Zrinski family

 ( Croatian Nobility ) 

Paul I's grandson was the first Zrinski, Juraj III. Šubić of Bribir, who, after the move to Zrin, took the title Juraj I. Zrinski Tvrtko I, became the Ban of Bosnia and from 1377 the King of Bosnia. Their niece and adopted daughter, Elizabeta Kotromanić (Elisabeth of Bosnia), married Louis I the Great. Elizabeth's and Louis' daughters succeeded their father and became queens in their own right, as Mary of Hungary and Jadwiga of Poland.

The Zrinskis were Croats and played a crucial role in the history of the state, both before their arrival in Zrin and later. On the other hand, they are also identified as hungarus or natio hungarica, which means "somebody from the Kingdom of Hungary", regardless of the language spoken and nationality. They were among many noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary.

In 1547, as the Ottoman threat to lands in the vicinity of Zrin grew, King Ferdinand I gave to Ban Nikola IV Zrinski lands in Međimurje County, in the northernmost part of Croatia, with its capital Čakovec, which the members of the family held for the next 145 years (1546-1691). Following the move, the family kept the name Zrinski. Because they lived, worked, and intermarried with nobility from all parts of the multiethnic kingdom, it was natural and expected that they should be fluent in four or five languages. It is certain, that Nikola Zrinski spoke at least Croatian, Hungarian, Italian language, Turkish language, and of course Latin. It is of interest that he was the most prominent Hungary poet in the 17th century, while his brother Petar Zrinski is known for his poems in Croatian.

Among the many notable personalities of the family, there were a few women. Katarina Zrinska (1625–1673), a noted poet, was born in the Frankopan family, and, having married Petar Zrinski, became the member of the Zrinski family. Her daughter, Jelena Zrinska, was the wife of Francis I Rákóczi, the prince of Transylvania.

The Zrinski and the Frankopan families were the two most prominent noble families in Croatia in 16th and 17th century and they both perished in 1671 when Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan were charged with treason by the Emperor Leopold I, owing it to their role in the so-called Zrinski-Frankopan Plot (in Hungarian historiography called the Wesselényi Plot), and executed in Wiener Neustadt. The estates of Zrinski and Frankopan families were confiscated and their surviving members relocated.

The remains of Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan were transferred from Austria to Croatia in 1919 and buried in the Zagreb Cathedral.

The last male Zrinski descendants were Adam Zrinski (1662–1691), son of Nikola Zrinski, a Habsburg Monarchy army lieutenant-colonel. He inherited from his father the large and valuable Bibliotheca Zriniana. He died in the Battle of Slankamen in 1691, accidentally shot in his back by one of his fellow soldiers. Ivan Antun Zrinski (1654–1703), son of Petar Zrinski and Katarina Zrinska, was Habsburg army officer, who was accused of high treason and died after years in dungeons.