Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.17234/RadoviZHP.56.22
The Destruction of Cetin Fortress, or When and Why was the Fortress of Cetin Sold? (Summary)
Damir Stanić
Sažetak
The Cetin fortress was one of the most important fortifications in the Croatian territory. Located in the area of Kordun, within the former Military Border, the Cetin fortress was one of the most significant historical sites of Croatia – it was the location where Croatian nobility elected Ferdinand Habsburg as king in 1527. At that time, Cetin was owned by the Frankopans, the most prominent Croatian medieval noble family, but just a few decades later the fortress came under Ottoman rule. In the Ottoman possession, Cetin figured as one of the most important and most fortified border strongholds, which the Habsburg army recaptured with great effort, only during the Austro-Turkish War in 1790. Considering that the Ottomans successfully resisted the Habsburg attacks on the Croatian-Bosnian borderlands in the aforementioned war, the Ottoman bordermen perceived the loss of Cetin as an injustice and disgrace, which motivated them in the following decades to make border incursions and even attempts to retake the fortress. In 1809 they even briefly occupied Cetin. This gave Cetin a new and important additional dimension as an object of Ottoman desire. By becoming a part of the Military Border, the Austrian authorities fortified Cetin further and turned it into a complex fortress at the outermost position towards the Ottoman Empire. However, with geopoliti¬cal, various internal, and changes within military system from the middle of the 19th century, Cetin became less and less important and gradually too expensive to maintain. Therefore, in the mid-1860s, a decision was made to abandon it. This plan caused a great stir within Croatian political and public arena, and from the end of 1865 to the end of 1866 there was an engaged attempt by Croatian institu¬tions to preserve Cetin. However, when the Croatian Parliament determined that very little remained of the mythical “medieval” Cetin, and that the fortifications of Cetin at that time were mainly from much later, Ottoman and Austrian periods, and that its further maintenance required huge financial resources, the Croatian Parliament finally gave up on the request to preserve the fortress. However, in an interesting twist, the ruler handed over the Cetin fort to the Szluiner Grenz Regiment and a prison was soon established there, which existed until 1875, when Cetin was finally sold to private buyers and then dismantled for building material. Regardless of the destruction, the Cetin fortress was so large and complex that its impressive remains still stand today. Since soon half a millennium will be marked since the election of Ferdinand Habsburg, and the history of Cetin is still generally poorly researched, this work is to be regarded as a contribution to filling in the historiographical gaps in anticipation of that important jubilee. The paper analyzes the reasons for the abandonment and sale of Cetin, the course of discus¬sions and decision-making related to the abandonment and sale of the fortress, and the construction state of Cetin during the period when it functioned as a prison.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
330263
URI
Datum izdavanja:
22.12.2024.
Posjeta: 1.166 *