The marturina or kunovina, referring to marten's fur, was a tax collected in the lands to the south of the Drava River in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary among the early Slavs. The term became important in the history of Croatian currency because it was the first of several instances of martens being used to symbolize money in Croatia.
The name of the marturina indicates that it was originally an in-kind tax, collected in marten's fur. [1] Similar taxes—payable in the form of an animal's fur—also existed in other territories. [1] These taxes were typically paid by the Slavic inhabitants of the densely forested regions of Eastern Europe to the rulers of the neighboring nomadic peoples. [1] There is a documented 1018 tribute paid by towns on the Dalmatian islands to the Republic of Venice, where Rab was charged in silk, Krk in fox pelts, while the towns of Osor and Beli on Cres were charged in marten pelts. [2] An Arabic travel writer Abu Hamid al-Gharnati recorded in 1154 that a "land of Slavs" near the Danube used actual marten pelts embroidered with royal markings as currency, but did not specify the exact extent of the territory; because he also separately described travels in Hungary proper, it is assumed today that he meant the areas known as Slavonia at the time. [3]
Historian Pál Engel proposes that the marturina was also "originally a special tax that the Slavs of Slavonia had to pay to their Hungarian overlord". [1] The tax was also collected in other territories to the south of the Drava (in Požega and Valkó Counties). [4]
The earliest record of the term marturina is dated to the end of the 12th century. [2] A document recorded in 1300 that those who were obliged to pay the marturina used to give one marten's fur to their lords in each year. [4] During or before the reign of Coloman the Learned, King of Hungary (r. 1095–1116), the marturina was converted into a money tax. [1] [5] A Golden Bull of King Andrew from 1222 stated that the same tax was collected since the age of King Coloman. [2] Initially, each mansio (or peasant household) was to pay 12 Freisach denars, but it was gradually raised during the 13th century before it was returned to its original rate around 1300. [5] The currency minted in Slavonia after the Freisach denars, the denarius banalis (between 1235 and 1349), also consistently showed the picture of a marten. [3] Those who were to pay marturina were also obliged to pay another tax, known as pondus. [5] On the other hand, commoners paying the marturina were exempt of the chamber's profit (a tax collected in Hungary). [6]
The marturina was initially a royal revenue, collected for the monarch, or for the duke who ruled Slavonia in the monarch's name. [5] However, when parcels of the royal domain were given away, the grantee typically also seized the right to collect the royal taxes in his new estate. [5] The marturina (and the pondus) collected in royal estates was attached to the honor of the Bans (or governors) of Slavonia in the 14th century. [5] Revenues from the marturina made up around 8,000 florins in 1427. [6]
Croatian historian Vjekoslav Klaić (1904) and economic historian Zlatko Herkov (1956) examined the extent of the historical use of marturina/kunovina. [7] Linguist Dalibor Brozović published a work about this in 1994, relying on the aforementioned sources, and his book was effectively the official rationale of the Croatian National Bank for switching from the name Croatian dinar to Croatian kuna. [8]
Andrew II, also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 until 1189/1190, and again between 1208/1209 and 1210. He was the younger son of Béla III of Hungary, who entrusted him with the administration of the newly conquered Principality of Halych in 1188. Andrew's rule was unpopular, and the boyars expelled him. Béla III willed property and money to Andrew, obliging him to lead a crusade to the Holy Land. Instead, Andrew forced his elder brother, King Emeric of Hungary, to cede Croatia and Dalmatia as an appanage to him in 1197. The following year, Andrew occupied Hum.
Charles I, also known as Charles Robert was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of Charles Martel, Prince of Salerno. His father was the eldest son of Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary. Mary laid claim to Hungary after her brother, Ladislaus IV of Hungary, died in 1290, but the Hungarian prelates and lords elected her cousin, Andrew III, king. Instead of abandoning her claim to Hungary, she transferred it to her son, Charles Martel, and after his death in 1295, to her grandson, Charles. On the other hand, her husband, Charles II of Naples, made their third son, Robert, heir to the Kingdom of Naples, thus disinheriting Charles.
Coloman the Learned, also the Book-Lover or the Bookish was King of Hungary from 1095 and King of Croatia from 1097 until his death. Because Coloman and his younger brother Álmos were underage when their father Géza I died, their uncle Ladislaus I ascended the throne in 1077. Ladislaus prepared Coloman—who was "half-blind and humpbacked", according to late medieval Hungarian chronicles—for a church career, and Coloman was eventually appointed bishop of Eger or Várad in the early 1090s. The dying King Ladislaus preferred Álmos to Coloman when nominating his heir in early 1095. Coloman fled from Hungary but returned around 19 July 1095 when his uncle died. He was crowned in early 1096; the circumstances of his accession to the throne are unknown. He granted the Hungarian Duchy—one-third of the Kingdom of Hungary—to Álmos.
A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus Martes within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on the species; it is valued by animal trappers for the fur trade. Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in the taiga, which inhabit coniferous and northern deciduous forests across the Northern Hemisphere.
The kuna was the currency of Croatia from 30 May 1994 until 31 December 2022. It was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2023. It was subdivided into 100 lipa. The kuna was issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins were minted by the Croatian Mint.
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.
The Palatine of Hungary was the highest-ranking office in the Kingdom of Hungary from the beginning of the 11th century to 1848. Initially, Palatines were representatives of the monarchs, later the vice-regent (viceroy). In the early centuries of the kingdom, they were appointed by the king, and later were elected by the Diet of the Kingdom of Hungary. A Palatine's jurisdiction included only Hungary proper, in the Kingdom of Croatia until 1918 the ban held similar function as the highest office in the Kingdom, monarch's representative, commander of the royal army and viceroy.
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).
Pacta conventa was an agreement concluded between King Coloman of Hungary and the Croatian nobility in 1102 or afterwards, defining the status of Croatia in the union with Hungary. The earliest manuscript of the document is of the fourteenth century, so some historians believe it is likely a forgery.
Coloman of Halych was the ruler—from 1214 prince, and from 1215 or 1216 to 1221 king—of Halych, and duke of Slavonia from 1226 to his death. He was the second son of Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania. His father and Leszek the White, Duke of Poland, concluded an agreement about the marriage of Coloman and Leszek's daughter, Salomea, and the division of Halych, allotting its western regions to Leszek, the remaining lands to Coloman. The Hungarian and Polish armies occupied the principality in late 1214. Andrew II appointed a Hungarian nobleman, Benedict the Bald, to administer it on Coloman's behalf. Coloman was crowned the first king of Halych with the pope's authorization in early 1216.
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