Siege of Gvozdansko

Siege of Gvozdansko
Part of the Croatian–Ottoman Wars and Ottoman–Habsburg wars
Ruins of Gvozdansko Castle
Date 3 October 1577 – 13 January 1578 Location 45°07′59″N 16°12′54″E / 45.133°N 16.215°E / 45.133; 16.215Coordinates: 45°07′59″N 16°12′54″E / 45.133°N 16.215°E / 45.133; 16.215 Gvozdansko Castle, Kingdom of Croatia, Habsburg Monarchy Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Croatia	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Damjan Doktorović † Juraj Gvozdanović † Nikola Ožegović † Andrija Stipšić †	Ferhad Pasha Sokolović
Strength
300 soldiers and miners (30 men by the end of the siege)	5,000-20,000 (probably around 10,000)
Casualties and losses
All defenders died	Heavy
Location of the siege within modern Croatia

300 soldiers and miners

5,000-20,000

The Siege of Gvozdansko (Croatian: Opsada Gvozdanskog) was a siege of Gvozdansko Castle in the Kingdom of Croatia within Habsburg Monarchy. The battle around Gvozdansko and the siege of the castle lasted from 3 October 1577 to 13 January 1578, between the defending Croatian forces and the invading Ottoman army under the command of Ferhat-paša Sokolović. The battle resulted in an Ottoman victory with heavy losses on the Ottoman side, while all defenders died during the siege.

After the fall of the Kingdom of Bosnia into the Ottoman hands in 1463, the southern and central parts of the Kingdom of Croatia remained unprotected. Decisive Ottoman victory at the Battle of Krbava field in 1493 that shook all Croatia did not dissuade the Croats from making even more decisive and persistent attempts at defending themselves against the attacks of the far superior enemy. A new wave of Ottoman conquest began in 1521, after which a good portion of Croatia was conquered or pillaged.

On August 29, 1526, at the Battle of Mohács, the Christian forces led by King Louis II were defeated by Ottoman forces led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Louis was killed in the battle which resulted in the end of the independent Kingdom of Hungary, as he died without an heir. Both the Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia became disputed territories with claims from both the Habsburg and Ottoman empires. Ferdinand I of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria, brother of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and future Emperor himself, married the sister of Louis II and was elected King by the nobles of both Hungary and Croatia.