Domaslava was a queen consort of the Kingdom of Croatia in the first half of the 10th century. It is the oldest mention of a name of a Croatian queen found to date. [1]
The only known source of her existence is on the fragments of the dedication inscription on the altar partition in the Church of St. Vitus in Klis. [2]
According to Neven Budak, the Latin inscription of the fragment reads: [3]
English translation:
It is theorized that Domaslava may have been the mother of King Michael Krešimir II (949–969), or of the other kings that preceded him, because they identities of later kings'-mothers are known. [3] It is known, for instance that Queen Helen of Zadar (949–969) was the wife of Michael Krešimir II and the mother of King Stephen Držislav (969–997). [3]
Tomislav was the first king of Croatia. He became Duke of Croatia c. 910 and was crowned king in 925, reigning until 928. During Tomislav's rule, Croatia forged an alliance with the Byzantine Empire against Bulgaria. Croatia's struggles with the First Bulgarian Empire eventually led to war, which culminated in the decisive Battle of the Bosnian Highlands in 926. In the north, Croatia often clashed with the Principality of Hungary; the state retained its borders and, to some extent, expanded with the disintegrated Lower Pannonia.
Peter Krešimir IV, called the Great was King of Dalmatia and Croatia from 1059 until his death in 1074. He was the last great ruler of the Krešimirović branch of the Trpimirović dynasty.
The Trpimirović dynasty was a native Croatian dynasty that ruled in the Duchy and later the Kingdom of Croatia, with interruptions by the Domagojević dynasty from 845 until 1091. It was named after Trpimir I, the first member and founder. The most prominent rulers of the Trpimirović Dynasty include Tomislav, Petar Krešimir IV and Demetrius Zvonimir. The house gave four dukes, thirteen kings and a queen.
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.
Demetrius Zvonimir was a King of Croatia and Dalmatia from 1075 or 1076 until his death in 1089. Prior to that, Zvonimir also served as Ban of Croatia (1064/1070–1074). His native name was Zvonimir, but adopted the forename Demetrius at his coronation.
Michael Krešimir II was King of Croatia from 949 until his death in 969. He was a member of the Trpimirović dynasty. Michael Krešimir II was a son of Krešimir I and the younger brother of Miroslav, who preceded him as King of Croatia in 945.
Stephen Držislav was King of Croatia from AD 969 until his death around 997. He was a member of the Trpimirović dynasty.
Branimir was a ruler of the Duchy of Croatia who reigned as duke from 879 to c. 892. His country received papal recognition as a state from Pope John VIII on 7 June 879. During his reign, Croatia retained its sovereignty from both Carolingian and Byzantine rule and became de jure independent. His rule marks the first real peak of early medieval Croatia. It was characterized by establishing closer relations with the Holy See, ecclestical re-organization in the former Roman province of Dalmatia, Christianization, and (re)construction of churches. Branimir is mentioned, for the period, in many reliable primary and secondary written and epigraphic sources.
Stephen I was King of Croatia from c. 1030 until his death in 1058 or 1060 and a member of the Krešimirović branch of the so-called Trpimirović dynasty. Stephen I was the first Croatian king whose given name was simply "Stephen" ("Stjepan"), as Držislav added the name Stephen at his coronation. His ban was Stephen Praska.
Helen of Zadar, also known as Helen the Glorious, was the queen consort of the Kingdom of Croatia, as the wife of King Michael Krešimir II, from 946 to 969, a period which was marked by "peace, order and expeditious growth". She was the regent of Croatia after the death of her spouse during the minority of her son Stephen Držislav of Croatia, and ruled from 969 until 976.
Ban of Croatia was the title of local rulers or office holders and after 1102, viceroys of Croatia. From the earliest periods of the Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by bans as a ruler's representative (viceroy) and supreme military commander. In the 18th century, Croatian bans eventually became the chief government officials in Croatia.
The Crown of Zvonimir was bestowed on King Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia in 1075 by the papal legate of Pope Gregory VII at Basilica of Saint Peter and Moses at Salona.
The Church of the Holy Salvation or Holy Saviour was a Pre-Romanesque church in the Dalmatian Hinterland, Croatia, whose ruins are now a historic site. It is located in the small village of Cetina, near the spring of the river Cetina, 8 km northwest from the town of Vrlika.
Early Slavs settled in the eastern and southern parts of the former Roman province of Pannonia. The term Lower Pannonia was used to designate those areas of the Pannonian Plain that lie to the east and south of the river Rába, with the division into Upper and Lower inherited from the Roman terminology.
The Madi family was a patrician family from Zadar. They were influential in Croatian politics from the 10th to 12th centuries.
The Duchy of Croatia was a medieval state that was established by White Croats who migrated into the area of the former Roman province of Dalmatia c. 7th century AD. Throughout its existence the Duchy had several seats – namely, Klis, Solin, Knin, Bijaći and Nin. It comprised the littoral – the coastal part of today's Croatia – except Istria, and included a large part of the mountainous hinterland as well.
Neven Budak is a Croatian historian and professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb.
Church of Saint Stephen was a 10th-century church in Salona, currently an archaeological site located in today's Solin, Croatia. Its atrium served as a mausoleum of Croatian medieval rulers. It is one of the two medieval churches on the site, the other being dedicated to the Virgin Mary.