Vlatko Vuković, Grand Duke of Hum

Who was Vlatko Vuković, Grand Duke of Hum?

Vlatko Vuković Kosača was a 14th-century Bosnian vojvoda and one of the best military commanders of King Tvrtko I of Bosnia. He was the lord of a semi-independent realm of "Zahumlje" of the Kingdom of Bosnia.

He was a son of Duke Vuk Kosača, the founder of the noble house known as the Kosačas. He governed the province of Hum, which was part of the Banate 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 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 "Ottoman leader Shain barely managed to save himself with the small band of his soldiers". In 1389, he commanded an army 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.