Bilina, Croatia
Bilina is a historic late-medieval site in the Bukovica region, westwards from the town of Knin, southern Croatia.
The site is known as the seat of the Drašković noble family in the 15th century and in the beginning of the 16th century. Bartol (English: Bartholomew) Drašković, the head of the family, had an estate with the castle there. His wife Ana Drašković née Utješinović, a sister of the Catholic cardinal Juraj Utješinović (George Utissenich alias George Martinuzzi), bore him on February 5, 1525, the firstborn son Juraj (English: George), a famous Croatian Catholic Bishop, Cardinal and statesman, who was the Ban (Viceroy) of Croatia between 1567 and 1578.
Younger sons of Bartol and Ana, Ivan I (English: John) and Gašpar I (English: Casper), were most probably also born there. Shortly after that, because of the threatening Ottoman expansion, the family left its old seat and withdrew toward the northwest of Croatia.
As the Ottoman army soon conquered the whole area around Bilina, the Drašković family could not come back any more. Thus, the Draškovićs of Bilina became later Draškovićs of Trakošćan.