Gradina – Old Town Srebrenik – History
Srebrenik was first mentioned in written sources on February 15, 1333. At that time, the city was under the rule of Bosnian Ban Stjepan II Kotromanić (1322-1353). On this day, the Ban received envoys from the Republic of Dubrovnik in the suburb of Srebrenik, confirming their possession rights in the Ston War (Pelješac) "for all time," as he declared in his charter.
During these days, the Ban also had a son born, which gave rise to special celebrations. From then until 1512, when it fell into Turkish hands, the city's fortune was varied. It frequently changed rulers.
The current walls of Srebrenik date from a slightly later time – the 18th century. However, the city still shows its old medieval foundation and outlines after many and thorough modifications. Located on a rugged rock, it imposingly dominates its surroundings.
The old town of Srebrenik, as we see it today, bears the mark of a strategic object. Originally, it could have been built as a feudal castle, but even then its primary function was defensive in nature – it was meant to provide a safe shelter for its lord, as it was erected in the border area between Bosnia and Hungary.
Because of this, it had to change rulers in the power play between these two states. When the Hungarian kings grew stronger, they eagerly took hold of the city of Srebrenik, but Bosnia also found enough strength from time to time to reclaim the city to its homeland.
Srebrenik lay in the eastern part of the Usora parish, near the Soli parish. It was a state, Ban's property, and the commanders of the city were either the Ban's vassals or people from the Ban's court.
The city first fell into Hungarian hands in 1393, after the death of King Tvrtko I (1391). However, King Sigismund had a hard time holding it in his hands, as the pressure from Bosnia was strong. In 1405, there was an open conflict when the Bosnian army partially attacked Srebrenik. In the three-year war, the Hungarians managed to push back the Bosnian army, resulting in a severe defeat near the city of Dobor in 1408. Sigismund had 120 captured Bosnian nobles beheaded and their bodies thrown down the rock into the Bosna river. To weaken Bosnia, King Sigismund, among other things, gave Srebrenik to Despot Stefan Lazarević, albeit only formally, as the Hungarian army remained garrisoned in the city.
In the summer of 1426, the Turks penetrated twice into the Usora parish, besieging Srebrenik. The city was not conquered, and so in 1430, we again see Hungarian soldiers here. During the Kanavoj War (1430-1433), the garrison from Srebrenik plundered the lands of the Pavlovići, certainly at the behest of the Dubrovnik people who sought to weaken their opponent.
The prince of Srebrenica conquered all the important cities along the Drina: Brodar, Susjed, and Srebrenica in 1410. During this time, he heavily plundered the citizens of Dubrovnik, forcing them to complain to King Sigismund. When the Hungarian governor Janko Hunyadi ("Sibinjanin Janko") reconciled with Despot Đurađ Branković, the city was finally handed over to the Serbian despot in 1448. Srebrenik is not mentioned for several years. In 1455, a feudal lord named Dmitar Radojević killed Petar Kovačević, a member of the noble family Dinjčić-Kovačević.
After the collapse of the independent Bosnian state, Srebrenik's significance quickly rose. Here, King Matthias Corvinus organized a special defensive organization against Turkish invasions into Hungary in 1464, establishing the so-called Srebrenička Banovina. The city was strong enough to withstand many years of Turkish attacks, but the surroundings suffered significantly from war devastations, especially when the Turks occupied larger parts of Lower Bosnia and Drina, and Srebrenik found itself surrounded by the enemy on three sides.
The state of war lasted until 1512 when the city opened its gates after a ten-day siege, and the garrison was beheaded under the city. Srebrenik then lost its old significance, as the major battlefields of Turkish-European conflicts moved far north. Srebrenik remained abandoned for a long time.
In the second half of the 16th and during the 17th century, there are no particular news about Srebrenik. When the Gradačačka Captaincy was formed in 1701, Srebrenik was also included in its jurisdiction. It is not known whether any repairs were carried out in the city at that time, which is possible since the Ottoman Empire lost large territories in the Pannonian Plain during the Vienna War (1683-1699), and the Austrian border advanced to the Sava river. The founding of the Gradačačka Captaincy was no coincidence, as the wars between Turkey and Austria soon continued, and through the Treaty of Požarevac in 1718, Austria gained some territories south of the Sava. Gradačac and Srebrenik found themselves very close to the enemy.
The Turkish border was very poorly secured. On the map showing the boundary between Turkey and Austria after the Treaty of Požarevac, Srebrenik is shown only as a village. The fortification was, therefore, still in ruins and without strategic importance. In the new circumstances, Srebrenik again gained significance as a prominent border point. This state will not change even after the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739, when the border between Austria and Turkey was returned to the Sava river. Like in the Middle Ages, Srebrenik found itself once more on the border between two worlds, with the difference that now it was no longer a matter of Bosnia and Hungary but far larger and more dangerous enemies.
The border between Turkey and Austria, established by the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739, remained unchanged until the Berlin Congress in 1878. From preserved documents, we see that in 1756 a garrison was stationed in the city of Srebrenik, whose commander was subordinate to the captain of Gradačac. This means that the city was operational as a fortification. However, it is not known to what extent repairs were carried out in the city, as minor repairs were reported from here in 1777, which means that the buildings had collapsed over time or that some older ruins were being restored for habitation. An Austrian report from Bosnia in 1790 mentions Srebrenik as an "old castle" (ein altes Schloss), without a more detailed description of its use at that time. In 1804, a garrison of 20 soldiers was stationed in the city. During the inventory of war supplies in 1833, 7 cannons were listed here. Around 1835, Srebrenik was abandoned, and only three years later it was already in a state of ruin.
In 1850, only a few buildings remained here, including the city mosque, where prayers were still held in the second half of the 19th century.
Related texts:
About the city and its surroundings
For the full content in Bosnian, you can visit the original article here.
