| Summary: | The fact that ban Tvrtko of Bosnia had maternal ties with Nemanjić dynasty
and seized certain areas of the former Serbian Empire was used as a basis for
him to be crowned king of the Serbs and Bosnia in 1377 in the monastery of
Mileševa over the grave of Saint Sava. His charter issued to the Ragusans in
1378 contains the term “double wreath” which figuratively symbolized the rule
of Tvrtko I over two Serb-inhabited states, Bosnia and Serbia. Tvrtko’s
choice not to annex the conquered territory to his own state, Bosnia, but to
be crowned king of Serbia as well required the development of a new ideology
of kingship and a new form of legitimation of power. Although his royal title
was recognized by his neighbours, including probably the rest of the Serbian
lands, that the project was unrealistic became obvious in the aftermath of
the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. What remained after his death was only the
royal title, while the state ruled by his successors became exclusively
related to Bosnia. Yet, echoes of his coronation in medieval Bosnia can be
followed in the further development of the title and of the concept of crown
and state. Interestingly, an attempt to revive the double crown concept was
made in the early fifteenth century by the king Sigismund of Hungary, who
requested that the Bosnians crown him the way Tvrtko had been crowned.
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