Stephen Držislav of Croatia

Stephen Držislav (, ) was King of Croatia from AD 969 until his death around 997. He was a member of the Trpimirović dynasty, and in preserved documents and inscriptions held titles of reges (king), dux magnus, patriarch and eparchi.

Biography

Rule Stephen Držislav was a son of king Michael Krešimir II and Queen Helen of Zadar. His church name Stephen (Stefani regis) is mentioned on the epitaph of the Helen's sarcophagus with date 976. Helen acted as regent for the young king from 969 until her death on 8 October 976. As in the inscription his named as "Stephen (honorific)" he probably already by 976 received royal insignia. becoming reges Dalmatie et Chroatie with titles of patritii and eparchi, which gave him formal authority over the Theme of Dalmatia (but some historians believe not over the Dalmatian city-states),

The 13th-century work Historia Salonitana by Thomas the Archdeacon notes that Zachlumia (or Chulmie) was a part of the Kingdom of Croatia, before and after Stephen Držislav. The late 13th-century Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja states that certain Stjepan (son of Croatian ruler Krešimir, identified with Michael Krešimir II) ruled over Croatia and Bosnia.

During his rule Godemir was Ban of Croatia. As written, before the end of his reign, Stephen Držislav as gave Svetoslav, his oldest son, the title of dux Hroatorum and Svetoslav became his co-ruler.

Inscription In 1892, Lujo Marun documented how a stone slab was found in Kapitul near Knin that contained an epigraph of Držislav together with the Croatian interlace.