Croatia (duchy)

Part of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Duchy of Croatia is the most southern extension of the kingdom. It is greatly reduced from its extent prior to the invasion of the Ottoman Turks into Hungary, when the duchy included Slavonia and Bosnia; today it is a bulwark of the Habsburgs against the Turkish army.

The duchy has a total area of 9 hexes, with a density of 2,254 persons per hex, by far the lowest in Royal Hungary. It is bordered on the southwest and west by the Kingdom of the Habsburgs (Banovina & Lower Styria); on the north by the March of the West Border; and on the east and southeast by the Ottoman Empire (Bakony & Slavonia). It has a population of 20,282.

History

Following its occupation by Celts, Romans and Avars, Croatian identity begins in the first half of the 7th century with the invasion of the Croats, part of a larger group of Slavs that migrated from northern Anatolia and Persia into depopulated areas of the Balkans. The Duchy of Croatia was consolidated in 818 under Borna of Croatia, a vassal of the Frankish Empire.

The region became Christianized throughout the 9th century, receiving Papal recognition in 879. The duchy became a kingdom in 925 under Tomislav, who succeeded in defeating Hungarian and Bulgarian invasions and spreading the influence of the kingdom into districts to the south. The kingdom reached its peak with Petar Kresimir IV (1058-1074) and Dmitar Zvonimir (1075-1089). With the demise of King Stjepan in 1091, however, ending the Trpimirovic Dynasty that had ruled the nation since 845, Hungary's Laszlo the Saint claimed the crown. This led to war and the subjugation of Croatia to Hungary in 1102, under which it continued as a subordinate kingdom.

After more than two centuries of war with the Venetians, beginning in 1205, Croatia would lose its Dalmatian lands by 1428. Bosnia was lost in 1463, Lika and Tinin in 1493 (following the Battle of Krbava Field) and Slavonia in 1526, all to the Ottoman Empire. After the disastrous fall of Hungary in the Battle of Mohacs (also in 1526), Croatia separated itself from Hungary and voted a Habsburg king, Ferdinand I, the rule. However, as the Habsburgs retained greater influence over the region, Croatia was reduced again to a duchy and reorganized as a part of Royal Hungary. Following the Battle of Sisak, in 1593, it has been a militarized Captaincy defending a largely stabilized border.

Population

Production

Croatia possesses a sustenance-based economy and produces no marketable goods.

See sheet map D 02 ~ Carpathians.

World