Senj

On the Adriatic coast beneath the Velebit mountains, Senj linked a small harbor with routes into Croatia's interior. It was also a center of Glagolitic writing: in 1494 its printing press produced a missal, the earliest book known with certainty to have been printed on Croatian soil. The press continued to publish religious works into the early 16th century.

After the Ottoman capture of Klis in 1537, Uskok fighters came to Senj and made it a base for raids. Captain Ivan Lenković strengthened the town's defenses, completing the fortress of Nehaj above it in 1558. The Uskoks fought the Ottomans but also attacked shipping, provoking a bitter dispute between Venice and the Habsburgs. Peace agreements in 1617–1618 ended the conflict and required the Uskoks to be removed from Senj, sending many families inland.