Звонимир: Хорватия мен Далмация королі (1075-1089)

King of Croatia and Dalmatia from 1075 to 1089

Demetrius Zvonimir (, ; died 1089) was a King of Croatia and Dalmatia from 1075 or 1076 until his death in 1089. Zvonimir also served as Ban of Croatia (1064–1074), and was named Duke of Croatia in around 1075. His native name was Zvonimir, but adopted the forename Demetrius at his coronation. He first served as ban in the service of King Peter Krešimir IV. Afterwards, Peter Krešimir IV appointed him duke and declared him as his heir. In 1075 or 1076, Demetrius Zvonimir succeeded to the Croatian throne through papal diplomacy. His reign is characterized as relatively peaceful, with no extensive war campaigns, focused instead on Croatia's economic and cultural development. He inherited the Croatian state at its height and ruled from the city of Knin. Medieval legends allege his assassination, but his death and succession are subjects of controversy in historiography. His reign was followed by a period of anarchy, which ended with the ascension of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty and the creation of a union with Hungary.

Zvonimir's exact origin and background are uncertain. It is believed that he was a member of the native Trpimirović dynasty, and some historians have proposed that he is a descendant of Svetoslav Suronja's son Stjepan Svetoslavić which also allowed for the thesis that he began his career as Ban of Slavonia. Others rejected his Trpimirović descent and argued he was a member of some other prominent Croatian noble family possibly from Sidraga županija, but his early marriage to Árpád's princes shows he must have been of some extraordinary lineage. The term "Slavonia" (Sclavonia) at the time referred to both modern day Slavonia and North West Croatia, but there's lack of evidence for such a thesis. According to Chronicon Pictum, Croatia was also attacked around 1063 by the Carantanian army of Ulric I, who occupied a part of Kvarner and the eastern coast of Istria, the "March of Dalmatia". Since the Croatian king was preoccupied with rebellion in Dalmatia, also due to the prohibition of Slavic liturgy, After they jointly repelled the Carantanians from Croatia, Zvonimir sent many gold, silver and other valuables to Solomon and Géza I as a sign of gratitude. In March 1074, Normans from southern Italy, led by Count Amico of Giovinazzo, invaded Dalmatia on the invitation of Dalmatian cities and Byzantium. They occupied the cities of Split, Trogir, Biograd na Moru and Zadar, but also managed to capture a certain Croatian king whose name is not mentioned, but certainly meant King Peter Krešimir, who died by November 1074. It seems that Zvonimir was chosen as an heir to the throne already during Petar Krešimir's late life. There's a dispute between historians whether he was crowned in 1075 or 1076 due to some dating uncertainties in the coronation charter. The day itself is not mentioned, however it is argued to be 8 or 9 October as on 9 October is St. Demetrius feast day whose name Zvonimir took at the coronation. thus becoming a vassal to the Holy See. During this occasion, he promised defence and care of the churches and monks, poor and orphans, prosecute unlawful marriages between cousins, establish lawful marriages with a ring and priest blessing, and defend such marriages from depravity, also oppose trade of humans. Zvonimir took an oath of fealty to the Pope, promising to support the implementation of the Church reforms in Croatia. He also gave the Benedictine monastery of St. Gregory in Vrana (with two golden crowns with gems, probably being the previous Croatian crowns received by Byzantines) to the Holy See, both as a sign of loyalty and as accommodation for papal legates visiting Croatia. The title of Zvonimir continued to be "King of Croatia and Dalmatia" (Rex Chroatie atque Dalmatie), while his name and title in Croatian, as found on the Baška tablet, was "Zvonimir, kral hrvatski" , in Glagolitic script zvъnъmirъ, kralъ xrъvatъskъ. but also end of complete independence because the kingdom de facto became supreme ownership of the Holy See. Following the coronation, the papal legates summoned a church council in Split, which reiterated the king on the use of Slavic in liturgy and the condemnation of the Glagolitic or Cyrillic alphabet, which the council of 1060 had branded as heresy. The king instituted the Gregorian reform; he also promised the eventual abolition of slavery, but with little success (see Supetar cartulary). He maintained authority over Dalmatia, which could be felt as far as the distant town of Osor on the island of Cres, where he is referenced in a 1082 lauda. Demetrius Zvonimir sought to gain firmer control of his kingdom by ousting various local nobles (hereditary provincial leaders and landlords) from local administration and replacing them with his own supporters, court nobles and, reflecting his close papal ties, high clerics. The provincial nobles were governing their provinces (županije) with a significant level of internal independence. In 1080, he bethrothed his daughter Claudia to the noble Vniha of the Lapčani tribe, to whom he also granted the county (županija) of Karin in Dalmatia as a dowry. The Annales Carinthiæ and Chronica Hungarorum record that Zvonimir eventually invaded Carinthia to aid Hungary in war between 1079 and 1083, but this is disputed. Demetrius Zvonimir also took a hard line against the Byzantium. After Robert Guiscard the Duke of Apulia reconciled with the Pope, was made a military alliance against new Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Zvonimir, due to his pledge to the Holy See and Venetians alliance with the Byzantines, sent naval troops to the aid of Norman invasion in the 1080s. During these years, Zvonimir's vicar and deputy over Dalmatian cities was Pribimir. The 13th century chronicler Thomas the Archdeacon in his Historia Salonitana, and a charter of king Stephen II from 8 September 1089 (said to have been issued closely after the death of king Zvonimir), both indicate that Zvonimir died of natural causes. This view had been mostly accepted in the historiography since the 16th century, but some historians like Ferdo Šišić and archaeologist Stjepan Gunjača argued in favor of a documented violent death. It is argued that his resting place moved between the Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew in Kapitul near Knin and Church of St. Stephen at Salona (today's Solin) where was the Mausoleum of Croatian Kings. Demetrius Zvonimir was married to his distant relative Jelena, the sister of Ladislaus I of Hungary. Through Helen, he was connected to the royal families of not only Hungary, but also Poland, Denmark, Bulgaria, and Byzantium. They had a son, Radovan, who predeceased Zvonimir, and two daughters, Vinica and Claudia, the latter married to the voivode Vniha Lapčan. According to the chronicles and historical documents, Croatia subsequently entered a period of 10 years of anarchy without social authority, with various sides and nobles fighting over supremacy in the kingdom. The chronicles subsequently narrate two separate stories that, or some Sclavonian White Croatian noblemen (sometimes named as Petar Gusić and Petar de genere Cacautonem/Chuchanorum identified with Kukari) went to Hungary and invited Ladislaus to seize the Croatian Kingdom, or widow Jelena had requested her brother Ladislaus to intervene and conquer the kingdom. In reality probably happened both scenarios, with widow Jelena seizing some power and receiving support from a small part of Croatian nobility (Lapčani, Gusići and Kukari among others) which eased Ladislaus's intervention. Historical documents show that Ladislaus by the end of 1091 conquered a big part of Slavonia i. e. Croatia placing his nephew Prince Álmos as "Duke of Croatia", however, there also emerged Croatian noblemen who showed resistance. First were a dux Simeon, and certain Slavac from Split who appropriated the royal title, his brothers had estates between Split and Omiš, brother Rusin even during the Zvonimir's reign was dux Marianorum and Morsticus, while Rusin's son Petar was Ban of Croatia. Evidence that Ladislaus and Álmos did not consolidate power over whole Croatia, but mainly only those regions North of Sava river and maybe up to Ravni Kotari west of river Krka in Dalmatia and without Kvarner in the westernmost part of the kingdom, is that they influenced the religious organization only in Zagreb and Eastern Slavonia (1094). The written experiences of the First Crusaders in late 1096 show that in the country called Sclavonia and Dalmatia could not find any authority to agree the terms of passage and relations with the people, and there is no mention of Hungarian king on the Baška tablet. When in 1095 Ladislaus died, the throne was contested between previously Ban now "king" Petar who ruled from Knin, identified as Petar Snačić, and Hungarian king Coloman, who fought at the Battle of Gvozd Mountain (1097), followed by Coloman's supposed signing of Pacta Conventa and recorded coronation in 1102 at Biograd na Moru. Prior to this Venetian doge also showed interest for Dalmatia and Croatia,

Demetrius Zvonimir is viewed in contemporary Croatia as the last native king who held any real power and is regarded as one of the national heroes from the medieval period. The untimely death of his son, Radovan, and the short reign of Stephen II plunged Croatia resulted in a union with Hungary lasting until 1918. The culturally and historically significant Baška tablet was inscribed shortly after his death and contains references to him and a number of his nobles of the 11th century. For the first time, the Baška tablet mentions the title of Croatian kings in Croatian: kral (kralj in modern Croatian). His name is also contained in the 11th or 12th century Jurandvor fragments from the same church in Baška, on the island of Krk,

"Zvonimir" is today a traditional and quite common Croatian name, meaning "sound, chime" (zvoni) and "peace, prestige" (mir), King Zvonimir being the first recorded bearer of the name. After him were named awards to high ranking officials in both the 1940s Independent State of Croatia (Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir, Medal of the Crown of King Zvonimir) and since the 1990s Republic of Croatia (Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir). The Croatian Navy's flagship and its most modern ship, Kralj Dmitar Zvonimir (RTOP 12), was also named after the late king. Streets, parks and schools in Croatia are named after him as well.

In c. 1063 Zvonimir married Helen, daughter of Béla I of Hungary and his wife Richeza of Poland. They had at least two children:
Radovan (c. 1065 – 1083/1089), designated heir, but died before 1089
Claudia, wife of Vniha, voivode of the Lapčan family, who received lands in Karin, Dalmatia, as her dowry.