Parliament on Cetin
After the defeat in Battle of Mohács in 1526 and death of king Louis II, Croatian nobility gathered at the Parliament on Cetin (Cetinski Sabor).
On January 1, 1527 they elected Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria as the king of Croatia. The charter signed by Croatian nobles and representatives of Ferdinand of Habsburg (Pavao Oberstain, Nikola Jurišić, Ivan Katzianer and Ivan Pichler) is among the most important documents of Croatian statehood and is preserved in in Vienna. In return Archduke Ferdinand promised to help Croatia to defend itself from Ottoman invaders and to respect rights, freedoms, laws and customs of Croats.
The charter was confirmed by seals of six Croatian nobles:
- Andrija Tuškanić
- Ivan Karlović
- Nikola Zrinski, father of Nikola Šubić Zrinski
- Juraj Frankopan
- Vuk Frankopan
- Stjepan Blagajski
In the middle of charter there is a seal of Kingdom of Croatia with 64 red-white fields.
Part of Slavonian nobility preferred John Zápolya but after his death in 1540 the first option prevailed.