Johann Katzianer ( sl, Ivan Kacijanar), or Hans Katzianer, Freiherr zu Katzenstein und Fledingen (1491, Begunje (german: Vigaun) – 27 October 1539,

Hrvatska Kostajnica Hrvatska Kostajnica (; ; ), often just Kostajnica, is a small town in central Croatia. It is located on the Una (Sava), Una river in the Sisak-Moslavina County, south of Petrinja and Sisak and across the river from Kostajnica, Bosnia and Herzegovi ...

) was a

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region sti ...

n aristocrat and an Imperial Army commander.

History

He is first mentioned in 1527 when

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of rulers of Croatia, Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1 ...

gathered an army to support his claims on the throne of Hungary, which had become vacant after King

Louis II of Hungary Louis II ( cs, Ludvík, hr, Ludovik , hu, Lajos, sk, Ľudovít; 1 July 1506 – 29 August 1526) was King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia from 1516 to 1526. He was killed during the Battle of Mohács fighting the Ottomans, whose victory led to ...

was killed in the

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...

(1526) against the Ottomans. Katzianer took part in Ferdinand's

Hungarian campaign of 1527–1528 The Hungarian campaign of 1527–1528 was launched by Ferdinand I, Archduke of Austria and King of Hungary and Bohemia against the Ottoman Turks. Following the Battle of Mohács, the Ottomans were forced to withdraw as events elsewhere in their ...

against the

voivode of Transylvania The Voivode of Transylvania (german: Vojwode von Siebenbürgen;Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77. hu, erdélyi vajda;Zsoldos 2011, p. 36. la, voivoda Transsylvaniae; ro, voievodul Transilvaniei) was the highest-ranking official in Transylvania wit ...

John Zápolya John Zápolya or Szapolyai ( hu, Szapolyai/ Zápolya János, hr, Ivan Zapolja, ro, Ioan Zápolya, sk, Ján Zápoľský; 1490/91 – 22 July 1540), was King of Hungary (as John I) from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferd ...

, who had also been proclaimed King, supported by a large faction of the nobility in the Hungarian kingdom. Katzianer distinguished himself in the

Battle of Tarcal The Battle of Tarcal or Battle of Tokaj ( hu, Tarcali csata) was a battle fought on 27 September 1527 near Tokaj between the Habsburg-German-Hungarian forces of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and an opposing Hungarian army under the command of J ...

in September 1527 and especially in the

Battle of Szina The Battle of Szina or Seňa took place near Szina in the Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Seňa, in Slovakia). The battle was fought on 20 March 1528 between two rival kings of Hungary John Zápolya and Ferdinand I. The latter's forces under c ...

in March 1528, but alienated himself from the population by the violence and misbehavior of his troops. In 1529 he participated in the Siege of Vienna against

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ� ...

. At the head of the light cavalry, he harassed the retreating Turks and liberated many Christian prisoners. In 1530, he replaced bishop Krištof Ravbar as the governor (''Landeshauptmann'') of

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola ( sl, Vojvodina Kranjska, german: Herzogtum Krain, hu, Krajna) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under House of Habsburg, Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carn ...

. He served in that post until 1538 when he was replaced by

Nikola Jurišić Baron Nikola Jurišić ( hu, Jurisich Miklós; – 1545) was a Croatian nobleman, soldier, and diplomat. Early life Jurišić was born in Senj, Croatia. He is first mentioned in 1522 as an officer of Ferdinand I of Habsburg's troops deployed ...

. After the death of

Nicholas, Count of Salm Nicholas, Count of Salm (Vielsalm, Belgium 1459 – Salmhof, Marchegg, Lower Austria, 4 May 1530) was a German soldier and an Imperial senior military commander (German: ''Feldherr''). His greatest achievement was the defense of Vienna duri ...

in the same year, he was named commander in chief (''Obristfeldhauptmann'') of the troops in Hungary, where he held off under difficult circumstances new attacks from John Zápolya and Suleiman the Magnificent. He gained a great victory in the Battle of Leobersdorf (1532) where he destroyed a Turkish army led by Kasim Bey.

Death

In 1537 he was commander of an army of 24,000 men to besiege

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

. The Katzianer's Campaign was a complete disaster and Katzianer was blamed for fleeing and abandoning his army to be annihilated in the

Battle of Gorjani The Battle of Gorjani ( hr, Bitka kod Gorjana, german: Schlacht bei Gorjani) or Battle of Đakovo ( hu, Diakovári csata) was a battle fought on 9 October 1537 at Gorjani, a place in present-day Slavonia (today in eastern Croatia), between the t ...

. He was arrested and sent to Vienna to be tried but escaped before the verdict on 31 January 1538 to Fortress Kostajnica in Croatia. Here he contacted enemies of the Habsburgs to plot against Ferdinand, but the young Count

Nikola IV Zrinski Nikola IV Zrinski or Miklós IV Zrínyi ( hu, Zrínyi Miklós, ; 1507/1508 – 7 September 1566), also commonly known as Nikola Šubić Zrinski (), was a Croatian nobleman and general, Ban of Croatia from 1542 until 1556, royal master of the tr ...

had him murdered and was stabbed during dinner.

Sources

ADB Katzianer,Hans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katzianer, Johann 1491 births 1539 deaths 16th-century Slovenian people 16th-century Austrian people Carniolan nobility Barons of Austria Austrian people of Slovenian descent People from the Municipality of Radovljica