Croatia was at one time, the Roman province of Pannonia. It was settled in the 7th century by the Croats. After adopting the Roman alphabet, they defeated the Byzantine and Frankish invaders. The Croats established their very own independent kingdom. It reached its peak during the 11th century. A civil war began in 1089, until the Hungarians defeated them in 1091. Both Hungarian tribes and Croatian tribes signed a peace treaty untied the two political parties underneath the Hungarian monarchy.