Nicholas of Ilok ( Hungarian: ''Újlaki Miklós'', Bosnian and Croatian: ''Nikola Iločki''; 1410–1477) was a Hungarian nobleman,

Ban of Croatia Ban of Croatia () was the title of local rulers or office holders and after 1102, viceroys of Croatia. From the earliest periods of the Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Ban (title), bans as a ruler's representative (viceroy) and sup ...

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

and Macsó,

Voivode of Transylvania The Voivode of Transylvania (;Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77. ;Zsoldos 2011, p. 36. ; ) was the highest-ranking official in Transylvania within the Kingdom of Hungary from the 12th century to the 16th century. Appointed by the King of Hun ...

and

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

King of Bosnia This is a list of monarchs of Bosnia, containing Ban (title), bans and kings of Medieval Bosnia; Bosnia (early medieval), Banate of Bosnia, Kingdom of Bosnia. Duke (1084–1095) Bans (1154–1377) Kings and queen (1377–1463) All Bosnian ki ...

from 1471 until his death. A member of the Újlaki family, he was one of the richest landowners in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

and one of its most influential magnates. He held a reputation of a great hero and served under four kings of Hungary:

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

, Vladislaus I, Ladislaus V and Matthias I.

Early career

His parents were Ladislaus of Ilok, Ban of Macsó, and Anna Stiboriczi, daughter of

Stibor of Stiboricz Stibor of Stiboricz of Ostoja coat of arms, Ostoja (also written in English as Scibor or Czibor; , , , ; c. 1348 – February 1414) was an aristocrat of Polish people, Polish origin in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was a close friend of King Sig ...

, Voivode of Transylvania. His father died shortly after his birth. He had four brothers: John,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

, Peter and Paul. His great-grandfather, Nicholas Kont, served as

palatine A palatine or palatinus (Latin; : ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman Empire, Roman times.

to King

Louis I of Hungary Louis I, also Louis the Great (; ; ) or Louis the Hungarian (; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. He was the first child of Charles I of Hungary and his wife, Elizabeth of ...

. Nicholas was the best known lord of the city of

Ilok Ilok () is the easternmost town in Croatia forming a geographic salient surrounded by Vojvodina. Located in the Syrmia region, it lies on the Fruška Gora hill overlooking the Danube river, which forms the border with the Bačka region of Serbi ...

. While he was in power, the city experienced its golden age. In 1430, Nicholas' brother Stephen died and Nicholas succeeded him as Ban of Macsó. When King Albert died in 1439, Nicholas supported his widow,

Elizabeth of Luxembourg Elizabeth of Luxembourg (; 7 October 1409 – 19 December 1442) was queen consort of Hungary, queen consort of Germany and Bohemia. The only child of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Elizabeth was expected to asce ...

, in her struggle to secure the

Holy Crown of Hungary The Holy Crown of Hungary ( , ), also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen, named in honour of Saint Stephen I of Hungary, was the coronation crown used by the Kingdom of Hungary for most of its existence; kings were crowned with it since the tw ...

for her son,

Ladislaus the Posthumous Ladislaus V, more commonly known as Ladislaus the Posthumous (; ; ; ; 22 February 144023 November 1457), was Duke of Austria and King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia. He was the posthumous birth, posthumous son ...

. As a reward, Queen Elizabeth had him knighted. However, Nicholas soon took the side of Vladislaus III of Poland and allied himself with

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (; ; ; ; ; – 11 August 1456) was a leading Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian military and political figure during the 15th century, who served as Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526), Kingdom of Hungary ...

. Upon becoming King of Hungary, Vladislaus gave Nicholas and Hunyadi extraordinary powers, appointing them as joint Voivodes of Transylvania.

Matthias' reign

In 1457, Nicholas took part in the liquidation of John Hunyadi's son, Ladislaus. The next year, Ladislaus' brother,

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

, was elected King of Hungary. However, various Hungarian and Croatian nobles refused to recognise him as their sovereign. The opposition was led by Nicholas himself and

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (Latin; : ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman Empire, Roman times.

Ladislaus II Garay, who asked Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III for support. Matthias was, however, eventually recognised as king. He retained his influence throughout the reign of Matthias Corvinus, who created him

perpetual ispán A perpetual count (, )Nemes 1989, p. 81. was a head or an ''ispán'' of a county in the Kingdom of Hungary (“Lord Lieutenant”) whose office was either hereditary or attached to the dignity of a prelate or of a great officer of the realm. The ear ...

Teočak Teočak ( sr-cyrl, Теочак) is a municipality located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The center of the municipality is the village of Teočak-Krstac. Geography The municipali ...

in 1464, making him only the third person to bear such a title. In 1471, having settled his disputes with Nicholas, King Matthias I conferred upon him the title of

. He was crowned king in 1472 in the fortress of Jajce. Nicholas seems to have been made Ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia by early 1472, probably in order to secure his loyalty to the King and to enable him to defend the region against the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

. He had been named ban to replace Blaise Magyar, who had rebelled against the King. However, he did not retain that office for long; by the end of the same year, he was replaced by Damian Horvat. As King of Bosnia, Nicholas even minted his own currency. However, Nicholas failed to defend his satellite kingdom, losing most of it to the Ottomans. The Hungarian Kingdom of Bosnia consisted of a few fortresses. Nicholas ruled those remnants and retained the kingly title until his death, styling himself "Nicholas,

by the Grace of God By the Grace of God (, abbreviated D.G.) is a formulaic phrase used especially in Christian monarchies as an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch. In England and later the United Kingdom, the phrase was formally added to the royal sty ...

King of Bosnia" (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Nicolaus Dei Gratia Rex Bosniae''). He was succeeded, as Ban of Macsó and Lord of Ilok, by his eldest surviving son,

Laurence Laurence is in modern use as an English masculine and a French feminine given name. The modern English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from Laurentum" ...

Marriages and issue

Nicholas was first married to Margit Rozgonyi ( fl 1441-1458). By his first wife, Nicholas had the following children: #Nicholas (fl 1452) #Stephen (fl 1459-1465) #Catherine (fl. 1448-1493), whose daughter's sons claimed their great-grandfather's inheritance #Euphrosyne (fl. 1458-1476) #Hieronyma (fl 1458-1460), married to

Leonhard of Gorizia Leonhard (1440 – 12 April 1500) was the last count of Gorizia from the Meinhardiner dynasty. He ruled at Lienz and Gorizia (''Görz'') from 1454 until his death. He also held the title and rights as a count palatine of Carinthia. Family Leonha ...

#Ursula (fl 1458-1476) He was married secondly to Dorottya Széchy de Felsőlendva (fl 1471-1495). Their children were: #

(1459–1524), Nicholas' successor, after whose death without surviving issue the family became extinct #Bernard (fl 1460)

References

External links

Nicholas of Ilok, Ban of Croatia, built the castle in Ilok in the 15th centuryNicholas of Ilok's kingship in Bosnia 1471-1477
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Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

Bans of Croatia 15th-century Croatian nobility 1410 births 1477 deaths 15th-century Hungarian nobility Bans of Macsó Counts of the Székelys Ujlaki, Nicholas Pretenders to the Bosnian throne Bans of Slavonia