Trpimir I

Trpimir I
"Pro Duce Trepimero"
Duke of the Croats
Reign	c. 845-864
Predecessor	Mislav
Successor	Domagoj
Died	c. 864
Issue	Zdeslav Peter Muncimir
Royal House	House of Trpimirović
Religion	Christianity

Trpimir I (Croatian pronunciation: [tř̩pimiːr př̩ʋiː], Latin: Trepimerus) was a duke (knez) of Croatia in c. 845–864, and the founder of the Croatian House of Trpimirović that ruled in Croatia, with interruptions, from around 845 until 1091. Although he was formally vassal of the Frankish Emperor Lothair I, Trpimir used Frankish-Byzantine conflicts to rule on his own.

Trpimir succeeded Croatia's Duke Mislav around 845, ascended the throne in Klis and expanded the early Roman stronghold into Klis Fortress, the capital of his domain. Trpimir battled successfully against his neighbours, the Byzantine coastal cities under the strategos of Zadar in 846. In 854 he repulsed an attack by an army of the Bulgarian Khan Boris I and concluded a peace treaty with him, exchanging gifts. The Bulgarians and Croatians coexisted peacefully after that time.

On 4 March 852 Trpimir issued a charter in Biaći (in loco Byaci dicitur) in the Latin language, confirming Mislav's donations to the Archbishopric in Split. The charter is preserved in a copy from 1568. In this document, Trpimir named himself "by the mercy of God, Duke of the Croats" (Latin: Dux Chroatorum iuvatus munere divino) and his realm as the "Realm of the Croats" (Regnum Chroatorum). The term regnum was used by other rulers of that time as a sign of their independence and did not necessarily mean a kingdom. The charter documents his ownership of Klis Fortress and mentions Trpimir's decision to build a church and the first Benedictine monastery in Rižinice, between the towns of Klis and Solin, thus bringing the Benedictins into Croatia. On a gable arch from an altar screen of the Rižinice monastery, carved in stone, stands a text with the duke's name and title:

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