Nikola Šubić Zrinski

Nikola IV Zrinski or Miklós IV Zrínyi (, ; 1507/1508 – 7 September 1566), also commonly known as Nikola Šubić Zrinski, was a Croatian-Hungarian nobleman and general, Ban of Croatia from 1542 until 1556, royal master of the treasury from 1557 until 1566, and a descendant of the Croatian noble families Zrinski and Kurjaković. During his lifetime the Zrinski family became the most powerful noble family in the Kingdom of Croatia. Zrinski became well known across Europe for his involvement in the Siege of Szigetvár (1566), where he heroically died stopping Ottoman Empire's Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent's advance towards Vienna. The importance of the battle was considered so great that the French clergyman and statesman Cardinal Richelieu described it as "the battle that saved civilization". Zrinski came to be considered a role model of a faithful and sacrificial warrior, Christian hero as well as a national hero in both Croatia and Hungary, and is often portrayed in artworks. Early life Nikola was a Croat. He was born as one of the six children of Nikola III of the Zrinski family from the noble tribe of Šubić, and of Jelena Karlović, sister of future Croatian Ban Ivan Karlović of the Kurjaković family from the noble tribe of Gusić. His birthplace is unknown, but it is generally considered to have been Zrin Castle. The same is about his birth date, for which different primary sources give dates ranging between 1507, 1508 and 1518, but according to them and other evidence it is considered to have been in 1507 or 1508, with 1508 most often cited in scholarship. Activities Zrinski already distinguished himself in the early twenties during the Siege of Vienna in 1529, for which was awarded with a horse and golden chain. After the death of his father Nikola III in 1534, Nikola IV with older brother Ivan I inherited estates in Pounje, and they simultaneously started to fortify them as well as make contacts with the Ottomans, to whom they paid a yearly tribute like their father. However, between 1537 and 1540 they started fighting against Gazi Husrev-beg's forces for the control of fort Dubica.