Battle of Samobor

The Battle of Samobor (Croatian: Bitka kod Samobora; Slovenian: Celjsko-Ogrska Vojna) was a fight that happened on March 1, 1441. It took place near the town of Samobor, in a place called the Kingdom of Slavonia, which was part of the bigger Kingdom of Hungary. The battle was between the soldiers of two important men: Ulrich II of Celje and Stjepan Banić.

This battle was part of a bigger fight over who should be the next king, called the fight for the Crown of St. Stephen. Stjepan Banić was friends with Vladislaus III of Varna, but Ulrich II supported another baby king named Ladislas the Posthumous.

The soldiers led by Ulrich II, commanded by a mercenary named Jan Vitovec, won the battle. They caught Stjepan Banić and kept him safe. But a few years later, the mother of baby Ladislas, Elisabeth of Bohemia, passed away. Because of this, Ulrich II had to agree that Vladislaus III should be the king and let all the prisoners go free. Sadly, Vladislaus III later died fighting against the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Varna.

Many years later, on March 1, 2006, which was the 565th anniversary of the battle, the city of Samobor held a big event where people dressed up and acted out what happened during the battle.