Before Banate Since 1287, when his father,
Ban Prijezda I withdrew from power, Kotroman ruled jointly as Ban of
Bosnia with another son of Prijezda I,
Prijezda II. Kotroman separated the country with Prijezda II, and took eastern
Bosnia. After the death of Prijezda II, Kotroman became the sole Ban of
Bosnia in 1290.
Marriage In 1284 he married
Elizabeth of Serbia, daughter of the King of
Syrmia,
Stefan Dragutin of the
House of Nemanjić, and Queen Catherine, daughter of
Hungarian King Stephen V and
Elizabeth the Cuman. Dragutin had already controlled two banates in Bosnia:
Usora and
Soli and Kotroman immediately fell under his influence – many of his acts were at Dragutin's command. The marriage was political and arranged by Ban
Prijezda II who had attempted to forge an alliance with
Stefan Dragutin.
Hungarian War of Succession In 1290
Hungarian King Ladislaus IV died leaving no heirs to the
throne. The cousin of Ladislaus IV,
Andrew III, was crowned
King, despite the desire of the sister of the former King
Ladislaus IV,
Mary of Hungary, Queen of Naples, who wanted her son,
Charles Martel as the new King in Hungary. The latter party had much more support, so
Pope Nicholas IV had crowned Charles Martel as King of Hungary. This movement was supported by the most powerful
Croatian nobility, the
Šubićs,
Princes of
Bribir. As the current head of the family,
Paul Šubić was also son-in-law of King
Stefan Dragutin, family connections made Kotroman support Charles Martel's crowning. To increase his influence in Kotroman's realm, Charles Martel issued numerous edicts to split the land among the lesser
gentry to gain support for his reign. It appears that he gave the reign over
Bosnia to the Šubićs. Charles Martel died unexpectedly in 1295, before the campaign to seize the power in
Hungary was finished. The Queen of Naples and sister of former King Ladislaus IV, Mary, had then decided to put her grandson, son of Charles Martel,
Charles Robert as the future King of Hungary.
Pope Boniface VIII declared the twelve-year-old boy as King
Charles I of Hungary in 1297.
Paul Šubić of
Croatia declared himself as "
Dominus of
Bosnia" in 1299 and gave the title of
Bosnian Ban to his brother,
Mladen I Šubić. All of Kotroman's land except for the
Donji Kraji (), which was ruled by
Prince Hrvatin Stjepanić as a vassal of the Šubićs, was held by the House of Šubić; as was confirmed by Charles I Robert. Paul Šubić wanted to bring
King Charles Robert to
Split across
Croatia to
Zagreb, which would become the main station of his campaign against King Andrew III of Hungary. During the preparations for war, Andrew III died unexpectedly.
Charles Robert assessed the Hungarian throne, but had to fight numerous opponents to his regime up to 1309.
Internal wars Stephen Kotroman had resisted the growth of the Šubićs' power in Bosnia, but had lost by 1302 most control over the land to
Mladen I Šubić. Although, Kotroman was not defeated as he still had some influence and power in Bosnia. His father-in-law King
Stefan Dragutin could not send him aid since a succession-war had erupted in the
Serbian Kingdom between him and his brother, the powerful
King Stefan Milutin. Additionally, during the problems over the Hungarian crown, Dragutin had attempted to insert his son Vladislav as the new
King of Hungary. Despite the many difficulties, Stephen Kotroman had held out. The war turned into religious conflict, as Mladen I Šubić had started a
campaign to exterminate the adherents of the
Bosnian Church – the kristjani. This balanced the conflict in Kotroman's favour, as number of kristjani had joined his side because of this. After his death Paul Šubić in 1305 proclaimed himself "lord of All Bosnia".
End of reign Paul's reign did not last long as he died in 1312. The disappointed
Ban Stephen Kotroman died in 1314, before he managed to act. ==Issue==