Srebrenik ( sr-cyrl, Сребреник) is a city located in
Tuzla Canton
The Tuzla Canton Official name of canton is Tuzla Canton (; ; ) is one of 10
of the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: ''Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine'' / ''Федерација Босне и Херцеговине'') is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities composing Bo ...
. It is located in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, near
Tuzla
Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...
. As of 2013, the city had a population of 39,678 inhabitants, while the urban centre itself had a population of 6,694.
History
Prehistory
Based on unsystematic archaeological research, there have been found what appears to be remains of a Neolithic village near Hrgovi Gornji. Further research is required before any conclusions are made.
Middle ages
The earliest historical record documenting Srebrenik is the edict of Stephen II to Ragusa signed on 15 February, 1333. According to documents from the same period, Srebrenik was under the administration of župa Usora. Srebrenik fortress, a medieval fortress dating back to at least 1333, is located on the
Majevica
Majevica ( sr-cyrl, Мајевица, ) is a low mountain range in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated between Semberija, Posavina, and Tuzla Canton.
Its highest peak is Stolice, some 16 kilometres east of Tuzla, in the far sout ...
mountain, providing an important strategic stronghold in the area.
In September 1363, king
Louis I of Hungary
Louis I, also Louis the Great (; ; ) or Louis the Hungarian (; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. He was the first child of Charles I of Hungary and his wife, Elizabeth of ...
sent an army to Bosnia, led by his palatine Nicholas Kont. This army suffered substantial losses of Hungarian soldiers and materials in Srebrenik. Among the lost materials was the royal seal, which was replaced afterwards.
After the death of Louis I, numerous other Hungarian conquests occurred. One was led by
Sigismund of Luxembourg
Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1437. He was elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) in 1410, and was also King of Bohemia from 1419, as well as prince-elec ...
, whose army besieged and conquered Srebrenik, holding out for the next four years. It was then granted to a Serbian despot Stefan Lazarević although the Hungarian army maintained its garrison for some time after the grant.
Srebrenik again fell under Bosnian control after it was conquered by grand duke Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić. It is not known exactly when the city was recaptured by the Hungarians and for how long Hrvoje Vukčić had held the city.
Earliest accounts of Ottoman raiders near Srebrenik have been found in Ragusan letters directed to Sigismund in August 1426, detailing Ottoman activities as follows:
Almost the entire summer an army composed of about four thousand Turks was in Bosnia; neither the lord king of Bosnia nor his barons dared to do anything about them. Duke Sandalj and duke Radoslav Pavlović had managed to achieve peace among themselves. Turks raided parts of Croatia and captured many Croats and Vlachs dwelling there. They raided parts of Usora and Srebrenik twice; they were also present in the territories of duke Zlatonosović; these Turks have returned to their lands and few remained in Bosnia. The glorious lord despot, with his nephew
Đurađ
Đurađ ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ, ; ) is a Serbian masculine given name, derived from the Greek ''Georgios''. It is also transliterated as Djuradj.
It is, along with the variant '' Đorđe'', the equivalent of the English '' George''. It was wides ...
, as it was told, made peace with the Venetians in
Zeta
Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; , , classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter zay ...
; a part of the land remained in possession of the lord despot and his nephew and the rest in the possession of the Venetians.
By 1462 the entire župa Usora was under Ottoman control, including Srebrenik. Due to failures in logistics and an epidemic, the Ottoman army had to retreat and
Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...
managed to seize back Srebrenik. In order to further improve the defense against future Ottoman attacks, Matthias created the banate of Srebrenik in 1464 and granted it to Nicholas of Ilok who later became the titular king of Bosnia.
There are two accounts related to the Ottoman conquest of Srebrenik. According to one, Srebrenik was taken in 1512, together with Teočak. The other version says that Srebrenik was taken together with Sokol and Tešanj in 1521 by the Bosnian sanjak-beyFeriz Beg.
Demographics
1971
In the 1971 census, the municipality of Srebrenik had 33,620 inhabitants:
* Bosniaks - 24,628 (73,25%)
* Serbs - 5,489 (16,32%)
* Croats - 3,256 (9,68%)
* Yugoslavs - 34 (0,10%)
* others - 213 (0,65%)
1991
In the 1991
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, the municipality of Srebrenik had 40,882 inhabitants:
*30,595
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...
(74.8%),
*5,326
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
(13.0%),
*2,761
Croats
The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
Brnjičani
Brnjičani is a village in the municipality of Srebrenik, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Penin ...
Kuge
The was a Japanese Aristocracy (class), aristocratic Social class, class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th ce ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...