A monument to one of the most famous medieval rulers of Bosnia – King Tvrtko I Kotromanić – was revealed in Sarajevo, and today’s 834th anniversary of the signing of the Charter of Kulina Ban, the oldest document on Bosnian statehood, was chosen as the opening day of the monument.
The charter was addressed to the Duke of Dubrovnik, Krvaš, and to the citizens of the Republic of Dubrovnik. It is the oldest preserved document that testifies to centuries of Bosnian statehood and one of the oldest state documents among all South Slavic nations.
It is written bilingually – in Latin, and in the Bosnian variant of the Cyrillic script – Bosnian, in the old Bosnian vernacular.
The charter is an international legal act, which the Bosnian ban Kulin sent to the Dubrovnik prince Krvaš in order to regulate trade relations with his country’s then most important trading partner – Dubrovnik. It gives Dubrovnik traders the freedom to trade in Bosnia without paying taxes, but also guarantees them safety and compensation for any damages.
In light of that important anniversary, a monument to Stjepan Tvrtko I Kotromanić, who is considered one of the greatest medieval rulers of Bosnia, was erected in Sarajevo. He left behind a country that was bigger, stronger, more politically influential and more militarily capable than the one he inherited.
He was born around 1338. The son of Vladislav Kotromanić and Jelena Šubić, Tvrtko came to the Bosnian throne as a fifteen-year-old boy in 1353, and ruled Bosnia as a ban until 1377.
His rule in Bosnia during that period was marked by constant conflicts with the Kingdom of Hungary, which wanted to get its hands on the rich Bosnian mines and eradicate the Bosnian Bogomils. Tvrtko I Kotromanić is the first Bosnian ruler to take the title of king. It happened in 1377 in Mili near Visoko. During his reign, King Tvrtko I Kotromanić made Bosnia and Herzegovina a respectable European state, which experienced political, cultural and economic expansion.
King Tvrtko I is also special in that he was the first ruler of Bosnia to launch a counter-attack on neighboring countries after Bosnia had been the target of their attacks for years. Tvrko I was more than successful in his conquests. The campaign to Montenegro ended with the conquest of territories all the way to Kotor. Then he turned towards Serbia and reached Sjenica in today’s Sandžak. In Mili, he was crowned as the king of Serbia, Bosnia, Pomorje, Humska land, Donji Kraj, Zapadni Strana, Usora and Podrinje.
At that time, Bosnia was also considered an economic power, which based its economy on rich deposits of gold, silver, lead and other valuable metals. The gold coin that was minted is the best evidence of what kind of economic power it was. The company’s ducat was four times larger than the Ottoman ducat, had 24 carats, was four centimeters wide and weighed 16 grams. This gold coin was also important for its symbolism. On one side was the coat of arms of the Bosnian kingdom, with six lilies and two more lilies on the side, and on the other side was a rampant lion, a symbol of the power of his kingdom. His power is also indicated by the fact that the Republic of Venice, the leading European maritime power, entered him in the golden book of honorary citizens.
The Bosnian army also participated in the Kosovo battle on the side of the Serbian prince Lazar, who asked Tvrtko I for help. The Bosnian army won a victory over the Turkish army on the left wing where they fought and returned to their homeland with minor losses. After that, Tvrtko I turned to the conquest of Croatian territories where he advanced all the way to Novigrad, and under his rule were all the Dalmatian islands and cities except Zadar and Dubrovnik.
He died suddenly on March 10, 1391, and was succeeded by his cousin Stjepan Dabiša. Tvrtko I was buried in the Church of St. Nikole in the Mile neighborhood near Visoko, Fena reports.
