U radu se, temeljem uvida u relevantnu literaturu i izvore, pokušalo rekonstruirati ulogu i važnost Modruša u sklopu odnosa najmoćnije kasnosrednjovjekovne hrvatske velikaške obitelji Frankapana, poglavito kneževa Stjepana i sina mu Bernardina, sa središnjim vlastima u Budimu. Obrađeno je razdoblje vladavine posljednje trojice ugarsko–hrvatskih kraljeva, Matijaša Korvina (1458–1490), Vladislava II. Jagelovića (1490–1516) i Ludovika II. Jagelovića (1516–1526). Pozornost se posvetila i ulozi Osmanlija na modruškom području u promatranom razdoblju.The golden age of Modruš occurred in the late middle ages when the town’s role and significance surpassed the local and regional borders. At the same time, the last decades of the Middle Ages also marked the beginning of difficulties and crises which at the end of the period largely reduced the significance the town had had and paved the way for itsmarginalisation. It was exactly inModruš that the Frankopan princes convened in 1449 and divided all their estates among the brothers, resulting in eight territorial branches of the princely family. According to the division, Modruš and Tržan belonged to Prince Stjepan Frankopan. He was in the beginning one of the closest allies of the newly elected king Matthias Corvinus. Prince Stjepan succeeded in obtaining the permission to move the seat of the diocese of Krbava from Udbine to Modruš under the excuse of insecurity due to the Ottoman invasions and looting. The period from 1460 to 1463 witnessed the culmination of power of Prince Stjepan, as well as the power and importance of the very Modruš. The Ottoman invasion of medieval Bosnia in 1463 marked the beginning of growing difficulties and the decline of both Modruš and the princes of Modruš. The pressure by the central regal authority alongside the increasingly devastating Ottoman incursions lead to a situation in which the Frankopans were from the 1480s increasingly reduced to just another family in a long line of aristocratic families who lost their privileged position they had enjoyed. After the death of Matthias Corvinus and Vladislav II Jegolović’s ascent to power in 1490, the central authorities considerably weakened and the Ottoman incursions and devastation intensified. Prince Bernardin, Stjepan’s son, left almost completely destroyed Modruš in 1524 and moved its seat to Ogulin, a town which had shortly before been renovated and enlarged. It was the beginning of the end. Ever since then Modruš has not succeeded in regaining the significance and role it had in the late middle ages
