Marsvnnia - Slavonski Brod in Roman time

When Romans invaded the Pannonian plane, Marsonia became the most important crossroad between the antique towns of Siscia and Sirmium. According to Peutinger's table it was situated on the left bank of the Sava, close to the crossing over the river. The distances indicated on the table show that Marsonia was located at the mouth of the Mrsunja (Mrsunja, that is, black water) and it obviously was named after it. At that time Marsonia was a military and administrative centre of its region. The farming population of its environs were natives, Breucs, who in the course of time were romanized to a large extent. Marsonia was gradually expanding towards east and it probably reached its maximum on the site where the Brod fortress was built in the eighteenth century.

The Roman Marsonia collapsed in the fifth century during the invasion of Huns. In the sixth century Slavs inhabited its environs and from the seventh century onwards Croats started to inhabit it. They had found only the ruins of the old town and because of that they gave this settlement the most appropriate name, Old Town. Historical documents date it back to the end of the Middle Ages, when it had a small fortress nearby. On the territory between village Kobaš on the west and town Županja on the east it was the only bigger settlement before the erection of Brod. Since Old Town (Stari grad) was the centre of the region, no other settlement could grow on that site for a long period of time. Documents from the thirteenth and the fourteenth century indicate that in Dilj foothills there were several villages close to feudal properties.


The name Brod was mentioned in 1244 in the charter of king Bela IV, which dealt with the division of the properties owned by the Đakovo feudal lords and the one owned by Toliša and his brothers. It was mentioned as »Boaraida« - village Braid or Broid. It is difficult today to establish the accurate location of this village but it seems that it was situated on the site where presently lie the cemetery of Brod or the Franciscan monastery. There is no doubt that this village got its name after the ferry (brod) which took people across the Sava river. The village was obviously somewhere close to the river, between the property of the Đakovo landed proprietors and the property of Toliša and his brothers, descendents of Vice-Roy Borič. Later on it was handed down to its inheritors, the Berislavić family.

What was happening to village Brod until the fifteenth century is completely unknown. In the fifteenth century it is mentioned as the place where the Berislavić family had its residence. The building of new Brod was initiated by Benedikt Berislavić and his work was continued by his sons: Nikola-Deša, Ivan-Berislav and Franjo. They built Brod according to a previously made design, so it consisted of blocks of buildings and from outside it was protected by earth walls with palisades. This was necessary because in 1463 Turks conquered Bosnia and Slavonia was consequently under immediate threat.

The merit for the further development of Brod goes to Franjo's son, Stjepan Berislavić. In this time Brod had a rectangular foundation and it could be entered by three gates. The west gate led from Brod to the neighbouring Stari Grad and farther to Požega. The north gate led to Podvinje and farther to Đakovo, Požega of Grabarje. The east gate led to nearby villages Vrba, Hruščica and Klakarje. The inside of the town consisted of regularly constructed parallel and transversal streets. It seems that in the first stage of the construction all the plots in Brod were not inhabited, so they were used for orchards and gardens. Until 1536 Brod grew as a dual town: there was Stari Grad or Gornja Brodska Varoš and east to it lay a new settlement, Brod or Donja Brodska Varoš.


Marcus

10.09.2002