Siege of Knin



The Siege of Knin (Opsada Knina) was a siege of Knin Fortress in the Kingdom of Croatia by the Ottoman Empire. After two failed attempts in 1513 and 1514, Ottoman forces led by Gazi Husrev-beg, sanjak-bey (governor) of the Sanjak of Bosnia, laid the final siege of Knin in May 1522. Frequent confrontations and raids of its surroundings left Knin devastated, so it had only a small garrison at the time. Mihovil Vojković was the commander of Knin's defense and he surrendered the fortress on 29 May in exchange for a free evacuation of his men and Knin's residents. The Ottomans eventually made Knin the center of Sanjak Lika-Krka.

Background
The defeat at Krbava field in 1493, that was preceded by the first serious Ottoman siege of Knin, marked the beginning of the largest emigration from the city and its surrounding area to safer parts of Croatia. Knin, the long-time capital city of Croatia, was slowly losing its status as the political and administrative center of the country. Its Supreme court was never mentioned again, Ban's deputy no longer had civil duties, all efforts were focused on the build up of Knin's fortifications.

The last major conflict around Knin before the truce was in September 1502 when 2,000 Ottoman cavalrymen looted the area. On 20 August 1503 King Vladislaus II concluded a 7 year peace treaty with Sultan Bayezid II. The armistice was generally respected by all sides, during which Knin's defensive positions were strengthened in 1504. A period of severe famine started in 1505 that affected entire Dalmatia. In 1510 the plague halved Knin's population.

A new peace treaty was signed after the previous one expired, but sanjak-beys from the Sanjak of Bosnia have not honored the new ceasefire and were often ravaging the countryside of the Croatian border towns. In a report on 5 May 1511 to the parliament in Budim, it was stated that Knin was under constant Ottoman assaults and that whole Croatia will be lost if it fell.

Failed siege attempts
In 1510 around 1,000 Ottoman Akıncı raided the countryside of Knin. There had been word that viceban of Croatia was captured on that occasion. Baltazar Baćan (Baltazar Batthyány), viceban of Slavonia, together with forces from the Zagreb Bishopry, managed to lift the siege of Knin on January 1513. Next year in February 1514 the Ottomans laid siege on Knin with 10,000 men from the Sanjak of Bosnia, but were unable to take the city and lost 500 troops. Knin's outskirts were burned on this occasion.

These clashes left Knin devastated and there were no news about the city for 5 years. Local population was decimated by war, hunger, plague and migration to safer places, and its economy was hindered by the seizure of crops and livestock. Due to Knin's strategic value, King Louis II responded to requests from captains of Knin, Skradin and Ostrovica and promised reinforcements 1,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalrymen. However, it is unlikely that these forces arrived to the endangered towns. In 1522 the Ottomans attacked Knin and the nearby forts not just to raid them, but with a firm intention to occupy the area.

Preparations and final siege
Mahmud-Bey of the Sanjak of Herzegovina bypassed Knin with his army into Lika and ravaged the entire area. The goal of his offensive was to cut off Knin form the north and prevent the arrival of reinforcements. Mahmud's army encamped near Cetina. Soon an army led of Gazi Husrev-beg, sanjak-bey of the Sanjak of Bosnia, returned from a raid into Carniola. Gazi Husrev-beg conquered smaller forts near Knin and completely surrounded it, joining his forces with Mahmud-beg. The two combined armies had around 25,000 men and a large amount of artillery. They started shelling Knin day and night. The fortress was defended by Mihovil Vojković from Klokoč, a Croatian nobleman who had only a small garrison on his disposal.

As soon as Croatian Ban Ivan Karlović found out about the siege, he started gathering an army to help Knin, the seat of Croatian Bans. He also asked captains from neighbouring Archduchy of Austria for assistance. While the ban was preparing an army, Knin's fate was already been determined. The Ottomans tried to storm into Knin three times until Mihovil Vojković surrendered the fortress on 29 May after negotiations with Gazi Husrev-bey. He was granted permission to leave the city with his men.

Aftermath
After hearing about the fate of Knin, the citizens of nearby Skradin fled and left the town undefended, so it was easily taken by the Ottomans. Next day Drniš also fell into Ottoman hands. Ivan Karlović was at the time located in Topusko, so information about the loss of Knin and Skradin arrived with a considerable delay. After conquering Knin the Ottomans moved towards Klis, another important fortress in Croatia. However, the fortress garrison was strong enough to repel the attacks of Husrev-bey's men, who had to break the siege and withdraw his forces. Croatian border captains expected that the Ottomans will try to compensate their failure under Klis by attacking the less defended towns of Udbina, Bihać and coastal cities.

Ivan Karlović was furious at Mihovil Vojković for surrendering Knin, so he arrested Vojković and sent him to prison in Udbina. Counts Juraj II i Matija II Frankopan seized the town of Klokoč, Vojković's seat, where they found ammunition and cannons that were intended to strengthen Knin's defenses.

The fall of Knin was a huge shock for Croatia, as the cradle of the Croatian state, seat of the Croatian ban and place of Croatian nobility conventions was lost. Bihać now took the leading role in Croatia's defenses south of the Sava river. Under Ottoman rule, a new population moved into empty Knin and the region. These were Vlach shepherds from other Ottoman territories, mainly of Orthodox faith.

Relief attempts
Croatia has not reconciled easily with the fall of Knin so in September of the same year Ban Ivan Karlović gathered an army and attacked Ottoman forces in the vicinity of Knin, capturing several soldiers including the goldsmith of Gazi Husrev-beg. These counterattacks were done in hope of a quick liberation of Knin with the aid from Austrian Archduke Ferdinand, but that did not happen although the Archduke guaranteed to help regain or strengthen Senj, Krupa, Knin, Skradin, Klis and Ostrovica. In 1529 and 1530 there were two more Croatian incursions, first one ended with 24 captured Ottoman soldiers, while in the second one in July 1530 several hundred cavalrymen from Bihać managed to reach Knin. The Ottoman Empire made Knin the starting point of their further invasions in the area.