Summary. The article deals with the problem of the original status of Prince Borna who reigned in the territory of the present-day Croatia from c.818 to 821

The article deals with the problem of the original status of Prince Borna who reigned in the territory of the present-day Croatia from c.818 to 821. The Royal Annals (“Annales Regni Francorum”) use three different definitions for expressing Borna’s status. Borna was mentioned as “dux Guduscanorum” in 818, as “dux Dalmaciae” in 819, and as “dux Dalmatiae atque Liburniae” in 821. The question is how was the definition “dux Guduscanorum” correlated with the others. Having described the different interpretations of Borna’s status offered in historiography the author of the article examined sources concerning ethnic and political situation in that part of the former Roman province of Dalmatia and expressed his own view on the subject. According to the author’s conclusions, at the beginning of the 9th century there existed only two political formations in the territory under discussion. Using the terminology of the early medieval sources one can call them “natio Guduscanorum” and “natio Chroatorum”. They were both ethnically heterogeneous in their origin. However, by the time they came across the Frankish expansion, each of them had already been consolidated. Borna was a Croatian ruler whose authority was also recognized by the Guduscani who had an autonomous status. The author of the article also analyses the important social institutions of Borna’s principality. The author stresses that there existed all the necessary condtions for Borna’s strong power within his “natio Chroatorum” and for his holding neighbour “natio Guduscanorum” under his dominion.

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