Tvrdjava

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A tvrdjava, also tvrđava (fortress), sometimes translated as fortress-city, refers to a type of large fortified military or semi-military community and settlement that emerged in medieval Razaria and saw resurgence during the Dark Centuries, used first by various warlords, and later nobles of Razaria, and later warlords again. The first tvrdjavas appeared in the early 8th century and their existence would span 1200 years until the end of the Razarian Civil War, though their prominence and political relevance was intermittent. At the height of their fame tvrdjavas were entire city-states of their own, while during the more centralized era of the Empire of Razaria they remained relevant as the vast majority of Razarian border towns took their form.

The main distinction between the tvrdjava and the castles of medieval Nordania was the community that lived within the tvrdjava. These communities far outnumbered whatever population any castle would have had and the nature of their social and economic activities were also rather different. Tvrdjavas contained nearly all agricultural and industrial production within its confines, allowing the population to be sustained with minimal exposure to the outside world, and the military of the tvrdjava became the priority for its economy. The maintenance of the interior population's integrity was considered just as important as the tvrdjava's physical defences, as a result most had functional governments although subordinate to the military and strong identities developed, attached to the tvrdjava.

History

Early tvrdjavas

Tvrdjavas first appeared in the early 8th century. In 709, Nenad of Tar constructed a perimeter wall around the town of Sivin under his control, which became arguably the first tvrdjava in history. Sivin became a military city completely with its fields dedicated to feeding Nenad's troops based in the town and its workshops and forgeries occupied with producing weapons and armor. Eventually Nenad prohibited civilian exit or entry of Sivin entirely, sealing the fortress-city off, while also strengthening its defences. Other Razarian warlords and princes replicated Nenad, establishing similar fortress-towns. By 730 18 fortress-towns and cities were recorded in Razaria. Inhabitants of tvrdjavas eventually became fiercely loyal to the tvrdjava's owners, surpassing that of residents in regular cities and towns, which convinced the warlords to fortify entire domains and/or retract into their tvrdjavas. In 785, less than eighty years after Sivin's transformation into a tvrdjava, Vojkan of Pozak wrote that "all lords from the Brzota to the Zavena now hide in their large fort-towns, greater than castles of before", indicating the popularity and prevalence of the tvrdjava.

During the Principality of Razaria tvrdjava lords would wage war on each other, though the nature of the tvrdjava, with its fully functional interior economy, fanatical inhabitants and their tough defences, meant that capturing any tvrdjava would be extremely difficult and often impossible. The eventual development of a shared identity amongst citizens of these domains by the 11th century made controlling any tvrdjava not of one's loyalty for prolonged periods of time, without mass expulsion or killing of the original population, even more difficult. The few token instances of a tvrdjava being captured following siege all saw the towns being pillaged razed. As a result the political structure of medieval Razaria would remain stably feudal until the establishment of the Empire of Razaria. Some most notable tvrdjavas of pre-Imperial Razaria were Netac, Pivkovo and Vlasanje.

Imperial Razaria

A few years before the Empire of Razaria was established, new siege methods, equipment and tactics allowed outer fortifications of tvrdjavas to be breached more easily and by extension decreased the difficulty of capturing tvrdjavas. Utilizing these tactics, Goran I was able to vanquish nearly all tvrdjava lords that opposed him easily and as a result power became centralized in Razaria. However, cities retained the layout they had as tvrdjavas, and new tvrdjavas were built at border regions, with modifications to improve defence. During peacetime, intact tvrdjava infrastructure served purpose too, for example they were used to quarantine cities and prevent infected persons from escaping during outbreaks of plagues, most notably and effectively during the Razarian plague of 1493. Economic facilities such as agriculture and crafts remained largely confined within bounds of tvrdjavas though growth of population and state policy drove the development of unconfined plots in the 15th century.

An Austrosian illustration of the plan of Salan, a small fortress-town, in the 18th century.

The introduction of star forts to Razaria in the late 16th century saw a revolution in tvrdjava design. New tvrdjavas such as modern Čirograd and Vapan were built based on the concept of 'gargantuan star forts' to accommodate for an independent economy and large populations. The new fortress-cities featured massive moats often in excess of hundreds of meters in width and colossal internal areas that made them into 'islands built for war'. In the case of Belgorica, a fortress-city in northwestern Razaria, it spanned 71 square kilometers and had a perimeter of 45 kilometers, of which 14 kilometers used the Brzota river as a natural moat and another 8 kilometers was covered by an artificial moat, and could accomodate a population of 100,000 of which around 20,000 would be professional soldiers.

In the 17th century the tvrdjavas based on star forts as well as older tvrdjavas received more changes. Smaller fortresses that would hold troops and materiel solely were built outside of the main fortress, perhaps as tactical diversions against intruding forces. With the beginning of the Dark Decades, the nature of tvrdjava communities which began to emerge again also changed. As their populations could no longer be sustained by farms that could be protected by the walls and moats of the fortresses, tvrdjava-based warlord factions adopted a more mobile and essentially revolutionary doctrine, moving out from the fortresses, resulting in tvrdjavas themselves being relegated to tactical assets or simply just city fortifications. New tvrdjavas built in this period, as a result, were much smaller than their predecessors.

Decline

It was commonly accepted by 1760 that tvrdjavas had reduced in their relevance strategically, as tvrdjava-communities had practically ceased to exist and became distributed across the territory they had control of. Smaller tvrdjavas were still used as tactical fortifications towards the end of the Dark Decades and fortified cities were still quite formidable against siege, but they were no longer the center of warlords' power. By the 19th century tvrdjavas were no longer built and much smaller polygonal forts were built instead, driven both by the reduction of their political prominence and the introduction of more powerful weapons. As some former tvrdjava-cities grew old fortifications were torn down or filled up.

Tvrdjava-communities received heavy hits following Razarian unification in the aftermath of the Dark Decades. Governmental policies were adopted to specifically dissolve their strength, while those who were influential in the communities were subject to constant harassment by the state. Forced breakups of the communities occurred in the 19th century as well, while property owned by the communities were confiscated. There was some resistance to these policies, particularly in the Razarian rebellion of 1824, but were suppressed and soon no social traces of the tvrdjava era were left.

Common features

File:Belgrade Kalemegdan&Pobednik.JPG
A part of the outer wall of the former fortress of Grabovica.

Most tvrdjavas were very large, spanning several square kilometers. They would usually contain hills and be situated next to rivers, sometimes even intersected by rivers to utilize hydropower. Forts from the 16th-17th centuries also incorporated moats that were often huge compared to star fort moats in other regions. Tvrdjavas have also been built on river islands.

Tvrdjavas universally had some sort of fortified perimeter that gave them their nature in the first place. Initially, tvrdjavas had simple stone walls usually the height of 'two men' and also towers for archers to be positioned on, but the scale of the walls increased greatly within a few years of the fortification of Sivin. Ditches and moats were soon incorporated into the perimeter. Most walls featured stone skirts, battlements and had a thickness of at least 3.5 meters by the 12th century.

Interior walls were also a common feature, one common design that included interior walls was to divide the tvrdjava into rings. Smaller castles and keeps may also be present within tvrdjavas whether for tactical fortification purposes in the event of a breach, or simply to house the administration of the tvrdjava. <wip>

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