Petar Kružić

Petar Kružić
Petar Kružić fighting the Ottomans, painted by Josip Horvat Međimurec
Personal details
Died	12 March 1537 Klis, Kingdom of Croatia, Habsburg Monarchy
Resting place	Church of Our Lady, Trsat, Croatia
Spouse(s)	Jerolima Kružić
Children	Franjo Jakov Ivan
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Croatia Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia
Battles/wars	Siege of Klis

Petar Kružić (died 1537) was a Croatian knez, captain, soldier and defender of Klis, and the captain of Senj.

In the early 16th century Petar Kružić (Prince of Klis) defended the Klis Fortress against Turk invasion. He died in 1537 in the final charge of the Turks, who conquered the stronghold after almost two and a half decades of his successful defense.

There are three theories about the origin of Petar Kružić due to his glory as a war hero and mixing of the history facts.

He began his military career in 1513 when he joined the defending forces of Klis Fortress. In around 1518 or 1519 he was promoted to captain of the Klis Fortress by the ban Petar Berislavić. In 1521 he was named the Captain of Senj together with Grgur Orlović who was named co-captain of Klis. They were active at those duties together until the Battle of Mohács when Orlović died in battle against the Turks.

In February 1524 Turkish captain Mustafa laid a siege on Klis Fortress with around 3000 men. The fort managed to hold off the invasion for over two months, while Kružić went to Senj just days before the siege and gathered an army of 1500 foot soldiers, 60 cavalry, and 40 ships to flank the Turkish army. He arrived at the town of Solin the night of 10 April from where they launched an attack on the Turks, destroying their army. For this achievement he was rewarded with the castle Breznica by the King of Hungary Louis II.