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

Nikola Jurišić (; – 1543) was a Croatian nobleman, soldier, and diplomat. He is known for commanding a force of 700–800 soldiers during the Siege of Kőszeg against a much larger Ottoman army of 120,000–140,000 stopping its advance.

Early life

Jurišić was born in

Senj Senj is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress () which was completed in 1558. For a time this was the seat of the Uskoks, who were ...

, Croatia. He is first mentioned in 1522 as an officer of Ferdinand I of Habsburg's troops deployed in Croatian forts in defense against the invasion of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

under Suleiman I, advancing towards

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Between 1522 and 1526, he obtained knighthood.Nikola Jurišić
in the Croatian Biographical Lexicon (in Croatian) After the Battle of Mohács 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. In 1530, Jurišić was sent to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

to negotiate with the Ottomans for peace.

Siege of Güns (Kőszeg) in 1532

In 1532, Captain Nikola Jurišić defended the small border fort of Kőszeg (

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 ...

) 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

. Turnbull, Stephen. The Ottoman Empire 1326 – 1699. New York: Osprey, 2003. pg 51

Later life

Following the 1537 Battle of Gorjani, he was again made the ''supremus capitaneus'' of

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 ...

and

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

. In 1540, he was the ''capitaneus'' of Carniola. He spent the last years of his life as a secret adviser at the court in Vienna. Jurišić died in the region of Kőszeg,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

References

External links

Pallas Nagy Lexikona
(Hungarian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jurisic, Nikola Military commanders of Croatian kingdoms 16th-century Croatian nobility Austrian nobility People from Senj 16th-century Croatian military personnel 1490s births 1545 deaths Croatian Roman Catholics Croatian barons Austrian military personnel Hungarian nobility Hungarian soldiers Hungarian people of Croatian descent Habsburg Croats People of the Habsburg–Ottoman wars in Hungary (1526–1568) Diplomats

Early life

Siege of Güns (Kőszeg) in 1532

Later life

See also

References

External links