page_title: Duchy of Croatia
section_title: Between East and West
hierarchical_section_title: Duchy of Croatia / History / Between East and West
caption_attribution_description: St. Cross church (Nin, Croatia)
context_page_description: The Duchy of Croatia was a medieval state that was established in the former Roman province of Dalmatia. Throughout its time it had several seats – namely, Klis, Solin, Knin, Bijaći and Nin. It comprised the littoral – the coastal part of today's Croatia –, except Istria, and included a large part of the mountainous hinterland, as well. The duchy was in the center of competition between the Carolingian Empire and the Byzantine Empire for rule over the area. Rivalry with Venice emerged in the first decades of the 9th century and was to continue for the following centuries. Croatia also waged battles with the Bulgarian Empire, with whom the relations improved greatly afterwards, and the Arabs and sought to extend its control over important coastal cities under the rule of Byzantium. Croatia experienced periods of vassalage to the Franks or Byzantines and de facto independence until 879, when Duke Branimir was recognized as an independent ruler by Pope John VIII. The duchy was ruled by the Trpimirović and Domagojević dynasties. Around 925, during the rule of Tomislav, Croatia became a kingdom.
context_section_description: The Duchy of Croatia was located between two major powers of the Middle Ages: the Eastern Roman Empire in the East which controlled the Dalmatian cities and islands and aimed to extend their rule over the entire former Roman province of Dalmatia, and the Franks in the West seeking to control the northern and northwestern lands. The Byzantine influence on Croatia was also reflected on the creation of Croatian law and in trade with the Byzantine coastal cities.
  In the second quarter of the 9th century the Croats began developing a navy. Along with the Narentines, who were still pagan at the time and occupied the territory of the river Neretva mouth, they were active in the Adriatic Sea and made shipping and traveling in the area hazardous, especially for Venice. Therefore, in 839 the Venetians under Doge Pietro Tradonico attacked the eastern coast of the Adriatic, including Croatia, but during the assault they signed peace with their ruler, princeps Mislav (Latin: principe Muisclavo), who ruled from Klis near Split. The peace treaty was signed at a place named St. Martin. The Doge also attacked Narentine islands, but failed to defeat them and made peace with their leader, who is mentioned as count Drosaico by the chronicler John the Deacon. However, the peace treaty was short-lasting and next year the Venetians were defeated by the Narentines under count Diuditum. Piracy continued in the Adriatic, as well as hostility towards Venice, which is seen from the contract between Emperor Lothair I and Doge Tradonico, in which the Doge committed himself to defend the cities in Italy and Istria from Slavic attacks.
  Duke Mislav was succeeded around 845 by Trpimir I, who continued the formal legacy of being the vassal of the Frankish king Lothair I (840–855), although he managed to strengthen his personal rule in Croatia. Arab campaigns thoroughly weakened the Byzantine Empire and Venice, which was used in the advance of the Croatian duke in 846 and 848. In 846 Trpimir successfully attacked the Byzantine coastal cities and their patricius. Between 854 and 860, he successfully defended his land from the Bulgarian invasion under Knyaz Boris I of Bulgaria, somewhere in Northeastern Bosnia, concluding a peace treaty with Boris and exchanging gifts. Constantine Porphyrogenitus mentions the traditional friendship between the Bulgarians and Croatians, who coexisted peacefully up to that time.
  In a Latin charter preserved in a rewrite from 1568, dated to 4 March 852 or, according to a newer research, about 840, Trpimir refers to himself as "leader of the Croats with the help of God" (Latin: dux Croatorum iuvatus munere divino); his land, called "Kingdom of the Croats" (Latin: regnum Croatorum), can simply be interpreted as the "Realm of the Croats", since Trpimir was not a king. The term regnum was also used by other dukes of that time as a sign of their independence. This charter also documents his ownership of the Klis Fortress, from where his rule was centered, and mentions Mislav's donations to the Archbishopric of Split. In the proximity of his court in Klis, in Rižinice, Trpimir built a church and the first Benedictine monastery in Croatia. Trpimir's name is inscribed on a stone fragment from an altar screen of the Rižinice monastery church. He is more expressly remembered as the founder of the House of Trpimirović, a native Croat dynasty that ruled, with interruptions, from 845 until 1091 in Croatia.
  In 864 Duke Domagoj, founder of the House of Domagojević, usurped the throne after the death of Trpimir and forced his sons, including Zdeslav, to flee to Constantinople. During the rule of Domagoj piracy was a common practice in the Adriatic. The pirates attacked Christian sailors, including a ship with papal legates returning from the Eighth Catholic Ecumenical Council, thus forcing the Pope to intervene by asking Domagoj to stop piracy, but his efforts were of no avail. Domagoj waged wars with the Arabs, Venetians and Franks. In 871 he helped the Franks, as their vassal, to seize Bari from the Arabs, but later actions of the Franks und
caption: The Church of the Holy Cross in Nin from the 9th century
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