Milengrad ( hu, Milen vára) is a

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

castle northwest from Zajezda village, in Budinščina municipality,

Krapina-Zagorje County Krapina-Zagorje County (, hr, Krapinsko-zagorska županija) is a Counties of Croatia, county in northern Croatia, bordering Slovenia. It encompasses most of the historic region called Hrvatsko Zagorje. The area contains the excavation site of a ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

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'', ''Microsoft)'' 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, derived from ''bílá'' (''whit ...

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 1300 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 ( hu, Károly Róbert; hr, Karlo Robert; sk, Karol Róbert; 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 ...

donated the fortress to the Cseszneky family 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 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, ...

, and probably as well to an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

, 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