Poslednji Pavlovići - Bosna sredinom XV stoljeća
The Last Pavlovići - Bosnia in the Middle of the 15th Century

Summary/Abstract: The last members of the Pavlović family, who ruled their domain from the end of 1441 to 1463, must be assigned a place in the history of medieval Bosnia between two confronted sides: a seemingly strengthened central power of the Bosnian Kings and Herzog Stjepan Vukčić. After the death of Radoslav Pavlović peace was established between his widow Teodora and his sons with Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, but only until the first chance which appeared after the change on the Bosnian royal throne. The newly elected King Stjepan Tomaš, among others in Bosnia and abroad, was opposed by Stjepan Vukčić, who supported Radivoj, the old aspirant to the Bosnian crown. In Bosnia itself, Tomaš’s natural ally was Ivaniš Pavlović, and both of them tried to satisfy their interests through this coalition during the wars against Stjepan Vukčić in 1444, 1445, and 1449: the King tried to broaden the spectre of his own rule by using the antagonisms amongst the nobility, while Ivaniš Pavlović, far from the power held by his grandfather Pavle and father Radoslav, attempted to gain revenge and reclaim lost territories in the South. From this alliance Ivaniš did not gain reprisal or his old possessions, but rather strengthened his will to return to former territorial and political greatness. This can be seen from the marital festivities held in Milodraž during the month of May 1446, at the marriage between the King and Katarina, the daughter of Herzog Stjepan Vukčić, where Ivaniš was absent in disagreement with this new political turn of events. His heirs Duke Petar and Count Nikola at one point fell into complete dependence on Stjepan Vukčić, even sending him troops at the beginning of his war against Ragusa in 1451. Their life was peaceful because the atmosphere in Bosnia at that time was also calm, without any feudal conflicts, since the previous wars confirmed that these divisions could not stand and that the Ottoman pressure, which united the nobility also conserved the mentioned partitions at the same time. The whole life of Ivaniš, Petar and Nikola, shows an adherence to the peak of the Bosnian society. Their actions, as well as the actions of their ancestors, also reflect a full self confidence, even though, as we have shown, they were inferior to them. They were Barons of the Realm, and they had under their control a subordinate nobility with a council in its primary stages, an emerging town class, the shepherd Vlachs, and peasants. They also collected the so-called regal rights in the markets and mines, customs duties on the roads and were in charge of independent communications with the outside world, first of all Ragusa, to whose nobility they belonged to, and which strongly influenced the economy and culture. Their behaviour, good or bad, is on par with the behaviour of other comrades in arms. The manifestations of regional magnates in Bosnia are more or less identical in the time of imminent Ottoman arrival.

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