Editing Croats (section)

==History==
{{Further|History of Croatia}}

===Arrival of the Slavs===
{{main|Origin hypotheses of the Croats|White Croatia|White Croats|Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe}}

[[Early Slavs]], especially [[Sclaveni]] and [[Antae]], including the [[White Croats]], invaded and settled [[Southeastern Europe]] in the 6th and 7th century.{{sfn|Fine|1991|pp=26–41}}

====Early medieval archaeology====
Archaeological evidence shows population continuity in coastal [[Dalmatia]] and [[Istria]]. In contrast, much of the [[Dinaric Alps|Dinaric]] hinterland and appears to have been depopulated, as virtually all hilltop settlements, from [[Noricum]] to [[Dardania (Roman province)|Dardania]], were abandoned and few appear destroyed in the early 7th century. Although the dating of the earliest Slavic settlements was disputed, recent archaeological data established that the migration and settlement of the Slavs/Croats have been in late 6th and early 7th century.<ref name="Belos00">{{cite journal |last1=Belošević |first1=Janko |date=2000 |title=Razvoj i osnovne značajke starohrvatskih grobalja horizonta 7.-9. stoljeća na povijesnim prostorima Hrvata |url=https://morepress.unizd.hr/journals/index.php/pov/article/view/2231 |language=hr |journal=Radovi |volume=39 |issue=26 |pages=71–97 |doi=10.15291/radovipov.2231 |doi-access=free |access-date=3 July 2022 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326033632/https://morepress.unizd.hr/journals/index.php/pov/article/view/2231 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Fabijanić |first=Tomislav |date=2013 |chapter=14C date from early Christian basilica gemina in Podvršje (Croatia) in the context of Slavic settlement on the eastern Adriatic coast |title=The early Slavic settlement of Central Europe in the light of new dating evidence |location=Wroclaw |publisher=Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences |pages=251–260 |isbn=978-83-63760-10-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bekić |first1=Luka |date=2012 |chapter=Keramika praškog tipa u Hrvatskoj |title=Dani Stjepana Gunjače 2, Zbornik radova sa Znanstvenog skupa "Dani Sjepana Gunjače 2": Hrvatska srednjovjekovna povijesno-arheološka baština, Međunarodne teme |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348572968 |location=Split |publisher=Muzej hrvatskih arheoloških spomenika |pages=21–35 |isbn=978-953-6803-36-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bekić |first1=Luka |date=2016 |title=Rani srednji vijek između Panonije i Jadrana: ranoslavenski keramički i ostali arheološki nalazi od 6. do 8. stoljeća |trans-title=Early medieval between Pannonia and the Adriatic: early Slavic ceramic and other archaeological finds from the sixth to eighth century |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348500715 |location=Pula |publisher=Arheološki muzej Istre |language=hr, en |pages=101, 119, 123, 138–140, 157–162, 173–174, 177–179 |isbn=978-953-8082-01-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bilogrivić |first1=Goran |date=2018 |title=Urne, Slaveni i Hrvati. O paljevinskim grobovima i doseobi u 7. stoljeću |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/220231 |language=hr |journal=Zbornik Odsjeka za Povijesne Znanosti Zavoda za Povijesne i Društvene Znanosti Hrvatske Akademije Znanosti i Umjetnosti |volume=36 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.21857/ydkx2crd19 |s2cid=189548041 |access-date=3 July 2022 |archive-date=12 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212004535/https://hrcak.srce.hr/220231 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Croat ethnogenesis====
[[File:Distribution of Croatian ethnonym in the Middle Ages.jpg|thumb|255px|left|The range of Slavic ceramics of the [[Penkovka culture|Prague-Penkovka culture]] marked in black, all known ethnonyms of Croats are within this area. Presumable migration routes of Croats are indicated by arrows, per V.V. Sedov (1979).]]
Much uncertainty revolves around the exact circumstances of their appearance given the scarcity of literary sources during the 7th and 8th century [[Middle Ages]]. Traditionally, scholarship has placed the arrival of the [[White Croats]] from [[White Croatia|Great/White Croatia]] in Eastern Europe in the early 7th century, primarily on the basis of the later [[Byzantine]] document ''[[De Administrando Imperio]]''. As such, the arrival of the Croats was seen as part of main wave or a second wave of Slavic migrations, which took over Dalmatia from [[Avar Khaganate|Avar hegemony]]. However, as early as the 1970s, scholars questioned the reliability of [[Constantine VII|Porphyrogenitus]]' work, written as it was in the 10th century. Rather than being an accurate historical account, ''De Administrando Imperio'' more accurately reflects the political situation during the 10th century. It mainly served as Byzantine propaganda praising Emperor [[Heraclius]] for repopulating the [[Balkans]] (previously devastated by the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], [[Sclaveni]] and [[Antes (people)|Antes]]) with Croats, who were seen by the Byzantines as tributary peoples living on what had always been 'Roman land'.<ref>{{Harvard citation text|Curta|2006|p=138}}</ref>

Scholars have hypothesized the name Croat (''Hrvat'') may be [[Iranian languages|Iranian]], thus suggesting that the Croatians were possibly a [[Sarmatians|Sarmatian]] tribe from the [[Pontus (region)|Pontic]] region who were part of a larger movement at the same time that the Slavs were moving toward the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]]. The major basis for this connection was the perceived similarity between ''Hrvat'' and [[Tanais Tablets|inscriptions]] from the [[Tanais]] dated to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, mentioning the name {{transliteration|grc|Khoro(u)athos}}. Similar arguments have been made for an alleged [[Goths|Gothic]]-Croat link. Whilst there is possible evidence of population continuity between Gothic and Croatian times in parts of Dalmatia, the idea of a Gothic origin of Croats was more rooted in 20th century [[Ustaše]] political aspirations than historical reality.<ref>{{harvtxt|Dzino|2010|p=20}}</ref>

====Other polities in Dalmatia and Pannonia====
[[File:Oton Ivekovic, Dolazak Hrvata na Jadran.jpg|thumb|right|255px|Arrival of the Croats to the [[Adriatic Sea]] by [[Oton Iveković]]]]
Other, distinct polities and ethno-political groups existed around the Croat duchy. These included the [[Guduscani|Guduscans]] (based in Liburnia), [[Pagania]] (between the Cetina and [[Neretva]] River), [[Zachlumia]] (between Neretva and [[Dubrovnik]]), [[Bosnia (early medieval)|Bosnia]], and [[Principality of Serbia (early medieval)|Serbia]] in other eastern parts of ex-Roman province of "Dalmatia".<ref>{{cite book |last=Budak |first=Neven |author-link=Neven Budak |date=2008 |chapter=Identities in Early Medieval Dalmatia (7th – 11th c.) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dUWAQAAIAAJ |title=Franks, Northmen and Slavs: Identities and State Formation in Early Medieval Europe |editor=Ildar H. Garipzanov |editor2=[[Patrick J. Geary]] |editor3=[[Przemysław Urbańczyk]] |location=Turnhout |publisher=Brepols |pages=223–241 |isbn=9782503526157 |access-date=13 July 2022 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810101105/https://books.google.com/books?id=4dUWAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Also prominent in the territory of future Croatia was the polity of Prince [[Ljudevit (Lower Pannonia)|Ljudevit]] who ruled the territories between the [[Drava]] and [[Sava]] rivers ("[[Slavs in Lower Pannonia|Pannonia Inferior]]"), centred from his fort at [[Sisak]]. Although Duke Liutevid and his people are commonly seen as a "Pannonian Croats", he is, due to the lack of "evidence that they had a sense of Croat identity" referred to as ''dux Pannoniae Inferioris'', or simply a Slav, by contemporary sources.<ref>{{harvtxt|Dzino|2010|p=186}}</ref><ref>{{harvtxt|Wolfram|2002}} Liudewit is considered the first Croatian prince. Constantine Porphyrogenitus has Dalmatia and parts of Slavonia populated by Croatians. But this author wrote more than a hundred years after the Frankish Royal annals which never mention the name of the Croatians although a great many Slavic tribal names are mentioned in the text. Therefore, if one applies the methods of an ethnogenetic interpretation, the Croatian Liudewit seems to be an anachronism.</ref> A closer reading of the ''DAI'' suggests that Constantine VII's consideration about the ethnic origin and identity of the population of Lower Pannonia, [[Pagania]], [[Zachlumia]] and other principalities is based on tenth century political rule and does not indicate ethnicity,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Dvornik, F.|author2=Jenkins, R. J. H.|author3=Lewis, B.|author4=Moravcsik, Gy.|author5=Obolensky, D.|author6=Runciman, S.|editor=P. J. H. Jenkins|title=De Administrando Imperio: Volume II. Commentary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DWVxvgAACAAJ|year=1962|publisher=University of London: The Athlone Press|pages=139, 142|ref={{harvid|Dvornik|1962}}|access-date=13 July 2022|archive-date=27 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927201655/https://books.google.com/books?id=DWVxvgAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Curta|2006|p=210}}<ref name="Budak1994">{{Cite book|last=Budak|first=Neven|author-link=Neven Budak|title=Prva stoljeća Hrvatske|year=1994|location=Zagreb|publisher=Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada|url=http://inet1.ffst.hr/_download/repository/Budak_1994.pdf|pages=58–61|isbn=953-169-032-4|access-date=13 July 2022|archive-date=4 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504192532/http://inet1.ffst.hr/_download/repository/Budak_1994.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Gracanin2008">{{citation |last=Gračanin |first=Hrvoje |date=2008 |title=Od Hrvata pak koji su stigli u Dalmaciju odvojio se jedan dio i zavladao Ilirikom i Panonijom: Razmatranja uz DAI c. 30, 75-78 |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/36767?lang=hr |journal=Povijest U Nastavi |volume=VI |issue=11 |pages=67–76 |language=hr |access-date=13 July 2022 |archive-date=19 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219202016/https://hrcak.srce.hr/36767?lang=hr |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation text|Budak|2018|pp=51, 111, 177, 181–182}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Živković|first=Tibor|author-link=Tibor Živković|title=Portreti srpskih vladara (IX—XII vek)|year=2006|publisher=Zavod za udžbenike|location=Belgrade|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-KTAAAACAAJ|isbn=86-17-13754-1|pages=60–61}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Živković|first=Tibor|year=2012|title=Неретљани – пример разматрања идентитета у раном средњем веку|trans-title=Arentani – an Example of Identity Examination in the Early Middle Ages|journal=Istorijski časopis|volume=61|pages=12–13}}</ref> and although both Croats and Serbs could have been a small military elite which managed to organize other already settled and more numerous Slavs,{{sfn|Dvornik|1962|p=139, 142}}{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=37, 57}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Heather|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Heather|title=Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5poAgAAQBAJ|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-974163-2|pages=404–408, 424–425, 444}}</ref> it is possible that Narentines, Zachlumians and others also arrived as Croats or with Croatian tribal alliance.{{sfn|Dvornik|1962|p=138–139|ps=:Even if we reject Gruber's theory, supported by Manojlović (ibid., XLIX), that Zachlumje actually became a part of Croatia, it should be emphasized that the Zachlumians had a closer bond of interest with the Croats than with the Serbs, since they seem to have migrated to their new home not, as C. says (33/8-9), with the Serbs, but with the Croats; see below, on 33/18-19 ... This emendation throws new light on the origin of the Zachlumian dynasty and of the Zachlumi themselves. C.'s informant derived what he says about the country of Michael's ancestors from a native source, probably from a member of the prince's family; and the information is reliable. If this is so, we must regard the dynasty of Zachlumje and at any rate part of its people as neither Croat nor Serb. It seems more probable that Michael's ancestor, together with his tribe, joined the Croats when they moved south; and settled on the Adriatic coast and the Narenta, leaving the Croats to push on into Dalmatia proper. It is true that our text says that the Zachlumi 'have been Serbs since the time of that prince who claimed the protection of the emperor Heraclius' (33/9-10); but it does not say that Michael's family were Serbs, only that they 'came from the unbaptized who dwell on the river Visla, and are called (reading Litziki) "Poles'". Michael's own hostility to Serbia (cf. 32/86-90) suggests that his family was in fact not Serb; and that the Serbs had direct control only over Trebinje (see on 32/30). C.'s general claim that the Zachlumians were Serbs is, therefore, inaccurate; and indeed his later statements that the Terbouniotes (34/4—5), and even the Narentans (36/5-7), were Serbs and came with the Serbs, seem to conflict with what he has said earlier (32/18-20) on the Serb migration, which reached the new Serbia from the direction of Belgrade. He probably saw that in his time all these tribes were in the Serb sphere of influence, and therefore called them Serbs, thus ante-dating by three centuries the state of affairs in his own day. But in fact, as has been shown in the case of the Zachlumians, these tribes were not properly speaking Serbs, and seem to have migrated not with the Serbs but with the Croats. The Serbs at an early date succeeded in extending their sovereignty over the Terbouniotes and, under prince Peter, for a short time over the Narentans (see on 32/67). The Diocleans, whom C. does not claim as Serbs, were too near to the Byzantine thema of Dyrrhachion for the Serbs to attempt their subjugation before C.'s time}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Dvornik |first=Francis |author-link=Francis Dvornik |date=1970 |title=Byzantine Missions Among the Slavs: SS. Constantine-Cyril and Methodius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OwHZAAAAMAAJ |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |publisher=Rutgers University Press |page=26 |isbn=9780813506135 |quote=Constantine regards all Slavic tribes in ancient Praevalis and Epirus—the Zachlumians, Tribunians, Diodetians, Narentans— as Serbs. This is not exact. Even these tribes were liberated from the Avars by the Croats who lived among them. Only later, thanks to the expansion of the Serbs, did they recognize their supremacy and come to be called Serbians. |access-date=21 July 2022 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927201657/https://books.google.com/books?id=OwHZAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Živković|2006|pp=60–61|ps=:Constantine Porphyrogenitus explicitly calls the inhabitants of Zahumlje Serbs who have settled there since the time of Emperor Heraclius, but we cannot be certain that the Travunians, Zachlumians and Narentines in the migration period to the Balkans really were Serbs or Croats or Slavic tribes which in alliance with Serbs or Croats arrived in the Balkans}}

The Croats became the dominant local power in northern Dalmatia, absorbing Liburnia and expanding their name by conquest and prestige. In the south, while having periods of independence, the Naretines merged with Croats later under control of Croatian Kings.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://enciklopedija.lzmk.hr/clanak.aspx?id=27481|title=Neretljani|encyclopedia=Hrvatski obiteljski leksikon|language=hr|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=13 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213011404/http://enciklopedija.lzmk.hr/clanak.aspx?id=27481|url-status=live}}</ref> With such expansion, Croatia became the dominant power and absorbed other polities between Frankish, [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian]] and Byzantine empire. Although the [[Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja]] has been dismissed as an unreliable record, the mentioned "Red Croatia" suggests that Croatian clans and families might have settled as far south as [[Duklja]]/[[Zeta (crown land)|Zeta]].<ref>{{Harvard citation text|Fine|2005|p=6203}}</ref> According to Martin Dimnik writing for ''[[The New Cambridge Medieval History]]'', "at the beginning of the eleventh century the Croats lived in two more or less clearly defined regions" of the "Croatian lands" which "were now divided into three districts" including Slavonia/Pannonian Croatia (between rivers Sava and Drava) on one side and Croatia/Dalmatian littoral (between [[Gulf of Kvarner]] and rivers Vrbas and Neretva) and Bosnia (around [[Bosna (river)|river Bosna]]) on other side, and that "Croats, along with Serbs, also lived in Bosnia which at times came under the control of Croatian kings".<ref name="TNCMH" />{{rp|266–276}}

===Early medieval age===
{{main|Duchy of Croatia|Principality of Lower Pannonia}}
The lands which constitute modern Croatia fell under three major geographic-politic zones during the Middle Ages, which were influenced by powerful neighbor Empires – notably the Byzantines, the Avars and later [[Hungarians|Magyars]], [[Franks]] and [[Bulgars]]. Each vied for control of the Northwest Balkan regions. Two independent Slavic dukedoms emerged sometime during the 9th century: the [[Duchy of Croatia]] and [[Principality of Lower Pannonia]].

====Pannonian Principality ("Savia")====
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2015}}
Having been under Avar control, lower Pannonia became a march of the [[Carolingian Empire]] around 800. Aided by [[Vojnomir of Pannonian Croatia|Vojnomir]] in 796, the first named Slavic Duke of Pannonia, the Franks wrested control of the region from the Avars before totally destroying the Avar realm in 803. After the death of [[Charlemagne]] in 814, Frankish influence decreased on the region, allowing Prince [[Ljudevit Posavski]] to raise a rebellion in 819.<ref name="Wolfram 2002">{{Harvard citation text|Wolfram|2002}}</ref> The [[Frankish Empire|Frankish]] [[margrave]]s sent armies in 820, 821 and 822, but each time they failed to crush the rebels.<ref name="Wolfram 2002"/> Aided by Borna the Guduscan, the Franks eventually defeated Ljudevit, who withdrew his forces to the Serbs and conquered them, according to the Frankish Annals.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

For much of the subsequent period, Savia was probably directly ruled by the Carinthian [[Arnulf of Carinthia|Duke Arnulf]], the future East Frankish King and Emperor. However, Frankish control was far from smooth. The [[Royal Frankish Annals]] mention several Bulgar raids, driving up the Sava and Drava rivers, as a result of a border dispute with the Franks, from 827. By a peace treaty in 845, the Franks were confirmed as rulers over [[Slavonia]], whilst [[Syrmia|Srijem]] remained under Bulgarian clientage. Later, the expanding power of [[Great Moravia]] also threatened Frankish control of the region. In an effort to halt their influence, the Franks sought alliance with the Magyars, and elevated the local Slavic leader [[Braslav of Croatia|Braslav]] in 892, as a more independent Duke over lower Pannonia.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

In 896, his rule stretched from [[Vienna]] and [[Budapest]] to the southern Croat duchies, and included almost the whole of ex-Roman Pannonian provinces. He probably died {{circa}} 900 fighting against his former allies, the Magyars.<ref name="Wolfram 2002"/> The subsequent history of Savia again becomes murky, and historians are not sure who controlled Savia during much of the 10th century. However, it is likely that the ruler [[Tomislav of Croatia|Tomislav]], the first crowned King, was able to exert much control over Savia and adjacent areas during his reign. It is at this time that sources first refer to a "Pannonian Croatia", appearing in the 10th century Byzantine work ''De Administrando Imperio''.<ref name="Wolfram 2002"/>

===Dalmatian Croats===
The [[Dalmatian Croat]]s were recorded to have been subject to the Kingdom of Italy under [[Lothair I]], since 828. The Croatian Prince [[Mislav of Croatia|Mislav]] (835–845) built up a formidable navy, and in 839 signed a peace treaty with [[Pietro Tradonico]], [[doge of Venice]]. The Venetians soon proceeded to battle with the independent Slavic pirates of the [[Pagania]] region, but failed to defeat them. The Bulgarian king [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]] (called by the [[Byzantine Empire]] Archont of Bulgaria after he made Christianity the official religion of Bulgaria) also waged a lengthy war against the Dalmatian Croats, trying to expand his state to the [[Adriatic]].{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

The Croatian Prince [[Trpimir I of Croatia|Trpimir I]] (845–864) succeeded Mislav. In 854, there was a great battle between Trpimir's forces and the Bulgars. Neither side emerged victorious, and the outcome was the exchange of gifts and the establishment of peace. Trpimir I managed to consolidate power over Dalmatia and much of the inland regions towards [[Pannonia]], while instituting counties as a way of controlling his subordinates (an idea he picked up from the Franks). The first known written mention of the Croats, dates from 4 March 852, in [[statute]] by Trpimir. Trpimir is remembered as the initiator of the [[Trpimirović dynasty]], that ruled in Croatia, with interruptions, from 845 until 1091. After his death, an uprising was raised by a powerful nobleman from [[Knin]] – [[Domagoj of Croatia|Domagoj]], and his son [[Zdeslav of Croatia|Zdeslav]] was exiled with his brothers, Petar and [[Muncimir of Croatia|Muncimir]] to [[Constantinople]].{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=257}}

Facing a number of naval threats by [[Saracens]] and Byzantine Empire, the Croatian Prince Domagoj (864–876) built up the Croatian navy again and helped the coalition of emperor [[Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis II]] and the Byzantine to [[Louis II's campaign against Bari (866–871)|conquer Bari]] in 871. During Domagoj's reign [[piracy]] was a common practice, and he forced the Venetians to start paying tribute for sailing near the eastern Adriatic coast. After Domagoj's death, Venetian chronicles named him "The worst duke of Slavs", while [[Pope John VIII]] referred to Domagoj in letters as "Famous duke". Domagoj's son, of unknown name, ruled shortly between 876 and 878 with his brothers. They continued the rebellion, attacked the western Istrian towns in 876, but were subsequently defeated by the Venetian navy. Their ground forces defeated the Pannonian duke [[Kocelj]] (861–874) who was suzerain to the Franks, and thereby shed the Frankish vassal status. Wars of Domagoj and his son liberated Dalmatian Croats from supreme Franks rule. Zdeslav deposed him in 878 with the help of the Byzantines. He acknowledged the supreme rule of [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Basil I]]. In 879, the [[Pope]] asked for help from prince Zdeslav for an armed escort for his delegates across southern Dalmatia and [[Zahumlje]],{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} but on early May 879, Zdeslav was killed near Knin in an uprising led by [[Branimir of Croatia|Branimir]], a relative of Domagoj, instigated by the Pope, fearing Byzantine power.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

Branimir's (879–892) own actions were approved from the [[Holy See]] to bring the Croats further away from the influence of [[Byzantium]] and closer to Rome. Duke Branimir wrote to [[Pope John VIII]] affirming this split from Byzantine and commitment to the [[Papacy|Roman Papacy]]. During the solemn divine service in [[St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's]] church in [[Rome]] in 879, John VIII] gave his blessing to the duke and the Croatian people, about which he informed Branimir in his letters, in which Branimir was recognized as the Duke of the Croats (''Dux Chroatorum'').{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=261}} During his reign, Croatia retained its sovereignty from both the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and [[Byzantine]] rule, and became a fully recognized state.<ref name="Hrvatski leksikon">''Hrvatski leksikon'' (1996–1997) {{in lang|hr}}{{full citation needed|date=November 2014}}</ref><ref name="antoljak">Stjepan Antoljak, Pregled hrvatske povijesti, Split 1993., str. 43.</ref> After Branimir's death, Prince [[Muncimir of Croatia|Muncimir]] (892–910), Zdeslav's brother, took control of Dalmatia and ruled it independently of both Rome and Byzantium as ''divino munere Croatorum dux'' (with God's help, duke of Croats). In Dalmatia, duke [[Tomislav of Croatia|Tomislav]] (910–928) succeeded Muncimir. Tomislav successfully repelled Magyar mounted invasions of the [[Árpád dynasty|Arpads]], expelled them over the [[Sava|Sava River]], and united (western) Pannonian and Dalmatian Croats into one state.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kralj Tomislav|url=https://hrvatski-vojnik.hr/kralj-tomislav/|date=2018-11-30|website=Hrvatski vojnik|language=hr|access-date=2020-05-27|archive-date=27 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927105340/https://hrvatski-vojnik.hr/kralj-tomislav/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Evans|first=Huw M. A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZW2AAAAIAAJ&q=tomislav++croatia+unification|title=The Early Mediaeval Archaeology of Croatia, A.D. 600–900|date=1989|publisher=B.A.R.|isbn=978-0-86054-685-6|language=en|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=27 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927203207/https://books.google.com/books?id=oZW2AAAAIAAJ&q=tomislav++croatia+unification|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bonifačić|first1=Antun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KqJnAAAAMAAJ&q=tomislav++croatia+unification|title=The Croatian nation in its struggle for freedom and independence: a symposium|last2=Mihanovich|first2=Clement Simon|date=1955|publisher="Croatia" Cultural Pub. Center|language=en|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=27 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927203209/https://books.google.com/books?id=KqJnAAAAMAAJ&q=tomislav++croatia+unification|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102)===
{{main|Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102)}}
[[File:Oton Ivekovic, Krunidba kralja Tomislava.jpg|right|upright=1.10|255px|thumb|Coronation of King Tomislav by [[Oton Iveković]].]]
[[File:Eastern Adriatic 1089.svg|thumb|[[Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102)|Kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia]] during Zvonimir's reign, at the beginning of 1089.]]

[[Tomislav of Croatia|Tomislav]] (910–928) became king of Croatia by 925. The chief piece of evidence that Tomislav was crowned king comes in the form of a letter dated 925, surviving only in 16th-century copies, from [[Pope John X]] calling Tomislav ''[[King of Croatia|rex Chroatorum]]''. According to ''De Administrando Imperio'', Tomislav's army and navy could have consisted approximately 100,000 [[infantry]] units, 60,000 cavaliers, and 80 larger (''sagina'') and 100 smaller [[warship]]s (''[[Kondura (ship)|condura]]''), but generally isn't taken as credible.<ref>''[[De Administrando Imperio]], Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos, 950''</ref> According to the [[Palaeography|palaeographic]] analysis of the original manuscript of ''De Administrando Imperio'', an estimation of the number of inhabitants in medieval Croatia between 440 and 880 thousand people, and military numbers of Franks and Byzantines – the Croatian military force was most probably composed of 20,000–100,000 infantrymen, and 3,000–24,000 horsemen organized in 60 [[allagion]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Vedriš |first=Trpimir |date=2007 |title=Povodom novog tumačenja vijesti Konstantina VII. Porfirogeneta o snazi hrvatske vojske |trans-title=On the occasion of the new interpretation of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus'report concerning the strength of the Croatian army |url=https://www.academia.edu/34978219 |language=hr |journal=Historijski zbornik |volume=60 |pages=1–33 |access-date=29 July 2020 |archive-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022132956/https://www.academia.edu/34978219 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Budak|2018|pp=223–224}} The Croatian Kingdom as an ally of Byzantine Empire was in conflict with the rising [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]] ruled by Tsar [[Simeon I of Bulgaria|Simeon I]]. In 923, due to a deal of Pope John X and a Patriarch of Constantinopole, the sovereignty of Byzantine [[Dalmatia (theme)|coastal cities]] in Dalmatia came under Tomislav's Governancy. The war escalated on 27 May 927, in the [[Croatian–Bulgarian battle of 927|battle of the Bosnian Highlands]], after Serbs were conquered and some fled to the Croatian Kingdom. There Croats under leadership of their king Tomislav completely defeated the Bulgarian army led by military commander [[Alogobotur]], and stopped Simeon's extension westwards.<ref name="bakalov">Bakalov, ''Istorija na Bǎlgarija'', "Simeon I Veliki"</ref><ref name="Omrčanin1984">{{cite book|last=Omrčanin|first=Ivo|title=Military history of Croatia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUO5AAAAIAAJ|access-date=29 April 2012|year=1984|publisher=Dorrance|isbn=978-0-8059-2893-8|page=21|archive-date=27 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927203210/https://books.google.com/books?id=aUO5AAAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ireland(Organization)1882">{{cite book|title=Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|publisher=The Institute|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Tnxrpm8qbxUC|access-date=29 April 2012|year=1882|author1=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|author2=JSTOR (Organization)}}</ref> The central town in the Duvno field was named [[Tomislavgrad]] ("Tomislav's town") in his honour in the 20th century.

Tomislav was succeeded by [[Trpimir II of Croatia|Trpimir II]] (928–935), and [[Krešimir I of Croatia|Krešimir I]] (935–945), this period, on the whole, however, is obscure. [[Miroslav of Croatia|Miroslav]] (945–949) was killed by his ban [[Pribina]] during an internal power struggle, losing part of islands and coastal cities. [[Mihajlo Krešimir II|Krešimir II]] (949–969) kept particularly good relations with the Dalmatian cities, while his son [[Stjepan Držislav]] (969–997) established better relations with the Byzantine Empire and received a formal authority over Dalmatian cities. His three sons, [[Svetoslav Suronja|Svetoslav]] (997–1000), [[Krešimir III of Croatia|Krešimir III]] (1000–1030) and [[Gojslav of Croatia|Gojslav]] (1000–1020), opened a violent contest for the throne, weakening the state and further losing control. Krešimir III and his brother Gojslav co-ruled from 1000 until 1020, and attempted to restore control over lost Dalmatian cities now under Venetian control. Krešimir was succeeded by his son [[Stjepan I of Croatia|Stjepan I]] (1030–1058), who continued his ambitions of spreading rule over the coastal cities, and during whose rule was established the diocese of Knin between 1040 and 1050 which bishop had the nominal title of "Croatian bishop" (Latin: ''episcopus Chroatensis'').<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/58162 |language=hr |title=Stjepan I. |encyclopedia=[[Croatian Encyclopedia]] |year=2021 |publisher=[[Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute]] |access-date=10 October 2023 |archive-date=28 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928201340/https://www.enciklopedija.hr/Natuknica.aspx?ID=58162 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/knin |language=hr |title=Knin |encyclopedia=[[Croatian Encyclopedia]] |year=2021 |publisher=[[Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute]] |access-date=10 October 2023 |archive-date=6 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806011954/https://www.enciklopedija.hr/natuknica.aspx?id=32088 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Petar Krešimir IV of Croatia|Krešimir IV]] (1058–1074) managed to get the Byzantine Empire to confirm him as the supreme ruler of the Dalmatian cities.<ref>{{in lang|hr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20091107154827/http://domovina.110mb.com/petar_kresimir_4.htm PETAR KREŠIMIR IV.TRPIMIROVIĆ]</ref> Croatia under Krešimir IV was composed of twelve counties and was slightly larger than in Tomislav's time, and included the closest southern Dalmatian duchy of Pagania.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/petar-kresimir-iv |language=hr |title=Petar Krešimir IV. |encyclopedia=[[Croatian Encyclopedia]] |year=2021 |publisher=[[Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute]] |access-date=10 October 2023 |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105113709/https://www.enciklopedija.hr/natuknica.aspx?id=47856 |url-status=live }}</ref> From the outset, he continued the policies of his father, but was immediately commanded by [[Pope Nicholas II]] first in 1059 and then in 1060 to further reform the Croatian church in accordance with the [[Roman rite]]. This was especially significant to the papacy in the aftermath of the [[Great Schism of 1054]].{{sfn|Budak|2018|pp=229, 252}}

[[File:Bascanska ploca.jpg|thumb|255px|upright=1.15|right|[[Baška tablet]], which is the oldest evidence of the [[Glagolitic alphabet|glagolitic script]], mentions king [[Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia|Zvonimir]].]]
He was succeeded by [[Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia|Dmitar Zvonimir]], who was of the Svetoslavić branch of the [[House of Trpimirović]], and a [[Ban of Slavonia]] (1064–1075). He was [[Crown of Zvonimir|crowned]] on 8 October 1076<ref name="coro">[[Dominik Mandić]], Rasprave i prilozi iz stare hrvatske povijesti, Institute of Croatian history, Rome, 1963., page 315., 438.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=18. Slavac – Dmitar Zvonimir |url=http://crohis.com/knjige/Sisic%20-%20pregled/18.%20Slavac%20-%20Dmitar%20Zvonimir.PDF |date=13 March 2012 |access-date=12 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313054015/http://crohis.com/knjige/Sisic%20-%20pregled/18.%20Slavac%20-%20Dmitar%20Zvonimir.PDF |archive-date=13 March 2012}}</ref> at [[Solin, Croatia|Solin]] in the [[Hollow Church|Basilica of Saint Peter and Moses]] (known today as ''Hollow Church'') by a representative of [[Pope Gregory VII]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://asv.vatican.va/en/visit/p_nob/p_nob_2s_05.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060212054300/http://asv.vatican.va/en/visit/p_nob/p_nob_2s_05.htm|archive-date=2006-02-12|title=Demetrius, Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Raukar|first=Tomislav|title=Hrvatsko srednjovjekovlje: prostor, ljudi, ideje|year=1997|publisher=Školska knjiga |isbn=978-953-0-30703-2}}</ref>

He was in conflict with dukes of [[Istria]], while historical records ''Annales Carinthiæ'' and ''[[Chronica Hungarorum]]'' note he invaded [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]] to aid Hungary in war during 1079/83, but this is disputed. Unlike Petar Krešimir IV, he was also an ally of the [[Normans]], with whom he joined in wars against Byzantium. He married in 1063 [[Helena of Hungary, Queen of Croatia|Helen of Hungary]], the daughter of King [[Bela I]] of the Hungarian [[Árpád dynasty]], and the sister of the future King [[Ladislaus I of Hungary|Ladislaus I]]. As King Zvonimir died in 1089 in unknown circumstances, with no direct heir to succeed him, [[Stjepan II of Croatia|Stjepan II]] ({{reign}} 1089–1091) last of the main Trpimirović line came to the throne but reigned for two years.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/58166 |language=hr |title=Stjepan II. |encyclopedia=[[Croatian Encyclopedia]] |year=2021 |publisher=[[Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute]] |access-date=10 October 2023 |archive-date=28 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928202853/https://www.enciklopedija.hr/Natuknica.aspx?ID=58166 |url-status=live }}</ref>

After his death civil war and unrest broke out shortly afterward as northern nobles decided Ladislaus I for the Croatian King. In 1093, southern nobles elected a new ruler, King [[Petar Snačić]] ({{reign}} 1093–1097), who managed to unify the Kingdom around his capital of [[Knin]]. His army resisted repelling Hungarian assaults, and restored Croatian rule up to the river [[Sava]]. He reassembled his forces in Croatia and advanced on [[Mala Kapela|Gvozd Mountain]], where he met the main Hungarian army led by King [[Coloman of Hungary|Coloman I of Hungary]]. In 1097, in the [[Battle of Gvozd Mountain]], the last native king Peter was killed and the Croats were decisively defeated (because of this, the mountain was this time renamed to [[Petrova Gora]], "Peter's Mountain", but identified with the wrong mountain). In 1102, Coloman returned to the Kingdom of Croatia in force, and negotiated with the Croatian feudal lords resulting in joining of Hungarian and Croatian crowns (with the crown of Dalmatia held separate from that of Croatia).<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Scrinia Slavonica|issn=1332-4853|publisher=Hrvatski institut za povijest – Podružnica za povijest Slavonije, Srijema i Baranje|title=Hrvatsko-ugarski odnosi od sredinjega vijeka do nagodbe iz 1868. s posebnim osvrtom na pitanja Slavonije|trans-title=Croatian-Hungarian relations from the Middle Ages to the Compromise of 1868, with a special survey of the Slavonian issue|language=hr|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=68144|first=Ladislav|last=Heka|date=October 2008|volume=8|issue=1|pages=152–154|access-date=10 October 2023|archive-date=4 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704071036/http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=68144|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to ''[[The New Cambridge Medieval History]]'', "at the beginning of the eleventh century the Croats lived in two more or less clearly defined regions" of the "Croatian lands" which "were now divided into three districts" including Slavonia/Pannonian Croatia (between rivers Sava and Drava) on one side and Croatia/Dalmatian littoral (between [[Gulf of Kvarner]] and rivers Vrbas and Neretva) and Bosnia (around [[Bosna (river)|river Bosna]]) on other side.<ref name="TNCMH">{{cite book |last=Dimnik |first=Martin |date=2004 |chapter=Kievan Rus', the Bulgars and the southern Slavs, c.1020-c.1200 |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4, c.1024–c.1198, Part 2 |url=https://archive.org/details/the-new-cambridge-medieval-history-vol.-2_202012/The%20New%20Cambridge%20Medieval%20History%2C%20Vol.%204%2C%20Part%202/ |editor=[[David Luscombe]], [[Jonathan Riley-Smith]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-41411-1}}</ref>{{rp|271–276}}

===Personal union with Hungary (1102–1918)===
{{main|Croatia in personal union with Hungary|Croatian-Ottoman Wars}}
[[File:Pacta Conventa (Croatia).jpg|thumb|255px|upright=0.8|left|[[Pacta conventa (Croatia)|Pacta Conventa]], is a historical document by which Croatia agreed to enter a personal union with Hungary. Although the validity of the document itself is disputed, Croatia did keep considerable autonomy.]]

In the 11th and 12th centuries "the Croats were never unified under a strong central government. They lived in different areas - Pannonian Croatia, Dalmatian Croatia, Bosnia - which were at times ruled by indigenous kings but more frequently controlled by agents of Byzantium, Venice and Hungary. Even during periods of relatively strong centralized government, local lords frequently enjoyed an almost autonomous status".<ref name="TNCMH" />{{rp|271–276}}

In the union with Hungary, institutions of separate Croatian statehood were maintained through the [[Sabor]] (an assembly of Croatian nobles) and the ban (viceroy). In addition, the Croatian nobles retained their lands and titles.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/143561/Croatia|title=Croatia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318224010/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/143561/Croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> Coloman retained the institution of the Sabor and relieved the Croatians of taxes on their land. Coloman's successors continued to crown themselves as Kings of Croatia separately in [[Biograd na Moru]].<ref>Curta, Stephenson, p. 267</ref> The Hungarian king also introduced a variant of the [[feudal system]]. Large [[fief]]s were granted to individuals who would defend them against outside incursions thereby creating a system for the defence of the entire state. However, by enabling the nobility to seize more economic and military power, the kingdom itself lost influence to the powerful noble families. In Croatia the [[House of Šubić|Šubić]] were one of the oldest Croatian noble families and would become particularly influential and important, ruling the area between [[Zrmanja]] and the [[Krka (Croatia)|Krka]] rivers. The local noble family from [[Krk]] island (who later took the surname [[House of Frankopan|Frankopan]]) is often considered the second most important medieval family, as ruled over northern Adriatic and is responsible for the adoption of one of oldest European [[statute]]s, [[Law codex of Vinodol]] (1288). Both families gave many native bans of Croatia. Other powerful families were [[House of Nelipić|Nelipić]] from [[Zagora (Croatia)|Dalmatian Zagora]] (14th–15th centuries); [[Kačić]] who ruled over [[Pagania]] and were famous for piracy and wars against Venice (12th–13th centuries); [[Kurjaković]] family, a branch of the old Croatian noble [[Gusić family]] from [[Krbava]] (14th–16th centuries); [[House of Babonić|Babonić]] who ruled from western [[Kupa]] to eastern [[Vrbas (river)|Vrbas]] and [[Bosna (river)|Bosna]] rivers, and were bans of Slavonia (13th–14th centuries); [[House of Iločki|Iločki]] family who ruled over Slavonian stronghold-cities, and in the 15th century rose to power. During this period, the [[Knights Templar]] and the [[Knights Hospitaller]] also acquired considerable property and assets in Croatia.

In the second half of the 13th century, during the [[Árpád dynasty|Árpád]] and [[Capetian House of Anjou|Anjou]] dynasty struggle, the Šubić family became hugely powerful under [[Paul I Šubić of Bribir]], who was the longest Croatian Ban (1274–1312), conquering Bosnia and declaring himself "Lord of all of Bosnia" (1299–1312). He appointed his brother [[Mladen I Šubić of Bribir|Mladen I Šubić]] as Ban of Bosnia (1299–1304), and helped [[Charles I of Hungary|Charles I]] from House of Anjou to be the King of Hungary. After his death in 1312, his son [[Mladen II Šubić of Bribir|Mladen II Šubić]] was the Ban of Bosnia (1304–1322) and Ban of Croatia (1312–1322). The kings from House of Anjou intended to strengthen the kingdom by uniting their power and control, but to do so they had to diminish the power of the higher nobility. Charles I had already tried to crash the aristocratic privileges, intention finished by his son [[Louis I of Hungary|Louis the Great]] (1342–1382), relying on the lower nobility and towns. Both kings ruled without the Parliament, and inner nobility struggles only helped them in their intentions. This led to Mladen's defeat at the [[battle of Bliska]] in 1322 by a coalition of several Croatian noblemen and Dalmatian coastal towns with support of the King himself, in exchange of Šubić's castle of [[Ostrovica, Croatia|Ostrovica]] for [[Zrin Castle]] in Central Croatia (thus this branch was named [[House of Zrinski|Zrinski]]) in 1347. Eventually, the Babonić and Nelipić families also succumbed to the king's offensive against nobility, but with the increasing process of power centralization, Louis managed to force Venice by the [[Treaty of Zadar]] in 1358 to give up their possessions in Dalmatia. When King Louis died without successor, the question of succession remained open. The kingdom once again entered the time of internal unrest. Besides King Louis's daughter [[Mary, Queen of Hungary|Mary]], [[Charles III of Naples]] was the closest king male relative with claims to the throne. In February 1386, two months after his coronation, he was assassinated by order of the queen [[Elizabeth of Bosnia]]. His supporters, bans [[John of Palisna]], [[John Horvat]] and Stjepan Lacković planned a rebellion, and managed to capture and imprison Elizabeth and Mary. By orders of John of Palisna, Elizabeth was strangled. In retaliation, Magyars crowned Mary's husband [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund of Luxembourg]].{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}
[[File:Eastern Adriatic 1500.svg|thumb|255px|Croatia in personal union with Hungary and [[Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War|Ottoman expansion]] in the region in 1500]]
King Sigismund's army was catastrophically defeated at the [[Battle of Nicopolis]] (1396) as the [[Rise of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman invasion]] was getting closer to the borders of the Hungarian-Croatian kingdom.  Without news about the king after the battle, the then ruling Croatian ban [[House of Lacković|Stjepan Lacković]] and nobles invited Charles III's son [[Ladislaus of Naples]] to be the new king.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} This resulted in the [[Bloody Sabor of Križevci]] in 1397, loss of interest in the crown by Ladislaus and selling of Dalmatia to Venice in 1403, and spreading of Croatian names to the north, with those of Slavonia to the east. The dynastic struggle didn't end, and with the Ottoman invasion on Bosnia the first short raids began in Croatian territory, defended only by local nobles.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

[[File:Hollósy Zrínyi kirohanása.jpg|thumb|255px|upright=0.9|right|''[[Nikola IV Zrinski|Zrínyi's]] charge on the Turks from the Fortress of Szigetvár'', by [[Simon Hollósy]]]]
As the [[Ottoman wars in Europe|Turkish incursion into Europe]] started, Croatia once again became a border area between two major forces in the [[Balkans]]. Croatian military troops fought in many battles under command of [[Italia]]n [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] priest [[friar|fra]] [[Giovanni da Capistrano|John Capistrano]], the Hungarian [[Generalissimus|Generalissimo]] [[János Hunyadi|John Hunyadi]], and Hungarian King [[Matthias Corvinus]], like in the Hunyadi's [[long campaign]] (1443–1444), [[battle of Varna]] (1444), second [[battle of Kosovo (1448)]], and contributed to the Christian victories over the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in the [[siege of Belgrade (1456)]] and [[Siege of Jajce]] (1463). At the time they suffered a major defeat in the [[battle of Krbava field]] ([[Lika]], Croatia) in 1493 and gradually lost increasing amounts of territory to the Ottoman Empire. [[Pope Leo X]] called Croatia the ''forefront of Christianity ([[Antemurale Christianitatis]])'' in 1519, given that several Croatian soldiers made significant contributions to the struggle against the [[Ottoman Turks]]. Among them there were [[ban (title)|ban]] [[Petar Berislavić]] who won a victory at [[Dubica, Bosnia and Herzegovina|Dubica]] on the [[Una (Sava)|Una]] river in 1513, the captain of [[Senj]] and prince of [[Klis]] [[Petar Kružić]], who defended the [[Klis Fortress]] for almost 25 years, captain [[Nikola Jurišić]] who deterred by a magnitude larger Turkish force on their way to Vienna in 1532, or ban [[Nikola IV Zrinski]] who helped save [[Pest (city)|Pest]] from occupation in 1542 and fought in the [[Battle of Szigetvar]] in 1566. During the Ottoman conquest tens of thousands of Croats were taken in Turkey, where they became slaves.

The [[Battle of Mohács]] (1526) and the death of King [[Louis II of Hungary|Louis II]] ended the Hungarian-Croatian union. In 1526, the Hungarian parliament elected two separate kings [[János Szapolyai]] and [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I Habsburg]], but the choice of the Croatian sabor [[Parliament on Cetin|at Cetin]] prevailed on the side of Ferdinand I, as they elected him as the new king of Croatia on 1 January 1527,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/southernslavques00seto/southernslavques00seto_djvu.txt|title=Full text of "The southern Slav question and the Habsburg Monarchy"|website=Archive.org|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref> uniting both lands under Habsburg rule. In return they were promised the historic rights, freedoms, laws and defence of Croatian Kingdom.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

[[File:Isprava o izboru Ferdinanda I., Cetin 1527.jpg|thumb|255px|upright=0.9|left|The [[Cetingrad Charter]] from 1 January 1527, when Croatian Sabor elected the [[Habsburg monarchy]].]]However, the Hungarian-Croatian Kingdom was not enough well prepared and organized and the Ottoman Empire expanded further in the 16th century to include most of Slavonia, western Bosnia and [[Lika]]. For the sake of stopping the Ottoman conquering and possible assault on the capital of Vienna, the large areas of Croatia and Slavonia (even Hungary and Romania) bordering the Ottoman Empire were organized as a [[Military Frontier]] which was ruled directly from Vienna military headquarters.<ref>{{cite book|author=Charles W. Ingrao|title=The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618–1815|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ncgq08FZYlQC&pg=PA15|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-78505-1|page=15|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=27 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927203302/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ncgq08FZYlQC&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The invasion caused migration of Croats, and the area which became deserted was subsequently settled by [[Serbs]], [[Vlachs]], [[Ethnic German|Germans]] and others. The negative effects of [[feudalism]] escalated in 1573 when the peasants in northern Croatia and Slovenia [[Croatian and Slovenian peasant revolt|rebelled]] against their feudal lords due to various injustices. After the fall of [[Bihać]] fort in 1592, only small areas of Croatia remained unrecovered. The remaining {{convert|16800|km²|0|abbr=out}} were referred to as the ''reliquiae reliquiarum of the once great Croatian kingdom''.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia">[[s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Croatia|Catholic Encyclopedia]]</ref>

Croats stopped the Ottoman advance in Croatia at the [[battle of Sisak]] in 1593, 100 years after the defeat at Krbava field, and the short [[Long Turkish War]] ended with the [[Peace of Zsitvatorok]] in 1606, after which Croatian classes tried unsuccessfully to have their territory on the Military Frontier restored to rule by the Croatian Ban, managing only to restore a small area of lost territory but failed to regain large parts of Croatian Kingdom (present-day western [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]), as the present-day border between the two countries is a remnant of this outcome.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

====Croatian national revival (1593–1918)====
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2015}}
{{main|Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)|l1=Habsburg Croatia|Austria-Hungary}}

In the first half of the 17th century, Croats fought in the [[Thirty Years' War]] on the side of [[Holy Roman Empire]], mostly as light cavalry under command of imperial generalissimo [[Albrecht von Wallenstein]]. Croatian Ban, [[Juraj V Zrinski]], also fought in the war, but died in a military camp near [[Bratislava]], [[Slovakia]], as he was poisoned by von Wallenstein after a verbal duel. His son, future ban and captain-general of Croatia, [[Miklós Zrínyi|Nikola Zrinski]], participated during the closing stages of the war.

[[File:Madarász - Zrínyi és Frangepán.jpg|thumb|255px|right|''Peter Zrinyi and Ferenc Frangepán in the Wiener-Neustadt Prison'' by [[Viktor Madarász]].]]
In 1664, the Austrian imperial army was victorious against the Turks, but Emperor [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold]] failed to capitalize on the success when he signed the [[Peace of Vasvár]] in which Croatia and Hungary were prevented from regaining territory lost to the Ottoman Empire. This caused unrest among the Croatian and Hungarian nobility which plotted against the emperor. Nikola Zrinski participated in launching the conspiracy which later came to be known as the [[Magnate conspiracy]], but he soon died, and the rebellion was continued by his brother, Croatian ban [[Petar Zrinski]], [[Fran Krsto Frankopan]] and [[Ferenc Wesselényi]]. Petar Zrinski, along the conspirators, went on a wide secret diplomatic negotiations with a number of nations, including [[Louis XIV of France]], the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]], the [[Republic of Venice]] and even the [[Ottoman Empire]], to free Croatia from the Habsburg sovereignty.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

Imperial spies uncovered the conspiracy and on 30 April 1671 executed four esteemed Croatian and Hungarian noblemen involved in it, including Zrinski and Frankopan in [[Wiener Neustadt]]. The large estates of two most powerful Croatian noble houses were confiscated and their families relocated, soon after extinguished. Between 1670 and the revolution of 1848, there would be only 2 bans of Croatian nationality. The period from 1670 to the Croatian cultural revival in the 19th century was Croatia's political Dark Age. Meanwhile, with the victories over Turks, Habsburgs all the more insistent they spent centralization and germanization, new regained lands in liberated Slavonia started giving to foreign families as feudal goods, at the expense of domestic element. Because of this the Croatian Sabor was losing its significance, and the nobility less attended it, yet went only to the one in Hungary.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}
[[File:Dragutin Weingärtner, Hrvatski sabor 1848. god.jpg|thumb|255px|left|The Croatian ''Sabor'' (Parliament) in 1848, by Dragutin Weingärtner]]
In the 18th century, Croatia was one of the crown lands that supported Emperor [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles]]'s [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1713]] and supported Empress [[Maria Theresa]] in the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] of 1741–48. Subsequently, the empress made significant contributions to Croatian matters, by making several changes in the feudal and tax system, administrative control of the Military Frontier, in 1745 administratively united Slavonia with Croatia and in 1767 organized Croatian royal council with the ban on head, however, she ignored and eventually disbanded it in 1779, and Croatia was relegated to just one seat in the governing council of Hungary, held by the [[ban (title)|ban]] of Croatia. To fight the Austrian centralization and absolutism, Croats passed their rights to the united government in Hungary, thus to together resist the intentions from Vienna. But the connection with Hungary soon adversely affected the position of Croats, because Magyars in the spring of their nationalism tried to Magyarize Croats, and make Croatia a part of a united Hungary. Because of this pretensions, the constant struggles between Croats and Magyars emerged, and lasted until 1918. Croats were fighting in unfavorable conditions, against both Vienna and Budapest, while divided on Banska Hrvatska, Dalmatia and Military Frontier. In such a time, with the fall of the [[Venetian Republic]] in 1797, its possessions in eastern [[Adriatic]] mostly came under the authority of France which passed its rights to Austria the same year. Eight years later they were restored to France as the [[Illyrian Provinces]], but won back to the Austrian crown 1815. Though now part of the same empire, Dalmatia and Istria were part of [[Cisleithania]] while Croatia and Slavonia were in Hungarian part of the Monarchy.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}
[[File:Vlaho Bukovac, Hrvatski preporod (svecani zastor Hrvatskog narodnog kazalista u Zagrebu).jpg|thumb|255px|right|The national revival began with the [[Illyrian movement]] in 1830.]]
In the 19th century Croatian [[romantic nationalism]] emerged to counteract the non-violent but apparent [[Germanization]] and [[Magyarization]]. The Croatian national revival began in the 1830s with the [[Illyrian movement]]. The movement attracted a number of influential figures and produced some important advances in the [[Croatian language]] and culture. The champion of the Illyrian movement was [[Ljudevit Gaj]] who also reformed and standardized Croatian. The official language in Croatia had been Latin until 1847, when it became Croatian. The movement relied on a South Slavic and Panslavistic conception, and its national, political and social ideas were advanced at the time.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

By the 1840s, the movement had moved from cultural goals to resisting Hungarian political demands. By the royal order of 11 January 1843, originating from the chancellor [[Klemens von Metternich|Metternich]], the use of the Illyrian name and insignia in public was forbidden. [[File:Balkans Animation 1800-2008.gif|thumb|255px|left|Modern political history of the Balkans from 1796 onwards.]]This deterred the movement's progress but it couldn't stop the changes in the society that had already started. On 25 March 1848, was conducted a political petition "''Zahtijevanja naroda''", which program included thirty national, social and liberal principles, like Croatian national independence, annexation of Dalmatia and Military Frontier, independence from Hungary as far as finance, language, education, freedom of speech and writing, religion, nullification of serfdom etc. In the [[revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire]], the Croatian [[Ban (title)|Ban]] [[Josip Jelačić|Jelačić]] cooperated with the Austrians in quenching the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848]] by leading a military campaign into Hungary, successful until the [[Battle of Pákozd]].{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

Croatia was later subject to Hungarian hegemony under ban [[Levin Rauch]] when the Empire was transformed into a dual monarchy of [[Austria-Hungary]] in 1867. Nevertheless, Ban Jelačić had succeeded in the abolition of [[serfdom]] in Croatia, which eventually brought about massive changes in society: the power of the major landowners was reduced and arable land became increasingly subdivided, to the extent of risking famine. Many Croatians began emigrating to the [[New World]] countries in this period, a trend that would continue over the next century, creating a large Croatian [[diaspora]].

From 1804 to 1918, as many as 395 Croats received the rank of [[general officer|general]] or [[admiral]], of which 379 in the army of the [[Austro-Hungarian Monarchy]], 8 in the [[Russian Empire]], two each in the French and Hungarian armies, and one each in the armies of the [[Ottoman Empire]], the [[Republic of Venice]], [[Portuguese Empire]] and Serbia.<ref name="HrvPov">{{cite web|url=https://hrvatska-povijest.hr/vojna-povijest-hrvata-od-1804-do-1918-godine-cak-395-osoba-s-podrucja-hrvatske-dobilo-je-generalski-ili-admiralski-cin-od-cega-379-u-vojsci-habsburske-monarhije-odnosno-austro-ugarske|last=Lipovac|first=Marijan|website=hrvatska-povijest.hr|title=Vojna povijest Hrvata – Od 1804. do 1918. godine čak 395 osoba s područja Hrvatske dobilo je generalski ili admiralski čin, od čega 379 u vojsci Habsburške Monarhije, odnosno Austro-Ugarske|language=hr|date=6 February 2024}}</ref> By rank, 173 were [[brigadier general]]s, 142 [[major general]]s, 55 [[lieutenant general]]s, two generals, three [[Stožerni general|staff generals]], 17 [[rear admiral]]s, one [[viceadmiral]] and two admirals.<ref name="HrvPov"/>

===Modern history (1918–present)===
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2015}}
{{main|State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs|Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Independent State of Croatia|Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|l4=SFR Yugoslavia|Croatia|l5=Republic of Croatia}}

After the [[World War I|First World War]] and [[dissolution of Austria-Hungary]], most Croats were united within the [[Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]], created by unification of the short-lived [[State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs|State of SHS]] with the [[Kingdom of Serbia]]. Croats became one of the constituent nations of the new kingdom. The state was transformed into the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]] in 1929 and the Croats were united in the new nation with their neighbors – the South Slavs-[[Yugoslavs]].

In 1939, the Croats received a high degree of autonomy when the [[Banovina of Croatia]] was created, which united almost all ethnic Croatian territories within the Kingdom. In the [[World War II|Second World War]], the [[Axis forces]] created the [[Independent State of Croatia]] led by the [[Ustaše]] movement which sought to create an ethnically pure Croatian state on the territory corresponding to present-day countries of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Post-WWII [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] became a [[federation]] consisting of 6 republics, and Croats became one of two ''constituent peoples'' of two – Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croats in the Serbian autonomous province of [[Vojvodina]] are one of six main ethnic groups composing this region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vojvodina.gov.rs/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=174&Itemid=83 |title=Vlada Autonomne Pokrajine Vojvodine – Index |publisher=Vojvodina.gov.rs |access-date=17 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212160729/http://www.vojvodina.gov.rs/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=174&Itemid=83 |archive-date=12 February 2012}}</ref>

Following the democratization of society, accompanied with ethnic tensions that emerged ten years after the death of [[Josip Broz Tito]], the Republic of Croatia declared independence, which was followed by [[Croatian War of Independence|war]]. In the first years of the war, over 200,000 Croats were displaced from their homes as a result of the military actions. In the peak of the fighting, around 550,000 ethnic Croats were displaced altogether during the Yugoslav wars.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

Post-war government's policy of easing the immigration of ethnic Croats from abroad encouraged a number of Croatian descendants to return to Croatia. The influx was increased by the arrival of Croatian refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the war's end in 1995, most Croatian refugees returned to their previous homes, while some (mostly Croat refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Janjevci from Kosovo) moved into the formerly-held Serbian housing.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}