The Oršić family (Orssich) is an old Croatian

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

, thought, by oral tradition, to have descended from the Croatian noble clan of Lapčan and Karinjan, remarkable in the Kingdom of Croatia in personal union with Hungary and within the

Habsburg Monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

respectively, whose notable members were

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

s, senior

military officers An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

župan Župan is a noble and administrative title used in several states in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe between the 7th century and the 21st century. It was (and in Croatia still is) the leader of the administrat ...

s or other state officials, as well as cultural workers and

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

Family history

The first written mention of the Oršić family name appeared in a document from

Knin Knin () is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka (Croatia), Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagreb and Split, Croatia, Split. ...

in 1420. The members of the family were mentioned to have originated from the area of

Unac River The Unac ( sr-cyrl, Унац) is a sinking river in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It rises beneath Šator mountain, flows through the municipality of Drvar and finally meets Una River in Martin Brod. Also runs through two deep and rugged karstic cany ...

, a tributary of Una, in the medieval Croatian county of Pset. In another document from 1449, they are quoted as "Oršićs from Udrinić" (present-day

Drinić Drinić (Serbian Cyrillic: Дринић) is a village and seat of the municipality of Petrovac, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina and is also located partly in the municipality of Bosanski Petrovac. It is also known for strangely being th ...

, a village in the

Bosanski Petrovac Bosanski Petrovac ( sr-cyrl, Босански Петровац) is a town and municipality located in the Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, the municipality has a p ...

Municipality, western

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

). In the middle of the 15th century (between 1464 and 1472), the Oršićs moved to the northwest, due to the fall of the

Kingdom of Bosnia The Kingdom of Bosnia ( / Краљевина Босна), or Bosnian Kingdom (''Bosansko kraljevstvo'' / Босанско краљевство), was a medieval kingdom that lasted for nearly a century, from 1377 to 1463, and evolved out of the ...

and increasing danger of

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

' territorial advancement. They settled in Gorička County (), near present-day

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

, and acquired some smaller estates (Orehovac, Dol, Lipovac). In 1487, king

Matija Korvin Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and 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 adopted the titl ...

granted them

Slavetić Slavetić is a settlement in the Jastrebarsko administrative area of Zagreb County, Croatia. As of 2011 it had a population of 84 people. History At the Slavonian Sabor of June 1579 in Zagreb, the dange of leaving the river crossings at Sveti J ...

estate, northwest of

Jastrebarsko Jastrebarsko (; ), colloquially known as Jaska, is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia. History Antiquity In 1865, remnants of a Roman settlement were uncovered in Repišće, Klinča Sela, a village in Jastrebarsko metropolitan area. Further ar ...

, and since then they carried the name Orssichs of Slavetich (). They had a new

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

built there, which still exists today. Later they gained other estates like

Gornja Stubica Gornja Stubica () is a village and municipality in Krapina-Zagorje County, Croatia. Climate From 1981 to 1996, the highest temperature recorded at the Stubička gora weather station was , on 28 July 1987. The coldest temperature was , on 12 Februa ...

Gornja Bistra Gornja Bistra is a village in Croatia. It is located on the northern slopes of the Medvednica Medvednica (, ) is a mountain in central Croatia, just north of Zagreb, and marking the southern border of the historic region of Zagorje. Most of it ...

and Jurketinec (near

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

). In the 17th century the whole family property was in hands of a single man, Matija (Matthew) (c. 1600–1680), who was a captain of the

Croatian Military Frontier The Croatian Military Frontier ( or ') was a district of the Military Frontier, a territory in the Habsburg monarchy, first during the period of the Austrian Empire and then during Austria-Hungary. History Founded in the late 16th century out of ...

. With his wealth he enabled his descendants to advance further in the army, and to gain higher social status, power and reputation. Matija's son Ivan Franjo Oršić (John Francis; 1630–1686) achieved the rank of vice-

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the Karlovac generalate. He performed the duty of grand župan of the

Modruš County Modruš is a village, former episcopal see, and current Latin Church Catholic titular see in the mountainous part of Croatia, located south of its municipality's seat Josipdol (Karlovac County), on the easternmost slopes of Velika Kapela mounta ...

as well, and in 1675 he was given the title of hereditary

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 ...

. Much later, in 1744, his great-grandson Krsto /Christopher/ (1718–1782), a vice

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

() of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

imperial army, grand župan of the

Zagreb County Zagreb County () is a county in Northern Croatia. It surrounds, but does not contain, the nation's capital Zagreb, which is a separate territorial unit. For that reason, the county is often nicknamed "Zagreb ring" (). According to the 2021 censu ...

and the assessor of the

Tabula Banalis The Tabula Banalis () was the supreme court of Croatia. It was established in 1723 by Charles VI, ruler of the Habsburg monarchy. The court was presided over by the Ban of Croatia or by his deputy. For more important trials it was the first instan ...

, Ban's (viceroy's) Supreme Court, was given the hereditary title of

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: ...

, for his military merits.https://genealogy.euweb.cz/titles/o.html Adam Oršić (1748–1820), the eldest son of Krsto, performed the duty of imperial and royal chamberlain and was a chronicler of the Oršić family. By the end of his life he wrote a large genealogy and history book of his own family. His son Juraj (George) (1780–1847) was a politician, one of the leading supporters of

Illyrian movement The Illyrian movement (; ) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of the 19th century, around the years of 1835 t ...

and Croatian national revival, who advocated the introduction of Croatian (instead of

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 ...

) as official into Croatian institutions. From Ivan Nepomuk Oršić (1752–1792), Adam's younger brother, originate all further members of the family, whose descendants live today in many countries all over the world. For an extensive genealogy of the family see Records of the Tötösy de Zepetnek Family / A Zepetneki Tötösy család adattár

Gallery

File:Antun Oršić.jpg,

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 ...

Antun Oršić ,
son of Ivan Franjo and
grandfather of Krsto II File:Krsto II. Oršić.jpg, Count

Krsto II Oršić Count Krsto II Oršić Slavetićki (), (1718–1782) was a Croatian nobleman and high-ranking officer in the Habsburg monarchy imperial army service, a member of the Oršić noble family. Life Krsto Oršić was the son of Bernard III Oršić S ...

,
grandson of Antun Josipa_Oršić_rođ._Zichy.jpg, Countess Josephine Oršić, born Countess Zichy (1725-1778) File:Ivan Nepomuk Oršić (1753-1816).jpg, Count Ivan Nepomuk Oršić ,
son of Krsto II File:Juraj Oršić.jpg, Count Juraj Oršić ,
grandson of Krsto II Georg_Orsich-Slavfatic_Litho.jpg, Another picture of Count Juraj (Georg) Oršić of Slavetić (1780-1847)

References

External links

A short Oršić noble family history

Oršić family in Arhinet – Croatian Archive Information System

Oršić family in the Croatian State Archives
* genealogy of the Orssich de Slavetich family i

{{DEFAULTSORT:House of Orsic Croatian noble families, Orsic Families of the Habsburg monarchy

Family history

Gallery

See also

References

External links