The Battle of Krbava field (Krbavsko polje) , was fought between the Ottoman Empire of Bayezid II and a Croatian army of the Kingdom of Hungary on September 9 1493 in what is today southern Croatia (Lika region). The Kingdom of Croatia was during this period united under the crown of the Kingdom of Hungary, and the Croatian lords who fought in the battle were subjects of the unified crown. The battle resulted in the total defeat of the Croatian army led by Ban Mirko Derenčin, viceroy of King Vladislas II.

Background

After the fall of the Bosnian Kingdom into the Ottoman hands in 1463, the southern and central parts of the Kingdom of Croatia remained unprotected, the defense of which was left to Croatian gentry who kept smaller troops in the fortified border areas at their own expense. The Ottomans meanwhile reached the river Neretva and having conquered Herzegovina (Rama) in 1482, they found their way toward Croatia, skillfully avoiding the fortified border towns. Through the conquest of the Kingdom of Croatia, the Ottoman light cavalry pushed its way towards the towns of Carinthia and Carniola, threatening thus to a border area of Venice as well.

Preparations

In order to stop such invasions, in the summer of 1493 the Croats attempted to rally their troops under the command of Viceroy Emerik Derencin at Krbava field (near today's Udbina) in central Croatia, and lay in wait there to trap the Ottomans. In the meanwhile, the Ottoman Sanjak Bey Hadım Yakup Paşa with some 8,000 Akıncı (Turkish light cavalry) was returning from an expedition to Styria and Croatian Zagorje.

Croatian feudal army under the command of Viceroy Derencin at Krbava field had some 2,000 heavy feudal cavalry and some 8,000 infantry from all parts of the Croatia. The Croats overestimated their powers.

The battle

The Croatian army rushed at the Ottomans. After first luring Croats into plains, where light cavalry were in advantage over heavy feudal cavalry, surrounding it from the front, one flank and rear. Croatian army suffered a total defeat in which the cream of the old Croatian nobility perished to a man, including Mirko Derenčin.

Aftermath

The defeat was resounding. In one single day, around 7,000 Croatian soldiers lost their lives, including many of Croatian feudal nobleman of the time. The defeat at Krbava field shook all the social strata in Croatia; however it did not dissuade the Croats from making even more decisive and persistent attempts at defending themselves against the attacks of the much more powerful enemy. Following the battle, scores of Croatian refugees moved toward Austria while others migrated to Italian coastal areas.