Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.

A knyaz, also knez, knjaz or kniaz, is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times. It is usually translated into English as 'prince', 'king' or 'duke', depending on specific historical context and the potentially known Latin equivalents at the time; the word was originally derived from the common Germanic *kuningaz ('king').

Trpimir I was a duke in Croatia from around 845 until his death in 864. He is considered the founder of the Trpimirović dynasty that ruled in Croatia, with interruptions, from around 845 until 1091. Although he was formally vassal of the Frankish Emperor Lothair I, Trpimir used Frankish-Byzantine conflicts to rule on his own.

A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law in that they are the expressed will of a legislative body, whether that be on the behalf of a country, state or province, county, municipality, or so on. They are also distinguished from secondary legislation, or regulations, that are issued by an executive body under authority granted by a statute. Depending on the legal system, a statute may also be referred to as an "act."

The Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They also form a sizeable minority in several neighboring countries, namely Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.