Johann Katzianer (), or Hans Katzianer, Freiherr zu Katzenstein und Fledingen (1491, Begunje () – 27 October 1539,

Hrvatska Kostajnica Hrvatska Kostajnica (; ; ), also referred to as simply Kostajnica, is a town in central Croatia. It is located on the Una (Sava), Una river in the Sisak-Moslavina County, south of Petrinja and Sisak and across the river from Kostajnica, Bosnia and ...

) was a

Carniola Carniola ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region still tend to identify with its traditional parts Upp ...

n aristocrat and a commander of the Habsburg Imperial Army .

History

He is first mentioned in 1527 when Archduke Ferdinand, brother to the emperor, gathered an army to support his claims on the throne of Hungary, which had become vacant after King

Louis II of Hungary Louis II (; ; ; ; 1 July 1506 – 29 August 1526) was King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia from 1516 to 1526. He died during the Battle of Mohács fighting the Ottoman Empire, Ottomans, whose victory led to the Ot ...

was killed in the

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...

(1526) against the Ottomans. Katzianer took part in Ferdinand's Hungarian campaign of 1527–1528 against the

voivode of Transylvania The Voivode of Transylvania (;Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77. ;Zsoldos 2011, p. 36. ; ) was the highest-ranking official in Transylvania within the Kingdom of Hungary from the 12th century to the 16th century. Appointed by the King of Hun ...

John Zápolya John Zápolya or Szapolyai (; ; ; ; 1487 – 22 July 1540), was King of Hungary (as John I) from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I, who also claimed the title King of Hungary. He wa ...

, who had also been proclaimed King, supported by a large faction of the nobility in the Hungarian kingdom. Katzianer distinguished himself in the

Battle of Tarcal The Battle of Tarcal or Battle of Tokaj () was fought on 27 September 1527 near Tokaj between the Habsburg-German-Hungarian forces of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and an opposing Hungarian army under the command of John Zápolya. Ferdinand d ...

in September 1527 and especially in the

Battle of Szina The Battle of Szina or Seňa took place near Szina in the Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Seňa, in Slovakia). The battle was fought on 20 March 1528 between two rival kings of Hungary John Zápolya and Ferdinand I. The latter's forces under ...

in March 1528, but alienated himself from the population by the violence and misbehavior of his troops. In 1529 he participated in the Siege of Vienna against

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

. At the head of the light cavalry, he harassed the retreating Turks and liberated many Christian prisoners. In 1530, he replaced bishop Krištof Ravbar as the governor (''Landeshauptmann'') of

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola (, , ) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under House of Habsburg, Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A hereditary land of the Habsburg monarc ...

. He served in that post until 1538 when he was replaced by

Nikola Jurišić Baron Nikola Jurišić (; – 1543) was a Croatian nobleman, soldier, and diplomat. He is known for commanding a force of 700–800 soldiers during the Siege of Kőszeg against a much larger Ottoman army of 120,000–140,000 stopping its adva ...

. After the death of Nicholas, Count of Salm in the same year, he was named commander in chief (''Obristfeldhauptmann'') of the troops in Hungary, where he held off under difficult circumstances new attacks from John Zápolya and Suleiman the Magnificent. He gained a great victory in the Battle of Leobersdorf (1532) where he destroyed a Turkish army led by Kasim Bey.

Death

In 1537 he was commander of an army of 24,000 men to besiege

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

. The Katzianer's Campaign was a complete disaster and Katzianer was blamed for fleeing and abandoning his army to be annihilated in the

Battle of Gorjani The Battle of Gorjani (, ) or Battle of Đakovo () was fought on 9 October 1537 at Gorjani, a place in present-day Slavonia (today in eastern Croatia), between the towns of Đakovo and Valpovo, as part of the Little War in Hungary as well as t ...

. He was arrested and sent to Vienna to be tried but escaped 31 January 1538 before the verdict could be rendered and fled to Fortress Kostajnica in Croatia. Here he contacted enemies of the Habsburgs to plot against Ferdinand, but the young Count

Nikola IV Zrinski Nikola IV Zrinski or Miklós IV Zrínyi (, ; 1507/1508 – 7 September 1566), also commonly known as Nikola Šubić Zrinski (), was a Croatian- Hungarian nobleman and general, Ban of Croatia from 1542 until 1556, royal master of the treasury f ...

stabbed him during dinner.

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Katzianer, Johann 1491 births 1539 deaths 16th-century Slovenian people 16th-century Austrian people Carniolan nobility Austrian barons People from the Municipality of Radovljica People of the Habsburg–Ottoman wars in Hungary (1526–1568)