Kingdom of Croatia (medieval)

Kingdom of Croatia
Regnum Croatiae
c. 925–1102
Croatia at the height of its power
Capital		Varied through time Nin, Biograd, Solin, Knin
Languages		Old Croatian, Latin
Religion		Roman Catholic
Government		Monarchy
King
•	925–928	Tomislav (first)
•	1093–1097	Petar Svačić (last)
Ban (Viceroy)
•	c. 949–969	Pribina (first)
•	c. 1075–1091	Petar Svačić (last)
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Elevation to kingdom	c. 925
•	Succession crisis and coronation of Coloman	1102
Area
•	11th century est. (mid)	110,000 km² (42,471 sq mi)
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Croatia Duchy of Pannonia Croatia in the union with Hungary Kingdom of Hungary
Today part of		Croatia  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Montenegro  Serbia  Slovenia
a.	^ Tomislav is regarded as the first king due to being addressed as Rex (King) in a letter sent by Pope John X and the Council conclusions of Split in 925 AD. Circumstances and the date of his coronation are unknown. The authenticity of the Papal letter has been questioned, but later inscriptions and charters confirm that his successors called themselves "kings".

The Kingdom of Croatia (Latin: Regnum Croatiae; Croatian: Kraljevina Hrvatska, Hrvatsko Kraljevstvo) was a medieval kingdom in Central Europe comprising most of what is today Croatia (without most of Istria and some Dalmatian coastal cities), as well as parts of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. 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 Slavic language in the religious service was initially brought and 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).

The state was ruled mostly by the Trpimirović dynasty until 1091. At that point the realm experienced a succession crisis and after a decade of conflicts for the throne and the aftermath of the Battle of Gvozd Mountain, the crown passed to the Árpád dynasty with the coronation of King Coloman of Hungary as "King of Croatia and Dalmatia" in Biograd in 1102, uniting the two kingdoms under one crown. The precise terms of the relationship between the two realms became a matter of dispute in the 19th century. The nature of the relationship varied through time, Croatia retained a large degree of internal autonomy overall, while the real power rested in the hands of the local nobility. Modern Croatian and Hungarian historiographies mostly view the relations between Kingdom of Croatia and Kingdom of Hungary from 1102 as a form of a personal union of two internally autonomous kingdoms united by a common king.