TheVaraždin Generalate (German:Warasdiner Generalat,Croatian:Varaždinski generalat), also known as theWindische Grenze ("Slavic Border") in German,[1] was a province of theMilitary Frontier of theHabsburg monarchy (later theAustrian Empire and brieflyAustria-Hungary), that existed between 1531 and the 19th century. While the Generalate was originally based inWarasdin (Varaždin),Varaždin County, including the city, was removed from the Military Frontier in the 18th century; the district the Generalate controlled was thereafter centered onBellowar (Bjelovar), which also briefly acted as its administrative center until it was moved to Zagreb in 1787.
The border command was established byFerdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1531.[2] By the 1560s the Habsburgs established a frontier defense system, made up of six mainGrenzgeneralat (captain-generalcies) in the Military Frontier in Hungary and Croatia, each commanded by captain generals;[3] the one centered in Varaždin was after 1578 known as the Wendish-Bajcsavár captain-generalcy.[3] Until theLong Turkish War, the Military Frontier's defense system had two centers, Karlovac and Varaždin.[4] During the war, the area around the generalate was deserted.[4]
TheStatuta Valachorum (1630), a decree of privileges to the Orthodox and some Greek CatholicVlachs[5][6] and (Serb) refugee community, was in effect in the generalate.[7] A rebellion broke out in the generalate in 1632, the Frontiersmen (Grenzer) rose up against local Austrian governors; the rebellion was suppressed, andknez (count) Marko Bogdanović andharambaša Smiljan Vujica (or Smoljan Vujić) were executed.[8] A rebellion broke out in the generalate in 1665–66 when Frontiersmen underStefan Osmokruhović rose up against the Austrian officers, after the rights of the frontiersmen had been compromised.[9]
In 1737 the Military Frontier was re-organized, and the Varaždin general command included the two regiments of Križevci and Đurđevac. The area was ceded to the HabsburgKingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in 1871 and by 1886 its territory had become the bulk ofBjelovar-Križevci County.
a iduće su godine ne samo optuženi, nego i pogubljeni knez Marko Bogdanović i zastavnik Smoljan Vujić.