Vlatko Vuković

Vlatko Vuković Kosača (died 1392) was a 14th-century Bosnian nobleman, duke of duchy of Hum, Grand Duke of Bosnia (Bosnian: Veliki Vojvoda Bosanski) and one of the best military commanders of King Tvrtko I of Bosnia.

He was a son of Duke Vuk Kosača, the founder of the noble house known as the Kosačas. He governed the duchy of Hum, which was part of the Banate of Bosnia and later Kingdom of Bosnia. The Ottoman threat was building to the east, threatening neighboring Herzegovina. On 27 August 1388, Grand Duke Vlatko defeated an Ottoman raiding party (some 18,000 strong) that had invaded Hum in the Battle of Bileća. Bosnian heavy cavalry are typically credited with winning the battle as they broke the Ottoman ranks and pursued the retreating enemy. It has been cited that famous Ottoman commander Lala Sahin Pasha (Turkish: Lala Şahin Paşa, 1330 – cca 1382) barely managed to save himself with the small band of his soldiers. In 1389, dispatched by his king Tvrtko I, he commanded an Bosnian army contingent as part of Christian coalition that fought alongside Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović at the Battle of Kosovo against the Ottomans. Vuković was one of few commanders who survived the battle. Although the battle is viewed now as a decisive defeat at the time the battle was viewed differently - Vuković reported the outcome of the battle as a victory, as the Ottomans suffered heavy losses and were forced to withdraw for a time.

A council was convoked by the king or noblemen who opposed the sale of Konavli by Radič Sanković to Dubrovnik, He and Pavle Radenović later captured Konavli and divided it between themselves. Vlatko later died.

He died in 1392. His nephew Sandalj Hranić succeeded him.

Vuković's grave lies marked near the village of Boljuni near Stolac, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inscription on the grave was written in Bosančica: "Ase leži dobri junak i čovjek Vlatko Vuković" (English: "Here lies a good hero and good man, Vlatko Vuković")

See also

• Grand Duke of Bosnia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Middle Ages

References

Sources

• The Late Medieval Balkans (Google Books), John Van Antwerp Fine

External links

• Historijsko područje- nekropola stećaka I i II Boljuni - Komisija za očuvanje nacionalnih spomenika BiH
• Vlatko Vuković's grave location in Panoramio
• Šefik Bešlagić, Stećci - kataloško-topografski pregled

Military offices
Preceded by Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić	Grand Duke of Bosnia 1388-1392	Succeeded by Sandalj Hranić Kosača