The Castle of Jajce in the Organization of the Hungarian Border Defence System under Matthias Corvinus’s
The Castle of Jajce in the Organization of the Hungarian Border Defence System under Matthias Corvinus’s

Author(s): Richárd Horváth
Subject(s): Local History / Microhistory, Military history, Security and defense, Military policy, 15th Century, The Ottoman Empire, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Hrvatski institut za povijest
Keywords: Matthias Corvinus; Jajce; anti-Ottoman border defence; Bosnia; Croatia; Hungarian Kingdom;
Summary/Abstract: This essay explores the history of the castle and Banate of Jajce between 1463 and 1490. Following the fall of Serbia in 1459, Bosnia had become the main target of the Ottoman expansion and, in spring 1463, was occupied by the army of the Mohammed the Conqueror. Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia responded with a counter-attack in the autumn and winter of 1463, in the course of which the army of King Matthias Corvinus captured the castle of Jajce and some other nearby fortifications. The possession of these forts allowed defence from new Ottoman attacks in the following years. Thus the foundations of a new military-administrative unit in the southern part of the Hungarian defence system were laid. The goal of this essay is to discuss the way in which King Matthias organized this area. Particular attention is paid to the administration of Bosnia, from the temporary authority of Ban of Slavonia and real King of Bosnia, Nikola Iločki (1471-1477) to the plans related to Duke Ivaniš Corvinus and finally for Banate of Bosnia/Jajce, in existence until 1527. The essay traces chronologically different forms of the administration. It attempts to follow royal efforts to organize this region in the best possible manner, by bringing it together with extant centres of defence system such as Banate of Slavonia, County of Temes and Principality of Transylvania.

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