Csesznek (; german: Zeßnegg, hr, Česneg, sk, Česnek) is a village in

Zirc District Zirc ( hu, Zirci járás) is a district in north-eastern part of Veszprém County. ''Zirc'' is also the name of the town where the district seat is found. The district is located in the Central Transdanubia Statistical Region. Geography Zirc D ...

, Veszprém county,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. The village is known for its medieval castle.

Etymology

The name comes from Slavic ''čestnik'' – a privileged person, an office bearer, nowadays also an elder family member at the wedding.

History

The medieval castle of Csesznek was built around 1263 by the

Jakab Cseszneky Jakab Cseszneky de Csesznek et Visk was a Hungarian aristocrat and first Lord of Csesznek in the 13th century. Jakab was the son of ''Mihály'', member of the clan Bána, and equerry of Andrew II of Hungary. He became the swordbearer of the Kin ...

who was the swordbearer of the King Béla IV. He and his descendants have been named after the castle Cseszneky. Between 1326 and 1392 it was a royal castle, when

King Sigismund Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1 ...

offered it to the

House of Garai Garai or Garay ( hr, Gorjanski) were a Hungarian-Croatian noble family, a branch of the Dorozsma (Durusma) clan, with notable members in the 14th and 15th centuries. They were lords of Csesznek. Origin The family was descended from the Dorozsma ...

in lieu of the Banate of Macsó. In 1482 the male line of the Garai family died out, and King

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...

donated the castle to the Szapolyai family. In 1527, Baron Bálint Török became its owner. During the 16th century the Csábi, Szelestey and Wathay families were in possession of Csesznek. In 1561,

Lőrinc Wathay Lőrinc Wathay (? - 1573) was a Hungarian nobleman and castellan of Csesznek. He served as a military officer in Kassa and Transylvania and after Bálint Török was captured by the Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were t ...

repulsed successfully the siege of the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. However, in 1594 the castle was occupied by Turkish troops, but in 1598 the Hungarians recaptured it. In 1635, Dániel Esterházy bought the castle and village and from that time on Csesznek was the property of the

Esterházy The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. From the 17th century, the Esterházys were the greatest landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary, during the time that it ...

family until 1945.

People

* Cseszneky family **

Stephen II Csák Stephen (II) from the kindred Csák ( hu, Csák nembeli (II.) István; d. 1307/09)Zsoldos 2011, p. 311. was a Hungarian noble who served as Wildgrave of Bakony in 1280.Zsoldos 2011, p. 129. Biography He was born into the Trencsén branch of th ...

* Bálint Török *

Sándor Simonyi-Semadam Sándor Simonyi-Semadam (23 March 1864 – 4 June 1946) was a Hungarian politician who served as prime minister for a few months in 1920. He signed the Treaty of Trianon after World War I on 4 June 1920. By this treaty, Hungary lost a considerab ...

References

External links

A website about the village and castle

Csesznek at Irány Magyarország!

A website about the village and the castle, made by local civilians.

Walk in the castle virtually.
Populated places in Zirc District Castles in Hungary Cseszneky Esterházy family Croatian communities in Hungary Slovak communities in Hungary {{Veszprem-geo-stub