The Battle of Brest (1596) ( hr, Bitka kod Bresta) was fought on September 19, 1596 between the Ottoman forces of Achmed Hafis Pasha,

Beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' ( ota, بكلربكی, beylerbeyi, lit=bey of beys, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords') was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks ...

of Vidin, and the Germanic and Croatian forces led by

Ivan Drašković Ivan II Drašković ( hu, Draskovich János; 1550 – 1613) was a Croatian nobleman and politician from the Drašković noble family. He was Ban of Croatia from 1595 to 1606. Biography He was born as a son of Gašpar Drašković, from who he inh ...

, Ban of Croatia. The battle was a part of the

Croatian–Ottoman wars Croatian–Ottoman Wars ( tr, Osmanlı-Hırvatistan Savaşları, link=no, hr, Hrvatsko-osmanski ratovi, link=no) can refer to one of the several conflicts between the Kingdom of Croatia (as part of Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia and Habsburg Mona ...

and Ottoman–Habsburg wars between the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

Prelude

Brest is a village near Petrinja, on the left bank of the Kupa river. In 1562, a small fortress (lat. castellum) was built there in order to defend against frequent Ottoman raids. In 1592, Hasan Pasha Predojević built the fortress of Petrinja nearby, and defeated a joint Styrian- Croatian army gathered to oppose him in the battle of Brest. After their victory, the Ottomans sacked and burned the fortress of Brest and raided

Turopolje Turopolje () is a region in Croatia situated between the capital city Zagreb and Sisak. The administrative center of the region Turopolje is the town of Velika Gorica. Geography Turopolje forms a part of Posavina, a region to the south of Za ...

region.

Battle

Forces of Ahmed Hafis Pasha,

of Vidin, reinforced by troops of Bosnian Beylerbey Hodaberdi, besieged Petrinja on September 10, 1596. In response, by September 19, 5,000 - 6,000 Christian troops gathered on the left bank of the

Kupa The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and th ...

river, under Croatian ban

, colonel Juraj Lenković, and Johan Herberstein of the

Military Frontier The Military Frontier (german: Militärgrenze, sh-Latn, Vojna krajina/Vojna granica, Војна крајина/Војна граница; hu, Katonai határőrvidék; ro, Graniță militară) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and l ...

. Judging their forces too few to cross the Kupa against the Ottoman defenders, they moved towards

Sisak Sisak (; hu, Sziszek ; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavin ...

in order to cross the river there and move on to lift the siege of Petrinja. Movement of Croatian troops was interpreted as a retreat by the Ottomans, so the Bosnian beylerbey crossed the river with a cavalry force in order to pursue the enemy. In response, Croatian troops quickly turned back and scattered the pursuers after a short skirmish, forcing them into the Kupa river.

Aftermath

This skirmish broke the morale of the Ottoman army besieging Petrinja, who lifted the siege on the same day and started a retreat.

Bibliography

*''Vojna enciklopedija'' (1970–76), 10 volumes, Vojno izdavački zavod Beograd, book 2, p. 8, article ''Brest''

References

Battles involving Habsburg Croatia Battles involving the Ottoman Empire Conflicts in 1596

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

History of Banovina History of Sisak-Moslavina County 1590s in Croatia {{Ottoman-battle-stub