North of the Bosnian mountains lie two lands that later sources always name beside Bosnia: Usora, on the lower Bosna and the Usora river down to the Sava, and Soli ('the salts'), round the salt springs of Tuzla.
The Hrvatska enciklopedija dates Usora's entry into Bosnia to about 1204, after Kulin's day; in the 13th century the two lands passed between Bosnian bans and Hungarian princes, and Béla IV made them a Hungarian banate in 1253. On 1 January 1200 they are therefore drawn outside Kulin's banate, as counties under their own counts in the Hungarian crown's sphere: who governed them that winter is not recorded.
Who he is
- Name
- Not named for 1199-1200
- Title
- Counts (župani) of Usora and of Soli
- Confidence
- low
Hrvatska enciklopedija (Usora): first named in documents in 1225, part of Bosnia 'already about 1204', later held by the Bosnian ban's son Sibislav and by Ban Ninoslav, and made a Hungarian banate of Usora and Soli by Béla IV in 1253. English Wikipedia (Banate of Bosnia): the banate 'expanded north to Usora and Soli', undated.
Overlord
Not pinned: the Hungarian crown claims them, as it claims Bosnia; they come into the Bosnian banate about 1204
What it holds
- Usora: the lower Bosna valley (Doboj, Maglaj, Tešanj, Teslić) to the Sava (Derventa, Brod, Šamac, Gradačac).
- Soli: the Tuzla basin with its salt springs (Tuzla, Lukavac, Srebrenik, Živinice).
How it was acquired
Old counties; their lords in 1200 are not known.
Allies and rivals
Ban Kulin to the south, who would draw them into Bosnia; the Hungarian counties across the Sava (Valkó, hpl).
How things stand that morning
Not pinned: under their own counts, claimed by the Hungarian crown; not yet part of Kulin's banate.
Wealth
The salt of Soli, boiled from the springs and sold inland; the Sava crossings; cattle and pigs of the oak woods.
Military
County levies; no castle is named in 1200 (Srebrenik, Doboj and Tešanj are later fortresses).
Threats
- The Bosnian ban's expansion.
- Hungarian lords from across the Sava.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- About 1204 (later)Usora, and with it Soli, come into the Bosnian banate (Hrvatska enciklopedija).Depends on: The Bosnian ban's strength after Kulin. Stopped by: A Hungarian prince or ban taking them in hand first.
Places of note
- Usora valley: Where the Usora meets the Bosna; no centre is named in 1200.
- Soli (Tuzla): The salt springs that gave the land its name.
Where the sources disagree
- The assignment and English Wikipedia place Usora and Soli in Kulin's banate (undated); the Hrvatska enciklopedija dates Usora's union with Bosnia to about 1204. Drawn here as not yet Bosnian, claimed by the Hungarian crown, with low confidence.
Evidence: No document of 1199-1200 names Usora or Soli; the first is of 1225.
On the map: Both lands are drawn from their 14th-century extent and coloured with the Hungarian crown for want of a known holder; they could as well be under counts who answered to no one.
Primary sources for Hungary
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
- The Austrian and Salzburg annals (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries, with continuations to the late 13th century). A family of monastic annals from Austria, Styria and Salzburg, printed together. Read online
- The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
- History of the bishops of Salona and Split, by Thomas the Archdeacon, Thomas of Split (about 1266). Written two generations later by a Split churchman born about 1200. Read online
- History of the doges of Venice (about 1229, with a continuation). The earliest surviving Venetian narrative close to the events. Read online
- The Deeds of the Hungarians, by the Anonymous Notary of King Béla, Anonymus (P. magister) (about 1200 to 1210, the date disputed). Not a record of events but a picture of the kingdom's nobility and geography as a courtier of about 1200 wished to see it: the clans and their lands, the castles and counties, the Vlachs, Cumans and other peoples of the Carpathian basin, all projected back onto the conquest. Read online
- The Book of Census of the Roman Church, Cencius Camerarius (Cencio Savelli, later Pope Honorius III) (1192, with later additions). The papal rent roll: every church, monastery, town and kingdom that owed a census to Rome in 1192, diocese by diocese, with the sums, followed by lists of papal lands and castles, the ceremonial Ordo and copies of charters. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
4 more in the sources library for Poland, Hungary and the Adriatic.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.