Croatia's First Kingdom. Faith, Power, and the Making of a Medieval Nation (en Inglés)
Reseña del libro "Croatia's First Kingdom. Faith, Power, and the Making of a Medieval Nation (en Inglés)"
Croatia's First Kingdom: Faith, Power, and the Making of a Medieval Nation by Adrian E. Markham explores the centuries in which a fractured post-Roman world gave rise to one of Europe's earliest Slavic kingdoms. Beginning with the collapse of Roman authority along the Adriatic and in Pannonia, the book traces how waves of Goths, Avars, and Slavs reshaped the land, creating the conditions for the emergence of the Croats. Out of abandoned cities, fortified landscapes, and shifting frontiers, a new society took form, one that blended Roman inheritance, Slavic tradition, and the enduring influence of Byzantium.
Markham follows this transformation through the rise of early Croatian rulers, the spread of Christianity, and the gradual consolidation of political authority. He examines how tribal structures evolved into kingship, how the Church helped shape law and identity, and how figures such as Tomislav established a kingdom recognized across the region. The narrative moves from the coastal centers of Nin, Split, and Zadar to the inland strongholds of Knin and the river valleys that sustained everyday life, revealing how diplomacy, warfare, and faith combined to build a durable state.
Drawing on archaeological evidence, Byzantine works such as De Administrando Imperio, medieval charters, and the latest historical research, Croatia's First Kingdom captures a formative era often overlooked yet essential to understanding the nation's origins. Markham shows how a people once defined by migration and fragmentation became rooted in kingship, law, and Christian civilization, laying the foundations for Croatia's place in medieval Europe. Vivid, measured, and grounded in real places and sources, this book offers a compelling account of how a kingdom was forged from the ruins of empire.