Stephen II, Ban of Bosnia

Stjepan II Kotromanić (* 1292, † 1353 ) was Ban (us) of Bosnia from 1314 to 1353 and came from the same dynasty which until 1463 determined the fate of some states in the Balkans in the period from about 1250. Since 1377, they were the kings of Bosnia, Serbia, and since 1390 also king of Croatia. His parents were Stjepan I. (* 1242, † 1314), Ban of Bosnia from 1290 to 1314 and Princess Jelisaveta (Elisabeth ) of Serbia, daughter of King Stefan Dragutin of Serbia and Princess Katalin of Hungary. Stjepan II was married Jelisaveta ( Elizabeth ), daughter of Duke Casimir of Cujavia.

Currently Stjepans II Bosnia was still under the authority of the King of Hungary and Croatia. In spite of foreign rule, Bosnia experienced under the viceroy Stephen an economic boom. On the estates of the large landowners, the production of agricultural products grew, the craft flourished, new mines were opened up and developed the domestic and foreign trade. The natural economy was replaced by the money economy, because Stjepan was the first Bosnian ruler who minted its own coins. Politically, too, wanted to Stjepan consolidate his state. One measure in this direction was the marriage of his daughter Catherine ( * 1336, † 1396 ) with the powerful Count Hermann I of Celje. His second daughter Elizabeta (Elisabeth ) married in 1353 to King Louis I of Hungary and Poland.

At the time of viceroy Stephen Bosnia was a small state, which was north of the rivers Neretva and Drina and the city of Sarajevo had to focus. In order to expand his domain, Kotromanić took advantage of the internal strife in Croatia. He first moved to the southwest, the area of the large karst regions occupied ( Zapadne strane - West parts), which extended between the rivers Cetina and Neretva in the west to the east, and came to the Adriatic front. He expanded his territory but also to the north and west, so that the borders of Bosnia even then about reached today's proportions.

Stjepans successor was Stjepan Tvrtko I (* 1338, † 1391 ), Ban of Bosnia from 1353 to 1365.