page_title: Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102)
section_title: Establishment
hierarchical_section_title: Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102) / Kingdom / Establishment
caption_attribution_description: English: A Photo of a famous pleter in Croatia. Taken in Zagreb Museum.
context_page_description: The Kingdom of Croatia, or Croatian Kingdom, was a medieval kingdom in Central Europe comprising most of what is today Croatia, as well as most of the modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Croatian Kingdom was ruled for part of its existence by ethnic dynasties, and 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 Croatian language in the religious service was initially 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 and Demetrius Zvonimir.
  The state was ruled mostly by the Trpimirović dynasty until 1091.
context_section_description: Croatia was elevated to the status of kingdom somewhere around 925. Tomislav was the first Croatian ruler whom the papal chancellery honoured with the title "king". It is generally said that Tomislav was crowned in 925, however, this is not certain. It is not known when or by whom he was crowned, or, indeed, if he was crowned at all. Tomislav is mentioned as a king in two preserved documents published in the Historia Salonitana. First in a note preceding the text of the conclusions of the Council of Split in 925, where it is written that Tomislav is the "king" ruling "in the province of the Croats and in the Dalmatian regions" (in prouintia Croatorum et Dalmatiarum finibus Tamisclao rege), while in the 12th canon of the Council conclusions the ruler of the Croats is called "king" (rex et proceres Chroatorum). In a letter sent by Pope John X, Tomislav is named "King of the Croats" (Tamisclao, regi Crouatorum). The Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja titled Tomislav as a king and specified his rule at 13 years. Although there are no inscriptions of Tomislav to confirm the title, later inscriptions and charters confirm that his 10th century successors called themselves "kings". Under his rule, Croatia became one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Balkans.
  Tomislav, a descendant of Trpimir I, is considered one of the most prominent members of the Trpimirović dynasty. Sometime between 923 and 928, Tomislav succeeded in uniting the Croats of Pannonia and Dalmatia, each of which had been ruled separately by dukes. Although the exact geographical extent of Tomislav's kingdom is not fully known, Croatia probably covered most of Dalmatia, Pannonia, and northern and western Bosnia. Croatia at the time was administered as a group of eleven counties (županije) and one banate (Banovina). Each of these regions had a fortified royal town.
  Croatia soon came into conflict with the Bulgarian Empire under Simeon I (called Simeon the Great in Bulgaria), who was already in a war with the Byzantines. Tomislav made a pact with the Byzantine Empire, for which he may have been rewarded by the Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos with some form of control over the coastal cities of the Byzantine Theme of Dalmatia and with a share of the tribute collected from them. After Simeon conquered the Principality of Serbia in 924, Croatia received and protected the expelled Serbs with their leader Zaharija. In 926, Simeon tried to break the Croatian-Byzantine pact and afterwards conquer the weakly defended Byzantine Theme of Dalmatia, sending Duke Alogobotur with a formidable army against Tomislav, but Simeon's army was defeated in the Battle of the Bosnian Highlands. After Simeon's death in 927 peace was restored between Croatia and Bulgaria with the mediation of the legates of Pope John X. According to the contemporary De Administrando Imperio, Croatian army and navy at the time could have consisted of approximately 100,000 infantry units, 60,000 cavaliers, and 80 larger (sagina) and 100 smaller warships (called condura), but these numbers are generally taken as a considerable exaggeration. According to the palaeographic analysis of the original manuscript of De Administrando Imperio, the population of medieval Croatia was estimated at between 440,000 and 880,000 people, while the military force was most probably composed of 20,000–100,000 infantrymen and 3,000–24,000 horsemen organized into 60 allagions.
caption: The wattle (pleter) with the inscription of Stephen Držislav, 10th century
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