The Serb uprising of 1596–1597, also known as the Herzegovina uprising of 1596–1597, was a rebellion organized by Serbian Patriarch Jovan Kantul (s. 1592–1614) and led by Grdan, the vojvoda ("duke") of Nikšić against the Ottomans in the Sanjak of Herzegovina and Montenegro Vilayet, during the Long Turkish War (1593–1606). The uprising broke out in the aftermath of the failed Banat Uprising in 1594 and the burning of Saint Sava's relics on 27 April 1595; it included the tribes of Bjelopavlići, Drobnjaci, Nikšić, and Piva. The rebels, defeated at the field of Gacko (Gatačko Polje) in 1597, were forced to capitulate due to a lack of foreign support.
Background
In early 1594, the Serbs in Banat rose up against the Ottomans. The rebels had, in the character of a holy war, carried war flags with the icon of Saint Sava. The war banners were consecrated by Patriarch Jovan Kantul, and the uprising was aided by Serbian Orthodox metropolitans Rufim Njeguš of Cetinje and Visarion of Trebinje (s. 1590–1602). In response, Ottoman Grand Vizier Koca Sinan Pasha demanded that the green flag of Muhammed be brought from Damascus to counter the Serb flag and ordered that the sarcophagus containing the relics of Saint Sava be removed from the Mileševa monastery and transferred to Belgrade via military convoy. Along the way, the Ottoman convoy killed all the people in its path as a warning to the rebels. The Ottomans publicly incinerated the relics of Saint Sava on a pyre atop the Vračar plateau on 27 April 1595 and had the ashes scattered.
The incineration of Sava's relics provoked the Serbs, and empowered the Serb liberation movement. From 1596, the center of anti-Ottoman activity in Herzegovina was the Tvrdoš Monastery in Trebinje, where Metropolitan Visarion was seated. Many of the Orthodox bishops appealed to the Archduchy of Austria for help in liberating their lands. The Uskoks, irregular soldiers in Habsburg Croatia, supported Austria, being scattered over the whole area between Senj and Ragusa (modern-day Dubrovnik). With a daring raid on 8 April 1596, the Uskoks even managed to occupy the Klis Fortress, though they were unable to hold it. At one point, Austrian officials considered taking military action in Bosnia, where Dalmatian-born Maltese knight Franjo Brtučević was in their service. However, they did not have the strength to fight the Ottomans in Bosnia. Earlier, Austrian forces had gone to great lengths and still barely managed to resist the Ottomans in Hungary.
Uprising
In 1596, the liberation movement spread into Ottoman Montenegro and the neighbouring tribes in Herzegovina, especially those under the influence of Metropolitan Visarion. Of the priests, Patriarch Jovan depended mostly on Visarion, and of the chieftains, mostly on Grdan, the vojvoda ("duke") of Nikšić. A Ragusan document from the beginning of 1596 claimed that the metropolitan and many Herzegovinian chieftains gathered in the Trebinje Monastery where they swore oath "to give up and donate 20,000 heroes to the [Austrian] emperors' light." The rebels sought help from the Austrians, and asked to be handed an Austrian flag to show the Ottomans that they had at least symbolic Austrian support. Shortly thereafter, on 8 April 1596, Klis was captured by the Uskoks, prompting a wave of excitement among Christians from Lika to Herzegovina. At the end of 1596, after the outbreak of the Himara Revolt, Serbs began to rebel against the Ottomans. The uprising, led by Grdan, broke out in Bjelopavlići, then spread to Drobnjaci, Nikšić, Piva, and Gacko. Save for the Brđani, the Montenegrin tribes did not participate in the uprising. At the time, Dervish Bey, the sanjak bey of Montenegro, threatened the Montenegrins through the provveditore ("overseer") of Kotor.