Herzegovina ( or ; , ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It does not have strictly defined administrative borders today; however, in the past it was organized as the Sanjak of Herzegovina (1470–1833; 1851–1912) and Herzegovina Eyalet (1830–1851).
Bosnia, the larger of the two regions, lies to the north of Herzegovina; the Croatian region of Dalmatia lies to the southwest; the Montenegrin region of Old Herzegovina lies to the southeast. The area of Herzegovina is around , or around 24% of the country. The largest city is Mostar, in the center of the region. Other large settlements include Trebinje, Široki Brijeg, Ljubuški, Čapljina, Konjic and Posušje.
Etymology The Ottomans were the first to officially use the name (English: Herzegovina; , ) for the region in their administrative affairs in a letter from 1 February 1454, written by the Ottoman commander Esebeg from Skopje, and established a sanjak bearing that name in 1470, the Sanjak of Herzegovina, with its first seat at Foča. They simply followed their established custom of naming places and territories they conquered by the name of its prior rulers. In this case Ottomans used Stjepan Vukčić Kosača's title, herceg, a title he gave himself in 1448, and a year later changed it to Herceg of St. Sava, after the Serb saint buried on his territory, considered a miracle worker by Christians of all faiths. It practically became part of his name, in the last few years of his life when he was commonly referred to as Herceg-Stjepan, to name a region he ruled at the time of Ottoman conquest of Bosnia in the second half of the 15th century.John V.A. Fine, "The Medieval and Ottoman Roots of Modern Bosnian Society", in Mark Pinson, ed., The Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina: Their Historic Development from the Middle Ages to the Dissolution of Yugoslavia, Harvard Middle East Monographys 28, Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 2nd ed, 1996 , p. 11B. Djurdjev, "Bosna" in Encyclopaedia of Islam 2nd ed. P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W. P. Heinrichs, eds. , 2012. Hercegovina is, thus, a possessive noun derived from Herceg-Stjepan's title-name compound and literally means 'duke's land' (), 'herceg's land', herceg's holdings and/or territory owned/ruled by a .
The title herceg is a Slavic form of German (the German term for a duke; ), and the first among the Kosača dukes to use the title was Herceg-Stjepan, who became the of in 1449–50. In December 1481, the lands of Stjepan Vukčić's successors were finally occupied by Ottoman forces. Prior to the widespread adoption of the name "Herzegovina", the region was thus referred to as ("Hum Land"), or for short in Serbo-Croatian.: "Tako se pojam Humska zemlja postepeno gubi da ustupi mjesto novom imenu zemlje hercega Stjepana — Hercegovini."
However, this is just a superficial understanding, and cannot be attributed to alone, as his title was not of decisive importance after all. Far more crucial was a well-known Ottoman custom to call newly acquired lands by the names of its earlier lords. It was enough for the Ottomans to conquer 's land as a whole, to start calling it Herzegovina. Also, did not establish this province as a feudal and political unit of the Bosnian state, that honor befell Grand Duke of Bosnia, Vlatko Vuković, who received it from King Tvrtko I, while Sandalj Hranić expanded it and reaffirmed the Kosača family supremacy.
History
Medieval period
Slavs settled in the Balkans in the 7th century. What later became known as Herzegovina was divided between Croatia, Zachlumia and Travunia in the Early Middle Ages. Parts of the region were ruled by various medieval rulers, who were in vassal relations to Medieval Serbia on the east, and the Kingdom of Croatia on the west. In the 1100s Hum was in the hands of the Nemanjić family, Hungary also claimed Hum as part of its claim on Bosnia, and wars were fought for control by Hungary and the Nemanjić family. By the early 13th century Raška held control of most of Hum, and Sava created a Serbian bishopric at Ston in 1220. In the 1220s Petar is referred to as the Prince of Hum, and he was also elected Prince of Split. The Catholic Church excommunicated him because of his Orthodoxy, but the citizens of Split kept him as prince. Following his death his descendants continued to rule at least part of Hum for a number of decades.
In the course of the war between Stephen Uroš II Milutin and Stephen Dragutin, Paul I Šubić of Bribir from Croatia expanded not only into western Hum, but also beyond the Neretva river, and took the region of Nevesinje and Ston. Paul appointed his eldest son, Mladen II, as Lord of Hum. At least part of Paul's conquests were granted to his vassal Constantine Nelipčić. After Paul's death, Milutin and Dragutin concluded a peace, and went to war against the Šubić family. In the war that followed Milutin took one of Mladen's brother captive, and to get him back Mladen Šubić had to agree to restore a part of Hum to Milutin. After this agreement in 1313 the Neretva again became the border between eastern and western Hum.
After the death of Milutin in 1321, various Serb nobles took sides and in Hum the Branivojević family became the strongest. With their court at Ston they claimed lands from the Cetina River to Kotor, including Pelješac. The Bosnian Ban, Stjepan Kotoromanić, with allied Hum nobles and Serbia refusing to support the Branivojević, took over and annexed Hum in 1326. As part of the war for Hum, Dubrovnik sought to take over Pelješac and Ston, part of Hum held by the Branivojević. Serbia refused to yield it, which led to conflict between Dubrovnik and Serbia. In 1333 the new king of Serbia, Stefan Dušan, sold Pelješac and Ston to Dubrovnik for cash and an annual tribute.
Under Bosnia Kotoromanović's allies, the Draživojević/Sankovic family of Nevesinje, became the leading family in Hum, while Serbian vassals retained eastern Herzegovina. Other than a rebellion by Toljen of Hum's son, Peter, whom Stjepan captured and put to death, the Hum nobles remained largely loyal to Kotoromanić, while also continuing to manage their local regions. Stjepan did take direct control of the valuable custom's house at Drijeva (Metković). The population of Hum remained overwhelmingly Orthodox, compared to elsewhere in Bosnia where the Bosnian Church predominated, and after the arrival of the Franciscans in the 1340s, Catholicism also began to spread.
During the 13th and early 14th centuries the Bosnian bans Stjepan I Kotromanić and Stjepan II Kotromanić joined these regions to the Bosnian state, with the King Tvrtko I Kotromanić extending territories even further, beyond what is modern-day Herzegovina proper.
Humska zemlja under Kosača's
During this period, parts of Herzegovina, or as it was called at the time Humska zemlja, or simply Hum, were given by the King Tvrtko I to, at that point in time the relatively insignificant Bosnian clan of Kosača family and its Vuković branch, headed by Vlatko Vuković, who received it as an award for his service as a supreme commander of the Bosnian army.
Another powerful Bosnian noble family, Pavlović, at the time headed by Pavle Radinović, whose seat was near Rogatica in Drina county, including holdings in Drina and parts of Vrhbosna, also shared some of the territories in Hum centered around Trebinje.
However, at the time when Kosače received the Hum from the King, another powerful Bosnian noble family had a primacy in the region. That family was the Sanković's, credited for capturing Hum for Bosnia and the Ban Stjepan II, who in 1326, dispatched their early branch, the Draživojević's (the next generation of Bogopenec), whose head was Milten Draživojević, along with other noblemen, into Hum to oust the Branivojević family, who were, at the time, loyal to Serbia.
So, Sanković's were very active in the 14th and start of the 15th century in Hum. Their seat was in Glavatičevo's hamlet Biskupi, where today the family burial place with a stećci is still present and protected as a National monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The most prominent members were Sanko Miltenović, the eponymous founder of the Sanković's (the progenitor was Dražen Bogopenec),Željko Fajfrić, Kotromanići, Šid 2000, ch. 4 who died in a battle while leading the Bosnian army to aid Ragusa against Serbian lord, the Altomanović, who campaigned against Ragusa in 1370, and his oldest son, Radić Sanković.
The Ottoman threat was brewing to the east, threatening Bosnia and its southeastern regions in Hum. On 27 August 1388, Radić participated in the Battle of Bileća, when the Bosnian army led by the Grand Duke Vlatko, defeated an Ottoman raiding party of up to 18,000 strong.Finkel, Caroline, Osman's Dream, (Basic Books, 2005), pp. 20-21 Bosnian heavy cavalry is typically credited with winning the battle as they broke the Ottoman ranks and pursued the retreating enemy. Celebrated Ottoman commander Lala Sahin Pasha (, 1330 – cca 1382) barely managed to save himself with the small band of his soldiers.
In 1391–1392, Radič and his brother Beljak tried to sell their possessions in Konavle to the Republic of Ragusa. However, a stanak was convoked by the king and the noblemen who opposed the sale of Konavli by Radič Sanković to Dubrovnik. The Grand Duke Vlatko Vuković and the knez Pavle Radinović were sent against Radič in December 1391 after receiving the stanak's blessings. The two captured Radič and occupied Konavli, dividing it between themselves, despite protests from Ragusa.
After Vlatko Vuković died sometime between August 1392 - August 1393, he was succeeded by his nephew the Grand Duke of Bosnia, Sandalj Hranić, who continued struggle against Radič, who regained his freedom in 1398, immediately seeking to restore his lost lands, becoming an important ally of the King Stjepan Ostoja.
Radič participated in the Bosnian-Dubrovnik War in 1403-1404, leading the attacks on Dubrovnik in the name of the King Stjepan Ostoja. Sandalj captured Radič, took all of his land, and after blinding him he throw him in prison, where Radić died in 1404 marking the end of the Sanković family.
When Sandalj died, Stjepan Vukčić, as Sandalj's nephew, inherited lordship over the Hum, and was the last Bosnian nobleman who had effective control over the province (zemlja) before Ottoman conquest. He titled himself Duke of Hum and Primorje, Bosnian Grand Duke, Knyaz of Drina, and later Herzog of Saint Sava, Lord of Hum and Bosnian Grand Duke, Knyaz of Drina and the rest. Following the Ottomans conquest and fall of Bosnian Kingdom, Hum or Humska zemlja became known as Hercegovina (), which literally means "Herzog's land".
The name "Herzegovina", which still exists with the name Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the most-important and indelible legacy of Stjepan Vukčić Kosača; it is unique within the Serbo-Croatian-speaking Balkans, because one person gave his noble title, which in the last few years of his life became inseparable from his name, to a region previously called Humska zemlja or Hum. The Ottoman custom of calling newly acquired lands by the names of their earlier rulers was of decisive importance. Also, Stjepan did not establish this province as a feudal and political unit of the Bosnian state; that honor befell Grand Duke of Bosnia Vlatko Vuković, who received it from King Tvrtko I; Sandalj Hranić expanded it and reaffirmed the Kosača family's supremacy.