Nikola Šubić Zrinski

Nikola Šubić Zrinski or Miklós Zrínyi  (1508 – September 7, 1566) was a Croatian  nobleman and general in service of Habsburg Monarchy, ban of Croatia from 1542 to 1556, and member of the Zrinski noble family. He was known across Europe for his involvement with the Battle of Szigetvár and is today seen as a hero by both Hungarians and Croatians.

Biography
Nikola was born in 1508 as the son of Nikola III Zrinski and Jelena Karlović (sister of future Croatian ban Ivan Karlović) He distinguished himself at the siege of Vienna in 1529, and in 1542 saved the imperial army from defeat before Pest by intervening with 400 Croats, for which service he was appointed ban of Croatia. In 1542 he routed an Ottoman force at the Battle of Somlyo.

In 1543 he married Catherine (Katarina) Frankopan, a sister of Count Stjepan Frankopan Ozaljski ("Stephen Frankopan of Ozalj" in English), who placed the whole of her vast estates at his disposal. She bore him many children, among which was his successor Juraj IV Zrinski. The king Ferdinand I gave him large possessions in Hungary and Croatia, and henceforth the Zrinskis–Zrínyis became as much Magyar as Croatian magnates.

In 1556 Zrinski won a series of victories over the Ottomans, culminating in the battle of Babócsa. The Croats, however, overwhelmed their ban with reproaches for neglecting them to fight for the Magyars, and the emperor simultaneously deprived him of the captaincy of Upper Croatia and sent 10,000 men to aid the Croats, while the Magyars were left without any help, whereupon Zrinski resigned the banship (1561). In 1563, on the coronation of the Emperor Maximilian as king of Hungary, Zrinski attended the ceremony at the head of 3000 Croatian and Magyar mounted noblemen, in the vain hope of obtaining the dignity of palatine, vacant by the death of Tamás Nádasdy. Shortly after marrying (in 1564) his second wife, Eva of Rožmberk (Rosenberg), a great Bohemian heiress, he hastened southwards to defend the frontier, and defeated the Ottomans at Szeged. In 1566, from August 5 to September 7, his small force (2,300 soldiers) heroically defended the little fortress of Szigetvár against the whole Ottoman host (102,000 soldiers), led by Suleiman the Magnificent in person. The Battle of Szigetvár ended with Zrinski perishing with every member of the garrison in a last desperate sortie. Suleiman had died shortly previous.

Legacy
The Croatian Renaissance poet and writer Brne Karnarutić, from Zadar, wrote The Conquest of the City of Sziget (Vazetje Sigeta grada) sometime before 1573.

He was the great-grandfather of Croatian Ban (Viceroy) and Croatian/Hungarian poet Nikola Zrinski, as well as his younger brother Petar Zrinski. The former wrote the Hungarian epic poem, the Peril of Sziget, of which Zrinski is the hero, which has assured Zrinski's place in Hungarian culture. The epic remains in print today and is considered one of the landmarks of Hungarian literature. Nikola Šubić Zrinski is honoured both in Croatia and in Hungary as a national hero. A park in the Croatian capital Zagreb is named Trg Nikole Šubića Zrinskog after him. Zrinski's last battle was made the subject of a tragedy, Zrinyi: Ein Trauerspiel, by Theodor Körner. The Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski is one of the highest Croatian national decorations.