Stjepan Vukčić Kosača

State Flag of the Ragusan Republic

Along with his father and uncles Sandalj and Vuk, Stjepan was admitted into the nobility of the Republic of Ragusa. The City Council granted Stjepan citizenship by the charter dated 30 October 1435. As was customary, he was granted a house in Dubrovnik by the same charter.[9]

In 1435, a few days after Sandalj's death, Bosnia's legitimate Bosnian king Tvrtko II was forced to flee when the Ottomans put forward Radivoj and assured him support from important Bosnian noblemen Sandalj Hranić and Radislav Pavlović, as well as the Despotate of Serbia. Tvrtko II returned from a two-year exile in Hungary to assume the throne for the second time.[10][3] Stjepan's takeover from his uncle was met with hope among his neighbors, who anticipated Stjepan would be weak and opportunistically diverted their attention toward his inheritance.[3]

The Holy Emperor King Sigismund wanted to take Hum. He relied on Tvrtko II, who was mostly inactive in his first year of his reign. The Bosnian king then approached Stjepan and assured good relations with him, contrary to Sigismund's expectations. This prompted Radislav Pavlović to seeks support from the Ottomans and report on the harmonious relations between the king and Stjepan; their relationship remained close until at least 1440.[10]

Sigismund had Stjepan's other enemies available; he successfully sought help from the Radivojevićs and Vojsalićs against Stjepan, and tried to persuade Dubrovnik to join his coalition. Sigismund also ordered his own vassals, primarily Matko Talovac and other Croatian noblemen of the Frankopan family, to attack and retain the land of Hum for him.[11][12]

An old map of market town Drijeva on the Neretva, in today Gabela, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The first of all major Bosnian nobility to act was Radislav Pavlović, while the Vojsalićs and Radivojevićs attacked in the Lower Neretva valley with success.[13] Pavlović acted three days after Sandalj's death on 18 March, and on March 29, he was expected to enter Dračevica.[14] Pavlović took some of Stjepan's lands but was unable to inflict significant damage, though Stjepan had extant problems with the Hungarian king and his Bosnian allies in the west around the Neretva river. Radislav asked the Ragusans to help him achieve peace. Reluctant to take up the undertaking, they responded by saying Bosnia had many noblemen better suited for the task.[15] Later, the Ragusans led the negotiations and pleaded with both men that a war would bring many "dangers and misfortunes" to them and their subjects, and to Bosnia as a whole. Stjepan demanded Pavlović cede lands he had taken earlier but after many missions to both noblemens' courts, the negotiations failed.[16] Other involved Bosnians were Vojsalić's and Radivojević's. Đurađ Vojsalić's attack had produced some results, and he took the medieval market town (transl. trg, trgovište) Drijeva, which also favored Radivojević so the coalition between Vojsalić and Radivojević, including Sigismund who also wanted Drijeva, had conflicting interests. Sigismund asked Dubrovnik to pay all of the customs tolls to him and dispatched some of his men to Drijeva to set up the new regimen.[17]

The Republic of Venice also tried to take advantage during the transfer of power from Sandalj to Stjepan. Venice unsuccessfully tried to take over the fortress of Novi via neighboring Kotor and its knyaz's maneuvering. Venice thought it could take the town by exerting pressure and influence on the fortress' castellan (governor).[15] Despite the problems, and with some critical moments, Stjepan firmly retained the town.[18]

During these initial struggles, Stjepan had help from the Ottomans, who supported him, and he had Bosnian anti-king Radivoj at his court. Stjepan's situation was difficult but not critical. He invited the Ottomans to Bosnia, and they helped him to overcome all of his adversities.[19]

Klobul fortress, at the northern approach to Trebinje, was the last stronghold of Pavlovićs in their lands in the south, before it was taken over by Stjepan Vukčić

During the initial conflicts for his inheritance, Stjepan Vukčić's most persistent adversary was Duke Radislav Pavlović, against whom the alliance between King Tvrtko II and Stjepan turned.[20] By the end of 1437, Duke Radislav has also fallen out of favor with the Sublime Porte, while Stjepan received a signal from the Sultan to take Trebinje from him. At the beginning of 1438, Radislav Pavlović was in a difficult situation; Stjepan took Trebinje from him and recaptured the town of Jeleč in Upper Podrinje, which Radislav probably seized from Kosača immediately after Sandalj's death. Pavlović's other fortress Klobuk in Vrm was besieged. At that point, the Ragusans told Stjepan he "took revenge on his enemies more than any one of his predecessors".[21] Stjepan's triumph was short Radislav soon regain the sultan's sympathy, and Stjepan had to return Trebinje and other lands had taken from Radislav. Probably through Ottoman mediation, two magnates started negotiations, which lasted until June 1439, ending in peace between the two houses and the renewal of family ties; Radislav remarried Stjepan's sister.[21]

At the beginning of 1440, Radislav Pavlović's situation dramatically changed. Because he owed the Sultan a large sum of money, probably having indebted himself during the campaigns to regain his lands and Trebinje in 1439, the Sultan decided Stjepan Vukčić should repay the debt and in return regain Trebinje and its surroundings from Pavlović. In March, Stjepan recaptured Trebinje, which caused war to break out, and in April, new negotiations between the two parties began, pandering to Stjepan's vanity while trying to mediate between the two noblemen.[22]

Wider area of modern Trebinje.

While Bosnians were fighting for personal reasons, events around them hinted at problems with far-reaching consequences. The Ragusans, guided by logic and observing Ottoman policy, advised King Tvrtko II, Duke Stjepan and Duke Radislav to jointly implore the Sultan to lower his impossible demands, and suggested it would be best and easiest if the three men together pay the Sultan thousands of ducats for Radislav's lands. They warned their Bosnian neighbors friendship bought for money is neither firm nor permanent, and indicated the fate of other regional lords, Serbs, Byzantines, Albanians, who had perished or suffered as a result of their own discord. Neither the fall of Serbia nor increasing Ottoman pressure made the Bosnian lords any less reckless. Stjepan and Radislav continued their quarrel while litigating before the Porte through envoys.[22]

Stjepan's offensive into Zeta (1441–44), Podgorica, Medun, in Upper Zeta, and Bar, in Lower Zeta, were conquered.

At the beginning of July 1439, Murad II set out to conquer Bosnia's eastern neighbor the Serbian despotate, and was joined by his Bosnian vassal Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, who participated in a devastation of Serb realm. At the same time in the west, Albert II of Germany, who acceded to the Hungarian throne after Sigismund died in late 1437, also died two years later. A lengthy succession crisis broke out in Hungary, which prompted Stjepan Vukčić and King Tvrtko II to conquer the lands of Matija Talovac.[23] Stjepan immediately besieged Omiš, which fell to hinm after eight months, and probably took Poljica from the Croatian ban Stjepan and Tvrto continued their offensive against the Croatian ban and his family until June 1441, when the Talovac brothers sought a truce.[22]

After the Ottomans' conquest of the Despotate of Serbia, and Stjepan's participation in the ravaging of it, the Principality of Zeta was vulnerable, tempting Stjepan to conquer it. He exploited the Ottoman successes and directed his attention to the unprotected province. He asked the Kotor knyaz to assist him in capturing it, and presented himself as Balšić's successor. Stjepan also contacted Stefan Maramonte, son of Constantine and Jelena Topi, who was fighting as a condottiero in southern Italy. The postponement of the conquest of Zeta was caused by the Serbian despot Đurađ's prolonged stay there in mid 1440, when he unsuccessfully attempted to reconcile with the Ottomans. In April 1441, after failing to get amnesty from Porte, Đurad hurriedly departed Zeta, taking refuge in Ragusa. The Sultan ordered Stjepan to attack Ragusa because the city gave refuge to Đurad, but this threat prompted Đurađ to leave the city-state. Stjepan also attracted support from knyaz Stefan Crnojević, and after the departure of Đurad, Stjepan engaged and by September 1441, he had occupied Upper Zeta (Serbo-Croatian: Gornja Zeta) to the left bank of the Morača river. He had help from Stefan, Crnojević's oldest brother, who represented the Crnojević family and was awarded with control over the five large katuns in Upper Zeta.[24][25]

In his operations in Lower Zeta, Stjepan captured Old Bar.

In his conquest of Lower Zeta (Serbo-Croatian: Donja Zeta), Stjepan faced much-tougher foe, the Republic of Venice. During the expansion into Upper Zeta, the Venetian government criticized Kotor's knyaz in 1439 for refusing to help Stjepan and because the knyaz attempted to thwart Stjepan's actions. The Venetians too adopted the same strategy because they anticipated danger Kotor would be trapped between Stjepan's territories and that, as the Ottoman vassal, he could endanger all of the other cities in Lower Zeta and further along the Albanian coast. The Republic of Venice did not intend to allow further Bosnian expansion in this direction.[26] The Venetians tried to influence Stjepan's actions via their knyaz in Skadar and by invoking Stjepan's obligations as an ally of the despot Đurađ, and themselves considered occupying the territories of Lower Zeta they did not already hold. Stjepan took Bar in March 1442, which turned Budva and Drivast against him. Stjepan's armies approached and besieged both cities, which resisted for two months but both eventually surrendered to Venice. Because of these engagements in Zeta, the Venetian Republic and Stjepan entered the war,which resulted in expansion for the Venetians, who acquired additional lands on the eastern coast of the Adriatic.[26]

In his first years in power, Stjepan Vukčić consolidated his position as the family chieftain and preserved the inherited lands; he also gained important new territories of Omiš and Poljica, pushing the Pavlovićs out of their southern territories, the most important of which were Trebinje and Dračevica, and captured Upper Zeta and Bar. Radislav Pavlović died in late 1441, changing the balance of power in Bosnia.[26] Although hostilities between Duke Stjepan and his sister, Radislav's widow, and her sons Ivaniš, Petar II and Nikola, lasted for several months after her husband's death, Stjepan captured the last of Pavlović's southern strongholds, the Klobuk fortress, before peace was brokered between them in May 1442. Radislav's successor Duke Ivaniš Pavlović maintained his side of the bargain, although a civil war broke out between Duke Stjepan and King Tvrtko II.[26]

Throughout his reign, Stjepan, to strengthen and centralize his rule locally, was forced to suppress the aspirations of local nobility subordinate to him, who sought to be as independent as possible from Stjepan, or gain independence from him. The same thing that was happening in the Bosnian state between the throne and Stjepan happened within the local framework of his own reign—whenever the opportunity arose, Stjepan's vassals would deviate from his authority or join the king against him during the civil wars.[27]

King Tvrtko II died in September 1443, and on 5 December that year, stanak approved the accession of Thomas (Tomaš), his first cousin and heir, to the throne. It is unclear if Thomas was chosen by Tvrtko II or elected by stanak, and if Stjepan participated in his election. Stjepan was the new king's opponent from the start and opted for Thomas's exiled brother Radivoj, a candidate put forward by the Ottoman Empire.[10] Sensing problems, Ragusans dispatched envoys to Stjepan's court with instructions to appeal to him by arguing he is now "the most powerful and most wise Bosnian lord" who must preserve "the peace and unity in the country"; if he does, it will bring him "glory throughout the world".[28]

In 1443, the Papacy sent envoys to Thomas and Stjepan about a counter-offensive against the Ottomans but Thomas and Stjepan were at war. Duke Ivaniš Pavlović, who was the second-most-powerful nobleman in Bosnia after Stjepan,[29] and who was passive when the conflict broke out during the final year in the reign of Tvrtko II,[26] was dispatched by King Thomas to attack Stjepan. The Hungarian regent John Hunyadi had recognized Thomas. Stjepan turned to King Alfonso V of Aragon, who made him "Knight of the Virgin" but did not provide any troops. On 15 February 1444, Stjepan signed a treaty with the King of Aragon and Naples, becoming his vassal in exchange for Alfonso's help against his enemies—King Thomas, Duke Ivaniš Pavlović and the Republic of Venice.[30] In the same treaty, Stjepan promised to pay Alfonso regular tribute instead of paying the Ottoman sultan, as he had done until then.[31]

For the next seventeen years of Thomas's rule, events were provoked by the dynamic between the two men. Civil war broke out in 1444 and continued into the 1450s with many treaties and peace agreements. Stjepan Vukčić was a staunch supporter of and adherent to the Bosnian Church, Thomas's conversion to Roman Catholicism, probably by the time of negotiations to marry the duke's daughter Catherine between 1445 and 1446, were another obstacle in their relations.[10]

Old market-town (trg) Drijeva – the Neretva visible beyond the walls.

The cause of the series of conflicts, is unknown. King Thomas moved resolutely against his opponents. With Duke Ivaniš Pavlović and Duke Sladoje Semković, he entered the Lower Neretva valley in January 1444, where the Radivojevićs joined them, and in early February they captured Drijeva, a medieval market town (trgovište).[32][10] In March, the king appears to have brokered a truce with Stjepan[10] and also recaptured the mining town of Srebrenica, which was defended by the Ottomans and the fortress of Srebrenica, and was preparing another attack on Stjepan in August. Ottoman retaliation against the king allowed Stjepan to take back the lost possessions in the Neretva Valley, and place Thomas' allies the Radivojević noble family under his authority again. Also in 1444, Stjepan established an alliance with despot Đurađ Branković, against Thomas and Venice.[10] In April 1445, Thomas lost Srebrenica, which was taken from him by Despot Đurađ, but he continued to prepare for war against Stjepan, and together with the Pavlovićs, he soon regained Drijeva.[10]

Coronation and burial church in Mile, Visoko, royal capital of the kingdom.

Having failed to strengthen his royal authority by force, King Thomas sought another way to pacify the kingdom.[33] A rapprochement with Stjepan via marriage with his daughter Catherine of Bosnia (Katarina), was probably mooted by 1445,[34] when Thomas sought improved relations with the Holy See to be cleared of the "stain of illegitimacy" and to receive an annulment of his union with commoner and Krstjanka Vojača.[10] Negotiations between Thomas and Stjepan intensified in early 1446.[33] Tommaso Tommasini, Bishop of Lesina, converted the King from the Bosnian Church to Roman Catholicism,[35] but by 1457, Cardinal Juan Carvajal performed the baptism.[36]

In mid 1446, the two rivals had made peace again. Stjepan Vukčić recognized Thomas as king and the pre-war borders between the royal demesne and the land of Hum were restored,[37] but the king re-took Srebrenica later that year.[10] The royal wedding sealed this peace in mid-May 1446 in Milodraž,[38] which was marked by elaborate festivities[33] conducted through Catholic rite,[35] followed by the couple's coronation in Mile.[39] By this time, Catherine, who had also been a Krstjanka (adherent of the Bosnian Church), had converted to Roman Catholicism.[37] The peace between the king and Duke Stjepan lasted for the next two years until 1448 but relations again deteriorated.[10]

Market-town (trg) and mines of Srebrenica were defended by the Srebrenica Fortress.

In late 1446, King Thomas recaptured Srebrenica but agreed with Despot Đurađ Branković to share a profit from taxes and the town's rich silver mines.[10] Peace between Stjepan and the king displeased the Ottomans because their interest lay in dividing Bosnia.[37] Stjepan's relations with the Serbian despot Đurađ deteriorated,[40] mostly because of the Srebrenica issue.[37] While the king enjoyed a period of stability in relations with the despot, in late 1447, Stjepan attempted to re-negotiate a reconciliation with Đurađ by dispatching envoys to offer him "peace and alliance".[37][40]

In March 1448, the Ottomans sent an expedition to plunder the king's demesne. They also plundered Stjepan Vukčić's lands, burning Drijeva in the process.[10]

At this point, the king's position was seriously impaired by the Ottoman offensive and the rapprochement of his father-in-law Stjepan with the despot.[10] In September 1448, the despot's brother-in-law Thomas Kantakouzenos attacked Thomas' troops while Stjepan helped the despot recapture Srebrenica.[10][41] The king and Duke Ivaniš Pavlović successfully retaliated against Stjepan and his Serbian ally in late 1449. In February 1450, they re-took Srebrenica, and in April and May, they recaptured Drijeva.[10] New peace negotiations began in late 1450 and a short-lived peace was concluded at the beginning of 1451.[10]

In 1451, Stjepan Vukčić attacked the Republic of Ragusa and laid siege to Dubrovnik. Because Stjepan had earlier been made a Ragusan nobleman, the Ragusan government proclaimed him a traitor. A reward of 15,000 ducats, a palace in Dubrovnik worth 2,000 ducats, and an annual income of 300 ducats was offered to anyone who would kill Stjepan, along with the promise of hereditary Ragusan noble status.[42] The threat seemed to have worked because Stjepan abandoned the siege.[42] After King Thomas and Despot Đurađ reconciled, Ragusa proposed a league against Stjepan.[43] Apart from the theoretical ceding of some of Stjepan's family territories to Ragusa, Thomas' charter from 18 December 1451 obliged him to attack Stjepan.[44]

In the second half of 1459, King Thomas decisively acted against the Krstjani or Kristjani, followers of the Bosnian Church. Between 2,000 and 12,000[10]) were converted to Catholicism; according to the apostolic legate Nikola Modruški, who resided in Bosnia between 1461 and 1463, the "Manichean heretics were baptized forcefully".[10] At least 40 high-ranking members of the church hierarchy fled to Duke Stjepan, who welcomed them despite the papal request.[45] In early 1461, to prove his commitment to the Catholic Church, King Thomas sent three bound Krstjani to Rome, where Cardinal Juan de Torquemada interrogated them. The king demanded all of his vassals convert.[45]

Ostrovica Castle

Klis Fortress

Stjepan Vukčić Kosača may have been the kingdom's most powerful nobleman,[4][29] and the constant conflicts with King Thomas were due to be resolved by the king's son and heir Stephen or Stjepan Tomašević.[46][47] Stephen, a determined new king who acceded to the throne after Thomas' death, set out to resolve all disagreements within the royal family to strengthen his own position. Strained relations with his stepmother Stjepan's daughter Queen Catherine were relaxed as he guaranteed she would retain her title and privileges. This was noted by her father Stjepan, who wrote to Venetian officials saying the King had "taken her as his mother".[48]

The new king, who also wanted reconciliation, took the Venetians' advice to reconcile with his step-grandfather seriously. Upon strengthening his own position, peace was restored and reconciliation achieved, ensuring the nobility's absolute support of the king and loyalty to the kingdom.[46][49][50]

For King Stephen, it was important to get Stjepan's full support. Stjepan had sent his son and chosen heir Vlatko to Stephen's coronation, and the king was proud to announce he assumed the kingdom's throne with the full acceptance of the nobility.[47]

Herzog Stjepan refrained from claiming the Bosnian crown for his adolescent grandson Sigismund, Catherine's son and Stephen Tomašević's half-brother, probably realizing Bosnia needed a strong, mature monarch in a time of peril. The Ottomans threatened the territory of Bosnia and attacks against the kingdom's southern edges by Pavao Špirančić, Ban of Croatia and Dalmatia, between September 1461 and the beginning of 1462,[51] resulted in the capture of one Bosnian border town.[47] Stjepan prepared to counter-attack with the support of Venice but Stjepan and King Stephen agreed to an alliance with a knyazs of Krbava, the Kurjaković noble family. Venice now suddenly retreated, fearing a strong alliance could threaten its own interests in the area. To avoid a direct confrontation between both sides, they campaigned for negotiations with the ban. Venice was also interested in securing two key fortresses on the Bosnian-Croatian border—Klis was held by the ban and Ostrovica was in Bosnian hands. Ban Pavao promised to relinquish Klis to them in case of a Bosnian attack.[51]

In the Christian world, reconciliation of the two most-powerful men in Bosnia was greeted with relief. Venice appreciated the stability that was attained after many years in Bosnia.[51] There was an expectation Bosnia would lead the actions against Ottoman advancement.[51] The Bosnians had failed to lead the crusade, the role assigned to them in 1457, due to the dynamism between Stjepan Vukčić and the throne, which was personified at the time in King Thomas.[52]

After more than a decade of discord, unified Bosnia faced increasing pressure from the Ottomans. King Stephen and Herzog Stjepan knew the Ottomans would soon attack, so throughout 1462 and early 1463, they sought help from anyone, friend or foe, who would offer assistance.[53] On 8 and 20 March 1463, Stjepan asked Venice to allow Skanderbeg's forces to cross their territory to help him,[54] which they did but the decision to inform their outpost in Skadar was issued on 26 April.[55] Possibly due to this belated Venetian reaction, Skanderbeg failed to carry out his promises before Venice withdrew their permission.[53]

With his first wife Jelena, he had at least four children:[84]

• Katarina (1424–1478), in 1446 she married King King Tomaš of Bosnia, and leaving Bosnian Church converted to Catholicism;
• Vladislav Hercegović (c. 1427–1489), Grand Duke of Bosnia, Lord of Krajina,[85] married Kyra Ana, daughter of Georgios Kantakuzenos in 1455;
• Vlatko Hercegović (c. 1428–1489), Herzog of St. Sava, married an Apulian noblewoman;
• Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha (c. 1430–1515), baptized Stjepan; the youngest son of Stjepan Vukčić, whom Sultan Mehmed II took to his court, became a Muslim in the Sultan's service. He became the Grand Vizier and Grand Admiral to the Sultan, married Sultan Bayezid II's daughter, Fatima, in 1482; and had descendants by her.

With his second wife Barbara, he had at least two children:[84]

• son (1456), a short-lived child whose name is not known;
• Mara, daughter.

Herceg Sefan Vukčić Kosača i njegovo doba, by S. Ćirković, 1964 (cover).

Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, by Lj. Jovanović, 1891 (cover).

Before publication of the historical biography by Sima Ćirković, Herceg Stefan Vukčić-Kosača i njegovo doba (transl. Herceg Stefan Kosača and his time), and despite the large number of archival sources, historiography lacked a critical monograph on Stjepan's life using modern scientific methodology.[86] The Dubrovnik Archive, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, and archives in other Italian cities' archives, including Papal curia, also General Archive of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona, and one in Buda, Hungary, are sources of information on the political and diplomatic history of the time. Especially valuable are Mavro Orbini's and Jakov Lukarević's first historical works on Stjepan's life and career. These texts were written when the systematic use of archival sources was not yet used.[86]

At the end of the 19th century, Ilarion Ruvarac intended to work on the history of the Kosača family but the first research was done a few years later by Ljubomir Jovanović, first with War of Duke Stjepan with Dubrovnik and then with the first-and-incomplete work Stjepan Vukčić Kosača.[86] According Ćirković, the basic outlines for researching Stjepan's life can be found in Konstantin Jireček's History of Serbs, in which he briefly covers Stjepan's life, while Vladimir Ćorović's History of Bosnia has a more-extensive overview but is insufficiently comprehensive.[86] In 1964, Ćirković published his historical biography Herceg Stefan Vukčić-Kosača i njegovo doba, using his predecessors, and in particular the research of Ilarion Ruvarac, Jakov Lukarević, Lajos Thallóczy, Aleksa Ivić, Mihajlo Dinić, and Vladimir Ćorović.[86]

According to Sima Ćirković, assessing information about Stjepan Vukčić Kosača's personality from contemporary documents is unhelpful because they were created under specific circumstances to satisfy political and economic needs, so they are often idiosyncratic and biased.[87] The representation of Stjepan's personality and image based on contemporaneous statements from merchants and ambassadors from Dubrovnik are biased. Accounts arising from contact with Stjepan and depending on the circumstances contained courteous praise of his wisdom, political prudence, law-abiding righteousness, and generosity, and fierce condemnation and insult when circumstances demanded it.[87]

The scarcity of sources did not discourage historians whose assessment of Stjepan's character is unflattering [87] Early-modern Dubrovnik historian Jakov Lukarević (fl. 1551–1615) described Stjepan with conspicuous indignation: "He barely knew the letters" and "he was all given over to rage, wine, and living with slave-girls and harlots".[88] Stjepan's "characterization" particularly concerned Medievalist Lajos Thallóczy, who made several harsh assessments; according to him, Stjepan "could have been a model for a Balkan Machiavelli"; "is a typical Balkan knyaz who can serve as a model"; "we find no ethical features in him, nothing sympathetic, only a marauder"; and "neither his word nor his written promise could be trusted".[88]

Thallóczy's characterization was taken over by Konstantin Jireček, who added Stjepan was a "loyal vassal of Porte". He paraphrased Thallóczy, calling Stjepan "cunning, capricious, brutal and a coward, a friend of wine and women, unusually reckless in choosing means, but with a highly developed ability to notice a change in the political circumstance".[88] According to Vladimir Ćorović, Stjepan had "a strong will and a bad temper", "had strength and skills, but no morale", and saying "since coming to power, he was surprising the world with his ruthlessness, by which he provoked conflicts not only with his neighbors but even in his own family".[88]

Ćirković criticized these descriptions, especially Thallóczy's because of his "inherent superficiality and pretentiousness" and based almost entirely on the author's "ideological beliefs [rather] than on a sober examination of the source". He also noted "the historical role of Duke Stjepan in recent historiography is dominated by condemnation for serving the Turks", and that such judgmental assessments never take into account many circumstances. Ćirković added: "the common feature of all assessments of Herceg's character is that it was seldom taken into account the extent to which Stjepan's qualities were only his, and not the characteristics of the entire society of that time".[88]

Ćirković concludes, "inversion, treachery, inconsistency cannot be used to characterize any one person from the Bosnian history of the 15th century, because these are characteristics of all feudal lords of that time".[88]

Herzegovina within modern day Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Herceg Novi, old town from the sea, today in Montenegro

The medieval town Novi was founded as a fortress in a small fishing village in 1382 by the first King of Bosnia Tvrtko I Kotromanić, and was originally named Sveti Stefan (Saint Stephen). After the death of Tvrtko, Duke Sandalj Hranić acquired Sveti Stefan. During his reign, the town began trading salt. When Hranić died, his nephew Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, inherited it. During his reign, the town grew in importance and became Stjepan's winter seat and was renamed Herceg Novi.[89]

The name "Herzegovina" is the most-important and indelible legacy of Stjepan Vukčić Kosača; it is unique within the Serbo-Croatian-speaking Balkans, because one person gave his noble title, which in the last few years of his life became inseparable from his name, to a region that was previously called Humska zemlja or Hum.[73] Herzegovina still exists with the name Bosnia and Herzegovina.[68][27]

This is a superficial understanding because the appearance of the name Herzegovina, which is recorded in 1 February 1454 in a letter written by the Ottoman commander Esebeg from Skopje,[68] cannot be attributed to Stjepan alone, and his title was not of decisive importance.[27] More important is the Ottoman custom of calling newly acquired lands by the names of their earlier rulers. It was enough for the Ottomans to conquer Stjepan's land to start calling it Herzegovina. Also, Stjepan did not establish this province as a feudal and political unit of the Bosnian state; that honor befell Grand Duke of Bosnia Vlatko Vuković, who received it from King Tvrtko I; Sandalj Hranić expanded it and reaffirmed the Kosača family's supremacy.[27]