Kujava Radinović

Kujava Radinović (Cyrillic: Кујава Радиновић) was the second wife of King Stephen Ostoja of Bosnia and as such she was Queen of Bosnia from 1399 to 1404 and again from 1409 to 1415. She was the daughter of the nobleman Radin Jablanić.

Marriage

Kujava married King Ostoja in 1399, shortly after he repudiated his first wife, Queen Vitača.^[1] Ostoja gained support of the noble family of Radenović by marrying Kujava, as they were closely related to the new queen consort. Kujava is first mentioned as queen in a charter dating from 5 February 1399.^[2]

Queen Kujava resided in Bobovac along with her husband and son. When her husband was deposed in 1404, he left Bobovac and fled to Hungary, but the former queen and her son remained in Bosnia whose crown was given to Kujava's brother-in-law, King Stephen Tvrtko II. Tvrtko II himself was deposed in 1409 when Kujava's husband returned from exile and resumed the throne, at which point Kujava became queen of Bosnia once again.^[3]

Divorce

Queen Kujava's marriage started falling apart in 1415. Prince Pavle Radenović, Kujava's brother or cousin,^[1] was killed in a plot set by Kujava's husband. Duke Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić died soon after, leaving behind a wealthy widow, Jelena Nelipčić.^[4] Ostoja saw the opportunity and divorced Queen Kujava, thereby ending his politically unsuitable marriage. Shortly afterwards, Ostoja married Duke Hrvoje's widow, Duchess Jelena, who brought Hrvoje's lands into marriage.^[1] Their divorce caused a rift between Ostoja and his son by Kujava, the future King Stephen Ostojić of Bosnia.

Queen mother

Only three years later, in 1418, Kujava's ex-husband died and the crown of the Kingdom of Bosnia was given to Kujava's son. Kujava was now recognized as queen mother and suddenly became very influential and powerful, de facto ruling along with her son. Her son's short reign was marked by Queen Kujava's conflicts with Queen Jelena. Their conflicts stopped in the summer of 1419, when Kujava's son imprisoned the dowager queen. Jelena died under mysterious circumstances in 1422.

Final years

However, Kujava's son himself died in 1421 and his death ended Kujava's influence. Kujava had no influence during the reign of her brother-in-law, Stephen Tvrtko II. She supported various pretenders to the Bosnian throne.^[5]

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 John Van Antwerp Fine, Bosnian Institute; The Bosnian Church: Its Place in State and Society from the Thirteenth to the Fifteenth Century, Saqi in association with The Bosnian Institute, 2007
2. ↑ Euzebije Fermendžin, Acta Bosnae potissimum ecclesiastica cum insertis editorum documentorum regestis ab anno 925 usque ad annum 1752, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slavorum Meridionalium, 1892
3. ↑ Pavao Anđelić, Bobovac i kraljeva Sutjeska: stolna mjesta bosanskih vladara u XIV i XV stoljeću, Veselin Masleša, 1973
4. ↑ John Van Antwerp Fine, The Late Medieval Balkans, A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, University of Michigan Press, 1987
5. ↑ Krunoslav Draganović, Poviest hrvatskih zemalja Bosne i Hercegovine, Hrvatsko kulturno društvo "Napredak", 1942