Counts of Celje - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Counts of Cilli or Celje represent the most important medieval aristocratic and ruling house with roots and territory in present-day Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

.

At the time the house died out they held the rank of prince

Prince

Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

s of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

and many other titles in territories of present-day Central Europe

Central Europe

Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

Name and origins

The name "Counts of Cilli" was given to the Lords of Sanneck or Sannegg by Emperor Louis IV

Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....

in 1341 and was derived from the medieval name Cilli of the city of Celje

Celje

Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...

in Lower Styria

Lower Styria

Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...

. Celje itself became a property of the dynasty in 1333. and in a short period of time they owned more than 20 castles all over the territory of modern Slovenia and beyond through the marriages of their daughters.

Habsburg's allies

In the 14th century they allied with the Habsburg

Habsburg

The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

s in their war against the counts of Gorizia

County of Gorizia

The County of Görz was a county based around the town of Gorizia in the present-day Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy.Count Meinhard, descendant of the Bavarian Meinhardiner noble family with possessions around Lienz in Tyrol, is mentioned as early as 1107...

- Tirol

Tyrol (state)

Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...

, making Cilli vassals

Feudalism

Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...

of the Habsburgs in 1308.
With their acquiring large estates in the adjoining duchies of Styria

Duchy of Styria

The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present...

, Carinthia

Duchy of Carinthia

The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....

,and Carniola

March of Carniola

The March of Carniola was a southeastern state of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages, the predecessor of the Duchy of Carniola. It corresponded roughly to the central Carniolan region of present-day Slovenia...

as well as in the territories of the Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

crown (Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, Slavonia

Slavonia

Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...

) their influence rose and they became one of the most powerful families in the area. They were related by marriage with rulers of Bosnia

Bosnia (region)

Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...

and Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

and Hungarian

Hungary

kings.

Savior of the king

Their rapid rise started after the Battle of Nicopolis

Battle of Nicopolis

The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 and resulted in the rout of an allied army of Hungarian, Wallachian, French, Burgundian, German and assorted troops at the hands of an Ottoman force, raising of the siege of the Danubian fortress of Nicopolis and leading to the end of the...

(1396) where the Croatian ban Hermann II of Cilli saved the life of Sigismund of Luxemburg (Hungarian king, from 1433 Holy Roman emperor

Holy Roman Emperor

The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...

). As a reward king Sigismund donated (1397-99) the city of Varaždin

Varaždin

Varaždin is a city in north Croatia, north of Zagreb on the highway A4. The total population is 47,055, with 38,746 on of the city settlement itself . The centre of Varaždin county is located near the Drava river, at...

, the county of Zagorje

Zagorje

Hrvatsko Zagorje is a region in northern Croatia.Zagorje may also refer to:*Zagorje ob Savi, a town and a municipality in Slovenia*NK Zagorje, a Slovenian football club-See also:...

, and many estates in Croatia

Croatia

to the family.
The House of Cilli and Sigismund became even closer through the marriage of Hermann's daughter Barbara of Cilli to king Sigismund.
In 1436 the Emperor elevated the counts to the rank of prince

Prince

s of the Holy Roman Empire (although they retained their title of Count, in ,in ). The Habsburgs, whose strongest rivals they had become, reacted with a war that lasted until 1443, when an agreement of mutual inheritance was signed.

Keeper of the young king

Ulrich II of Cilli

Ulrich II of Celje

Ulrich II , also known as Ulrich Cillei, was the last Princely Count of Celje.Ulrich II. was the son of Count Frederick II of Celje and his wife Elizabeth, a scion of the Croatian House of Frankopan. Little is known of his youth...

was the most powerful member of the Cilli family. He held a large influence in many courts, which originated from the relationships the Cilli family had made in the past. He tried to get regency of Hungary

Hungary

, Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

and Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

through control over Ladislas the Posthumous

Ladislas the Posthumous

Ladislaus the Posthumous was Duke of Austria from 1440, King of Hungary from 1444 and King of Bohemia from 1453.- Biography :...

, at the time a minor. With such ambitions he got many opponents and rivals, such as the Hunyadi

Hunyadi

Hunyadi may refer to:* Hunyadi family, a Hungarian noble family from the Middle Ages* John Hunyadi, a Hungarian general and Regent-Governor of the Kingdom of Hungary* Laszlo Hunyadi, a Hungarian statesman* Matthias Corvinus , King of Hungary...

family. After an unsuccessful claim to the Bosnia

Bosnia (region)

n crown, Cilli obtained some territories in Croatia

Croatia

and Slavonia

Slavonia

Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...

and finally succeeded in forcing Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick the Peaceful KG was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452...

to hand over (1452) the boy king Ladislas the Posthumous

Ladislas the Posthumous

Ladislaus the Posthumous was Duke of Austria from 1440, King of Hungary from 1444 and King of Bohemia from 1453.- Biography :...

to his keeping. Thus, Ulrich II became practically the ruler of Hungary.
In 1456 after the death of his rival John Hunyadi

John Hunyadi

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (Hungarian: Hunyadi János , Medieval Latin: Ioannes Corvinus or Ioannes de Hunyad, Romanian: Iancu (Ioan) de Hunedoara, Croatian: Janko Hunjadi, Serbian: Сибињанин Јанко / Sibinjanin Janko, Slovak: Ján Huňady) John Hunyadi (Hungarian: Hunyadi János , Medieval Latin: ...

, Ulrich II was named Captain General of Hungary, an office previously held by John Hunyadi. That initiated a plot by the Hunyadi family against Ulrich II, and he was assassinated on 8 November, in Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

Murder in Belgrade

With the death of Ulrich II the male line of the Counts of Cilli died out, and after a war of succession all of their estates and property were handed over to the Habsburgs on the basis of the inheritance agreement.

Legacy

Part of their coat of arms - the three golden stars on a blue background, which, as Lords of Sanneck, they had inherited from the once powerful Carinthian

Carinthia (province)

Slovenian Carinthia or Slovene Carinthia, most commonly simply Carinthia is a traditional region in the north of Slovenia. It has no official status as an administrative unit within Slovenia, although the association with an informal province is still quite common.The region is referred to as...

Counts of Heunburg upon their becoming extinct in 1322 - was incorporated into the Slovenian coat of arms

Coat of arms of Slovenia

The Slovenian coat of arms consists of a red bordered blue shield on which there is a stylised white mount Triglav. Under Triglav there are two bending lines that represent the sea and rivers, and above Triglav there are three golden, six-pointed stars, forming a triangle...

in 1991. It is also the current coat of arms of Celje

Celje

.
In addition, all European monarchs descended from Christian IX of Denmark

Christian IX of Denmark

Christian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906.Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish...

and his wife, Louise of Hesse-Kassel

Louise of Hesse-Kassel

Louise of Hesse was a German Princess and the queen consort to King Christian IX of Denmark.-Early Life and Ancestry:...

(a direct matrilineal descendant of
Barbara of Celje

Barbara of Celje

Barbara of Cilli was the spouse of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund and as such Holy Roman Empress. She was by marriage also Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and also Holy Roman Empress. She received the sobriquet "Messalina of Germany" for her political intrigues, and was instrumental in creating the...

) are descended from the family.

The Lords of Sanneck or Barons of Soune, Counts of Cilli

The Lords of Sanneck (Žovnek) or Barons of Soune

Gebhard (ca. 1130–1144)
Gebhard II (1173–1227)
Conrad I († ca. 1255)
Ulrich I († ca. 1265)
Ulrich II († ca. 1316)
Frederick I († 1360), from 1341 Count of Celje

Counts of Cilli (Celje)

Herman I († 1385), wife Katarina Kotromanić
House of Kotromanic
The Kotromanić dynasty was a ruling house that ruled in the medieval Bosnia and the surrounding lands, from the 13th century as Bans until the crowning with the Bosnian crowns in 1377 and then as kings until the Ottoman conquest conquest in 1463....
William († 1392), wife Ana of Poland, daughter Anna of Cilli
Anna of Celje
Anne of Celje was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania, 1402–1416 as second wife of Jogaila, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania ....

(† 1416)
Herman II
Hermann II of Celje
Hermann II was a Count of Celje and Ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. Hermann was the son of Hermann I, Count of Cilli and his wife Katherine of Bosnia.Hermann II married Countess Anna of Schaunberg in c...

(† 1435), daughter Barbara of Cilli
Barbara of Celje
Barbara of Cilli was the spouse of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund and as such Holy Roman Empress. She was by marriage also Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and also Holy Roman Empress. She received the sobriquet "Messalina of Germany" for her political intrigues, and was instrumental in creating the...

(† 1451)
Frederick II († 1454), 1.wife Elizabeth Frankopan
Frankopan
The Frankopans are a Croatian noble family. Also called Frankapan, Frangepán in Hungarian, and Frangipani in Italian.The Frankopan family is the leading princely Croatian aristocratic family which dates back to the 12th Century and even earlier to Roman times...

, 2. wife Veronika of Desenice
Ulrich II
Ulrich II of Celje
Ulrich II , also known as Ulrich Cillei, was the last Princely Count of Celje.Ulrich II. was the son of Count Frederick II of Celje and his wife Elizabeth, a scion of the Croatian House of Frankopan. Little is known of his youth...

(† 1456), wife Katarina Branković
House of Brankovic
House of Branković or Brankovići was a noble Serbian medieval dynasty. The family descent via female line through marriage from the Royal House of Nemanjić. The families rise to prominence during the time of disintegration of Serbian Empire under the last ruler of House of Nemanjić...

External links

Slovenstvo grofov Celjskih
http://genealogy.euweb.cz/small/cilli.html
Castle view Video showing the Celje Castle today

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