Nikola Šubić Zrinski

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For the member of the Zrinski family who lived in the 17th century, see Nikola Zrinski.

Miklós Barabás (1842): Nikola Šubić Zrinski

Nikola Šubić Zrinski or Miklós Zrínyi (1508 – 1566), was a Croatian and Hungarian soldier in service of Habsburg Monarchy, and member of the Zrinski noble family.

Nikola was the son of Nikola Zrinski and Ilona Karlović (sister of Croatian ban Ivan Karlović ). He distinguished himself at the siege of Vienna in 1529, and in 1542 saved the imperial army from defeat before Pest by intervening with 400 Croats, for which service he was appointed ban of Croatia.

In 1542 he routed an Ottoman force at the Battle of Somlyo. In 1543 he married Catherine (Katarina) Frankopan, who placed the whole of her vast estates at his disposal. The king, Ferdinand I also gave him large possessions in Hungary, and henceforth the Zrinskis–Zrínyis became as much Magyar as Croatian magnates.

Portrait by Oton Iveković

In 1556 Zrinski won a series of victories over the Ottomans, culminating in the battle of Babócsa. The Croatians, however, overwhelmed their ban with reproaches for neglecting them to fight for the Magyars, and the emperor simultaneously deprived him of the captaincy of Upper Croatia and sent 10,000 men to aid the Croats, while the Magyars were left without any help, whereupon Zrinski resigned the banship (1561).

In 1563, on the coronation of the Emperor Maximilian as king of Hungary, Zrinski attended the ceremony at the head of 3000 Croatian and Magyar mounted noblemen, in the vain hope of obtaining the dignity of palatine, vacant by the death of Thomas Nadasdy.

Shortly after marrying (in 1564) his second wife, Eva Rosenberg, a great Bohemian heiress, he hastened southwards to defend the frontier, and defeated the Ottomans at Szeged.

In 1566, from August 5 to September 7, his small force (2,300 soldiers) heroically defended the little fortress of Szigetvár against the whole Ottoman host (90,000 soldiers), led by Suleiman the Magnificent in person. The Battle of Szigetvár ended with Zrinski perishing with every member of the garrison in a last desperate sortie.

A square surrounding a large park in the center of Zagreb is named after Nikola Šubić Zrinski, commonly known as Zrinjevac.

He was the great grandfather of Croatian/Hungarian poet, Nikola Zrinski.

[edit] Trivia

Zrinyi Miklós statue at Kodály körönd, Budapest

Nikola Šubić Zrinski

Zrinski re-entered the public eye in 2006, after the Hungarian government started a contest to name a new bridge over the Danube, where the leading vote getter would be the bridge's namesake. The contest became well known in the United States after comedian Stephen Colbert urged fans watching his show The Colbert Report to vote for him in the contest. Colbert referenced Zrinski numerous times, though the on-screen graphic was mistakenly of Zrinski's great-grandson. Colbert even called Zrinski an "asshole", which he later apologized for.

A look at Zrinjevac in Zagreb

In the first round of voting, Zrinski was a distant second in voting with only 6% of votes. In the second round, his total increased to 23%, but was now 3rd behind Colbert and another American comedian, Jon Stewart. However, András Simonyi - the ambassador of Hungary to the United States, revealed on Colbert's show that Colbert would have to be both fluent in Hungarian, and deceased, in order to get the bridge. As this also disqualifies Stewart, it meant Zrinski had the highest elgible vote total. However, it was decided the bridge will be called the Megyeri Bridge, despite this name not making it to the second round.

Croatian composer Ivan Zajc created a masterpiece opera titled Nikola Šubić Zrinski which debuted in November of 1876. It is a patriotic play which draws on the Croatians' heroic struggle against the Turks and the treachery by Hapsburg monarchy. It is still in production today. [1]