Baron Tamás Nádasdy de Nádasd et Fogarasföld (I), called the ''Great Palatine'' (1498–1562), was Hungarian nobleman, great landowner and a

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...

Early life

Born into the House of Nádasdy, he was the son of Ferenc I Nádasdy de Nádasd (1492-1541) and his first wife, Orsolya Therjék de Szenterzsébet (d. 1529). After Tamás's mother's death, his father remarried to Orsolya Véssey de Vésse.

Biography

He was educated at

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popu ...

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and

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.In 1521 he accompanied

Thomas Cajetan Thomas Cajetan (; 20 February 14699 August 1534), also known as Gaetanus, commonly Tommaso de Vio or Thomas de Vio, was an Italian philosopher, theologian, cardinal (from 1517 until his death) and the Master of the Order of Preachers 1508 to 151 ...

(whom the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

had sent to Hungary to preach a crusade against the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

) to

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

as his interpreter. In 1525 he became a member of the council of state and was sent by King Louis II to the

diet of Speyer Diet of Speyer or Diet of Spires refers to any of the sessions of the imperial diets of the Holy Roman Empire, of which 50 took place between 838 and 1570 in the city of Speyer (Spires), now in Germany. The most famous sessions occurred in 1526 a ...

to ask for help in the imminent Turkish war. During his absence the

Mohács Mohács (; Croatian and Bunjevac: ''Mohač''; german: Mohatsch; sr, Мохач; tr, Mohaç) is a town in Baranya County, Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube. Etymology The name probably comes from the Slavic ''*Mъchačь'',''*Mocháč ...

catastrophe took place, and Nádasdy only returned to Hungary in time to escort the queen-widow from

Komárom Komárom (Hungarian: ; german: Komorn; la, Brigetio, later ; sk, Komárno) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárno, Slovakia, is on the northern bank. Komárom was formerly a separate vill ...

Pozsony Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

. He was sent to offer the Hungarian crown to the archduke Ferdinand, and on his coronation (3 November 1527) was made commandant of Buda. In 1528 with the help of György Cseszneky, commander of Tata Nádasdy occupied

Győr Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia region, and – halfway between Budapest and Vienna – situated on one of t ...

for Ferdinand. On the capture of Buda by

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...

, Nádasdy went over to King

John I John I may refer to: People * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526 * John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna * John ...

. In 1530 he successfully defended Buda against the imperial troops. In 1533 his jealousy of the dominant influence of Lodovico Gritti caused him to desert John for Ferdinand, to whom he afterwards remained faithful. In 1535 he married Orsolya Kanizsay de Kanizsa (1523-1571), the last member and heiress of the powerful and wealthy Kanizsay family. :hu:Kanizsai csal%C3%A1d He was endowed with enormous estates by the emperor, and from 1537 onwards became Ferdinand's secret but most influential counsellor. Subsequently, as

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of Croatia-Slavonia, he valiantly defended that border province against the Turks. He did his utmost to promote

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, and the school which he founded at Újsziget, where he also set up a

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, received a warm eulogy from

Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran Protestant Reformers, reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellect ...

. In 1540 Nádasdy was appointed ''iudex curie regie''; in 1547 he presided over the

Diet of Nagyszombat Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight los ...

, and finally, in 1559, was elected palatine by the diet of

(now

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% o ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

). In his declining years he aided the heroic Miklós Zrinyi against the Ottomans.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nadasdy, Tamas I 1498 births 1562 deaths Hungarian nobility Palatines of Hungary Judges royal Tamas