The siege of Sokolac was a
siege of
Sokolac Castle
Sokolac Castle ( hr, Gradina Sokolac) is a castle in Brinje, Croatia. It is named after the Croatian word for falcon (''sokol''), which appears on the town's coat of arms.
History
It dates back to medieval times built under King Ladislaus IV of Hu ...
in
Brinje
Brinje is a municipality in Lika-Senj County, Croatia, located about 35 miles from Gospić.
The town is formed around a castle called ''Sokolac'', which contains one of the most well preserved Gothic chapels in Croatia, St. Marys, which dates b ...
,
Kingdom of Croatia Kingdom of Croatia may refer to:
* Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), an independent medieval kingdom
* Croatia in personal union with Hungary (1102–1526), a kingdom in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary
* Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg) (152 ...
, in August 1493, by the joint
bans of Croatia
Ban of Croatia ( hr, Hrvatski ban) was the title of local rulers or office holders and after 1102, viceroys of Croatia. From the earliest periods of the Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by bans as a ruler's representative (viceroy) an ...
John Both de Bajna
Baron John Both de Bajna ( hr, Ivan Bot od Bajne, hu, bajnai Both János ; ? – 1493) was a Hungarian nobleman from the Both family, who served as, alongside Emeric Derencsényi, Ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia in 1493. His brother, Andre ...
and
Emerik Derenčin
Emerik Derenčin ( hu, Imre Derencsényi, hr, Mirko Derenčin) was a Hungarian-Croatian nobleman remembered as the commander of the Croatian troops in the 1493 Battle of Krbava Field.
He was a member of the Derencsényi family from the kindred ...
, against the
Frankopan family, due to the Frankopans' attempt to regain control over the town of
Senj. John Both was killed during the siege, and it was eventually abandoned after Derenčin received news of an approaching
Ottoman army. The two sides made truce, and fought the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
together at the
Battle of Krbava Field the following month.
Background
After the death of Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, Frankopan noble family attempted reassert their control over the town of
Senj. Hungarian king earlier confiscated this town from them in order to form Senj capitancy whose objective was to defend the region from both Ottomans and the Venice. In spite of Frankopan's attempts take te city, the citizens of Senj themselves did not want to come under Frankopan rule, for which they complained to pope, as well as the king, who promised them help. Emerik Derenčin and Ivan Both were soon appointed bans of Croatia, with task of deterring Frankopans from taking Senj.
Siege
Upon learning that ban's army is on its way to relieve Senj, Frankopans cancelled their attempts to take
Senj and withdrew to their castle of
Sokolac
Sokolac ( sr-Cyrl, Соколац) is a municipality of the city of Istočno Sarajevo located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 12,021 inhabitants, while the town of Sokolac has a populat ...
.
Two Croatian bans came after them to Sokolac.
As bans were inspecting around castle to find the weakspots in its walls, Both approached too close to the castle walls and got struck by a
gunfire which killed him.
Both's death enraged other commanders, who decided to undertake much larger siege and ordered construction of
siege engines.
Leaving the siege
In the meantime, Derenčin received information that Ottoman army entered Croatian lands.
Ottoman sources also claim that Anž Frankopan invited Ottomans to Croatia, because ban's army ravaged his possessions.
[Kekez, 73-74] Derenčin therefore quickly made peace with most of the Frankopans (except for
Anž Frankopan), so they could together confront the Ottoman army. The events that followed led to the
Battle of Krbava field.
See also
*
Battle of Krbava Field
References
{{Wars and battles involving Croatia, state=autocollapse
1493 in Europe
15th century military history of Croatia
History of Lika
Conflicts in 1493