''Stanak'' is the most common name used to refer to the assembly of nobility in

medieval Bosnia The history of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Middle Ages refers to the time period between the Roman era and the 15th-century Ottoman conquest. The Early Middle Ages in the Western Balkans saw the region reconquered from barbarians (Ostrogot ...

. The assembly, in the original

Bosančica Bosnian Cyrillic, widely known as Bosančica, is a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet that originated in medieval Bosnia. The term was coined at the end of the 19th century by Ćiro Truhelka. It was widely used in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovin ...

: (), was also known as the ''Rusag'' (from the Hungarian word ''orszag'', meaning "state" or "nation"), ''Rusag bosanski'', ''Zbor'', ''Sva Bosna'' (meaning "Whole of Bosnia") or just ''Bosna'', with the officials of the

Republic of Ragusa The Republic of Ragusa, or the Republic of Dubrovnik, was an maritime republics, aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (''Ragusa'' in Italian and Latin; ''Raguxa'' in Venetian) in South Dalmatia (today in southernmost ...

employing several

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

terms as well. The term ''"stanak sve zemlje Bosne",'' is first attested in the charter of

Tvrtko I Stephen Tvrtko I ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Stjepan/Stefan Tvrtko, Стјепан/Стефан Твртко; 1338 – 10 March 1391) was the king of Bosnia, first king of Kingdom of Bosnia, Bosnia. A member of the House of Kotromanić, h ...

in 1354. Its influence peaked between the 1390s and the 1420s. The Serbian historian

Sima Ćirković Sima Ćirković (Serbian Cyrillic: Сима Ћирковић; 29 January 1929 – 14 November 2009) was a Yugoslav and Serbian historian. Ćirković was a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Yugoslav Acade ...

and most other Yugoslav scholars believed that the existence of the ''stanak'' proved a unity and feeling of belonging to a Bosnian identity and integrity, but also illustrated weakness of the monarch and

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...

of the state, as argued by American colleague

John Van Antwerp Fine, Jr. John V. A. Fine Jr. (born September 9, 1939) is an American historian and author. He is professor emeritus of Balkan and Byzantine history at the University of Michigan and has written extensively on the subject. Early life and education He was ...

The right to take part in the sessions of the s''tanak'' was enjoyed by every Bosnian '' knez'', from magnates to petty lords, collectively known as ''vlastela'', but the ultimate authority belonged to the highest nobility. The ''stanak'' was convoked when required, usually by the

ruler A ruler, sometimes called a rule, scale, line gauge, or metre/meter stick, is an instrument used to make length measurements, whereby a length is read from a series of markings called "rules" along an edge of the device. Usually, the instr ...

, who presided over it and led its sessions. If male, his wife was allowed to attend, but his children were not. The

Bosnian Church The Bosnian Church ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Crkva bosanska, Црква босанска) was an autonomous Christian church in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina. Historians traditionally connected the church with the Bogomils, although this ...

clergy, not belonging to the ''vlastela'', were also barred, but influenced decision-making in the ''stanak'' through the great lords associated with them. The magnates of the country convoked the ''stanak'' themselves when the country experienced greater domestic issues, such as succession crisis or deposition of the ruler, domestic conflicts or wars. It normally took place wherever the monarch held court: in

Mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...

Milodraž Milodraž was a settlement in the Kingdom of Bosnia, situated on an important road connecting the towns of Visoko during the Middle Ages, Visoko and Fojnica. No remains of it have been found, but royal charters and Republic of Ragusa, Ragusan doc ...

Bobovac Bobovac ( sh-Cyrl, Бобовац) a historic site, was a fortified royal capital city of medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as such a seat of Bosnian rulers during 14th and 15th century. It is located near today's Vareš and the village of Bo ...

Kraljeva Sutjeska Kraljeva Sutjeska (sometimes Kraljevska Sutjeska, or just Sutjeska or Sutiska, historically Trstionica (river), Trstivnica, in local tradition ''Naše stolno misto'') is a village in the Municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, municipality of Ka ...

and

Jajce Jajce ( sr-Cyrl, Јајце) is a town and municipality in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, wi ...

. The ''stanak'' enjoyed great power and authority; it deliberated on matters such as election of the new king or queen and

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

, foreign policy, sale or cession of territory, contracting and signing treaties with neighboring countries, and military issues. Charters issued by monarchs reflected the decisions made by the ''stanak''; as the royal power weakened, that of s''tanak'' increased.

References

Bibliography

* {{Bosnian Parliament through history Historical legislatures Kingdom of Bosnia Medieval Bosnian state