At the time of the Roman Empire, the area of modern Croatia comprised two Roman provinces, Pannonia and Dalmatia. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the area was subjugated by the Ostrogoths for 50 years, before being incorporated into the Byzantine Empire.
The Kingdom of Croatia entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary in 1102, after a period of rule of kings from the Trpimirović and Svetoslavić dynasties and a succession crisis following the death of king Demetrius Zvonimir. With the coronation of King Coloman of Hungary as "King of Croatia and Dalmatia" in 1102 in Biograd, the realm passed to the Árpád dynasty until 1301, when the (male) line of the dynasty died out. Then, kings from the Capetian House of Anjou, who were also cognatic descendants of the Árpád kings, ruled the kingdoms. Later centuries were characterized by conflicts with the Mongols, who sacked Zagreb in 1242, competition with Venice for control over Dalmatian coastal cities, and internal warfare among Croatian nobility. Various individuals emerged during the period, such as Paul I Šubić of Bribir, who was representing the most powerful Croatian dynasty at the time, the Šubić noble family. These powerful individuals were on occasion able to de facto secure great deal of independence for their fiefdoms. The Ottoman incursion into Europe in the 16th century significantly reduced Croatian territories and left the country weak and divided. After the death of Louis II in 1526 during the Battle of Mohács and a brief period of dynastic dispute, both crowns passed to the Austrian House of Habsburg, and the realms became part of the Habsburg monarchy.
Ban was the title of local rulers or office holders, similar to viceroy, used in several states in Central and Southeastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century. The most common examples have been found in medieval Croatia and medieval regions ruled and influence by the Kingdom of Hungary. They often ruled as the king's governmental representatives, supreme military commanders and judges, and in 18th century Croatia, even as chief government officials. In the Banate of Bosnia they were always de facto supreme rulers.
The House of Garay or Garai was a Hungarian-Croatian noble family, a branch of the Dorozsma (Durusma) clan, with notable members in the 14th and 15th centuries. They were lords of Csesznek.
The Kingdom of Croatia, or Croatian Kingdom, was a medieval kingdom in Southern Europe comprising most of what is today Croatia, as well as most of the modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Croatian Kingdom was ruled for part of its existence by ethnic dynasties, and the Kingdom existed as a sovereign state for nearly two centuries. Its existence was characterized by various conflicts and periods of peace or alliance with the Bulgarians, Byzantines, Hungarians, and competition with Venice for control over the eastern Adriatic coast. The goal of promoting the Croatian language in the religious service was initially introduced by the 10th century bishop Gregory of Nin, which resulted in a conflict with the Pope, later to be put down by him. In the second half of the 11th century Croatia managed to secure most coastal cities of Dalmatia with the collapse of Byzantine control over them. During this time the kingdom reached its peak under the rule of kings Peter Krešimir IV (1058–1074) and Demetrius Zvonimir (1075–1089).
Croatian nobility was a privileged social class in Croatia during the Antiquity and Medieval periods of the country's history. Noble families in the Kingdom of Croatia included high ranking populates from Slavonia, Dalmatia, Istria, and Republic of Ragusa. Members belonged to an elite social hierarchy, normally placed immediately behind blood royalty, that possessed considerably more privileges or eminence than most other classes in a society. Membership thereof typically was often hereditary. Historically, membership in the nobility and the prerogatives thereof have been regulated or acknowledged by the monarch. Acquisition of sufficient power, wealth, military prowess or royal favour enabled commoners to ascend into the nobility. The country's royalty was heavily influenced by France's nobility resulting members of the Royal Courts to assume French titles and practices during French occupation. The controversial assumption of French practices contributed to wide spread political and social elitism among the nobles and monarch. The nobility regarded the peasant class as an unseen and irrelevant substrata of people which lead to high causality revolts and beheadings as well as sporadic periods of intense domestic violence.
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia following the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868. It was associated with the Kingdom of Hungary within the dual Austro-Hungarian state, being within the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen, also known as Transleithania. While Croatia had been granted a wide internal autonomy with "national features", in reality, Croatian control over key issues such as tax and military issues was minimal and hampered by Hungary. It was internally officially referred to as the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, also simply known as the Triune Kingdom, and had claims on Dalmatia, which was administered separately by the Austrian Cisleithania. The city of Rijeka, following a disputed section in the 1868 Settlement known as the Rijeka Addendum, became a corpus separatum and was legally owned by Hungary, but administered by both Croatia and Hungary.
Pavao Ritter Vitezović was a Habsburg-Croatian polymath, variously described as a historian, linguist, publisher, poet, political theorist, diplomat, printmaker, draughtsman, cartographer, writer and printer.
The Kingdom of Croatia was part of the Lands of the Hungarian Crown, but was subject to direct Imperial Austrian rule for significant periods of time, including its final years. Its capital was Zagreb. It was also a part of the lands of the Habsburg monarchy from 1527, following the Election in Cetin, and the Austrian Empire from 1804 to 1867.
Nicholas II Garai was a powerful Hungarian baron who served as the Palatine of Hungary from 1402 until 1433 and the ban of Macsó, Usora, Só, Slavonia, Croatia and Dalmatia. He also ruled over the Braničevo, Syrmia, Bačka, Banat and Baranya regions through vassals. Together with his close ally Stibor of Stiboricz, he remained one of the richest and most powerful nobles in Hungary for over 30 years. Nicholas II Garai also served as de facto ruler of Hungary next to King Sigismund. In 1416 Sigismund extended their armorial bearings showing the Order of the Dragon and the Order of the Scarf. He presented the patent to his brother-in-law. Nicholas II's first wife was Theodora of Serbia, daughter of Prince Lazar of Serbia. In 1405, he married Anna of Cilli, sister of King Sigismund's second wife, Barbara of Cilli, thereby becoming brother-in-law of the King and Queen of Hungary. His granddaughter Anna was engaged to King Matthias Corvinus.
The Croatian–Hungarian Settlement was a pact signed in 1868 that governed Croatia's political status in the Hungarian-ruled part of Austria-Hungary. It lasted until the end of World War I, when the Croatian Parliament, as the representative of the historical sovereignty of Croatia, decided on October 29, 1918 to end all state and legal ties with the old Austria-Hungary.
The Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War is the name of a sequence of conflicts, mostly of relatively low intensity, between the Ottoman Empire and the medieval Kingdom of Croatia, and the later Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia. Except for periods of "small" borderland warfare, the conflict also saw episodes of major conquest campaigns of Croatian land undertaken by the Ottomans especially during the 16th century.
Count Ladislav Pejačević of Virovitica was a Croatian aristocrat and statesman, a member of the Pejačević noble family, remarkable and influential in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the Ban (viceroy) of Croatia between 1880 and 1883.
The Banate of Macsó or the Banate of Mačva was an administrative division (banate) of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, which was located in the present-day region of Mačva, in modern Serbia.
Stephen Praska was Ban of Croatia under King Stephen I. According to the chronicle of Archdeacon Goricensis John, he was established by king Stephen I around 1035, thus succeeding Božeteh as Croatian ban.
The Kurjaković family, also known as the Counts of Krbava, were a Croatian noble family that originated from the noble tribe of Gusić. It formed at the end of the 13th century, as descendants of Kurjak. They reached their peak as magnates between mid-14th and mid-15th century, having tight connections and high official positions at the Hungarian royal court, and dissolution in 1531 when the estates of magnate Ivan Karlović went to Nikola III Zrinski. Two members were Ban of Croatia, as well two were founding members of Order of the Dragon.
The House of Talovac was a Croatian noble family, descending from the island of Korčula and reaching its peak in the 15th century in the Kingdom of Croatia, at that time in personal union with Hungary. The members of the family rose to high state, church or military offices, such as Ban (Viceroy) of Croatia and Dalmatia as well as Ban of Whole Slavonia, royal court chamberlain, bishop, župan and others.
Croatian-Slavonian theater in Great Turkish War, concerns military operations undertaken during Great Turkish War of 1684-1689 by the forces of Holy League against the Ottoman Empire on territories of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. The war was concluded by Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, which significantly eased off the Ottoman grip off Croatia.
Josip Kušević was a Croatian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Croatian Parliament and the Diet of Hungary. As a politician, he opposed introduction of Hungarian language in official use in Croatia. Kušević is known for De municipalibus iuribus et statutis regnorum Dalmatiae, Croatiae et Slavoniae – the work compiling and advocating the rights of Croatia to a special status within the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, i.e. the Croatian state right. His works influenced the Illyrian movement and Kušević was held in high regard by supporters of the movement.
Croatiaportal 
