Ban Kulin

In 1183, he led his troops with the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary under King Béla and the Serbs under Stefan Nemanja, who had just launched an attack on the Byzantine Empire. The cause of the war was Hungary's non-recognition of the new emperor, Andronikos Komnenos. The united forces met little resistance in the eastern Serbian lands - the Byzantine squadrons were fighting among themselves as the local Byzantine commanders Alexios Brannes supported the new Emperor, while Andronikos Lapardes opposed him - and deserted the Imperial Army, going onto adventures on his own. Without difficulties, the Byzantines were pushed out of the Morava Valley and the allied forces breached all the way to Sofia, raiding Belgrade, Braničevo, Ravno, Niš and Sofia itself.

In 1199, Serbian prince Vukan Nemanjić informed the Pope, Innocent, of heresy in Bosnia. Vukan claimed that Kulin, a heretic, had welcomed the heretics whom Bernard of Split had banished, and treated them as Christians. In 1200, the Pope wrote a letter to Kulin's suzerain, the Hungarian King Emeric, warning him that “no small number of Patarenes” had gone from Split and Trogir to Ban Kulin where they were warmly welcomed, and told him to “Go and ascertain the truth of these reports and if Kulin is unwilling to recant, drive him from your lands and confiscate his property.” Kulin replied to the Pope that he did not regard the immigrants as heretics, but as Catholics, and that he was sending a few of them to Rome for examination, and also invited that a Papal representative be sent to investigate. Unconvinced, the Pope sent his legates to Bosnia to interrogate Kulin and his subjects about religion and life, and if indeed heretical, correct the situation through a prepared constitution. The Pope wrote to Bernard in 1202 that "a multitude of people in Bosnia are suspected of the damnable heresy of the Cathars." The two legates sent by the Pope went through the country of Bosnia and interrogated the clergy.

Not only did Casamaris listen to his informants’ answers, but where they were in error, he would have taught them correct doctrine, in line with Innocent's directive. John must have convinced himself that he had fulfilled Innocent's command to correct the krstjani, because the “Confessio” (Abjuration) signed at Bilino Polje by seven priors of the Krstjani church on 8 April 1203, makes no mention of errors. The same document was brought to Budapest, 30 April by Casamaris and Kulin and two abbots, where it was examined by the Hungarian King and the high clergy. Kulin's son On the surface, the “Confessio” concerned church organization and practices. The monks renounced their schism with Rome and agreed to accept Rome as the mother church. They promised to erect chapels with altars and crucifixes, where they would have priests who would say Mass and dispense Holy Communion at least seven times a year on the main feast days.

The priests would also hear confession and give penances. The monks promised to chant the hours, night and day, and to read the Old Testament as well as the New. They would follow the Church's schedule of fasts, as well as their own regimen. They also agreed to stop calling themselves krstjani—which had been their exclusive privilege—lest they cause pain to other Christians. They would wear special, uncolored robes, closed and reaching the ankles. In addition they were to have graveyards next to the church, where they would bury their brethren and any visitors who happened to die there.

Women members of the order were to have special quarters away from the men and to eat separately; nor could they be seen talking alone with a monk, lest they cause scandal. The abbots also agreed not to offer lodging to manicheans or other heretics. Finally, upon the death of the head of their order (magister), the abbots, after consultation with their fellow monks, would submit their choice to the Pope for his approval. As for the Bosnian Catholic diocese itself, John advised Innocent that they needed to break the hold of the Slavonic bishop who had ruled the Bosnian church up to then, and to appoint three or four Latin bishops, since Bosnia was a large country (“ten days’ walk”).

After the “Confessio” was approved by King Emmerich, John de Casamaris, in a letter to Innocent, refers to “the former Patarenes.”(23) Obviously, he thought that he had converted the krstjani, but he was wrong. Partly due to Rome's complacency (caused by Casamaris's feelings of success) and the Pope's failure to appoint Latin bishops, as John had suggested, the heretical movement grew stronger over the next few decades, uniting with remnants of the old native Catholic church. Together they formed a national, heretical church which survived crusades and threats of crusades until the mid-fifteenth century, when it gradually vanished in the face of the Ottoman takeover.[9][10]

The Charter of Ban Kulin was a trade agreement between Bosnia and the Republic of Ragusa that effectively regulated Ragusan trade rights in Bosnia written on 29 August 1189. It is one of the oldest written state documents in the Balkans and is among the oldest historical documents written in Bosančica. The charter is of great significance in national pride and historical heritage.[11][12]

After the death of Ban Kulin in 1204, the Bosnian throne was succeeded by his son Stjepan Kulinić (often referred to in English as Stephen Kulinić).