Count Ferenc Wesselényi de Hadad et Murány (1605 – Zólyomlipcse (
Slovenská Ľupča
Slovenská Ľupča is the largest village in the Banská Bystrica District of central Slovakia.
Geography
The altitude of Slovenská Ľupča ranges from 370 to 699 metres, with the centre of the village lying at 378 metres. The municipality cove ...
), 23 March 1667) was a Hungarian military commander and the
palatine
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. of the
Royal Hungary.
Life
He was the son of István Wesselényi, royal court counselor of King
Ferdinand II of Austria
Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria (Linz, 14 June 1529 – 24 January 1595, Innsbruck) was ruler of Further Austria and since 1564 Imperial count of Tirol. The son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, he was married to Philippine Welser ...
. He was raised at the
Jesuit school in Nagyszombat (
Trnava
Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' ( Trnava Region) and of an '' okres'' ( T ...
) where he catholicized. His enormous physical strength and intense temperament predestined him for a military career. In his young ages, he participated in several battles against the
Ottoman Turks. He also helped King
Władysław IV of Poland Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to:
Famous people Mononym
* W ...
with a
Hungarian team against the
Russians
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and
Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different and this deed was rewarded with
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
citizenship and a valuable estate. He was raised to the rank of count by Ferdinand II of Austria and was also appointed commander of the castle of
Fülek (Filakovo). In 1647, he was appointed general and as such he fought against the Swedes and later against prince
György Rákóczi of Transylvania. In 1644, he seized the castle of Murány (
Muráň
Muráň (earlier ''Podmuráň'', german: Untermuran, hu, Murányalja) is a village and municipality in Revúca District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia.
Geography
The village is located around 9 km north of Revúca, in the Mur� ...
) notably with the help of his future third wife, Mária Széchy. For this deed, King Ferdinand granted him the castles of Murány and Balog.
After learning of her husband's adultery with his future third wife, Mária Széchy, his second wife,
Zsófia Bosnyák, became unhappy and always spent her nights praying in their castle's chapel. She soon became sick and died at the age of 35.
On 15 March 1655, he was elected
palatine
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. by the
Royal Hungary's diet in
Pressburg. In this capacity, he was present at the coronation of
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1661, he had difficulties with the revolting imperial troops reluctant to leave Royal Hungary. In 1662, he took an active part in the political debates on
protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
matters in favour of the protestant nobility. In 1663, he fought against the Turks. In 1665, he joined a group of nobles organizing a
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...
against the
Habsburgs. These nobles held their meetings in the baths of Trencsén (
Trenčin) and Zólyom (
Zvolen
Zvolen (; hu, Zólyom; german: Altsohl) is a town in central Slovakia, situated on the confluence of Hron and Slatina rivers, close to Banská Bystrica. It is surrounded by Poľana mountain from the East, by Kremnické vrchy from the West ...
). After the death of
Miklós Zrínyi
Miklós Zrínyi ( hr, Nikola Zrinski, hu, Zrínyi Miklós; 5 January 1620 – 18 November 1664) was a Croatian and Hungarian military leader, statesman and poet. He was a member of the House of Zrinski, a Croatian- Hungarian noble family. ...
on November 18, 1664, the leadership of the increasingly mature organization passed to Palatine Ferenc Wesselényi, and he was supported all the way by the younger brother of the poet-general,
Péter Zrínyi, who had succeeded his brother to the Bán seat. However, Wesselényi died in 1667 before the conspiracy was uncovered, but nonetheless his role became notorious enough that it is oftentimes referred to as the Wesselényi conspiracy. His widow was interned in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and his estates were confiscated.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesselenyi, Ferenc
1605 births
1667 deaths
Hungarian nobility
Hungarian soldiers
17th-century Hungarian people
Palatines of Hungary
Ferenc
Ferenc () is a given name of Hungarian origin. It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, Francesco, François, Frank and Franz. People with the name include:
* Ferenc Batthyány, Hungarian magnate and general
* Ferenc Berényi, Hungarian artist
* ...
Knights of the Golden Fleece
People from Banská Bystrica District