Background
Zrínyi Miklós was born in 1508. He was a son of Miklos Zrinyi and Ilona Karlovics.
Zrínyi Miklós was born in 1508. He was a son of Miklos Zrinyi and Ilona Karlovics.
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 the Turks at Somlyo. The Emperor Ferdinand also gave him large possessions in Hungary, and henceforth the Zrinyis became as much Magyar as Croatian magnates. In 1556 Zrinyi won a series of victories over the Turks, 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 Zrinyi resigned the banship (1561). In 1563, on the coronation of the Emperor Maximilian as king of Hungary, Zrinyi attended Lhe 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) 1115 second wife, he hastened southwards to defend the frontier, defeated the Turks at Segesd, and in 1566 from the 5th of August to the 7th of September heroically defended the little fortress of Szigetvar against the whole Turkish host, led by Suleiman the Magnificent in person, perishing with every member of the garrison in a last desperate sortie.
He was known across Europe for his involvement in the Siege of Szigetvár and is today seen as a hero by both Hungarians and Croats. A park in Zagreb is named Trg Nikole Šubića Zrinskog after him. The Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski is the eighth-ranked honour order given by the Republic of Croatia. It is awarded to Croatian or foreign citizens for acts of heroism. Recipients include 47 military units of the Croatian Armed Forces for valor in the Croatian War of Independence.
In 1543 he married Catherine Frangipan, who placed the whole of her vast estates at his disposal. In 1564 he married Eva Rosenberg.
