About Ostoja of Bosnia
Lived 1378 – 1418 (aged 39–40). Ostoja of Bosnia was a sovereign.
Stephen Ostoja (; died September 1418) was King of Bosnia from 1398 to 1404 and from 1409 to 1418.
Family connections He was a member of the House of Kotromanić, most likely son of Vladislaus and brother of King Tvrtko I. When duke Hrvoje Vukčić in 1416 died, King Ostoja divorced his old wife Kujava from the house of Radinović and married Hrvoje's widow Jelena Nelipčić the next year. Jelena Nelipčić was the sister of Prince Ivan III Nelipić from the Croatian noble Nelipić family. That way Ostoja inherited most of Hrvoje's lands.
Rise to power Ostoja was crowned King on 10 May 1398 by the forces of Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić, Grand Duke of Bosnia, Knez of Donji Kraji and a Herzog of Split, which deposed Queen Jelena Gruba in 1398. In 1403 he sided with King Ladislaus of Naples in his plights against the Hungarian King Sigismund, Bosnia's liege. King Ostoja led a war against the Republic of Dubrovnik, a Hungarian vassalage that year. In 1404, the Bosnians under Hrvoje Vukčić replaced him by his brother Tvrtko II because of his pro-Hungarian views. He had to flee to Hungary, after a stanak in Mile, Visoko.
In 1408, Hungarian King Sigismund managed to defeat the Bosnian nobility and King Stephen Tvrtko II and restore Ostoja to the throne in 1409. King Stephen Ostoja ended the decade-long dispute with the Hungarians but recognizing the suzerainty of the Hungarian crown and in 1412 visited the Hungarian throne in Buda together with the rest of the Bosnian and Serbian nobility including Serbian Despot Stefan Lazarević.
King Stephen Ostoja died in September 1418 and his oldest son from his marriage with Kujava, Stephen Ostojić, was elected King of Bosnia.
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Important facts
Family & relationships
People in Ostoja of Bosnia's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Ostoja of Bosnia's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Ostoja of Bosnia?
King of Bosnia
When was Ostoja of Bosnia born?
Ostoja of Bosnia was born in 1378.
When did Ostoja of Bosnia die?
Ostoja of Bosnia died on 1 September 1418.
What was Ostoja of Bosnia's occupation?
Ostoja of Bosnia was a sovereign.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ostoja of Bosnia. https://biography.guide/ostoja-of-bosnia/
MLA: "Ostoja of Bosnia." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ostoja-of-bosnia/.
Chicago: "Ostoja of Bosnia." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ostoja-of-bosnia/.
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