Borna of Croatia

Borna was the duke of Croatia (Dalmatia and Liburnia) from to 821 and vassal of the Frankish Empire. He is mentioned in the Royal Frankish Annals (Annales regni Francorum) in entries regarding 818–821. His titles were "Duke of the Guduscani" (a tribe from Lika and northern Dalmatia ) in 818; "Duke of Dalmatia" in 819; "Duke of Dalmatia and Liburnia" in 821. Historiography treats him as a ruler of Duchy of Croatia.

Etymology In the name of Borna scholars have seen similarity with the name of Saxons count Bernus (father of Gottschalk of Orbais), and Burgundian names Bornus, Borno and Bornonus. Petar Skok, besides supporting possibility of being a Frankish name (borns meaning "son"), also proposed Slavic etymology from Proto-Slavic *born- which with liquid metathesis could be related to Slavic personal names Branimir, Branislav and others. F. Šišić (1920) deemed him a "Dalmatian-Croatian duke". A. P. Vlasto (1970) called him a "Dalmatian Croat" ruler, and believed he was at least nominally Christian. T. Macan (1971) called him a "duke of the southern Croatian duchy". I. Perić (1997) called him a "Croatian-Dalmatian duke". Similarly, Croatian historian Neven Budak also mentions him as "first known Croatian duke". Older Croatian historiography has claimed Borna's predecessor was Višeslav, possibly his father.

R. Novaković (1973) does not support that he was a duke of Dalmatian Croatia, as no contemporary sources name him as such. According to him, Borna could only be the duke of that area that was at the time under Frankish supreme rule, and that he was active only in the area included in the rebellion against Frankish rule, that is, only west of the Una river. It is possible that Borna was the duke of an archonty not yet part of Croatia in the beginning of the 9th century, neither was Croatia at all included in the events of Ljudevit's rebellion. The war was fought only in the area under Frankish rule, while Dalmatian Croatia was outside those events, as it at that time was under Byzantine supreme rule.

Fine Jr. first (1983, 1991) called him a ruler of "Dalmatian Croatia", in c. 810–821, having succeeded Višeslav and "who resided at Nin and seems to have been the ruler of most of the Croatians in northern Dalmatia, was also a Frankish Vassal." then (2010) called him simply a Slavic prince, and also noted that the Franks did not use the term "Croats", suggesting that those usually called Croats in scholarship did not actually use that name. B. W. Scholz (1970) uses the original titles found in the primary source, and in the index uses "duke of Dalmatia". R. McKitterick (1983) called him a "leader of the Dalmatian Croats". C. R. Bowlus (1995) treated him as the "dux of the Guduscani and Timocian Slavs" and a "Dalmatian prince". F. Curta (2006) treats him as a Slavic ruler, of the Guduscani, a Slavic tribe in the Gacka region (modern Croatia). Garipzanov, Geary and Urbańczyk (2008) call him "Duke of Dalmatia and Liburnia".

Identification with other rulers Marquart, in Osteuropäische u. ostasiatische Streifzöge (1903), identified De Administrando Imperio's Porinos and Porga with Borna. Krumbacher (1906) supported that Porinos and Borna were the same, but not Porga. However, considering that is known name of Borna's uncle (Ljudemisl) and nephew (Vladislav), that there's lack of evidence that the Franks sent a Saxon count, and historical sources do not mention significant information such as Gottschalk being Borna's son or that Gottschalk's father was a duke, the hypothesis can be easily rejected.

Titles In the Royal Frankish Annals Borna is named "Duke of the Guduscani" in 818. In 819 he is the "Duke of Dalmatia" , while in 821 he is the "Duke of Dalmatia and Liburnia" . The gradual ascent of his title should be due to his growing importance during the Frankish conflict with Ljudevit.