Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...

Nikola Jurišić ( hu, Jurisich Miklós; – 1545) was a Croatian

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

, 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 Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog s ...

's troops deployed in Croatian forts in defense against the invasion of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

under Suleiman I, advancing towards

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Between 1522 and 1526, he obtained knighthood.Nikola Jurišić
in the

Croatian Biographical Lexicon ''Croatian Biographical Lexicon'' ( hr, Hrvatski biografski leksikon) is a multi-volume biographical and bibliographical encyclopedia in Croatian, published by the Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography. It contains biographies of prominent ...

(in Croatian) After 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 ...

in 1526, the king made him the supreme army commander of the armed forces defending the borders (''supremus capitaneus'', ''Veldhauptmann unseres Kriegsfolks wider Turken''). Jurišić in turn helped Ferdinand of Habsburg become the king of Croatia by brokering the

1527 election in Cetin The 1527 election in Cetin ( hr, Cetinski / Cetingradski sabor, meaning Parliament on Cetin(grad) or Parliament of Cetin(grad), or ) was an assembly of the Croatian Parliament in the Cetin Castle in 1527. It followed a succession crisis in the Kin ...

. In 1530, Jurišić was sent to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

to negotiate with the Ottomans for peace.

Siege of Güns (Kőszeg) in 1532

In 1532,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Nikola Jurišić defended the small border fort of

Kőszeg Kőszeg (german: Güns, ; Slovak: ''Kysak'', sl, Kiseg, hr, Kiseg) is a town in Vas County, Hungary. The town is famous for its historical character. History The origins of the only free royal town in the historical garrison county of Vas ...

(

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

) with only 700–800 Croatian soldiers with no cannons and few guns, preventing the advance of the Turkish army of 120,000–140,000 toward

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Turnbull, Stephen. The Ottoman Empire 1326 – 1699. New York: Osprey, 2003. pg 51 There are two versions of that battle. *In one version, after Suleiman I led an army of 140,000 towards Vienna, Nikola Jurišić and his 800 soldiers responded to the calls of the Habsburg Emperor to defend the city. While passing through western Hungary they saw helpless women and children in the small fort of Koszeg, and decided to defend it. The fort was on the route to Vienna, so Suleiman II attacked it, and after three days of fighting Jurišić wrote: "...I and 89 of my knights are tired and low on supplies. If we hold another day it will be a miracle..." Before the final charge women and children prayed to Saint Martin for two hours, and the final battle started. After ten minutes of battle the Turks retreated, and reported they saw a flaming knight with flaming sword. * In the second version, the city was offered terms for a nominal surrender. The only Ottomans who would be allowed to enter the castle would be a token force who would raise the Turkish flag. Suleiman withdrew at the arrival of the August rains and did not continue towards Vienna as previously planned, but homeward. He had been delayed nearly four weeks, and during this time a powerful army had been collected in Vienna, which the sultan did not intend to face. By their heroism, Nikola Jurišić and his men had saved Vienna from a siege.

Later life

Following the 1537

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 th ...

, he was again made the ''supremus capitaneus'' of

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Bar ...

and

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. In 1540, he was the ''capitaneus'' of

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 s ...

. He spent the last years of his life as a secret adviser at the court in Vienna. Jurišić died in

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, Cr ...

References

External links

Pallas Nagy Lexikona
(Hungarian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jurisic, Nikola Military commanders of Croatian kingdoms 15th-century Croatian nobility 16th-century Croatian nobility Austrian nobility People from Senj 16th-century Croatian military personnel 1490 births 1545 deaths Croatian Roman Catholics Barons of Croatia Croatian military personnel in Austrian armies Hungarian nobility Hungarian soldiers Hungarian people of Croatian descent Habsburg Croats 15th-century Croatian people 16th-century Croatian people

Early life

Siege of Güns (Kőszeg) in 1532

Later life

See also

References

External links