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 a 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. 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), 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. 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. 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. This signified the disappearance of the last-remaining independent point of the medieval Bosnian state.
Ottoman period (1833–1851)|223x223px '' by
Uroš Predić|222x222px In 1482, the lands of Stefan Vukčić's successors were occupied by Ottoman forces. The Ottomans were the first to begin officially using the name Herzegovina (Hersek) for the region. The Bosnian
beylerbey Isa-beg Ishaković mentioned the name in a letter from 1454. In the
Ottoman Empire, Herzegovina was organized as a
sanjak, the
Sanjak of Herzegovina, within the
Bosnia Eyalet. According to the Turkish census of Herzegovina from 1477, some villages were mentioned as being "in the possession of Vlachs," while others, were listed as "Serb settlements" and mostly deserted. According to Ottoman
defters, at the end of the 15th century in Herzegovina were at least 35,000 Vlachs. During the
Long War (1591–1606),
Serbs rose up in Herzegovina (1596–97), but they were quickly suppressed after their defeat at the field of
Gacko. The
Candian War of 1645 to 1669 caused great damage to the region as the
Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire fought for control over
Dalmatia and coastal Herzegovina. As a result of the
Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699, the Ottomans gained access to the
Adriatic Sea through the
Neum-
Klek coastal area. The
Republic of Dubrovnik ceded this to distance themselves from the
Venetian Republic's influence. The Ottomans benefitted from this in gaining the region's salt. As a result of the
Bosnian Uprising (1831–32), the Vilayet was split to form the separate
Herzegovina Eyalet, ruled by semi-independent
vizier Ali-paša Rizvanbegović. After his death in 1851, the eyalets of Bosnia and Herzegovina were merged. The Herzegovinian Serbs frequently rose up against the Ottoman rule; culminating in the
Herzegovina Uprising (1875-78), which was supported by the
Principality of Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegro did succeed in liberating and annexing large parts of Herzegovina before the
Berlin Congress of 1878, including the
Nikšić area; the historical Herzegovina region annexed to Montenegro is known as East or
Old Herzegovina.
Modern history (1878–1918) As a result of the
Treaty of Berlin (1878), Herzegovina, along with Bosnia, were
occupied by Austria-Hungary, only nominally remaining under Ottoman rule. The historical Herzegovina region in the
Principality of Montenegro was known as East or
Old Herzegovina. The Serb population of Herzegovina and Bosnia hoped for annexation to
Serbia and Montenegro. The Franciscan order opened the first university in Herzegovina in 1895 in
Mostar. In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed the province, leading to the
Bosnian Crisis, an international dispute which nearly triggered a general war and was an important step in the buildup of international tensions during the years leading up to the
First World War. The assassination of the
Archduke Franz Ferdinand came as a direct result of the resentment of the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina against Austro-Hungarian rule. During
World War I, Herzegovina was a scene of inter-ethnic conflict. During the war, the Austro-Hungarian government formed
Šuckori, Muslim para-militia units. Šuckori units were especially active in Herzegovina. Persecution of Serbs conducted by the Austro-Hungarian authorities was the "first incidence of active 'ethnic cleansing' in Bosnia and Herzegovina". In 1918, Herzegovina became a part of the newly formed
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed
Kingdom of Yugoslavia). In 1941 Herzegovina fell under the governance of the
fascist axis puppet state
Independent State of Croatia (NDH). During
World War II, Herzegovina was a battleground between fascist Croat
Ustaše, royalist Serb
Četniks, and the communist
Yugoslav Partisans; Herzegovina was administratively divided into the counties of Hum and Dubrava by the NDH. In 1945,
Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the republics of
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It remained so until the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. During the
Bosnian War, large parts of western and central Herzegovina became part of the Croat republic of
Herzeg-Bosnia (which later joined the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) while eastern Herzegovina became a part of the Serb republic of
Republika Srpska. ==Geography==