The Kingdom of Bosnia, or Bosnian Kingdom, was a medieval kingdom that lasted for nearly a century, from 1377 to 1463, and evolved out of the Banate of Bosnia, which itself lasted since at least 1154.
Coin of Tvrtko II
Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić, depicted in Hrvoje's Missal
Weapons of Medieval Bosnian kingdom
Stjepan Tomašević, the last Bosnian king, by Jacopo Bellini
Stephen Tvrtko I was the first king of Bosnia. A member of the House of Kotromanić, he succeeded his uncle Stephen II as the ban of Bosnia in 1353. As he was a minor at the time, Tvrtko's father, Vladislav, briefly ruled as regent, followed by Tvrtko's mother, Jelena. Early in his personal rule, Tvrtko quarrelled with his country's Roman Catholic clergy but later enjoyed cordial relations with all the religious communities in his realm. After initial difficulties – the loss of large parts of Bosnia to his overlord, King Louis I of Hungary, and being briefly deposed by his magnates – Tvrtko's power grew considerably. He conquered some remnants of the neighbouring Serbian Empire in 1373, after the death of its last ruler and his distant relative, Uroš the Weak. In 1377, he had himself crowned king of Bosnia and Serbia, claiming to be the heir of Serbia's extinct Nemanjić dynasty.
Seal of King Tvrtko I
Fortress of Novi, built by Tvrtko I in 1382, with its newly founded port immediately became an economic hub of the kingdom.