. ITpon the recommendation of Urban V, Louis appointed his relative, Charles Drachki, Ban of Croa- tia, and then set out to capture Naples from Queen Joanna. At his death he was succeeded on the throne of Croatia by his daughter Mary, who reigned con- jointly with her consort Sigismund of Brandenburg, son of Emperor Charles IV, and later emperor. Dur- ing Marjs reign there was great hostility among the people both towards her and Elizabeth, her mother. Foremost in the opposition were John Palizna, prior of the Knights of St. John, Paul Ilorvat, the saintly and patriotic Bishop of Agram (Zagreb), and the bishop's brother John. Declaring that a woman had no right to the Croatian throne. Bishop Horvat offered the crown to Charles III Dratchki, King of Naples. Charles acce[)t('d, was crowned by Bishop Horvat at Stuhlweissenburg in the presence of Mary and Eliza- beth, but was murdered at Buda, Hungarj-, tliirty- Beven days later (2-1 Feb., 1386), by Elizabeth's hired assa-ssin. Civil war followed. Sigismund (1387- 1409) was taken captive by Ivan Ilorvat, and fresh ditficulties arose with the Turks in the eastern part of
the Balkan Peninsula. The coronation of Ladislaus,
King of Naples, at Zara, 5 August, 1393, did not re-
sult in peace. Internal discord existeil among the
Frankopani, Zrinski, Gurjaiiski, Bhigaji, Kurjakovici,
etc. Gregory XII organizrd a crusade in Siena to help
Sigi.sinund, and Ladislaus, seeing that he could not
hold his ground on the Eastern Adriatic, sold Dal-
matia to Venice for 100,000 ducats, the agreement
being signed in the church of S. Silvestro, 9 July, 1409.
In the fourteenth century there were in Croatia
three archbishoprics and seventeen dioceses, subdi-
vided into archdeaconries and parishes. At the be-
ginning of the century the See of Bosnia was trans-
ferred to Djakovo. Each diocese had an average of
four or five hundred ]iarishi's in aildition to chapters
and collegiate ehurilies. Blessed Augustine of Gazo-
tich was Bishop of Agram. Marc' Antonio de Domi-
nis, famed for his learning, was Bishop of Zengg (Senj.)
The religious orders were in a flourishing condition, es-
pecially the Knights of St. John (Crucijeri) who ex-
erted great influence upon the people. St. .John Cap-
istran, ilefender of Belgrade, died at the monastery of
Ilok, Croatia, 23 October, 1456, and was canonized in
1090. The missal was translated into Croatian, and
copies are preserved to-day in some of the libraries.
In Sigismund's time Croatia was severely trietl by the wars with Venice, and those against the Turks, who invaded Croatian territory in 1414-1.5. From that until 1838, when the Turks were finally re|)ulsed at Cetin, the struggle was continuous The Bans Nicholas and John Frankopani and Matko Talovac were the first in the field against the Sultan Murad II. Sigismund was succeeded Ijy his son-in-law Archduke Albert of .\ustria, who died in 1439 at a critical period. His wife, though civil war was raging, took control of the Goverimient in 1439, and lier son, Ladislaus Pos- thumus was nominal ruler until 1457. After the fall of Constantinople (1453) and the occupation of Bosnia ten years later by the Turks, the Turks were repulsed on the Croatian frontier and Western culture was saved to posterity. The following centuries show bloody records of constant struggles against the Turks. Yakub, Pasha of Bosnia, eager to enslave Catholic
