Svetoslav Suronja of Croatia

Svetoslav Suronja
King of Croatia
Reign	997–1000
Predecessor	Stephen Držislav
Successor	Krešimir III of Croatia and Gojslav of Croatia
House	House of Trpimirović, founder of House of Svetoslavić
Father	Stephen Držislav
Religion	Christian

Svetoslav Suronja (Croatian pronunciation: [sʋětoslaʋ sǔːroɲa]), was King of Croatia from 997 to 1000. A member of the Trpimirović dynasty, he reigned with the help of his ban, Varda. John the Deacon (d. 1009) called him Surinja (Latin: Surigna), adopted in Croatian historiography as Suronja, meaning "dark man" or "cold man", probably due to his temper. He was the oldest son of king Stjepan Držislav, from whom he received the title of Duke, and was designated as his successor.

After the death of their father, his brothers Krešimir and Gojslav started organizing a rebellion against him since Svetoslav rejected sharing power over the kingdom. The brothers had asked Bulgarian emperor Samuil for aid, even though the emperor was at war with the Byzantine Empire. In the war, the Byzantines were supported by Venice and Svetoslav Suronja, who had continued his father's policy. Samuil had accepted the revolters' invitation and attacked Croatia in 998, which started the last of three Croatian-Bulgarian wars. In his rampage, he took all of Croatian Dalmatia up to Zadar after which he ended his rampage, returning home to Bulgaria through Bosnia. Samuil gave all the territory he took to the revolters Krešimir and Gojslav. Using this newly gained territory and further Bulgarian aid, the brothers overthrew their elder brother, Svetoslav Suronja, and became rulers of Croatia.

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