Cetin
Encyclopedia
Cetingrad
Cetingrad is a municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia near Croatia's border with Bosnia. The population of the village itself is 351, while the total municipality population is 2,746...
above the village of Podcetin, in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. The time of foundation of Cetin is unfortunately still unknown. There are some indications that the settlement existed there in the times of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. The parish of All Saints was first mentioned in 1334. In 1387 Cetin was donated to Ivan Krčki by king Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
and became the property of the Frankopan
Frankopan
The Frankopans are a Croatian noble family. Also called Frankapan, Frangepán in Hungarian, and Frangipani in Italian.The Frankopan family is the leading princely Croatian aristocratic family which dates back to the 12th Century and even earlier to Roman times...
family.
The Middle Ages were the golden era of Cetin. Near the fortress there was a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
and several churches. In 15th century the Cetinski branch of Frankopan family was formed but did not last more than hundred years. Ivan Frankopan Cetinski
Ivan Frankopan Cetinski
Ivan IX Frankopan Cetinski , a member of Cetin branch of the Frankopan noble family and a grandson of Ivan VI Frankopan, the knez of Cetin, was a Croatian nobleman. He died on September 9, 1493, in Battle of Krbava field. His son Ivan X Franjo Frankopan became archbishop of Kalocsa.-External...
died in Battle of Krbava field
Battle of Krbava field
The Battle of Krbava field , was fought between the Ottoman Empire of Bayezid II and a Croatian army of the Kingdom of Croatia in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary on September 9, 1493 in the Krbava field, a part of Lika region, southern Croatia...
. His brother Grgur and son Franjo Frankopan
Franjo Frankopan
Count Franjo Frankopan Cetinski , was a Croatian nobleman and Latinist.Frankopan was the son of knez Ivan Frankopan Cetinski and the member of Cetin branch of the Frankopan family. His given name was Ivan, but after joining the Franciscan order he took the name Franjo. He followed the steps of his...
became archbishops of Kalocsa
Kalocsa
Kalocsa is a town in Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary. It lies 88 miles south of Budapest. It is situated in a marshy but highly productive district, near the left bank of the Danube River. Historically it had greater political and economic importance than at present.Kalocsa is the Episcopal see...
. Franjo Frankopan was the last member of the family of Frankopani Cetinski. After him, the fortress became property of Frankopani Slunjski.
Cetin played an important role in the History of Croatia
History of Croatia
Croatia first appeared as a duchy in the 7th century and then as a kingdom in the 10th century. From the 12th century it remained a distinct state with its ruler and parliament, but it obeyed the kings and emperors of various neighboring powers, primarily Hungary and Austria. The period from the...
. After the defeat at the Battle of Mohács
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
in 1526 Croatian nobility gathered at Parliament on Cetin
Parliament on Cetin
The Parliament on Cetin was a gathering of the Croatian nobility in the town of Cetin caused by a monarchical crisis after the death of their king Louis II and a major defeat of the Kingdom of Hungary at the Battle of Mohács...
(Cetinski Sabor). On January 1, 1527 they elected Habsburg Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
as the king of Croatia. The chart signed by Croatian nobles and representatives of Ferdinand of Habsburg is among the most important documents of Croatian statehood and is preserved in the Austrian State Archives in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
In the following centuries, Cetin was part of the Military Frontier
Military Frontier
The Military Frontier was a borderland of Habsburg Austria and later the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which acted as the cordon sanitaire against incursions from the Ottoman Empire...
, the borderland between the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. During this period, Ottoman army several times took control of it . The fortress was several times damaged and repaired. Two stone plates with Arabic inscriptions in the Croatian History Museum testify about reconstructions made during this period. In 1790 Austrian troops under the command of general Walisch finally returned Cetin to the Habsburg monarchy. Siege of the fortress took one month, and after the battle several officers were decorated. One of them was also Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein
Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein
Johann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein, born Johann Baptist Joseph Adam Johann Nepomuk Aloys Franz de Paula was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1805 and 1806 and again from 1814 until 1836...
. Status of Cetin was finally confirmed during the peace conference in Svishtov
Svishtov
Svishtov is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svishtov Municipality...
. In 1809 Ottoman forces once again occupied Cetin but in 1810 they withdraw under the threats of marshal Marmont
Auguste Marmont
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, 1st Duke of Ragusa was a French General, nobleman and Marshal of France.-Biography:...
, governor-general of Illyrian provinces
Illyrian provinces
The Illyrian Provinces was an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire on the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea between 1809 and 1816. Its capital was established at Laybach...
. When the Ottoman threat was gone the fortress was abandoned and used as quarry. Administrative control was transferred to village of Cetingrad which developed north of Cetin.
Sources
- Radoslav Lopašić: Oko Kupe i Korane, Matica Hrvatska, 1895, Zagreb
- Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog sabora Kraljevine Hrvatske 1527, Karlovačka Županija, 1997, Karlovac
- Iz memoara maršala Marmonta: ilirske uspomene 1806-1811, Čakavski Sabor, 1977, Split