Career
Borna resided at Nin and was the ruler of most of the Croatians in northern Dalmatia. Borna is documented in the Royal Frankish Annals (Annales regni Francorum). He was the Duke of the Guduscani, a Croatian tribe from Lika and northern Dalmatia that lived along the river Guduča near Bribir.
Borna moved with Ljudevit"s father-in-law, Dragomuž, from the southeast.
The famous battle of Kupa occurred at the river of Kupa. In the heat of Battle the Guduscans - an indigenous people of his realm - abandoned Borna and crossed to Ljudevit"s side.
Borna would have been killed at the battlefield, if not for his elite bodyguards, while Dragomuž was killed on spot. Ljudevit used the momentum of Borna"s weakness and invaded the Duchy of Croatia in December of the same year.
Borna"s forces suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Kupa, so Borna decided that his forces should fight relying on attrition and exhausting of Ljudevit"s troops.
Harsh winter came to the hills of Borna"s realm, further disabling Ljudevit"s pillaging. Ljudevit was eventually forced to retreat, while much of their food reserves were left behind and confiscated by Borna. Borna reported his successes to the Frankish Emperor, stating that Ljudevit lost over 3,000 soldiers and 300 horses in his campaign.
Borna met with the Frankish Emperor in Aachen in January of 820, where they forged an alliance.
The Emperor of the Franks prepared a massive invasion of Ljudevit"s lands and those of his allies. Although the total invasion of Ljudevit"s realm occurred, Borna died in the heat of battle in 821 after Ljudevit and his supporters retreated to the most fortified of their fortresses, hills and most unreachable swamps ad forests.
Borna"s uncle, Ljudemisl, received him instead, who had Ljudevit tortured and killed. Although Ljudemisl could have ruled as a viceroy, the throne of Croatia passed on to Vladislav, Borna"s nephew, for whom the source states that he was chosen by the people and confirmed by the Franks.
Marquart, in Osteuropäische University ostasiatische Streifzöge (1903), identified DAI"s Porinos and Porga with Borna.
Krumbacher (1906) supported that Porinos and Borna were the same, but not Porga.
