Ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia
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Ban of Croatia

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Ban of Croatia

Ban of Croatia (Croatian: Hrvatski ban) was the title of local rulers or office holders and after 1102, viceroys of Croatia. From the earliest periods of the Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by bans as a ruler's representative (viceroy) and supreme military commander. In the 18th century, Croatian bans eventually became the chief government officials in Croatia.

They were at the head of the Ban's Government, effectively the first prime ministers of Croatia. The institution of ban persisted until the first half of the 20th century, when it was officially superseded in function by that of a parliamentary prime minister.

South Slavic ban (Croatian pronunciation: [bâːn], with a long [a]), is directly attested in 10th-century Constantine Porphyrogenitus' book De Administrando Imperio as βο(ε)άνος, in a chapter dedicated to Croats and the organization of their state, describing how their ban "has under his rule Krbava, Lika and Gacka."

References from the earliest periods are scarce, but history recalls that the first known Croatian ban is Pribina from the 10th century. In the early Middle Ages, the ban was the royal district governor of Lika, Gacka and Krbava. Later, the meaning of the title was elevated to that of provincial governor in the Kingdom of Croatia. King Demetrius Zvonimir was originally a ban serving under King Peter Krešimir IV.

After the Croats elected King Coloman of Hungary as King of Croatia 1102, the title of ban acquired the meaning of viceroy. Bans were appointed by the Hungarian king as his representatives in Kingdom of Croatia, heads of the parliament (sabor) and also as supreme commander of Croatian Army.

Croatia was governed by the viceregal ban as a whole from 1102 until 1225, when it was split into two separate regions of Slavonia and Croatia. Two different bans were occasionally appointed until 1476, when the institution of a single ban was resumed. Most bans were native nobles but some were also of Hungarian ancestry. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the more extensive title of Duke of Slavonia (meaning all lands of the Kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia and Slavonian domain) was also granted, mainly to relatives of Hungarian monarchs or other major noblemen. Most notable bans from this period were Pavao Šubić and Peter Berislavić.

From 1225 to 1476, there were parallel Bans of Croatia and Dalmatia and of Slavonia. The following is the list of the former, the latter are listed at the article Ban of Slavonia. During the period of separate titles of ban, several persons held both titles, which is indicated in the notes.

After the death of King Louis I of Hungary, his daughter Mary succeeded to the throne, which led to kings Charles III and Ladislaus of Naples claiming the Kingdom of Hungary. A war erupted between forces loyal to Mary, and later to her husband and successor Sigismund of Luxembourg, and those loyal to Ladislaus.

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