Reign 1089–1091 Name Stephen of Successor Peter | Predecessor Demetrius Zvonimir Coronation 1089 | |
Died December 1090, or beginning of 1091 Burial Church of St. Stephen, Solin | ||
Stephen II (Croatian: Stjepan II) (died 1091) was the last member of the Trpimirović dynasty and last native Croatian king to rule the entire medieval Croatian Kingdom. Stephen's father was Gojslav II., the younger brother of Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia. Stephen was duke of Croatia under Krešimir around 1066.
He was due to succeed Peter Krešimir IV, but was sidelined by the people and clergy in 1075 who instead bestowed the title of king to Demetrius Zvonimir, previously a ban in Slavonia. Demetrius Zvonimir was a member of the junior Svetoslavić branch of the House of Trpimirović (descendants of Svetoslav Suronja). By the time Dmitar Zvonimir died in 1089, Stephen was old and seriously affected by ill health. Nevertheless, he assumed the throne after being persuaded by the aristocracy and clergy.
Stephen's rule was relatively ineffectual and lasted less than two years. He spent most of this time in the tranquility of the monastery of Sv. Stjepan pod Borovima (St. Stephen beneath the Pines) near Split. Zvonimir's widow, Queen Jelena, reportedly plotted the inheritance of the Croatian Crown for her brother, King Ladislaus I of Hungary.
Stephen II died peacefully in December 1090, or at the beginning of 1091, without leaving an heir. War and unrest broke out in Croatia shortly afterward, with the southern nobility electing Petar Svačić as King of Croatia in 1093, immediately entering into conflict with the Hungarian king Ladislaus. The war culminated in the Battle of Gvozd Mountain in 1097 leading to a personal union of Croatia and Hungary in 1102, ruled by Coloman.