Historiographic Controversy about the Crusades against Bosnian “Heretics”

Yıl 2020, Sayı: 4, 63 - 77, 20.06.2020

Dženan Dautović

Öz

The teachings of the Bosnian Church constitute one of the greatest
mysteries of the medieval period of Bosnian history. The issue whether it acted
in the realms of heresy or orthodoxy has been disputed in a scientific
battleground in historiographical circles many times. Just a touch less
controversy is linked with the nature of military missions proclaimed and
executed against Bosnian ''heretics''. Some authors characterize these
conflicts as religious, so typical for crusades, while others, however,
emphasize the political and territorial pretensions of Hungary regarding
Bosnia, as the main motif, describing the Holy war idea as a cover story for
the sake of the Papal curia. The triangle between Hungary, Rome and Bosnia was
the focal point of discourse in which numerous accusations on one side and
explanations from the other occurred, along with war propaganda, anti-heretic
warnings and attempts to prove innocence and that right path were followed.
Interestingly, the Bosnian medieval state, so many times threatened with
crusades against it, became the leading advocate for crusade missions against
the Ottoman danger in the 15th century. This transformation did not occur
because crusader ideas prevailed, but rather because of evolution within the
social and administrative structures. This work will explore all the
differences between the opposing historiographic streams, their approaches
regarding sources and literature. The main goal is to determine how research
performed with more or less identical source material, can produce such
opposing results.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Historiography, Medieval Bosnia, Bosnian Kingdom, Heretic, Crusade, Bosnian Church

Kaynakça

• Amir Duranovic Admir Mulaosmanovic