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 Naslov: Teška Vladavina Stjepana Tomaša
PostPostano: 14 pro 2009, 22:40 
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Teška Vladavina Stjepana Tomaša (1443.-1461.)

U studenom godine 1443. umro je bosanski kralj Tvrtko II. (1420.-1443.). Kako nije imao sina da ga naslijedi, pred konac života izrazio je želju da mu nasljednik bude Stjepan Tomaš, sin Stjepana Ostoje, a ne Tomašev stariji brat Radivoj, koji se već 1432. proglasio, uz pomoć Turaka, bosanskim kraljem i tako bio protukralj Tvrtku II. Uistinu, nekoliko dana nakon smrti Tvrtka II. bosanski velikaši proglasili su boasnskim kraljem Stjepan Tomaša, koji je tako naslijedio Tvrtka II. na bosanskom prijestolju.
Unutarnje Stanje u Bosni

Stjepan Tomaš, postavši bosanski kralj, našao je vrlo nesređeno bosansko kraljevstvo: unutar same države bila je velika nesloga među velikašima, stanovništvo države bilo je vjerski vrlo podijeljeno, a na granicama bila je velika turska vojska koja je u bosansku državu od vremena do vremena upadala i stalno se miješala u bosanske prilike. Turcima je već Tvrtko II. plaćao danak, da bi ga pustili u miru. Usprkos tomu, oni su nagovorili Radivoja, sina Stjepana Ostoje, da se proglasi bosanskim kraljem, a time su imali stalan utjecaj u bosanskom kraljevstvu. Kralj Tomaš bio je uvjeren da bosanska država neće moći opstojati, ako se velikaši ne budu prestali prestali boriti, bilo međusobno bilo s kraljem. Stoga je u prvom redu tražio načina kako bi zadovoljio svoga starijeg brata Radivoja i s njim Zivio u miru. U tom je za nekoliko uspio. Poslije godine 1446. Radivoj je bio u najboljem odnosima s kraljem Tomašem i u svemu ga pomagao.

Drugi velikaš, bez kojega nije bilo mira u Bosni, bio je Stjepan Vukčić Kosača. On je bio po naravi sposoban, poduzetan, ali lukav i svadljiv. U to vrijeme bio je najugledniji bosanski velikaš. Kralju Tomašu, bilo je jasno odmah s početka da neće imati mira i sigurnosti u bosanskom kraljevstvu dok ne nađe miran način života s tim velikašem. Stoga je tražio način kako bi s njim mogao izgladiti sve razmirice i upostaviti miran odnos.

U tome ga je pomoglo njegovo traženje da uredi svoje osobno vjersko stanje. Stjepan Tomaš bio je odgojen kao bogumil ili pataren. Po svoj prilici ga je već Tvrtko II. upozorio da mora postati katolik, ako hoće išta značiti kao kralj. Možda je prigrlio katoličku vjeru već za života Tvrtka II., a sigurno je bio katolik na početku svoga vladanja. Eugen papa IV. godine 1455. govori o njemu kao o pravom katoliku.

Kad je Tomaš postao katolik, bio je oženjen nekom pučankom Vojačom i s njom imao sina Stjepana, koji je kasnije nazvan Stjepan Tomašević. Katolici su smatrali Tomašev brak nevaljanim. I papa Eugen IV. proglasio je njegovu ženidbu nevaljanom, jer je bila učinjena na bogumilski način. Kralj Stjepan Tomaš nije htio vjenčati, po katoličkom obredu, prijašnu ženu Vojaču, nego je potražio drugu. Našao je upravo u obitelji Stjepana Vukčića Kosače, 22-godišnja Katarina. Sve je bilo uređeno za vjenčanje i bosanski kralj vjenčao je Katarinu, na svečan način, u Milodražu u mjesecu svibnju godine 1446. Tim vjenčanjem uspostavljen je mir, bar za nekoliko godina, između Stjepana Kosače i bosanskog kralja Stjepana Tomaša.

Prijetnja Turaka

Glavna opasnost u ovo vrijeme čitavog kršćanskog svijeta dolazila je od Turaka koji su od vremena do vremena s vojskom navaljivali prema zapadnim krajevima i zauzimali komad do komad zemalja koje su na putu susretali. Bosna je u vrijeme kralja Stjepana Tomaša bila prva na udaru turskih napadaja. Stjepanu Tomašu otvarala su se dva puta: ili podleći turskim silama ili braniti se protiv njih pomoću kršćanskih država, koje su uviđale tursku opasnost i tražile način kako bi najlakše zapriječile tursko prodiranje prema zapadu. Već dulje vremena glavni pobornik kršćanskih naroda protiv Turaka bio je papa.

Malo prije nego je Stjepan Tomaš došao na vlast u Bosni, papa Eugen IV. pozvao je sve kršćane svijeta na kržarsku vojnu protiv Turaka, bilo da se prijave kao vojnici bilo da pridonesu pomoć za potroške križarske vojne. Papa je poslao po svim tadanjim kršćanskim kraljevima propovjednike da bi tumačili svijetu potrebnu jedne kršćanske vojne i skupljali u tu svrhu razne doprinose.

Ta nastojanja nastavljena su i za Nikole V. (1447.-1455.) za vrijeme kojega je godine 1453. pao Carigrad u turske ruke. Izgledalo je da će za vrijeme Kaliksta III. (1455.-1458.) ta nastojanja donijeti bar nekakav uspijeh kada su godine 1456. križari obranili Beograd.

Međutim, Stjepan Tomaš nije vidio gotovo nikakve koristi od tih nastojanja. Njemu je izgledalo da je ostavljen od svih i da se neće moći obraniti, ako ga Turci napanu. Stoga je odlučio u ožujku ili travnju godine 1458. zatražiti od turskog sultana uvjete za njihov međusobni mir. Sultan mu je obećao da ga neće smetati niti napadati, ako mu bude plaćao određeni godišnji danak. Stjepan Tomaš smatrao je da mora na to pristati.

Ženidba Stjepana Tomaševića

Sin Stjepana Tomaša, koji je obično zvan Stjepan Tomašević, bio je za ženidbu. Stjepan Tomaš je nastojao da ta ženidba bude u korist bosanskog kraljevstva, posebno njegove obrane od Turaka.

U srpnju godine 1456. Stjepan Tomaš poslao je u Rim izaslanstvo da bi ispitalo kakve su mogućnosti namjeravane ženidbe u Rimu. To izaslanstvo moralo je zamoliti papu u ime bosanskog kralja da bi njegov sin Stjepan dobio za ženu kćer kakva kneza ili nekoga iz kraljevskog roda.

Nekako u isto vrijeme iskrsala je mogućnost da Stjepan Tomašević uzme za ženu najstariju kćer Lazara Đorđevića, despota Srbije. O tome je Stjepan Tomaš ubrzo napravio ugovor.

Međutim, prije ženidbe Stjepana Tomaševića i Lazarove kćerke Mare (zvane i Jelena, Jelača ili Margarita) umro je 20. siječnja 1458. Lazar Đorđević. Iako je odmah iza Lazarove smrti preuzelo u despotivni upravu namjesništvo, nastale su u njoj nesigurne prilike. Stjepan Tomaš promislio je da od namjeravane ženidbe neće biti ništa. Stoga se obratio na drugo mjesto da bi našao ženu za svoga sina.

Doznao je da Milanski dužd Franjo Sfora ima kćer za udaju. Poslao je svoga izaslanika Nikolu Testu Trogiranina da zaprosi duždovu kćer za Stjepana. Testa je uspješno započeo pregovore, koje je trebalo kasnije završiti.

Nakon početne nestalnosti u srpskoj despotovini, poslije smrti Lazara Đorđevića, s vremenom su prilike nastale jasnije i sigurnije. Namjesništvo je došlo do odluke da je despotovinu najbolje u onim prilikama pozvati na vlast Stjepana Tomaševića i obnoviti pregovore o njegovoj Zenidbi s kćerkom kneza Lazara. Pregovori su završili odlukom da se ujedini Bosna i srpska despotovina ženidbom nasljednice u despotovini s nasljednikom u bosanskom kraljevstvu. Tu odluku Mađarska je smatrala prihvatljivom. U siječnju 1459. Mađarski sabor pozdravio je ujedinjenje kraljevine Bosne sa srpskom despotovinom, jer se smatrao da će tako lakše oduprijeti Turcima. Stjepan Tomaš, koji je prisustvovao tom saboru, priznao je mađarskog kralja svojim gospodarom, a kralj Matija se obvezao braniti Bosnu od Turaka.

Kad su Turci saznali za odluke mađarskog sabora, naredili su vojsci da zauzme Bobovac, u kojem je bio Stjepan Tomašević, i Vranduk u kojem se nalazio Tomašev brat Radivoj. Ova dvojica saznali su za namjere Turaka i pobjegli u despotolovinu. Ondje je Stjepan Tomašević 21. ožujka 1459. uzeo vlast, a 1. travnja iste godine vjenčao je Lazarovu kćerku Maru.

Dolazak Stjepana Tomaševića na vlast u despotolovini Turci su shvatili kao izazov. Smatrali su da je on povrijedio njihovo pravo, jer su despotovinu smatrali svojom vazalnom zemljom. Toga je bio svjestan Stjepan Tomašević, pa je tražio stvarnu i ozbiljnu pomoć od mađara čim je doznao da Turci krenu na njegovu državu prema Smederevu, gdje je bila njegova prijestolnica. Budući da nije dobio nikakve pomoći, kad su Turci došli pred Smederevo, zajedno sa svojom rodbinom bez otpora napustio je grad. Turci su bez borbe ušli u Smederevo 20. lipnja 1459.

Pad Smedereva posebno u Mađarskoj pobudio je iznenađenje i strah. Tim su bila otvorna vrata Turcima prema Mađarskoj. Mađarima je bilo na osobit način sumnjivo da je grad pao bez ikakvog otpora. Kralj Matijaš javno je tvrdio da je grad pao radi izdaje.

Sastanak u Mantovi

Malo prije pada Smedereva papa Pio II. otvorio je 1. lipnja 1459 sastanak kršćanskih vladara u Mantovi, koje je pozvao da se rasprave kako se oduprijeti turskoj pogibli.

Čim je kralj Stjepan Tomaš saznao o sastanku u Mantovi, poslao je svoga izaslanika Nikolu Testu, da bi potajno izložio sakupljenim vladarima i njihovim izaslanicima bosanske prilike i zatražio pomoć protiv Turaka.

Bosanski izaslanik napustio je Mantovu prije hego je ondje došla vijest da je palo Smederevo. Ali kad se to doznalo, proširila se vijest da je Stjepan Tomašević prodao Smederevo.

U tim prilikama preostajao mu je da se preda Turcima ili da uvjeri kršćanske narode kako se on iskreno i svim snagama želi oduprijeti Turcima.

Budući da je u Bosni bila jaka skupina heretika, t.j. bogumila ili patarena, Bosna je odavno smatrana nesigurnom zemljom. Stjepan Tomaš došao je do uvjerenja da mora u svojoj državi uništiti vjersku podijeljenost i urediti je po uzoru na ostale kršćanske države. U tim prilikama odlučio se na jedan presudan korak. Naložio je da svi bogumili postanu katolici. Tko se ne bi htio pokoriti toj kraljevoj odredbi, mora napustiti kraljevstvo ostavivši sva svoja dobra.

Ta Tomaševa odredba izdana je u drugoj polovici godine 1459., nakon pisma kralja Matijaša koji je 12. srpnja 1459. optuživao kralja Tomaša radi izdaje, a prije 7. lipnja 1460. kada je Pio II. uvjeravao kralja Matijaša da Stjepan Tomaš nastoji biti pravi katolik, a dokaz je i to što je protjerao opasne patarene.

Stjepan Tomaš svoju odluku da istjera iz svoje zemlje heretike, koji se nisu htjeli pokrstiti, htio je saopćiti sastanku u Mantovi, a posebno papi. Nije se mogao obratiti Tomi biskupu hvarskom, koji mu je toliko usluga prije napravio jer je bio star i teško mu je bilo putovati, da bi otišao u Mantovu, nego se obratio ninskom biskupu Natal, koji je u prosincu 1459. otišao u Mantovu da izloži papi i saboru novo stanje u bosanskom kraljevstvu.

Velik broj bogumila prihvatio je odredbu Stjepana Tomaša. Ali samo prihvaćanje nije značilo promjenu života. Trebali su naučiti šta znači katolički živjeti. Stoga je kralj Tomaš, bez sumnje u dogovoru s biskupom Natalom, poslao trojicu uglednih bogumila u Rim da ih papa pouči u katoličkom vjerovanju i življenju. Ta trojica bili su Jure Kučinić, Stojsav Tvrtković, i Radmil Večinić. U Rim su pošli u listopadu 1460. Došavši u Rim Natal je trojicu predveo pred papu. Pred papom su se pojavili svezani. Možda je Natal htio dati takvim dolasku nešto slikovito značenje. Papa Pio II. razmjestio je tri bogumila po nekim samostanima u Rimu u kojima su imali mogućnost proučavati kršćanske istine.

Ta tri bogumila ostali su u Rimu oko pola godine učeći kršćanski nauk. Po svoj prilici pomagali su ih svećenici hrvatskoga jezika koji su se tada nalazili u Rimu. Na koncu papa naložio glasovitom kardinalu Ivanu Torquemadi da sakupi sve manihejske zablude, bar glavne, jer su bosanski bogumili predstavljeni u Rimu kao maniheji, i izloži razloge zbog čega su one krive i zbog čega ih treba odbaciti. Na temelju toga spisa tri bogumila bili bi kasnije sigurniji u svom vjerovanju i ako bi nešto zaboravili, mogli bi iz toga spisa ponoviti.

Kardinal Troquemada proučio je manihejsku nauku, ispitivao bogumile i našao 50 zabluda. Pri ruci su mu bili hrvatski svećenici, a posebno Luka de Talentis, korčulanski arciđakon, koji je tada bio u službi papinske kurije. On je na koncu rastumačio trijici spis kardinala Torquemade i na temelju toga spisa oni su se odrekli 14. svibnja 1461. svih manihejskih zabluda i obećali da će nastojati uvjeriti sve svoje bivše sumišljenike da bi se i oni odrekli manihejskih zabluda.

Nakon svečane odreke zabluda trojica su se povratila u Bosnu. Dvojica su održali obećanje, a jedan se povratio staroj nauci i otišao u krajeve gdje je vladao Stjepan Vukčić Kosača.

Biskup Natal Papin Izaslanik U Bosni

Kad je biskup Natal predao u Rimu trojicu bogumila, vratio se u Zadar da pripravi svoj put u Bosnu, jer ga je papa usmeno imenovao svojim izaslanikom kod kralja Tomaša. U Zadru je našao Fra Marijana iz Sijene, franjevca toskanske provincije koji se prezimenom zvao Cecchi Sozini. On je već godine 1456. na istočnoj obali Jadranskog mora propovijedao križarsku vojnu protiv Turaka, skupljao pomoć u novcu i naravi te novačio ljude koji bi htjeli stupiti u vojsku kao križari.

Fra Marijan je primio vrlo radio poziv ninskog biskupa Natala da mu bude pratilac na njegovu putu u Bosnu. Pošli su iz Zadra u siječnju 1461. Kupili su potrebne konje i na njima krenuli prema bosanskom kraljevstvu. S njima dvojica išao je biskupov bratić Petar, koji je stalno živio kod biskupa. Došli su do Livna, koji se svao Bistrica. Tu je biskup, nevješt jahanju, pao s konja i smrtno se ozlijedio. Zbog te teške ozlijede biskup je ubrzo umro.

U bolesti biskupa je njegovao Fra Marijan. Na smrti mu je podijelio sakramente i saslušao njegove posljednje Zelje. Njegove smrtne ostatke pokopao je 28. siječnja 1461. kod livanjske utvrde Bistrice. Zatim se odmah vratio u Zadar zajedno s biskupovim bratićem Petrom. U Zadar su stigli 7. veljače iste godine.

Zanimljivo je da biskup Natal nije mogao čekati pismeno imenovanje za izaslanika. Ono je izašlo nakon smrti biskupa Natala.

Smrt Kralja Stjepana Tomaša

Tako je Stjepan Tomas uzalud čekao papinu pomoć da učvrsti svoje kraljevstvo u onim teškim vremenima. Nije ni on dugo živio nakon smrti biskupa Natala. Prema ljetopiscu Ivanu Tomašiću on je umro 10. srpnja 1461. Po njegovim tvrdnjama umorili su ga njegov brat Radivoj i sin Stjepana kada je pokrenuo vojsku protiv krbavskih knezova Kurjakovića. Iako nemamo suvremenih vijesti o Tomaševoj smrti, sigurno je da je umro prije kolovoza te godine, a vodio je vojsku na Kurjakoviće malo prije, u srpnju.


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Izvor: Bazilije Pandžić, "Teška Vladavina Stjepana Tomaša (1443.-1461.)" Hrvatski Kalendar 1995 Str. 128-133


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 Naslov: Re: Teška Vladavina Stjepana Tomaša
PostPostano: 14 pro 2009, 22:41 
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The Difficult Reign of Stjepan Tomas (1443-1461)

In November of 1463 Bosnian King Tvrtko II (1420-1443) died. Because he did not have a son to inherit his throne, he wanted his successor to be Stjepan Tomas, the son of Stjepan Ostoja, and not Tomas's brother Radivoj who was proclaimed Bosnian king by the Turks in 1432, and thus was a rival to Tvrtko II. In truth, several days after the death of Tvrtko II, Bosnian nobles proclaimed Stjepan Tomas as the Bosnian king, who succeeded Tvrtko II on the Bosnian throne.

The Internal Situation in Bosnia

Stjepan Tomas, after becoming the Bosnian king, found a Bosnian kingdom in disarray: inside the state were major disagreements among the nobles, and the populace was religiously divided (1), and on its borders was a large Turkish army who would attack from time to time and interfere in Bosnia's state of affairs. Tvrtko II had already paid tribute to the Turks so they could leave him alone. On the contrary, the Turks convinced Radivoj, the son of Stjepan Ostoja to proclaim himself the Bosnian king, and with that had permanent influence in the kingdom of Bosnia. King Tomas believed that the Bosnian state would not survive if the nobles did not stop fighting either amongst themselves or with the king. His first order of business was to placate his older brother Radivoj and live with him in peace. Several years later Stjepan Tomas succeeded. After 1446, Radivoj was on the best terms with King Tomas and assisted him with everything.

Another noble with whom there could be no peace in Bosnia, was Stjepan Vukcic Kosaca. He was by nature, hard-working, industrious and quarrelsome. At that time he was the most respected Bosnian nobleman. It was clear at the beginning to King Tomas that he would not have peace in the Bosnian kingdom if he could not find peaceful co-existence with this nobleman. King Tomas searched for a means as to smooth differences with Stjepan Vukcic Kosaca and create a peaceful relationship.

It helped Stjepan Tomas that he wanted to put his religious life into order. Stjepan Tomas was raised as a Bogumil or a Patarin. King Tvrtko II had already cautioned him to become a Catholic if he had wanted to amount to anything as king. Maybe Stjepan Tomas had already embraced the Catholic faith during Tvrtko II's lifetime, but was certainly a Catholic at the start of his reign. Pope Eugene IV in 1455 spoke of Stjepan Tomas as a proper Catholic.

When Tomas became a Catholic, he was married to the commoner Vojaca, and had a son Stjepan with her, who was later called Stjepan Tomasevic. The Catholics considered Tomas's marriage as wrong. Even Pope Eugene IV proclaimed Stjepan Tomas's marriage as wrong because it was carried out according to the Bogumil faith. King Stjepan Tomas did not want to marry his former wife Vojaca according to Catholic custom, but rather found another wife. He found her in the family of Stjepan Vukcic Kosaca. 22 year-old Katarina was the first child of Stjepan Vukcic Kosaca. Everything was prepared for marriage, and the Bosnian king married Katarina in a celebratory fashion in Milodraz in May of 1446. With this marriage peace was made, at least for several years, between Stjepan Kosaca and Bosnian king Stjepan Tomas.

The Turkish Threat

The main danger to the Christian world at this time came from the Turks who would attack western regions from time to time and would take over piece by piece the lands that were in their way. Bosnia was, during the reign of King Stjepan Tomas, on the forefront of Turkish attacks. Two routes were open to Stjepan Tomas: either submit to Turkish power, or to defend against it with the help of Christian countries, who saw the Turkish threat and looked for methods to facilitate stopping Turkish expansion towards the West. For some time now, the Pope was the main defender of the Christian people against the Turks.

Just prior to Stjepan Tomas coming to power in Bosnia, Pope Eugene IV called all Christians in the world on a military crusade against the Turks, either to enlist as soldiers or to secure aid for the expenses of the crusader army. The Pope had sent preachers to the then Christian regions to explain to the people the need for one Christian army and to collect various donations on that behalf.

These endeavors continued during the papacy of Nicholas V (1477-1455), during which in 1453 Constantinople fell into Turkish hands. It looked as though during the papacy of Callistus III (1455-1458) that these endeavors might achieve at least some results when in 1456 the crusaders defended Belgrade.

In the meanwhile, Stjepan Tomas did not see any use from these endeavors. It seemed to him that everybody had abandoned him, and that he would not be able to defend himself if the Turks attacked. attacked. In March or April of 1458 he requested of the Sultan conditions for peace among them. The Sultan truthfully promised that he would not bother him or attack him, if he were paid a set yearly tribute. Stjepan Tomas believed he had to accept that.

The Marriage of Stjepan Tomasevic

The son of Stjepan Tomas, who is commonly called Stjepan Tomasevic, was ready for marriage. Stjepan Tomas wanted that the marriage be beneficial for the Bosnian kingdom, especially in its defense against the Turks.

In July of 1456, Stjepan Tomas sent a delegation to Rome to see what the possibilities were of a marriage in Rome. This delegation had to ask the Pope in the name of the Bosnian king that his son Stjepan could get a wife from some prince or of royal blood.

Somehow, at the same time, the possibility arose that Stjepan Tomasevic could take the oldest daughter of Lazar Dordevic, Despot of Serbia, as his wife (2). Stjepan Tomas quickly made an agreement.

However, before the marriage of Stjepan Tomasevic and Lazar's daughter Mara, also called Jelena, Jelaca or Margarita, Lazar Dordevic died on January 20, 1458. Even though the vice-regency took over the administration of the despotate, an uncertain situation arose. Stjepan Tomas believed that nothing would come from the planned marriage. So he went elsewhere to find a wife for his son.

Stjepan Tomas heard that the doge of Milan, Francis I Sforza had a daugher for marriage. He sent his representative Nikola Testa Trogiranin to ask the doge's daughter to marry Stjepan. Testa successfully began negotiations which, needed to conclude later.

After the uncertainty in the Serbian Despotate began, after the death of Lazar Dordevic, in time the situation became clearer and certain. The vice-regency came to the decision that in these times it would be best for the despotate to invite Stjepan Tomasevic to rule and renew negotiations for his marriage to the daughter of Prince Lazar. The negotiations ended with the decision to unite Bosnia and the Serbian Despotate with the marriage of the successor to the despotate to the successor of the Bosnian kingdom. Hungary had believed this was an acceptable decision. In January of 1459 the Hungarian parliament welcomed the unification of the Kingdom of Bosnia to the Serbian Despotate, because they believed it would be easier to resist the Turks. Stjepan Tomas who was present at the parliament, recognized the Hungarian king as his sovereign, and King Matthias (3) concerned himself with the defense of Bosnia from the Turks.

When the Turks heard the decision of the Hungarian parliament, they ordered their army to take Bobovac, where Stjepan Tomasevic resided and Vranduk, where Tomas's brother Radivoj lived. These two found out the Turk's intentions and fled into the despotate. Stjepan Tomasevic took power there on March 21, 1459 and on April 1st of the same year married Lazar's daugher Mara.

The arrival of Stjepan Tomasevic to rule the despotate was viewed as a provocation by the Turks. The Turks believed that their rights were infringed upon, because they saw the despotate as their vassal state. Stjepan Tomasevic was aware of that and asked for real and serious help from the Hungarians when he heard that the Turks were in heading towards his state in the direction of Smederevo, where his throne was located. Because he did not receive any help, when the Turks came to Smederevo, Stjepan Tomasevic, together with his family abandoned the city. The Turks entered Smederevo on June 20, 1459.

The fall of Smederevo caused surprise and fear especially in Hungary. The doors to Hungary were open for the Turks. The Hungarians personally found it suspicious that Smederevo fell without a fight. King Matthias openly stated that the city fell because of betrayal.

Meeting in Mantua

Just prior to the fall of Smederevo, Pope Pius II convened a congress of Christian rulers in Mantua on June 1, 1449, which he called so they could discuss how to resist Turkish destruction.

As soon as Stjepan Tomas heard about the meeting in Mantua, he sent his representative Nikola Testa to secretly inform the gathered rulers and their representatives of the situation in Bosnia and to request aid against the Turks.

The Bosnian representative left Mantua before the news of Smederevo's fall arrived there. When it arrived, news spread that Stjepan Tomasevic sold out Smederevo.

Stjepan Tomas was disheartened with the fall of Smederevo, because he found himself in a hopeless situation: he couldn't resist by himself, and he didn't believe he would get help from the Christian leaders ever since they heard that his son sold out Smederevo.

In this situation, he could surrender to the Turks or convince the Christian peoples that he honestly and with all his power wanted to resist the Turks.

Because Bosnia had a strong group of heretics, the Bogumils or Patarins, Bosnia was considered an unstable country for a long time. Stjepan Tomas came to the belief that he had to destroy religious division in his country and model on other Christian countries. At this opportunity he chose a decisive step. He stated that all Bogumils become Catholics. Who didn't follow the king's decree would have to leave the kingdom and leave all their possessions.

Tomas's decree was given during the second half of 1459, after a letter from King Matthias which on July 12, 1459 accused King Tomas for treason and before June 7 1460, when Pope Pius II stated to King Matthias that Stjepan Tomas wanted to be a proper Catholic, and the proof was that he had expelled the dangerous Patarins.

Stjepan Tomas wanted to inform the meeting at Mantua and especially the Pope of his decision to expel heretics from his country. Tomas could not ask Tomo the Bishop of Hvar, who had done him many favors in the past because he was old and it was difficult for him to travel to Mantua, but rather he went to Natal the Bishop of Nin, who in December of 1459 went to Mantua to inform the Pope and the meeting of the new situation in the Bosnian kingdom.

A large number of Bogumils had accepted Stjepan Tomas's decree. But acceptance did not mean a change in lifestyle. They had to learn what it meant to live as a Catholic. Which is why Stjepan Tomas, without suspicion in an agreement with Bishop Natal, sent three well-known Bogumils to Rome so that the Pope could teach them in the Catholic faith and living. In this trio were Jure Kucinic, Stojsav Tvrtkovic, and Radmil Vecinic. They went to Rome in October of 1460. Arriving in Rome, Natal took this trio to the Pope. They came to the Pope bound. Maybe Natal had wanted to give an illustrated meaning to this arrival. Pope Pius II put the three Bogumils in monasteries in Rome where they had the opportunity to study the Christian truth.

These three Bogumils stayed in Rome for half a year to study Christian doctrine. They had priests that spoke Croatian lived in Rome to help them. At the end, the Pope had requested that the well known Cardinal Juan de Torquemada gather all manichaean sinners, at least the major ones, because the Bosnian Bogumils were introduced in Rome as manichaeans, and show the reasons for which they were wrong and because of which should reject. On the basis of that list, the three Bogumils could later, to be sure of their faith and if they had forgotten something, could renew themselves by looking at the list.

Cardinal de Torquemada studied the manichaean doctrine, tested the Bogumils and found 50 errors. He had Croatian priests with him, especially Luka de Talentis the Archdeacon of Korcula who was in the service of the Papal Curate. He finally translated the list of Cardinal de Torquemada to the trio and on the basis of that list, on May 14, 1461 they renounced all manichaean errors and promised that they would persuade all of their former like minded believers so they could renounce manichaean errors.

After a ceremonial rejection of errors, the trio returned to Bosnia. Two of them held to their promise, while the third returned to his old faith and went into the regions which were ruled by Stjepan Vukcic Kosaca.

Bishop Natal - The Pope's Representative to Bosnia

When Bishop Natal handed over the three Bogumils in Rome, he returned to Zadar to prepare for his journey into Bosnia, because the Pope had verbally named him as his representative to King Tomas. He found friar Marijan from Siena, a Franciscan from the Tuscany province in Zadar whose last name was Cecchi Sozini. Since 1456 he preached a military crusade against the Turks on the Eastern coast of the Adriatic sea, collected help in money and promises and trained people who would join the army as crusaders.

Friar Marijan accepted without hesitation the invitation of the Bishop of Nin, Natal to accompany him on his journey to Bosnia. They left Zadar in January of 1461. They bought the necessary horses and on them and went towards the Bosnian kingdom. The bishop's nephew Petar who permanently resided with the bishop went with them. They came to Livno, which was then called Bistrica. Unaccustomed to riding, the bishop fell from his horse here and was fatally injured. Because of his major wounds, the bishop quickly died.

Friar Marijan nursed the bishop's wounds. At the time of his death, friar Marijan performed last rites and listened to his final wishes. His mortal remains were buried on January 28, 1461 near Livno's Bistrica castle. Afterwards he returned to Zadar together with the bishop's nephew Petar. They arrived in Zadar on February 7th of the same year.

The Death of King Stjepan Tomas

Stjepan Tomas waited the Pope's aid to strengthen his kingdom in those difficult times. He did not live much longer after the death of Bishop Natal. According to the chronicler Ivan Tomasic, he died on July 10, 1461. According to his statements, Stjepan Tomas was killed by his brother Radivoj and son Stjepan (4), when they moved their army against the Princes of Krbava, the Kurjakovics. Even though we do not have contemporary news of Tomas's death, it is certain that he died before August of that year, and led his army against the Kurjakovics prior to that, in July.


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Notes:
1. This statement is somewhat misleading. Catholicism was the main religion of Bosnia, but most of the nobles were Bogumils. With only one exception, all of the Bosnian Kings were or became Catholic. Noel Malcom postulates in his book Bosnia A Short History that the Bogumil or Bosnian Church never had a huge membership (page 42). There was a minority of people that belonged to the Orthodox Church as well.

2. The Despotate of Serbia was a Turkish vassal that existed for some 70 years after the Battle of Kosova. With the fall of Smederevo in 1459, the medieval Serbian state ceases to exist. The Hungarians would hold on to Belgrade for another 60 years after that.

3. Matthias Corvinus (1443?-1490) was king of Hungary from 1458-90. He gained a reputation as a crusader against the Ottomans.

4. According to Vjekoslav Klaic, a noted Croatian historian, Tomasic's account is suspect. Had Radivoj and Stjepan Tomasevic killed Stjepan Tomas there certainly would have been a contemporary account of the incident. Klaic points out that on August 20 that Venice had heard that Stjepan Tomas died one day, and that Stjepan Tomasevic ascended onto the Bosnian throne. Povijest Hrvata Knjiga 4 pp 46-46.

Source: Bazilije Pandzic, "Teska Vladavina Stjepana Tomasa (1443.-1461.)" Hrvatski Kalendar 1995 pp. 128-133


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