Ilona Zrínyi - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Countess Ilona Zrínyi (Croatian

Croatian language

Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...

: Jelena Zrinska, Hungarian

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

: Zrínyi Ilona) (*Ozalj

Ozalj

Ozalj is a town in central Croatia, located north of Karlovac and southwest of Jastrebarsko, on the Kupa river. It is close to Žumberak in the north and the border with Slovenia in the northwest, with Metlika being the closest Slovenian town.-Population:...

, 1643; †Nicomedia

Nicomedia

Nicomedia was an ancient city in what is now Turkey, founded in 712/11 BC as a Megarian colony and was originally known as Astacus . After being destroyed by Lysimachus, it was rebuilt by Nicomedes I of Bithynia in 264 BC under the name of Nicomedia, and has ever since been one of the most...

, February 18, 1703) was one of the last surviving members of the Croatian

Croatian nobility

Croatian nobility refers to the noble families of Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Istria, Bosnia and Republic of Ragusa.-General history of Croatian nobility:Croatian nobility titles mostly were granted by the kings of Croatia, later kings of Hungary-Croatia...

Zrinski/Zrínyi

Zrinski

The Zrinski family was a Croatian noble family, influential during the period in history marked by the Ottoman wars in Europe in the Kingdom of Croatia and Hungary and in the later Austro-Hungarian Empire...

noble family and one of the greatest heroines of Croatian and Hungarian history. She was the daughter of Petar Zrinski

Petar Zrinski

Petar Zrinski was a Croatian Ban and writer. A member of the Zrinski noble family, he was noted for his role in the attempted Croatian-Hungarian rebellion of 1664-1670 which ultimately led to his execution for high treason.-Zrinski family:Petar Zrinski was born in Vrbovec, a small town near...

, Ban (viceroy) of Croatia

Ban of Croatia

Ban of Croatia was the title of local rulers and after 1102 viceroys of Croatia. From earliest periods of Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Bans as a rulers representative and supreme military commander. In the 18th century, Croatian bans eventually become chief government officials in...

, and the wife of Francis Rákóczi I

Francis I Rákóczi

Francis I Rákóczi was a Hungarian aristocrat, elected prince of Transylvania and father of Hungarian national hero Francis II Rákóczi....

and Imre Thököly

Imre Thököly

Count Imre Thököly de Késmárk was a Hungarian statesman, leader of an anti-Habsburg uprising, Prince of Transylvania, and vassal king of Upper Hungary.- Early life :Imre Thököly was born at Késmárk, Royal Hungary Count Imre Thököly de Késmárk (Thököly/Tököly/Tökölli Imre in Hungarian, Mirko...

, as well as the mother of Francis Rákóczi II.

Life

Ilona Zrínyi was a notable hero

Hero

A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...

ine and combatant in the struggle for national liberation of Croatia

Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)

The Kingdom of Croatia was an administrative division that existed between 1527 and 1868 within the Habsburg Monarchy . The Kingdom was a part of the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen, but was subject to direct Imperial Austrian rule for significant periods of time, including its final years...

and Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

in the 17th century from the absolutistic

Absolutism (European history)

Absolutism or The Age of Absolutism is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites...

reign of the members of ruling 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...

n Habsburg dynasty.

Early life and family

Ilona was born Jelena Zrinska in Ozalj

Ozalj

, 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 ...

. She was the eldest child of Croatian

Croats

Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

Ban

Ban (title)

Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...

Petar Zrinski

and his wife Katarina Zrinska

Katarina Zrinska

Countess Ana Katarina Zrinska was a Croatian noblewoman, born into the House of Frankopan noble family. She married Count Petar Zrinski of the House of Zrinski in 1641 and later became known as Katarina Zrinska. She is remembered in Croatia as a patron of the arts, a writer and patriot...

née

NEE

NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...

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...

, a Croatian poetess. Later her parents had two daughters, Judita Petronila (*1652 - †1699) and Aurora Veronika (*1658 - †1735), as well as a son Ivan Antun

Ivan Antun Zrinski

Ivan Antun Zrinski , , was a Croatian count, a member of the Zrinski noble family, its last male descendant.-Life:...

(*1651 - †1703). Ilona and her siblings were the last generation of descendants of the once-powerful Zrinski family.

From her childhood she was known for her beauty and good education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

. There is little information on her schooling; it is known though that she acquired a high level of knowledge within her family, not only from her father and mother, Croatian

Croats

writers and erudite persons, but from her uncle Nikola Zrinski as well.

Marriages

On 1 March 1666 she married Francis Rákóczi

Francis I Rákóczi

Francis I Rákóczi was a Hungarian aristocrat, elected prince of Transylvania and father of Hungarian national hero Francis II Rákóczi....

, with whom she had three children: György, born in 1667, who died in infancy; Julianna, born in 1672; and Ferenc (commonly known as Francis Rákóczi II

Francis II Rákóczi

Francis II Rákóczi Hungarian aristocrat, he was the leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburgs in 1703-11 as the prince of the Estates Confederated for Liberty of the Kingdom of Hungary. He was also Prince of Transylvania, an Imperial Prince, and a member of the Order of the Golden...

), born in 1676. On 8 June 1676, not long after Francis II's birth, the elder Francis died. The widowed Ilona requested guardianship of her children and was granted it, against the advice of Emperor Leopold I's advisers and against Francis I's will. In this way she also retained control over the vast Rákóczi estates, which included among them the castles of Regéc, Sárospatak

Sárospatak

----Sárospatak is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, northern Hungary. It lies northeast from Miskolc, in the Bodrog river valley. The town, often called simply Patak, is an important cultural centre.- History :The area has been inhabited since ancient times...

, Makovica, and Munkács. In 1682 she married Imre Thököly

Imre Thököly

and became an active partner in her second husband's Kuruc

Kuruc

The kuruc was a term used to denote the armed anti-Habsburg rebels in Royal Hungary between 1671 and 1711....

uprising against the Habsburgs.

Defense of Palanok Castle

After their defeat at the 1683 Battle of Vienna

Battle of Vienna

The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...

, both the Ottoman forces and Thököly's allied kuruc fighters had no choice but to retreat, and Thököly quickly lost one Rákóczi castle after another. At the end of 1685 the Imperial army surrounded the last remaining stronghold, Palanok Castle

Palanok Castle

The Palanok Castle or Mukachevo Castle is a historic castle in the city of Mukachevo in the western Ukrainian oblast of Zakarpattia. The Palanok Castle is delicately preserved,, and is located on a former 68 meter high volcanic hill...

in Munkács. Ilona Zrínyi alone defended the castle for three years (1685–1688) against the forces of General Antonio Caraffa.

Internment, exile and death

After the recapture of Buda, the situation became untenable, and on 17 January 1688 Ilona had no choice but to surrender the castle, with the understanding that the defenders would receive amnesty from the Emperor, and that the Rákóczi estates would remain in her children's name. Under this agreement, she and her children traveled immediately to Vienna, where in violation of the pact the children were taken from her. Ilona lived until 1691 in the convent of the Ursulines, where her daughter Julianna was also raised. Her son Francis was immediately taken to the Jesuit school in Neuhaus.

At the time, her husband, Thököly, was still fighting with his Kuruc

Kuruc

The kuruc was a term used to denote the armed anti-Habsburg rebels in Royal Hungary between 1671 and 1711....

rebels against 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...

army in Upper Hungary

Upper Hungary

Upper Hungary is the usual English translation for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia...

. When Habsburg General Heisler was captured by Thököly, a prisoner exchange was arranged, and Ilona joined her husband in Transylvania. In 1699, however, after the Treaty of Karlowitz

Treaty of Karlowitz

The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed on 26 January 1699 in Sremski Karlovci , concluding the Austro-Ottoman War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman side had been defeated at the Battle of Zenta...

was signed, both spouses, having found themselves on the losing side, had to go into exile in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. The countess lived in Galata

Galata

Galata or Galatae is a neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu district on the European side of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. Galata is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by...

, district of Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, and later in Nicomedia

Nicomedia

(today Izmit), where she died on February 18, 1703.

Legacy

Ilona Zrínyi is celebrated in Croatia

Croatia

and Hungary

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...

as one of the greatest national hero

Hero

A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...

ines, patriot

Patriotism

Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...

s and fighters for freedom, who opposed, although unsuccessfully, the autocracy and absolutism

Enlightened absolutism

Enlightened absolutism is a form of absolute monarchy or despotism in which rulers were influenced by the Enlightenment. Enlightened monarchs embraced the principles of the Enlightenment, especially its emphasis upon rationality, and applied them to their territories...

aspirations of the Habsburgs. Her even more famous son Francis II Rákóczi

Francis II Rákóczi

continued the struggle for the independence of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

(1703-1711).

In October 1906 the remains of the Croatian countess were reinterred with her son's in the St. Elisabeth Cathedral

St. Elisabeth Cathedral

The St. Elisabeth Cathedral is a Gothic cathedral in Košice...

in Kassa (today Košice

Košice

Košice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary...

Descendants

From her first marriage with Francis Rákóczi, Ilona had three children:

György (1667–1667)
Julianna Borbála (September 1672 – 1717)
Francis II
Francis II Rákóczi
Francis II Rákóczi Hungarian aristocrat, he was the leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburgs in 1703-11 as the prince of the Estates Confederated for Liberty of the Kingdom of Hungary. He was also Prince of Transylvania, an Imperial Prince, and a member of the Order of the Golden...

(27 March 1676 – 8 April 1735)

From her second marriage with Imre Thököly, Ilona had one child:

Erzsébet (26 November 1683 – 3 April 1688), who lived at her mother's side through the siege of Munkács; after the surrender of the castle she was taken with her mother to Vienna where she died.

External links

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