It is not known precisely when the Bosnian diocese was established. Based on a collection of historical documents
Provinciale Vetus, published in 1188, which mention it twice, once subordinated to the
Archdiocese of Split, and another time under the
Archdiocese of Ragusa, it is assumed that it came into existence between 1060 and 1074. The political and cultural circumstances of its foundation correspond to the time period of Croatian king
Peter Krešimir IV (1058–1074). During the 12th century, it was contested between those two archdioceses as well as another two, the
Archdiocese of Antivari and the
Archdiocese of Kalocsa. In 1244, an endowment of the parishes of
Đakovo and Blezna by King
Béla IV of Hungary listed the other parishes of the diocese, namely
Vrhbosna,
Neretva,
Lepenica, Vidgossa (
Viduša),
Mile (near today's
Visoko),
Lašva,
Uskoplje, Brod (near today's
Zenica), Borač (near today's
Rogatica). In the 13th and 14th centuries, the Bishops of Bosnia were mainly
Dominican missionaries who were sent in to combat the spread of the
Bosnian Church. At the turn of the 14th century, the
Franciscans also arrived with the same purpose, at first in
Usora and
Soli, at the request of
Stephen Dragutin of Serbia. The two orders engaged in a prolonged dispute over the control of the province, in which the Franciscans ultimately prevailed, yet the weakened diocese still succumbed to the
Ottoman conquest of Bosnia in 1463. During the Ottoman occupation, the bishop of Bosnia had no effective control over the territory of Bosnia, rather, the
Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena remained the primary vessel of Catholicism in the area. In 1735, the Holy See founded the Apostolic Vicariate for Bosnia, and assigned Franciscans as apostolic vicars to direct it, thereby formally ending the jurisdiction of this diocese over Bosnia. In 1773, == Bishops of Bosnia ==