The Medieval battles of Srebrenica were a series of battles between the

Kingdom of Bosnia The Kingdom of Bosnia ( / Краљевина Босна), or Bosnian Kingdom (''Bosansko kraljevstvo'' / Босанско краљевство), was a medieval kingdom that lasted for nearly a century, from 1377 to 1463, and evolved out of the ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, The

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and the

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate () was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is mistakenly considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and Moravi ...

for mineral rich, notably

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

, city of

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War in 1995, Srebr ...

in Eastern Bosnia.

Importance

The city of

was located between the historical region of Usora and

Podrinje Podrinje ( sr-Cyrl, Подриње) is the Slavic name of the Drina river basin, known in English as the Drina Valley. The Drina basin is shared between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, with majority of its territory being located in Eastern ...

, it was famous for its large number of

silver mines Silver mining is the extraction of silver by mining. Silver is a precious metal and holds high economic value. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires the use of complex technologies. In ...

from which the city got its name, from the Bosnian word for silver–''srebro''.

Sequence of events

Until 1404 the city of Srebrenica was in the hands of the

Grand Duke of Bosnia Grand Duke of Bosnia (, ) was a court title in the Bosnian medieval state, with its first holders being recorded around the middle of the 14th century. The title was bestowed by the monarch to its highest military commander, rarely two, usually ...

Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić (c. 1350–1416) was a medieval Bosnian nobleman and magnate, Grand Duke of Bosnia, Knez of Donji Kraji, and Duke of Split. He was the most prominent member of the Hrvatinić noble family, and one of the major feu ...

. He ruled until 1410 when the city fell to the rule of

Sigismund of Luxembourg Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1437. He was elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) in 1410, and was also King of Bohemia from 1419, as well as prince-elec ...

, during the Hungarian Wars against Bosnia in 1411. Sigismund awarded Serbian noble

Stefan Lazarević Stefan Lazarević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Лазаревић, 1377 – 19 July 1427), also known as Stefan the Tall (), was a Serbian ruler as prince (1389–1402) and Despot (court title), despot (1402–1427). He was also a diplomat, legislat ...

for his campaigns against

Tvrtko II Kotromanić Stephen Tvrtko II ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Stjepan/Stefan Tvrtko, Стјепан/Стефан Твртко; died in November 1443), also known as Tvrtko Tvrtković (), was a member of the House of Kotromanić who reigned as King of Bosnia from 1404 to 1409 ...

and gave the city to his domain. The city was reconquered by King

Stjepan Tomaš Stephen Thomas ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Stefan Tomaš, Стефан Томаш, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, label=none, Stjepan Tomaš, Стјепан Томаш; 1411 – 10 July 1461), a member of the House of Kotromanić, reigned from ...

in 1444. For the short period of time in May 1445 all of Lower

fell to

Đurađ Branković Đurađ Vuković Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ Вуковић Бранковић, ; 1377 – 24 December 1456) served as the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456, making him one of the final rulers of medieval Serbia. In 1429, Branković was form ...

, but with the help of Bosnian Duke,

Ivaniš Pavlović Ivaniš Pavlović ( sr-cyr, Иваниш Павловић; June 1423 – November 1450) was a ''Knyaz, knez'' and later a Grand Duke of Bosnia from the noble family of Pavlović noble family, Pavlović, who had their estates in the eastern parts o ...

, he withdrew out of Podrinje. In 1448 the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

launched a large counter-offensive into Bosnia penetrating the realm of Stjepan Tomaš.

Stjepan Vukčić Kosača Stjepan Vukčić Kosača (1404–1466) was a powerful Bosnian Nobility, nobleman who was politically active from 1435 to 1466; the last three decades of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Middle Ages, Bosnian medieval history. During this period, ...

had joined the Turks against Tomaš but with Hungarian support they were driven out. In 1449 Stjepan Tomaš reconquered the city from Branković.

References

{{Bosnia and Herzegovina topics 15th century in the Ottoman Empire 15th century in Serbia 15th century in Hungary 15th century in Bosnia Serbian Despotate Wars involving medieval Bosnian state Battles involving medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina 1411 in Europe 1444 in Europe 1445 in Europe 1446 in Europe 1449 in Europe

Importance

Sequence of events

See also

References