Stephen Kulinić

[2][circular reference] It is not clear from the sources when exactly did Stjepan reign, between April 1203 and May 1233, when Matej Ninoslav became ban of Bosnia.

[6] Despite the lively diplomatic activity of Pope Gregory IX after 1227 against those that he deemed as heretics in Bosnia, there is no mention of ban Stjepan in contemporary documents of the Roman Catholic Church.

It has never been clear whether Nicetas existed, but the neighboring Hungarians took advantage of the spreading rumour to reclaim suzerainty over Bosnia, which had been growing increasingly independent.

[7] Bosnians were accused of being sympathetic to Bogomilism, a Christian sect closely related to Catharism and likewise dualist.

The Pope complained to King Andrew II of Hungary and the Hungarian Bishoprics to destroy the Bosnian Bogomils, calling for a crusade against Bosnia.

That year, by Pope's edict, Bosnia, Soli and Usora were transferred from the coastal Dalmatian bishoprics to the suzerainty of Ugrin Csák, Archbishop of Kalocsa.

The Archbishop dispatched John Angelos of Syrmia, a Byzantine prince and nephew of the Hungarian King, to lead a military attempt into Bosnia.

Pope Gregory IX, elected in 1227, decided to launch a Crusade against the Bosnian Church in order to finally eradicate it.