The oldest archaeological finds in Štrigova municipality are from the
Roman period.
Burial mounds, fragments of pottery and fragments of
Roman roads have been found in the hamlet of Trnovčak. The settlement of Štrigova was first mentioned in 1271 as
Castr. Strigo (English:
Fort Strigo). During that time the fort was in the possession of
Arnold of Stridó. In 1290
Andrew the Venetian, later king of Hungary and Croatia, was captured in the fort by Arnold of Stridó, and was sent to
Vienna in captivity. In 1334 Štrigova was recorded as a
Catholic parish named
Sancte Marie Magdalene de Strigo in the Census of parishes of the
Zagreb Diocese. From the late
Middle Ages until the beginning of the 20th century, Štrigova had the status of a
Market town. During the 15th century, the feudal proprietor of Međimurje
Frederick II, Count of Celje built the wooden chapel of
saint Jerome in Štrigova. In 1447, the
Papal bull Gloriosus Deus in sanctis suis (English:
God is glorius in his Saints) was promulgated by Pope
Nicholas V for the Church of Saint Jerome in Štrigova. In that document, Štrigova is mentioned as the birthplace of
Saint Jerome although this claim is disputed by some scholars. In 1931, the Štrigova municipality was separated from
Čakovec and the rest of
Međimurje and placed under the authority of the
Ljutomer District in
Drava Banovina. In April 1941 Međimurje
was occupied by the Hungarian Army, but Štrigova was occupied by the
German Army. In June 1941, at the request of Hungary, Štrigova was again reincorporated into Međimurje. In April 1945, the former municipality of Štrigova provisionally became a part of the Yugoslav
Federal republic of Slovenia. In 1946 the municipality was divided between the People's Republics of
Croatia and Slovenia. The villages Banfi, Grabrovnik, Jalšovec, Leskovec, Prekopa, Robadje, Stanetinec, Sveti Urban and Štrigova became a part of Croatia, while Gibina, Globoka, Kopriva,
Razkrižje, Šafarsko, Šprinc, and Veščica became a part of Slovenia. In 1947, in a forest near Štrigova, Yugoslavian secret police (
OZNA) murdered dozens of members of anticommunist guerrilla called
Crusaders (Croatian:
Križari). In 1992 Štrigova regained the status of a municipality. ==Geography==