Gvozdansko

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Gvozdansko castle ruins

The former Croatian fortress Gvozdansko is located in Croatia . It was built by the Croatian noble family Zrinski in the 16th century.

meaning

During the siege by Ottoman troops from 1577 to January 13, 1578, the entire crew perished while defending their fortress against the outnumbered troops of the Bosnian-Ottoman general Ferhad-Beg Sokolović .

Great military skill, resistance down to the last man and the conscious sacrifice for the homeland, made Gvozdansko a symbol of the Croatian will for freedom and resistance against foreign conquerors. Gvozdansko Castle plays in the Croatian history a role similar to Masada in the Jewish, Alcazar in Portuguese and Alamo in US history. In addition to the Battle of Siget of 1566 under the leadership of Nikola Šubić Zrinski , the siege of Gvozdansko has a special place in Croatian military history and in the Turkish / Ottoman Wars.

Location Gvozdansko

The image of Nikola III Zrinski (approx. 1489–1534) on silver thalers minted in Gvozdansko

Today's Gvozdansko is located on the road between Glina and Bosanski Novi , about twenty kilometers from Dvor na Uni . Above the village is the Gvozdansko castle ruins , which once belonged to the Zrinski family.

Historical environment

The 15th and 16th centuries in the history of Croatia were marked by the almost constant war against the advancing Ottomans. Ultimately, Croatia shrank to the "rest of the remains" at the time.

At that time there were several iron mines in this area and the Zrinski also had the right to mint there . A larger and well-equipped military unit was constantly located in the fortress, as Gvozdansko played an important role in the Croatian defense system of the Antemurale Christianitatis . Ottoman troops tried several times before to take the fortress. Each time, however, the defenders succeeded in stopping the attackers until troops from outside the Ban could provide military assistance.

Gvozdansko was in serious danger in 1556 when Novigrad (today's Dvor na Uni) was conquered by the Ottomans. In 1561 the fortress was besieged twice by the then feared Malkoč-Beg . However, these attacks were successfully repulsed. Ferhad-Beg Sokolović also tried to conquer the fortress in 1574 and 1576.

In 1577 another campaign followed by the Bosnian general Sandžakbeg , who also planned to take other parts of Croatia.

The siege

The actual siege of Gvozdansko lasted from December 3, 1577 to January 13, 1578. The preparations for this began in autumn 1577 and lasted until winter 1578. This time the siege was planned much better. The Ottoman general had a bridge built over the Una near Novigrad in the summer . This meant that guns and siege engines could also be transported to the fortress.

View of the Gvozdansko castle ruins from the main road

The general Ferhad-Beg mobilized a force of around 5,000 (or 10,000) soldiers for this campaign. From October 3, 1577, the fortress was surrounded and the besieged cut off from their surroundings. Now the Ottomans began to conquer the surrounding Croatian villages and military fortresses: Kladuša , Pećigrad , Podzvizd , Ostrožac , Drežnik and Zrin . Only after these fortresses had been taken did they turn against Gvozdansko, which was defended by around 300 Croatians, of whom only around 50 were soldiers, 4 captains (castle captains) and musketeers from Carniola , while the rest of them were miners from the surrounding villages Women and children existed. The four captains were Damjan Doktorović, Juraj Gvozdanović, Nikola Ožegović and Andrija Stipšić. After about three months of siege, the castle crew ran out of food and firewood. At that time it was customary not to go to war until the spring, when the horses and draft animals could find enough food. In winter, soldiers usually retired to their winter quarters. Here, too, the last replenishment took place in August of the previous year.

Ferhad-Beg, however, made the unusual decision at the time to continue the siege despite the onset of winter. On Christmas Day, December 25, 1577, he offered the defenders to surrender. When the defenders refused, a heavy artillery attack began on the fortress, which killed many defenders.

Although they were starved and severely numerically weakened, the defenders later rejected the following ultimatums. On January 9, 1578, the food ran out completely and Ferhad-Beg offered the defenders one last time to surrender. As before, however, the defenders refused again. In the following three days the general tried three times to storm the fortress. Each time, however, the attack was repulsed.

The men, severely starved by hunger and cold, managed to repel the attacks with the courage of desperation. After three days of fierce fighting, only thirty defenders remained alive, virtually out of ammunition.

When the Turks began to storm the fourth day of the attack after heavy cannonade on January 13, 1576, they were no longer opposed to any resistance. No gunshots could be heard and all campfires were out. This seemed very suspicious to the attackers and they advanced very carefully into the fortress.

When they managed to break open the main gate a little later, the picture was tragic: all the defenders were dead, mostly frozen to death, or starved to death or from their wounds. There was no food, firewood, water or ammunition in the fortress. Even Ferhad-Beg was shaken by this sight and full of respect for the bravery of this castle crew, who would rather die than surrender.

For this reason, he ordered a Catholic clergyman to the fortress so that the dead could be buried in a Christian way.

In the same year the Christian troops retook Gvozdansko, Zrin, Novigrad and other fortresses west of the Una and drove the troops of Ferhad-Beg to the east side of the Una. In the ranks of the Christian troops, however, there was a cholera - epidemic so that Ferhad-Beg was able to return with his troops.

The further fate of Ferhad-Beg

In recognition of his military successes, Ferhad-Beg Sokolović was named Pasha in Banja Luka . There he had a magnificent mosque built (which was destroyed by the troops of the Republika Srpska in 1992 ). During a later campaign he was defeated by the troops of Ban Tamas Erdödy at Ivanić-Grad . He suffered another military defeat by Christian troops in 1584 near Slunj . Nevertheless, he rose to the rank of Beglerbeg in Buda . In 1589 he was murdered by his own soldiers in a riot. His body was transferred to Banja Luka and buried there.

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Coordinates: 45 ° 7 ′ 59.9 ″  N , 16 ° 12 ′ 56.5 ″  E