Stefan Vukčić

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Stefan Vukčić (also Stjepan, Stevan) (1404-1466) of the House of Kosača was a duke (herzog) and governor (voivod) of Bosnia, Primorje and Zahumlje (Hum/Chelm). It was Stefan's ducal title "Herceg" that gave rise to the name Herzegovina when he asserted the independence of the territory in 1435 and 1448. The title is today carried in the name of the country Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in the name of the Montenegrin city of Herceg Novi.

After 1320s, Zahumlje and Travunia became part of the Bosnian kingdom. In a document sent to Friedrich III on January 20, 1448, Stefan Vukčić Kosača called himself Herzog of Saint Sava, lord of Hum and Primorje, great duke of the Bosnian kingdom (Herzog means duke in German) and so the lands he controlled became (much later) known as Herzog's lands or Herzegovina.

In 1482 Herzog was overpowered by Ottoman forces led by his own son, Ahmed Hercegović, who accepted Islam. In the Ottoman Empire, Herzegovina was organized as a province (sanjak) within the state (pashaluk) of Bosnia. The name of the country was changed to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1853, as a result of a twist of political events. It was part of the Ottoman Empire for a bit less than four centuries.