The
Romans conquered the region in the 2nd or 1st centuries BC. Vranje was part of
Moesia Superior and
Dardania during Roman rule. The Roman fortresses in the Vranje region were abandoned during the
Hun attacks in 539–544 AD; these include the localities of Kale at
Vranjska Banja, Gradište in
Korbevac and Gradište in
Prvonek. During the
Middle Ages, in the 9th-11th centuries, the territory of modern-day Vranje was a part of
Bulgaria. The first written mention of Vranje comes from
Byzantine chronicle
Alexiad by
Anna Comnena (1083–1153), in which it is mentioned how Serbian ruler
Vukan in 1093, as part of his conquests, reached Vranje and conquered it, however only shortly, as he was forced to retreat from the powerful Byzantines. The city name stems from the Old Serbian word
vran ("black"). The second mention is from 1193, when Vranje was temporarily taken by Serbian Grand Prince
Stefan Nemanja from the Byzantines. Vranje definitely entered the Serbian state in 1207 when it was conquered by Grand Prince
Stefan Nemanjić. Some time before 1306,
tepčija Kuzma was given the governorship of Vranje (a
župa, "county", including the town and neighbouring villages), serving King
Stefan Milutin. At the same time,
kaznac Miroslav held the surroundings of Vranje. Next,
kaznac Baldovin (fl. 1325–45) received the province around Vranje, serving King
Stefan Dečanski. Next,
župan Maljušat, Baldovin's son, held the
župa of Vranje. By the time of the proclamation of the
Serbian Empire, holders with the title
kefalija are present in Vranje, among other cities. During the
fall of the Serbian Empire, Vranje was part of
Uglješa Vlatković's possessions, which also included
Preševo and
Kumanovo. Uglješa became a vassal of Serbian Despot
Stefan Lazarević after the
Battle of Tripolje (1403); Vranje became part of
Serbian Despotate. '', ruins of a medieval fortress. The medieval
župa was a small landscape unit, whose territory expanded with creation of new settlements and independence of hamlets and neighbourhoods from
župa villages and shepherd cottages. Good mercantile relations with developing mine city
Novo Brdo led to creation of numerous settlements. In 1455, Vranje was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, amid the fall of the medieval Serbian state. It was organized as the seat of a
kaza (county), named Vranje, after the city and the medieval
župa. Vranje was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1878, when the
town was captured by the Serbian army commanded by
Jovan Belimarković. The urban population of Vranje consisted of 30,061 Christian and 12,502 Muslim males, with total number of 2,500 Serbian houses and 2,000 Muslim houses. The urban Muslim population of Vranje in the mid-19th century consisted of
Turks and
Albanians. During the
Serbian–Ottoman Wars (1876–1878), most of the
Albanian population of Vranje was
forced to flee to the Ottoman
vilayet of Kosovo and others Muslims such as
Turks fled from the city as well. Vranje entered the
Principality of Serbia, with little more than 8,000 inhabitants at that time. Up until the end of the
Balkan Wars, the city had a special position and role, as the transmissive station of Serbian state political and cultural influence on
Macedonia. In the early 20th century, Vranje had around 12,000 inhabitants. As a border town of the
Kingdom of Serbia, it was used as the starting point for
Serbian guerrilla (Chetniks) who crossed into Ottoman territory and fought in Kosovo and Macedonia. In
World War I, the main headquarters of the Serbian army was in the town. King
Peter I Karađorđević, Prime Minister
Nikola Pašić and the chief of staff General
Radomir Putnik stayed in Vranje. Vranje was occupied by the
Kingdom of Bulgaria on 16–17 October 1915, after which war crimes and
Bulgarisation was committed on the city and wider region. After the war, Vranje was part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in one of the
33 oblasts; in 1929, it became part of the
Vardar Banovina. During
World War II,
Nazi German troops entered the town on 9 April 1941 and transferred it to Bulgarian administration on 22 April 1941. Per general
Walter Oxley Vranje was captured Bulgarian Second Army during the
Niš operation in the mid. of October 1944 and it was aided by the
Yugoslav Partisans. During
Socialist Yugoslavia, Vranje was organized into the Pčinja District. In the 1960s and 1970s it was
industrialized. On 3 June 1993, a
mass shooting occurred in Vranje where the perpetrator, Jožef Meneder fired upon the
Yugoslav Army barracks in the South Morava bridge, killing 6 army privates and 1 ensign and injuring another 4 privates, before taking his own life. During the 1990s, the economy of Vranje was heavily affected by the
sanctions against Yugoslavia and the
1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. ==Geography==