Precisely when the name Rijeka was first mentioned is not entirely clear. It is said that the first mention dates back to 1260, when Bela IV. confirmed the granting of land up to the river and the settlement of Rika to the powerful Frankapan family, Rika, but this document is a forgery. There is a mention, however, in 1281 Venice regarding reparations for damages suffered by a Venetian merchant near Rijeka (Flumen). In the 15th century we have a document mentioning a certain Juraj Rečanin from Rijeka (Geogrius Rezanin de Recha). Austrian sources from the 15th century mention the name St. Veit am Pflaum, i.e. Sveti Vid na Rijeci, and the first official statute from 1530 is entitled Statutum terrae Fluminis sancti Viti, i.e. Rijeka of St. Vitus. While the official name, according to records on maps and in documents from the 15th to the 19th century, was Sankt Veit am Flaum in its many variants, the common people spoke of “Fiume or Reka", according to the historian and naturalist Johann Weikhard von Valvasor," a native of the Duchy of Crain, now in Slovenia.
The history of Rijeka has been connected with the Habsburg family, the famous Austrian ruling dynasty, for almost 500 years. Frederick III. Habsburg, Austrian duke and Holy Roman Emperor (Germany), inherited Rijeka with Kastav and Veprinac from its previous owner Wolfgang Walsee in 1465. Rijeka became an important port for the Habsburg monarchy, but also a target for Venetians and the Ottomans, so Emperor Maximilian granted the city the title of "the most loyal city" in 1515, and his grandson Ferdinand confirmed its first written statute in 1535. Ferdinand was elected king of Croatia and Hungary in 1527, bringing the hinterland of Rijeka came under the rule, as well. In the 16th century the city was an important trading center, however, due to frequent Venetian blockades and the Ottoman threat, Rijeka’s position worsened in the 17th century. To improve the situation, Emperor Charles VI granted Rijeka (and Trieste) the status of a free port in 1719, so that Rijeka was able to strengthen its trade again and numerous crafts and factories were established. The boom continued under Maria Theresa, who pursued a mercantilist policy from which Rijeka benefited as an important trading center. The Empress annexed Rijeka to the Kingdom of Croatia by a special decree in 1776, only to separate it again in 1779 as a separate body adjoined to the Hungarian Crown(corpus separatum)in the role of an essential port for the Kingdom. The entire 19th century was marked by tensions between the supporters of the Croatian, Hungarian and Italian factions in Rijeka, but also by strong economic growth. Before the First World War, Rijeka was the eighth largest port in Europe and had the largest refinery on the continent. The Habsburg period in Rijeka ended in 1918 with the collapse of the monarchy, and Rijeka became the object of a dispute between the Kingdom of Italy and the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
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