Siege of Knin

Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe
Croatian–Ottoman wars
Hundred Years' Croatian-Ottoman War

View of Knin from c. 1522

Date	early May - 29 May 1522
Location	Knin, Kingdom of Croatia 44°02′00″N 16°11′00″E / 44.033333°N 16.183333°E / 44.033333; 16.183333Coordinates: 44°02′00″N 16°11′00″E / 44.033333°N 16.183333°E / 44.033333; 16.183333
Result	Ottoman victory

Belligerents

Ottoman Empire

Kingdom of Croatia

Commanders and leaders

Gazi Husrev-beg
Mahmud-beg
Murat-beg Tardić

Mihovil Vojković

Strength

~25,000 men

few hundred men

The Siege of Knin (Croatian: 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.

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 surroundings 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 ceased to function, Ban's deputy no longer had civil duties, and all efforts were focused on the buildup 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.

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Wikipedia