Bjelina ( sr-cyr, Бјелина) is a village westwards from the town of
Knin in the
Benkovac municipality of southern
Croatia.
Location
Bjelina is placed between Benkovac and
Kistanje. It is located east of Benkovac.
Population/Demographics
According to 1991 census, there were 652 inhabitants, of which 578 (88.65%) were
Serbs; 70 (10.73%) were
Croats and 4 others. According to national census of 2011, population of the settlement is 92.
Bilina
Bilina is a historic late-medieval site close to modern Bjelina. Bilina is its medieval name, as opposed to post-Ottoman Bjelina.
The site () is known as the seat of the
Drašković noble family in the 15th century and in the beginning of the 16th century. Bartol (
English: ''Bartholomew'') Drašković, the head of the family, had an estate with the castle there. His wife Ana Drašković
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Utješinović, a sister of the Catholic
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
Juraj Utješinović (''George Utissenich'' alias ''George Martinuzzi''), bore him on February 5, 1525, the firstborn son
Juraj Juraj is a given name used in a number of Slavic languages, including Czech, Slovak, and Croatian. Pronounced "You-rye" but with a trilled r.
The English equivalent of the name is George.
Notable people
* Juraj Chmiel, Czech diplomat and politi ...
(
English: ''George''), a famous
Croatian Catholic Bishop, Cardinal and statesman, who was the
Ban (Viceroy) of
Croatia between 1567 and 1578.
Younger sons of Bartol and Ana,
Ivan I (
English: ''John'') and
Gašpar I (
English: ''Casper''), were most probably also born there. Shortly after that, because of the threatening
Ottoman expansion, the family left its old seat and withdrew toward the northwest of Croatia.
As the Ottoman army soon conquered the whole area around Bilina, the Drašković family could not come back any more. Thus, the Draškovićs of Bilina became later Draškovićs of
Trakošćan.
References
External links
Bjelina
The Drašković family comes from Bilina in the Bukovica regionThe Draškovićs of Bilina withdrew because of the Ottoman threat toward the northwestBilina in Bukovica – residence of Bartolomej Drašković, the brother-in-law of Cardinal Juraj Utješinović (alias George Martinuzzi)
Benkovac
Populated places in Zadar County
{{Zadar-geo-stub