Bosnian Crusade
| Bosnian Crusade | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theCrusades | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Kingdom of Hungary | Banate of Bosnia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Coloman of Hungary | Matej Ninoslav | ||||||||
TheBosnian Crusadewas fought against unspecifiedhereticsfrom 1235 until 1241. It was, essentially, aHungarianwar of conquestagainst theBanate of Bosniasanctioned as acrusade.Led by the Hungarian princeColoman,the crusaders succeeded in conquering only peripheral parts of the country. They were followed byDominicans,who erected a cathedral and put heretics todeath by burning.The crusade came to an abrupt end when Hungary itself was invaded by the Mongols during theMongol invasion of Europe.The crusaders were forced to withdraw and engage their own invaders, most of them perishing, including Coloman. Later popes called for more crusades against Bosnia, but none ever took place. The failed crusade led to mistrust and hatred for Hungarians among the Bosnian population that lasted for centuries.
Background[edit]
Several crusades were called against Bosnia, a country long deemed infested with heresy by both the rest ofCatholic Europeand itsEastern Orthodoxneighbours. The first crusade was averted in April 1203, when Bosnians underBan Kulinpromised to practice Christianity according to the Roman Catholic rite and recognized the spiritual supremacy of thePope.Kulin also reaffirmed the secular supremacy of thekings of Hungaryover Bosnia. In effect, however, the independence of both theBosnian ChurchandBanate of Bosniacontinued to grow.[1]
At the height of theAlbigensian Crusadeagainst FrenchCatharsin the 1220s, a rumour broke out that a "Cathar antipope", calledNicetas,was residing in Bosnia. It has never been clear whether Nicetas existed, but the neighbouring Hungarians took advantage of the spreading rumour to reclaimsuzeraintyover Bosnia, which had been growing increasingly independent.[2]Bosnians were accused of being sympathetic toBogomilism,a Christian sect closely related to Catharism and likewisedualist.[3]In 1221, the concern finally promptedPope Honorius IIIto preach a crusade against Bosnia.[2]He repeated this in 1225, but internal problems prevented the Hungarians from answering his call.[1]
Honorius III's successor,Pope Gregory IX,accused the Catholicbishop of Bosniahimself of sheltering heretics, in addition to illiteracy,simony,ignorance of thebaptismal formulaand failure to celebratemassandsacraments.He was duly deposed in 1233 and replaced with a GermanDominicanprelate,John of Wildeshausen,the first non-Bosnian bishop of Bosnia. The same year, BanMatthew Ninoslavabandoned an unspecified heresy, but this did not satisfy Gregory.[1]
Conflict[edit]
In 1234, Pope Gregory IX issued another call for crusade, and this time Hungary readily responded. While it is possible that the Bosnians had failed to align their church with Rome, the crusade actually served as a perfect excuse for the Hungarians to expand their authority.[1]Gregory promisedindulgenceto prospective crusaders and entrustedColoman,younger son ofAndrew IIand brother ofBéla IV,with executing the military action.[3][4]Coloman and his followers were put under protection of theHoly See.[4]Neither the enemies nor the targeted region were precisely named in the letters the Pope sent to Coloman and the Bishop of Bosnia. He referred to "Slavonia", mentioning "lands of Bosnia" only in the letter to the Bishop. It is generally understood that, by "Slavonia", he meant Bosnia and its surroundings,Slaviclands, or even to actualSlavonia.The fact that the Bishop of Bosnia was informed, however, makes it clear that Bosnia itself was targeted. The action seems to have been taken against Bosnians in general as only "heretics" are mentioned; it is implied in one source that the crusade was directed against dualists.[4]
Active fighting began in 1235, but the Hungarian army only reachedBosnia properthree years later. The delay may have been caused by the popular resistance in the north of the country, namelySoli,where the mountainous terrain helped "many heretics" defend against the crusaders.[1][4]In August 1236, Pope Gregory ordered the crusaders not to pester Matthew Ninoslav's relativeSibislav,knezofUsora,or his mother, both "good Catholics" among heretical nobility, "lilies among thorns".[4]Vrhbosnaapparently fell in 1238, when a cathedral was constructed by Dominicans who followed the crusaders. The crusaders failed to conquer all of Bosnia, however, as Matthew Ninoslav continued to act as ban throughout the conflict in the central parts of his realm, where Dominicans never set foot. The order took control of theCatholic Church in Bosnia,now led by a new bishop, a Hungarian namedPonsa.The Dominicans recorded that some heretics wereburned at the stake,but do not appear to have discovered anything about the nature of the heresy. The crusaders then either reached as far south asZachlumiaor intended to do so.[1]
Then, in 1241, theMongol invasion of Europesaved Bosnia. The Mongols underBatu Khan,havingsubdued and devastatedKievan Rus',invaded Hungary. The Hungarian troops were forced to withdraw from Bosnia and face their own invaders. Much of their army was wiped out in theBattle of Mohi;Coloman, commander of the crusaders, was among those killed. The Mongols plunderedDalmatia,Croatia,Zeta,SerbiaandBulgaria.Their attack proved disastrous for all of the Balkans but Bosnia. The crusaders were annihilated, never to return.[1]Bosnia retook the occupied territories and maintained its level of independence following what turned out to be a Hungarianwar of conquestsanctioned as a crusade.[5]
Aftermath and legacy[edit]
The threat of newreligious persecutionin Bosnia reappeared within a few years of the war.Pope Innocent IVbegan urging the Hungarians to undertake another crusade in late 1246 and 1247, and they appeared willing. Matthew Ninoslav argued that he only associated with heretics to defend Bosnia against Hungarian invaders.[1]He appears to have convinced Innocent,[1]who suspended the crusade in March 1248.[4]
A crusade against Bosnia was preached again in 1337–38 and 1367, by popesBenedict XIIandUrban V,respectively, but in drastically different political circumstances. Hungary was ruled by a new dynasty, theCapetian Angevins,who supported theKotromanićrulers of Bosnia.[1]KingCharles Robertonce declared that any Hungarian who attacked Bosnia, ruled by his friendStephen II,would be regarded as a traitor.[4]The only significant impact the Bosnian Crusade had was augmenting theanti-Hungarian sentimentamong the Bosnians, a major factor in Bosnian politics that contributed to theOttoman conquest of Bosniain 1463[1]and lasted beyond it.[4]
References[edit]
- ^abcdefghijkVan Antwerp Fine, John(1994),The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest,University of Michigan Press, pp. 143–146, 277,ISBN0472082604
- ^abLock, Peter (2013).The Routledge Companion to the Crusades.Routledge. p. 172.ISBN978-1135131371.
- ^abSedlar, Jean W. (2011).East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500.University of Washington Press. p. 229.ISBN978-0295800646.
- ^abcdefghVan Antwerp Fine, John(2007),The Bosnian Church: Its Place in State and Society from the Thirteenth to the Fifteenth Century,Saqi, pp. 126, 132,ISBN978-0863565038
- ^Hamilton, Janet; Hamilton, Bernard; Stoyanov, Yuri (1998).Christian Dualist Heresies in the Byzantine World, C. 650-c. 1450: Selected Sources.Manchester University Press. p.265.ISBN071904765X.