Stjepan Vukčić
| Stjepan Vukčić Kosača | |
|---|---|
| Grand Duke of Bosnia | |
| Reign | 1435—1466 |
| Predecessor | Sandalj Hranić |
| Successor | Vladislav Hercegović |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Issue | |
| Father | Vukac Hranić Kosača |
| Mother | Katarina |
| Born | 1404 |
| Died | 1466 |
Stjepan Vukčić Kosača (Serbian Cyrillic: Стјепан Вукчић Косача; 1404–1466) was the most powerful and for the most part unruly vassal in the Kingdom of Bosnia. A member of the Kosača noble family, he became Grand Duke of Bosnia upon the death of his uncle Sandalj. He refused to recognize the accession of King Tomaš, proclaiming himself a semi-independent herzog, recognizing the suzerainty first of the Ottoman Empire, then Aragon and again the Ottoman Empire. Peace was briefly restored by the marriage of King Tomaš and Stjepan's daughter Katarina, but it did not last long.
It was Stjepan's title Herceg of Saint Sava that gave rise to the name of Ottoman sanjak established after 1482 when the Kosača family domain fell under Ottoman rule. The name remained since then and it is used for modern region of Herzegovina (Sanjak of Herzegovina was part of the Bosnia Eyalet, while modern Herzegovina is part of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina), and town of Herceg Novi in present day's Montenegro as well.
Stjepan was the son of Vukac Hranić Kosača and his wife Katarina, as well as the fraternal nephew of Sandalj Hranić, Grand Duke of Bosnia. Along with his father and uncles Sandalj and Vuk, Stjepan was admitted into the nobility of the Republic of Ragusa by a charter dated 29 June 1419. The same charter granted the family a house in Dubrovnik. Sandalj's father died in 1432, and when his uncle followed him on 15 March 1435, it was Stjepan who inherited the lands and prestigious ducal title, becoming the most powerful vassal of King Tvrtko II of Bosnia.
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