Milengrad () is a

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

castle northwest from Zajezda village, in

Budinščina Budinščina is a village and municipality in the Krapina-Zagorje County in Croatia. It is connected by the state road D24 and R201 railway. Milengrad (Milen) castle is located in the municipality. Population In the 2021 census, there were ...

municipality,

Krapina-Zagorje County Krapina-Zagorje County (, ) is a county in northern Croatia, bordering Slovenia. It encompasses most of the historic region called Hrvatsko Zagorje. The area contains the excavation site of a 100,000-year-old Neanderthal man in caves near the ...

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 ...

Name

Milengrad is a compound name – ''Milen'' being a

proper noun A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity ('' Africa''; ''Jupiter''; '' Sarah''; ''Walmart'') as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...

and ''grad'' meaning castle or fortress in Croatian. Thus Milengrad is Milen's castle. In mediaeval documents it was called ''Mel(l)en'', ''Milen'' and ''Miluan''. Its Hungarian equivalents, ''Milen vára'' or ''Mileni vár'', derive from the Croatian form and have the same meaning.

History

Milengrad was built during the reign of Hungarian–Croatian King

Béla IV Béla may refer to: * Béla (crater), an elongated lunar crater * Béla (given name), a common Hungarian male given name See also * Bela (disambiguation) * Belá (disambiguation) * Bělá (disambiguation) Bělá may refer to: Places in the Cze ...

after the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

of 1241–1242. Around 1303, King

Charles Robert Charles I, also known as Charles Robert (; ; ; 128816 July 1342), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of Charles Martel, Prince of Salerno. His father was the ...

donated the fortress to the

Cseszneky family Cseszneky is a surname of Hungarian origin. Notable people * Benedek Cseszneky, office holder, diplomat * György Cseszneky, castellan of Tata and Győr * Gyula Cseszneky (1914-ca 1970) poet, translator, Macedonian Voivode * Imre Cseszneky, a ...

in compensation for their loss of Ipolyvisk Castle. The

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

s Cseszneky sold it soon to Ban Mikcs, who, in 1309, ceded the lordship to the Herkffy family. In 1536, by the marriage between Katalin Herkffy and Miklós Patačić, Milengrad became the two families' shared property. In the 17th century, the Herkffy family became extinct, and the Patačićs followed in the 19th century. Due to the constant warfare with the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

, and probably as well to an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

, by the late 17th century several walls of Milengrad fell down, and in 1683 it was already mentioned as ''arx diruta'', a castle in ruins.

Sources

* Branko Nadilo in Građevinar n. 56. 2004/1 * Đuro Szabo: Középkori várak Horvátországban és Szlavóniában, Zagreb, 1920 edieval cities in Croatia and Slavonia* Codex Diplomaticus Hungaricus Andegavensis * Almanach of Hungarian noble families

External links

Budinščina municipality

Cseszneky genealogy
* {{Coord, 46.1633, 16.1703, display=title Castles in Croatia Buildings and structures in Krapina-Zagorje County Ruined castles in Croatia Tourist attractions in Krapina-Zagorje County Hrvatsko zagorje