Bosnia in the work of Kritoboulos of Imbros

Abstract

Most of the data Kritoboulos of Imbros, a Byzantine historian of the fifteenth century, gives about Bosnia, pertain to the last years of existence of the medieval Bosnian state. Apart from two short side notes on other issues, the bulk of evidence on Bosnia in Kritoboulos' work bears on the events of the year 1463, describing the occupation of Bosnia by Mehmed II the Conqueror and the counteroffensive launched by the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus, as well as the final return of the Ottoman Sultan in 1464. Kritoboulos was obviously well informed about the events, so that his report even though it does not offer spectacular new insights, certainly represents a valuable supplement to other sources. The space Kritoboulos devotes to the fall of Bosnia, taken together with the data from other Byzantine sources such as Laonikos Chalkokondyles' History, Byzantine Short Chronicles and Chronicle of the Turkish Sultans, unequivocally shows that this was one of the most important events in the second half of the fifteenth century. Viewed as a hole, the body of evidence on Bosnia from Byzantine sources, covering the time span of the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, bears witness to how the Byzantine perspective on Bosnia changed over centuries. Originally, e.g. in Constantine Porphyrogennetos' De administrando imperio (tenth century) Bosnia was simply considered a part of Serbia. Later, although still treated as a part of Serbia, it assumes a somewhat different position, as witnessed by John Kinnamos in twelfth century, who notes that "the river Drina which takes its origin somewhat higher up and divides Bosnia from the rest of Serbia", but also that "Bosnia itself is not subjected to the Serbs' grand župan, but is a tribe which lives and ruled separately". Finally, in the 15th century, Bosnia is an independent state like, for instance, Serbia or Hungary. .