Juraj V Zrinski (; 31 January 1599 – 28 December 1626) was a

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

ian Ban (viceroy), warrior and member of the Zrinski noble family.

Biography

Juraj V Zrinski was born in Csáktornya

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

(today Čakovec, a town in the Međimurje County, the northernmost county of

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

). He was the grandson of one of the greatest Croatian Ban, Nikola IV Zrinski, who died in the tragic and heroic Siege of Szigetvár (), at a town in the western Hungary where the Ottoman invasion to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

had been stopped. He was the son of Count Juraj IV Zrinski, Master of the treasury in the Kingdom of Hungary and Croatia, and Countess Sofija Zrinski

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Stubenberg. Educated in

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, he later turned to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and "purified" his estates from

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. On 15 November 1622 Zrinski was appointed Ban of Croatia. At that time, he was widely recognized as a brave and courageous warrior. He fought the Turks in many battles. His wife Magdalena née Széchy bore him two children: Nikola Zrinski and Petar Zrinski, who both later became distinguished Croatian bans and died a violent death. Juraj Zrinski died in a military camp near Pressburg, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. His chivalry and rapier-tonguedness were, unfortunately, a thorn in his superior's, general Albrecht von Wallenstein's, side and von Wallenstein had Zrinski poisoned after a verbal duel in 1626. At age 27 the ban was buried in Pauline monastery of Sveta Jelena (''St. Helen'' in English) near Čakovec, next to the graves of his ancestors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zrinski, Juraj 5 1599 births 1626 deaths Bans of Croatia Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Military commanders of Croatian kingdoms Counts of Croatia Croatian Roman Catholics Juraj 5 17th-century Croatian nobility Habsburg Croats