Marko Stjepan Krizin ( 1588 – 7 September 1619), or Marko Križevčanin (, ) was a Croatian

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

, who was active in the 17th century. In the course of the struggle between Catholicism and

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

in the region then, he was executed for his faith. He has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church, the third Croat to be so honored.

Early life

Krizin was born in Križevci, in the Kingdom of Croatia. He started his studies in the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

college in Vienna, and then later at the University of Graz, where he studied under Péter Pázmány and became a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

. As a candidate for

Holy Orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

of the Diocese of Zagreb, Krizin then moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He stayed at the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum while attending the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

. He personally noted his nationality as Croatian in a document which is available in the college

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

s. As a student he was smart and considerate. He studied there from 1611 to 1615.

Ministry

After ordination, Krizin returned to his diocese, where he stayed only a short while.

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Péter Pázmány,

Archbishop of Esztergom In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

(then living in Nagyszombat – present-day

Trnava Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...

– because of the continuing Ottoman occupation of much of Hungary), called him from Zagreb and appointed him both rector of the local

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

and

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

. In early 1619, Krizin was sent to administer the estate of the former

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

of Széplak, near Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia). Around the same time, the Calvinist

Prince of Transylvania The Prince of Transylvania (, , , Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77.) was the head of state of the Principality of Transylvania from the late-16th century until the mid-18th century. John Sigismund Zápolya was the first to adopt the title in 1 ...

Gábor Bethlen Gabriel Bethlen (; 1580 – 15 November 1629) was Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of the whole kingdom. Bethlen, sup ...

, led a nationalist uprising against the Austrian Habsburgs, who then ruled Hungary.

Martyrdom

At the time, Kassa was a stronghold of

for Hungary. To help the Catholic minority, the governor of the city, Andrija Dóczi, a Catholic appointed by Emperor

Matthias Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. Notable people Notable people named Matthias include the following: Religion * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Isca ...

, brought two

priests to Kassa:

István Pongrácz Stephen Pongracz (; 1584–1619) was a Hungarian Jesuit priest, martyr and saint of the Catholic Church. Biography Stephen Pongracz was born in Alvincz Castle in Principality of Transylvania, entered the Society of Jesus in 1602, and studied in ...

and

Melchior Grodziecki Melchior Grodziecki (c. 1582 – 7 September 1619) was a Silesian Jesuit priest. He is considered a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church. He was canonized in 1995 and is liturgically commemorated on 19 January. Biography He was born in Těš� ...

. Their presence caused unrest among the Calvinist majority of Kassa. In September 1619, the city came under siege by the forces of the commander of the Calvinist army,

George I Rákóczi George I Rákóczi (8 June 1593 – 11 October 1648) was Prince of Transylvania from 1630 until his death in 1648. Prior to that, he was a leader of the Protestant faction in Hungary and a faithful supporter of Gabriel Bethlen, his predecessor ...

. On 5 September Dóczi was betrayed by the mercenary forces defending the city and was handed over by the city authorities to him. His Protestant supporters then declared Bethlen "head" of Hungary and the protector of the Protestants. At that time Marko was staying at the then-Jesuit Church of the Holy Trinity, in the company of the two Jesuits ministering to the Catholics of the city. The Calvinist troops arrested the three priests at once. They were then left without food and water for three days. During this time, the fate of the Catholic population was being determined. At the instigation of a Calvinist minister named Alvinczi, the head of the City Council, Reyner, was demanding the execution of all Catholics of the city. The majority of Protestants, however, were opposed to such a slaughter. The execution of the priests, however, was approved by them. The commander promised Marko Krizin a church estate if he renounced the Catholic Church and converted to Calvinism. Krizin refused. All three were then tortured and soon beheaded. The news about their martyrdom stormed across Hungary, shocking both Catholics and Protestants alike. Despite many pleas, Prince Gabriel refused to allow them to be buried them in consecrated ground. Only after being asked by Countess Katalina Pálffy, six months later, did he allow them to have a proper burial.

Legacy

The three priests were

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

on January 15, 1905 by

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

. The

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

of the three Košice martyrs was proclaimed by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on July 2, 1995 in Košice. The remains of the Košice martyrs now rest in various locations, including the Basilica of Esztergom and the Ursuline Church of St. Anna in Trnava.Trnava Historical Monuments
The

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of Saint Marko Križevčanin is September 7. It is regularly celebrated with a week of festivities in Križevci.

References

External links

St Mark of Križevci
''krizevci.eu''

''zupa-svkriz.hr'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Krizin, Marko 1589 births 1619 deaths People from Križevci University of Graz alumni Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum alumni 17th-century Croatian Roman Catholic priests Christian martyrs executed by decapitation Burials at Esztergom Basilica Martyred Roman Catholic priests Canonizations by Pope John Paul II 17th-century Hungarian people 17th-century Christian saints 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Croatian Roman Catholic saints