Siege of Sokolac

1493 siege of Sokolac castle
Siege of Sokolac
Part of Conflict between Frankopans and royal authority

Present day view of Sokolac Castle
DateAugust 1493
Location
Result
  • Ivan Both killed
  • Siege abandoned
Belligerents
Bans of Croatia Frankopan noble family
Commanders and leaders

Emerik Derenčin

Ivan Both of Bajna  †		 Anž Frankopan
Strength

4000 horsemen

2000 infantry		 Unknown
Casualties and losses
At least one Unknown

The siege of Sokolac was a siege of Sokolac Castle in Brinje, Kingdom of Croatia, in August 1493, by the joint bans of Croatia John Both de Bajna and Emerik Derenčin, 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 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.[1]

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.[2] Two Croatian bans came after them to Sokolac.[2] 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.[3] Both's death enraged other commanders, who decided to undertake much larger siege and ordered construction of siege engines.[3]

Leaving the siege

In the meantime, Derenčin received information that Ottoman army entered Croatian lands.[1] Ottoman sources also claim that Anž Frankopan invited Ottomans to Croatia, because ban's army ravaged his possessions.[4] 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.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Klaić, Vjekoslav (1988). Povijest Hrvata; knjiga četvrta. Zagreb: Matica hrvatska. p. 228.
  2. ^ a b Kekez, Hrvoje (2009). "Bernardin Frankapan i Krbavska bitka: je li spasio sebe i malobrojne ili je pobjegao iz boja?". Modruški zbornik – via Hrčak.
  3. ^ a b Rattkay, Juraj (2016). Spomen na kraljeve i banove Kraljevstva Hrvatske, Dalmacije i Slavonije. Zagreb: Sveučilište u Zagrebu - Hrvatski studiji. pp. 193–194.
  4. ^ a b Kekez, 73-74
  • v
  • t
  • e
Medieval wars
and battles
8th/9th-century battles
Croatian–Hungarian wars
Croatian–Bulgarian wars
Croatian-Venetian wars
  • Battle of Omiš (948)
  • Battle of Lastovo (1000)
  • Siege of Zadar (1345–1346)
High and Late Middle Ages
wars and battles




Croatian–Ottoman wars
Hundred Years'
Croatian–Ottoman War
(1493–1593)
Long War
(1593–1606)
Austro-Turkish War
(1663–1664)
Great Turkish War
(1683–1699)
18th-century
Ottoman wars
European 17th/18th-
century wars
Thirty Years' War
Seven Years' War
19th-century wars
French Revolutionary
and Napoleonic Wars
Hungarian Revolution
of 1848–49
Third Italian War
of Independence
  • Battle of Custoza
  • Battle of Vis
Austro-Hungarian –
Bosnia-Herzegovinian War
  • Battle of Jajce (1878)
  • Battle of Vitez (1878)
  • Battle of Sarajevo (1878)
  • Battle of Livno (1878)
20th-century wars
World War I
World War II
Croatian War of Independence
(1991–1995)
War in Bosnia and Herzegovina
(1992–1995)
21st-century
conflicts
War in Afghanistan
(2001–2021)
Golan Heights ceasefire
after Yom Kippur War
Category