The battle of Krbava, the Croatian version of Mohács
The Ottoman forces were under the command of Hadım Yakup Pasha, sanjak-bey of the Sanjak of Bosnia, and the Croatian army was led by Emerik Derenčin, Ban of Croatia, who served under King Vladislav II Jagiello. Earlier in the summer of 1493, the Ottomans undertook a raid through Croatia into Carniola and Styria. Around the same time, clashes had been raging in Croatia between the House of Frankopan and the Croatian ban, but news of the Ottoman incursion forced them to make peace. The Croatian nobles assembled a large army and intercepted the Ottoman forces that were returning to the Sanjak of Bosnia. Poor tactics, and the choosing of an open battle with the more experienced Ottoman cavalry resulted in the total defeat of the Croatian army. During the battle, the Ottomans killed the majority of the Croatian nobility.
Thanks to the victory there were no immediate territorial gains for the Ottoman Empire, but in the following decades the Ottomans gradually expanded into southern and eastern Croatia.
After this losing battle, the Christian Bosnians and Croatians started to escape to Hungary and Austria. Lika and Krbava county were totally depopulated. Marton priest (pop Martinac) wrote in glagolity letters about the battle, and he stated that not just the Croatian nobility were killed during the battle, but also the whole Croatian population in this territory.
More information about the work of Marton priest: www.croatianhistory.net/etf/pop.html
