In the late Middle Ages, Bihać was a free royal city and at one time the capital of the Kingdom of Croatia (metropolis et propugnaculum totius regni Croatiae).[2] In 1530 Austrian committee provide troops to defend seven key strongholds in Croatia, one of them is Bihać and Ripač (near Bihać).[3] The Turks occupied Bihać in 1592 and from that time Bihać was the site of the most important fort in Bosnia until the 18th century.[4]