Wreaths laid in front of the monument to King Tomislav to mark the completion of the 1100th anniversary of the Croatian Kingdom

On Monday, delegations from Matica Hrvatska cultural institution and the "Brothers of the Croatian Dragon" Society, together with a delegation from Croatian Parliament, laid wreaths in front of the monument to the first Croatian king, Tomislav.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner recalled that in the letters of Pope John X, the Croatian ruler Tomislav first appears with the title of king in 925, and he is also mentioned under that title at the First Church Council of Split.

Tomislav received the title of king after military victories over the Hungarians and the Bulgarian army, and united Dalmatian and Pannonian Croatia. “That is why,” Reiner added, “the Croatian Parliament has declared 2025 the year of commemoration of the 1100th anniversary of the Croatian Kingdom.”

The President of Matica Hrvatska, Damir Zorić, pointed out that, in addition to the few but important historical facts, Tomislav can be spoken of as an important symbol of Croatian identity.

He assessed that Tomislav, due to the importance he had in his time as the first Croatian king and a strong united state, has over time become a symbol of Croatian statehood, freedom, strength and solidarity.

“King Tomislav represents those values in our identity that are necessary for us as a people in order to have a future,” assessed Zorić, adding that this is precisely why Tomislav is loved as a ruler.

As he noted, more than 200 events dedicated to the first Croatian king Tomislav were recorded in Matica Hrvatska this year alone.

Josip degl Ivellio from the Brothers of the Croatian Dragon Society said that the Crothers of the Croatian Dragon Society had implemented more than 80 projects this year, and will implement some of them next year as well.

“A hundred years ago, the Brothers of the Croatian Dragon Society was the main initiator of the millennium celebration of the coronation of King Tomislav,” he recalled.

King Tomislav was the prince of Primorje Croatia.

Thomas the Archdeacon mentions him in 914 as "dux" (prince). The Byzantine emperor Constantine VII. Porphyrogenitus records that at that time "Croatia could field 60,000 cavalry and 100,000 infantry, and that it had 80 large ships (sagena), each with up to 40 sailor-warriors, and 100 smaller ships (kondur), each with 10 to 20 sailor-warriors.

After military victories and the unification of the country, Tomislav was crowned king of Croatia.

It is believed that he became king in 925, because Pope John X addressed him in a letter in Latin that year as "Tamisclao, regi Crouatorum".

The source "Regnum Sclavorum" (Chronicle of the priest of Dukljan) records the administrative organization of the Croatian Kingdom and the coronation of the king on the Duvno Plain with a crown sent to him by the Byzantine emperor.

According to tradition, the first Croatian King Tomislav was crowned on the Duvno Plain.

Source: HRT