Pál Kinizsi (1432–1494) was a Hungarian general, legendary commoner commander in the army of king Matthias Corvinus. He was Comes

Comes

Comes , plural comites , is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus, especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. The word comes derives from com- "with" +...

 of Temes

Temes

Temes was the name of an administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary. Its territory is currently in southwestern Romania and northern Serbia...

 (Comes Temesiensis) since 1484 and Captain General of the Lower Parts of the Kingdom of 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...

 (generalis capitaneus inferiorum partium regni). He is famous for his victory over the Ottomans in the Battle of Breadfield

Battle of Breadfield

The Battle of Breadfield was the most tremendous conflict fought in Transylvania up to that time in the Hungarian-Turkish Wars taking place on October 13, 1479, on the Breadfield Zsibód near the Maros River...

 in October 1479.

Life

According to Serbian historians, he was of Serbian origin. His father was a miller in the Bihar County.

He first became the first commander of 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...

, then the ban of Temeswar. He brought thousands of Serbs with him following the wars against the Ottomans in Serbia.

After the death of king Matthias in 1490 he supported Polish (by birth) king Vladislas II of Hungary and the great magnates against Matthias' illegitimate son and designated successor John Corvinus. He destroyed the former king's mercenary Black Army

Black Army of Hungary

The Black Army , "Black Legion" or "Regiment"—possibly named after their black armor panoply, see below) is, in historiography, the common name given to the military forces serving under the reign of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary...

 which had became a robber band after its dissolution.
He then was crippled by a stroke and died shortly afterwards.

Kinizsi, a miller's son is also a hero of some Hungarian and Romanian folk tales along with king Matthias Corvinus as an extremely strong former miller's apprenctice. According to these tales, the king was hunting in the Bakony

Bakony

Bakony is a mountainous region in Transdanubia, Hungary. It forms the largest part of the Transdanubian Mountains. It is located north of Lake Balaton and lies almost entirely in Veszprém county....

 forest near the mill where he worked and asked for a drink; Kinizsi, to show his strength, served the cup on a millstone. The king, impressed, took him into his service, where Kinizsi's strength, prowess and loyalty earned him rapid promotion. He is said to have wielded two greatswords in battle and to have danced a victory dance after the Battle of Kenyérmező with a captured or dead Turk under each arm and a third held with his hair or belt in his teeth.

Family

He married Benigna Magyar, the daughter of Balázs Magyar, another general of Corvinus. His central estate was the Castle of Nagyvázsony

Nagyvázsony

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. He had no known issue.