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Hungary
400th Anniversary – Death of Zrínyi Miklós
1966
Proof Silver 50 Forint 36mm (20.10 grams) 0.640
Silver (0.4115 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM#
568,
ÉH# 1566, H# 2360 | Engravers: István Iván,
Lóránt Varga
MAGYAR·NÉPKÖZTÁRSASÁG 1966 ÖTVEN FORINT, Scene
of Miklos atop castle, Coat-of-arms left.
RINYI MIKLÓS 1508-1566 50 BP., Miklos facing 1/2
right.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
 Nikola VII Zrinski (Croatian: Nikola Zrinski, Hungarian: Zrínyi Miklós; 5 January 1620 – 18 November 1664) was a Croatian and Hungarian military leader, statesman and poet. He was a member of the House of Zrinski, a Croatian-Hungarian noble family. He is the author of the first epic poem, The Peril of Sziget, in Hungarian literature.
Miklós was born in Csáktornya, Kingdom of Hungary (now Čakovec, Croatia) to the Croatian Juraj V Zrinski and the Hungarian Magdolna (Magdalena) Széchy. At the court of Péter Pázmány, he was an enthusiastic student of Hungarian language and literature, although he prioritized military training. From 1635 to 1637, he accompanied Szenkviczy, one of the canons of Esztergom, on a long educative tour through the Italian Peninsula.
Over the next few years, he learned the art of war in defending the Croatian frontier against the Ottoman Empire, and proved himself one of the most important commanders of the age. In 1645, during the closing stages of the Thirty Years’ War, he acted against the Swedish troops in Moravia, equipping an army corps at his own expense. At Szakolcza he scattered a Swedish division and took 2,000 prisoners. At Eger he saved the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand III, who had been surprised at night in his camp by the offensive of Carl Gustaf Wrangel. Although not enthusiastic for having to fight against Hungarians of Transylvania, subsequently he routed the army of George I Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania, on the Upper Tisza. For his services, the emperor appointed him captain of Croatia. On his return from the war he married the wealthy Eusebia Drašković.
In 1646 he distinguished himself in the actions against Ottomans. At the coronation of Ferdinand IV of Austria, King of the Germans, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, he carried the sword of state, and was made ban and captain-general of Croatia. In this double capacity he presided over many Croatian diets.
During 1652–1653, Zrínyi was continually fighting against the Ottomans – nevertheless, from his castle at Csáktornya (Čakovec) he was in constant communication with the intellectual figures of his time; the Dutch scholar, Jacobus Tollius, even visited him, and has left in his Epistolae itinerariae a lively account of his experiences. Tollius was amazed at the linguistic resources of Zrínyi, who spoke Croatian, Hungarian, Italian, German, Ottoman Turkish and Latin with equal ease. Zrínyi’s Latin letters (from which it was gathered that he was married a second time, to Sophia Löbl) are, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition of 1911, “fluent and agreeable, but largely interspersed with Croatian and Magyar expressions”. In a Latin letter from 1658 to friend Ivan Ručić expressed his consciousness of being an ethnic Croat and Zrinski (“Ego mihi conscius aliter sum, etenim non degenerem me Croatam et quidem Zrinium esse scio”).
In 1655, he made an attempt to be elected Palatine of Hungary (nádor); in spite of support by the petty nobility, his efforts failed. The king, reacting to Zrínyi’s good connections to Protestants and the Hungarians of Transylvania, nominated Ferenc Wesselényi instead.
The last year of his life was also a culmination of his efforts and prestige. In 1663, the Turkish army, led by Grand Vizier Köprülü Ahmed, launched an overwhelming offensive against Royal Hungary, ultimately aiming at the siege and occupation of Vienna. The imperial army failed to put up any notable resistance; the Turkish army was eventually stopped by adverse weather conditions. As a preparation for the new Turkish onslaught due next year, German troops were recruited from the Holy Roman Empire and aid was called from France, and Zrínyi, under the overall command of the Italian Raimondo Montecuccoli, leader of the Imperial army, was named commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army.
As a preparation for campaigns planned for 1664, Zrínyi set out to destroy the strongly fortified Suleiman Bridge (the Osijek (Hungarian: Eszék) bridge) which, since 1566, had linked Darda to Osijek (across the Drava and the marshes of Baranya). Destruction of the bridge would cut off the retreat of the Ottoman Army and make any Turkish reinforcement impossible for several months. Re-capturing strong fortresses (Berzence, Babócsa, the town of Pécs, etc.) on his way, Zrínyi advanced 240 kilometers on enemy territory and destroyed the bridge on 1 February 1664. However, the further pursuance of the campaign was frustrated by the refusal of the Imperial generals to co-operate. The court remained suspicious of Zrínyi all the way, regarding him as a promoter of Hungarian secessionist ideas and accusing him of having disturbed the peace by building his castle, Novi Zrin (Hungarian: Új-Zrínyivár or Zrínyi-Újvár, English: New Zrin or Zrin-Newcastle), erected in 1661 at his own expense, in the theoretically de-militarised zone between the two empires. Zrínyi’s siege of Kanizsa, the most important Turkish fortress in Southern Hungary, failed, as the beginning of the siege was seriously delayed by machinations of the overly jealous Montecuccoli, and later the Emperor’s military commanders (apart from Hungarian and Croatian leaders), unwilling to combat the Grand Vizier’s army hastily coming to the aid of Kanizsa, retreated.
Despite the failed siege, the expedition made his name famous and praised throughout Europe. According to the 1911 Britannica, “it was said that only the Zrínyis had the secret of conquering the Turks”. Emperor Leopold offered him the title of prince, while Pope Alexander VII struck a commemorative medal with the effigy of Zrínyi as a field marshal, the Spanish King Philip IV sent him the Order of the Golden Fleece, and France’s King Louis XIV created him a Peer.
After relieving Kanizsa, the Grand Vizier turned against Novi Zrin. The Imperial troops under Raimondo Montecuccoli remained inactive while Zrínyi hastened to relieve the castle, refusing all assistance, with the result that the fortress fell. The Viennese court concentrated all its troops on the Hungarian-Austrian border, sacrificing Novi Zrin to hold back the Turkish army. The Turkish army, ultimately, was stopped in the Battle of Saint Gotthard (1664). The Turkish defeat could have offered an opportunity for Hungary to be liberated from the Turkish yoke. However, the Habsburg court chose not to push its advantage in order to save its strength for the brewing conflict that would come to be known as the War of the Spanish Succession. The infamous Peace of Vasvár was negotiated by Zrínyi’s adversary, Montecuccoli. The peace treaty laid down unfavourable terms, not only giving up recent conquests, but also offering a tribute to the Sublime Porte (which would never be paid) against a few presents from the Ottomans – all despite the fact that Austrian-Hungarian troops maintained the upper hand.
Zrínyi rushed to Vienna to protest against the treaty, but his view was ignored; he left the city in disgust, after assuring the Venetian minister, Sagridino, that he was willing at any moment to assist the Republic against the Ottoman Empire with 6,000 men. Zrínyi then returned to Csáktornya (Čakovec). It is widely accepted that he, despite being a loyal supporter of the court before, participated in launching the conspiracy which later became known as the Wesselényi conspiracy, aimed at the restoration of the independent Kingdom of Croatia and Kingdom of Hungary. However, on November 18, he was killed in a hunting accident in a place called Kursanecz (today Kuršanec, Croatia), by a wounded wild boar. To this day, rumors persist that he was killed at the order of the Habsburg Court. No conclusive evidence has ever been found to support this claim; however, it remains true that the Habsburgs lost their mightiest adversary with his death. The village where he died was renamed Zrínyifalva in Hungarian to commemorate him.
 Hungary is a sovereign state in Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, Slovenia to the west, Austria to the northwest, and Ukraine to the northeast. The country’s capital and largest city is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and the Schengen Area. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.
 Following centuries of successive habitation by Celts, Romans, Huns, Slavs, Gepids, and Avars, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian grand prince Árpád in the Honfoglalás (“homeland-conquest”). His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000 CE, converting the country to a Christian kingdom. By the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526 and about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541-1699), Hungary came under Habsburg rule, and later formed a significant part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918).
Hungary’s current borders were first established by the Treaty of Trianon (1920) after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, and 32% of ethnic Hungarians. Following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary came under the influence of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship (1947-1989). The country gained widespread international attention regarding the Revolution of 1956 and the seminal opening of its previously-restricted border with Austria in 1989, which accelerated the collapse of the Eastern Bloc.
On 23 October 1989, Hungary again became a democratic parliamentary republic, and today has a high-income economy with a very high Human Development Index. Hungary is a popular tourist destination attracting 10.675 million tourists a year (2013). It is home to the largest thermal water cave system and the second-largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz), the largest lake in Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grasslands in Europe (the Hortobágy National Park).
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