Baron István Dobó de Ruszka (c. 1502 - Szerednye (today, Середнє (Szerednye / Serednie, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

), mid-June 1572). 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...

 soldier, best known as the successful defender of Eger

Eger

Eger is the second largest city in Northern Hungary, the county seat of Heves, east of the Mátra Mountains. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, historic buildings , and red and white wines.- Name :...

 against the Ottomans in 1552. Dobó was a member of the Hungarian land-owning nobility, with holdings in northern Hungary. In the dynastic succession struggles after the Battle of Mohács

Battle of Mohács

The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....

 in 1526, Dobó was consistently on the side of the Habsburg King Ferdinand I

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...

 rather than that of John Zápolya.

Life

Dobó was the son of Domokos Dobó, who married Zsófia (Sophie) Cékei in 1498. There were six children from the marriage: Ferenc, László, István, Domokos, Anna and Katalin. István Dobó's own wife was Sára Sulyok, whom he married on 17 Oct.1550. They had two children: Ferenc and Krisztina.

Dobó became the commander of Eger Castle in 1549. He became famous as a result of his successful defence of the castle during the Siege of Eger

Siege of Eger

The Siege of Eger occurred during the 16th century Ottoman Wars in Europe. It was a major Hungarian victory after a series of crushing defeats at the hands of Ottoman forces and checked the Ottoman expansion into both Central Europe and Eastern Europe....

 in 1552 (celebrated in Géza Gárdonyi

Géza Gárdonyi

Géza Gárdonyi, born Géza Ziegler was a Hungarian writer and journalist. Although he wrote a range of works, he had his greatest success as a historical novelist, particularly with Eclipse of the Crescent Moon and Slave of the Huns.-Life:Gárdonyi was born in Agárdpuszta, Austria-Hungary, the son of...

's classic novel Eclipse of the Crescent Moon), in which 2100 defenders were able to withstand the onslaught of 80,000 Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 soldiers. As a reward, Ferdinand donated to Dobó the ownership of the Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

n castles of Déva

Deva, Romania

Deva is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, on the left bank of the Mureș River. It is the capital of Hunedoara County.-Name:...

 (now Deva, Romania) and Szamosújvár

Gherla

Gherla is a city in Cluj County, Romania . It is located 45 km from Cluj-Napoca on the Someşul Mic River, and has a population of 24,083....

 (now Gherla, Romania). Dobó was also appointed as voivod (viceroy) of Transylvania in 1553. When Transylvania was separated from Hungary in 1556, Dobó was given ownership of the castle of Léva

Levice

Levice is a town in western Slovakia. The town lies on the left bank of the lower Hron river. The Old Slavic name of the town was Leva, which means "the Left One"....

 (now: Levice, Slovakia) in compensation.

Accused of treason against the King, Dobó spent several years imprisoned in the castle of Pozsony

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

(now Bratislava, Slovakia). His health was seriously impaired by his imprisonment, and he died in his home soon after his release from captivity.