Jelena Zrinski

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Jelena Zrinski (1643–1703)
Signature Jelena Zrinski.PNG

Jelena Zrinski (German Helena Countess von Serin , Hungarian Zrínyi Ilona ), (* 1643 in Wosail, Croat . Ozalj , Hungarian Ozaly, Modrus-Fiume County , Kingdom of Hungary ; † February 18, 1703 in Nicomedia , Ottoman Empire ) was one Croatian-Hungarian nobles from the Zrinski family . She was involved in the struggle for the national liberation of Croatia and Hungary from the Habsburg absolutist rule.

Life

She was born as the eldest daughter of Peter Zrinski , Banus of Croatia , who was executed in Wiener Neustadt , and his wife Anna Katharina geb. Frankopan . Her parents later had two daughters (Judita Petronila and Aurora Veronika) and a son ( Johann Anton ), the last male offspring of his noble family.

Helena became known not for her beauty alone, but also received an excellent education within the family .

On March 1, 1666, she married the Hungarian nobleman Franz I. Rákóczi . The wedding ceremony was performed at the Rákóczi Castle Zborov by the Archbishop of Gran Georg Szelepcsényi . The Hungarian nobility, to which her husband belonged, opposed the constant absolutist tendencies of the Habsburgs . Hungarian aristocrats were dissatisfied with the peace treaty in Eisenburg between Emperor Leopold I and the Ottoman Sultan after the victorious battle of Mogersdorf (Hungarian Szentgotthárdi csata) on August 1, 1664, as large parts of Hungary and Croatia were left to the Turks despite their defeat were. And so began a little later an open armed conflict known as the " magnate conspiracy ". The leaders of the magnate conspiracy were Jelena's father, whose brother-in-law Franz Christoph Frankopan (ung. Frangepán Ferenc, 1643–1671) and Franz III. Count Nádasdy (1622–1671), Hungary's chief royal judge.

Helena von Serin with her children Julianna and Franz in front of the prosecutors on the Plankenburg (historical painting by Viktor Madarász )

A s ardent patriot, Helena Countess von Serin supported the discontented Hungarian nobility. Widowed at an early age, she married on June 15, 1682 - out of love - Emmerich Thököly (1657–1705), who was 14 years her junior and later Prince of Transylvania . After the imperial approval had been granted, the wedding was performed in an evangelical rite by the Lutheran pastor Miklós Lipóczy, which was certainly unusual for the devout Catholic at the time. The wedding of Ilona Zrinyi and Emmerich Thököly turned out to be rather modest in view of the aristocratic circles of the time. The bride's family was represented by Colonel Johann Zrínyi . Colonel Philipp Sanseverino Saponara represented the imperial court. The counties Sáros and the city Bártfa also sent envoys.

With Thököly, Ilona Zrinyi distinguished herself in the insurgent ranks supported by the Ottoman Empire . She became famous for her heroic defense of the Plankenburg near Munkatsch (ung. Munkács, today Mukatschewo ) against a siege army of the imperial troops between 1685 and 1688. After the castle was abandoned in 1688, she and her daughter Julianna were first taken to an Austrian Ursuline monastery and interned there. Her two children were separated from her. The daughter Julianna came under the tutelage of the then Primate of Hungary and Archbishop of Gran Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch and the underage Franz was taken to the Jesuit college in Neuhaus in Bohemia for further education.

After Helena returned to Hungary a few years later on the occasion of a prisoner of war exchange, she had to go into exile in the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey ) in 1699 as a result of the Karlowitz Peace . She settled with her second husband Emmerich Thököly in Nikodemia, today's İzmit, where she died in exile on February 18, 1703. Her remains were laid to rest in the Catholic Saint Benoit Church in Istanbul . After the death of her son Franz Rákóczi II, he was also buried in the same church. According to a report by his companion and secretary Kelemen Mikes from 1735, who took care of the burial of Rákóczi, Ilona Zrinyi was only able to recover the skull, which was allegedly reburied in Rákóczi’s coffin. On October 7, 1889, the graves of Ilona Zrínyi and Franz Rákóczi II were reopened, after having obtained permission from the Patriarch of Constantinople . At this opening it was found that both graves were intact, whereby the statement made by Mikes Kelemen could be refuted.

In 1906 the remains of Ilona Zrínyi were exhumed together with her son, Franz Rákóczi II. And his companions and brought to Kosice , where they were reburied in the Elisabeth Cathedral .

In the mirror of history

The Plankenburg in the present

After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867, the era of dualism began. After more than 150 years, the Hungarian nation remembered its earlier heroes who died in exile in Turkey. The political disputes between Austria and old Hungary subsided and a time of political understanding began. As early as 1873, Semplin County submitted a petition to the Hungarian Parliament calling for the bones of Prince Rákóczi and his fellow sufferers to be returned from exile in Turkey. Other counties and free cities joined this petition.

The Rákóczi crypt in the Elisabeth Cathedral in Košice. In the center is the sarcophagus in which Franz II Rákóczi was buried together with his mother Ilona Zrínyi and his son Joseph

Thereupon, in 1889, a Hungarian delegation headed by MP Kálmán Thály (* 1839, † 1909) traveled to Turkey to see for themselves the integrity of the remains of the prince and his companions. At the same time negotiations with the Turkish government regarding the repatriation took place. In order to remove the legal obstacles, the Hungarian Parliament had to annul or repeal the "Exile Ordinance" Articles XLIX, §2 and §3 from 1715, in which Francis II. Rákóczi and his companions were declared political enemies of the homeland were. The corresponding parliamentary resolution was passed on October 23, 1906 and was confirmed a day later by Emperor Franz Joseph I (* 1830, † 1916). With that, all obstacles that stood in the way of a return were removed. The reburial can be described as one of the most pompous events of the Hungarian Kingdom during the time of the Danube Monarchy . The coffins were first transported by ship across the Bosporus and then transferred to a special train. This homecoming turned out to be a triumphant reception of the dead Rákóczi by the Hungarian nation. On the way, the train stopped at various stations where holy masses were celebrated and prayers were said with a large participation of the population . The first destination of the train was Budapest , where on October 28, 1906 the coffins were unloaded in a majestic and dignified procession through the city to St. Stephen's Basilica , where a solemn requiem was held.

On October 29, 1906, the coffins were transported to Košice (the former "capital" of the Kurutz movement, which at that time belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary) and buried with great pomp in the crypt in the Elisabeth Cathedral built for this purpose . Because Košice was the "Rákóczi town" and the center of the Kurutz movement, Rákóczi and his companions were also buried in this city - only the remains of the Protestant "Kurutz king" Emmerich Thököly were transferred to the New Evangelical Church of Kesmark .

This burial in Kosice was seen as a symbolic act of national reconciliation between Austria and Hungary.

Even today, Helene von Serin is very much admired in Hungary.

progeny

From his marriage to Franz I. Rákóczi there were three children:

Her second marriage to Emmerich Thököly had four children, but all of them died in childhood:

  • István (* 1683)
  • Erzsébet (* / †?)
  • NN name unknown (* / †?)
  • Zsuzanna (born October 13, 1694 in Belgrade , † 1695 in Bulgaria )

literature

Literary processing

The subject has been dealt with truthfully several times in Hungarian literature.

The writer Szentmihályné Szabó Maria (* 1888, † 1982) wrote a trilogy about it:

  • Lórántffy Zsuzsanna (1938)
  • Örök társak (1938)
  • Zrínyi Ilona (1939)

Zsófia Dénes (* 1885, † 1987) wrote the biographical novel Zrínyi Ilona (1959) and the Hungarian writer László Passuth (* 1900, † 1979) paid tribute to this period in his book Sasnak körme közöt (1956).

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Klipp: Die Rákóczi, p. 63ff (see literature)
  2. ^ Franz I. Rákóczi died on July 8, 1676.
  3. ^ Ursuline monastery in Klagenfurt. A memorial plaque in the church reminds us that she lived in the monastery from 1667 to 1735.
    Source: "The Ursulines in Klagenfurt", 1995, Carinthia, p. 128.
  4. ↑ Ilona Zrínyi was exchanged in 1692 for the Austrian field marshal Donat Johann Heißler , who was captured by Emmerich Thököly on August 21, 1689 near Zernyest after the lost battle .
  5. ↑ The Saint Benoit Church was founded in 1427, it is the oldest Catholic church in Istambul.
  6. ↑ Quoted from István Seres, see web link.
  7. ↑ In addition to Franz II. Rákóczi, his mother Helena von Serin, her second husband Emmerich Thököly, Count Anton Esterházy de Galántha (* 1676, † 1722 in Rododsto), the Kuruc governor Miklós Sibrik († 1735 in Rododsto), the Kuruc General Miklós Bercsényi (* 1665, † 1725 in Rodosto) and his wife, Countess Kristina Csáky (* 1654, † 1723 in Rodosto).
  8. ↑ The wedding was performed in Cologne Cathedral by Archbishop Joseph Clemens Kajetan of Bavaria (1671–1723).
  9. ↑ Because of this late birth of a daughter, some historians doubt the year of birth given for Ilona Zrínyi (1643). At the birth of her youngest daughter, the mother would have been 51 years old, which was not impossible, but rather unlikely for the time.
personal data
SURNAME Zrinski, Jelena
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Serin, Helena Countess of; Ilona, ​​Zrínyi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Croatian nobles from the Zrinski family
DATE OF BIRTH 1643
PLACE OF BIRTH Wosail, Croat. Ozalj , Hungarian Ozaly, Modrus-Fiume County , Kingdom of Hungary
DATE OF DEATH February 18, 1703
Place of death Nicomedia , Ottoman Empire