Koprivnica

Koprivnica lies in the Drava basin of northern Croatia, at the foot of the Bilogora hills. A free royal town and trading centre, it also became a stronghold on the frontier facing the Ottoman Empire. Its great earthworks were designed to withstand artillery, while its citizens retained the privileges granted to their town in the Middle Ages.

King Louis of Anjou granted Koprivnica the status of a free royal town in 1356, using privileges modelled on those of Gradec in Zagreb. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, an assembly of Slavonia met here and chose Krsto Frankopan as the kingdom's defender. By the mid-sixteenth century Koprivnica had become a fortified captaincy of the Slavonian frontier. Its defences were enlarged over the following century, forming a major base between the Drava and Sava. In 1765 the town was removed from the Military Frontier, allowing its civilian life to develop more freely.