Urška Dolinarka

Urška, also known as Urška Dolinarka (Urška from the Valley), was a Slovenian farmer and folk heroine born in 1457 in Češnjica, Duchy of Carniola (in what is now Slovenia). She is renowned for her resistance against the Ottoman Turks in the Selca Valley.

Childhood

There are no written records about Urška's life; her story survives through oral tradition. She was born in 1457 in a Slovenian family in Češnjica in the Upper Selca Valley. Her mother and father were serf farmers. She had had a brother, Jožko, five years her senior. She was given the name Urška, one of Slovenian versions of name Ursula. Her patron saint was Saint Ursula. Her father managed to escape with one-year-old Urška, and they relocated to an isolated farm by the Sora River in Davča, far from their former home. Her father died before 1478. Villagers from Davča referred to the farmer Urška as Urška Dolinarka (Urška from the Valley) because she was born in the Upper Selca Valley. The narrow gorge in the area provided an excellent natural defense. After a prolonged battle, they managed to drive the Turks away.