1539: The death of Johann Katzianer

 Informal translation from: “Povijest Hrvata od najstarijih vremena do svršetka XIX stoljeća”, volume 3, part 1, by Vjekoslav Klaić, 1911.  pp 138-140

The death of Johann Katzianer 

In the Spring of 1539, Spanish army units and soldiers from Austria, protecting Slavonia under the command of Captain Nikola Jurišić, is charged with a weighty task: to capture, by any means necessary, the fugitive Johann (Hans) Katzianer, who has been branded a traitor by royal decree.  After his flight from captivity in Susjedgrad, Katzianer travels to Gvozdansko and then seeks refuge with Ivan and Nikola Zrinski, imploring them to temporarily grant him their fortress at Kostajnica on the Una River [which is close to the border with Osmanlı occupied lands].  In exchange, he promises to pledge one of his own towns as collateral.

The Zrinski brothers, mindful that Kostajnica is the “head and neck of the Kingdom of Croatia and their patrimony”, accede to his entreaties.  They yield the fortress to him on the solemn oath that he will return it once he regains the favour of King Ferdinand.  However, upon securing control of Kostajnica, Katzianer spurns his pledge and no longer seeks to win the king’s favour, but turns instead to secret dealings with the Türks.  He even writes a letter to the Zrinski brothers, declaring his intent to defect to the Türkish Sultân (qualiter ad caesarem transibit) and invites them to join him.  Should they refuse, he threatens to deliver Kostajnica into the hands of the Türks.

In Kostajnica, while Katzianer endeavours to draw the Zrinski brothers into Türkish protection, he also seeks to convince his friend Ivan Kaštelanović, commander of Spanish army units in Slavonia, of his innocence.  In a missive dated April 19, 1539, Katzianer defends himself:

"I inform you, that I have learned of your intention to arrest my servants (familiares) and seize their properties.  God is my witness that I do not understand why your excellency is doing this, for my servants, as loyal Croats, have upheld their loyalty to His Majesty by guarding the frontier alongside me for the benefit of the kingdom.  My enemies have maliciously slandered me before you, claiming that I have acted in a pagan manner to bring the enemy into the kingdom. I beg you not to believe such false words...

It is true that dealings with the Türks have occurred, but only to preserve the frontier, where I reside.  Accusations that I intend to lead a Türkish force into the kingdom, including my own servants among their ranks, are unfounded.  The Türk has no need of such help, as he already commands a vast army to invade and ravage the kingdom. If it were within my power, I would destroy all the Türks who threaten this land...

As for news, I inform you that my spy has returned from Bosna with reliable intelligence: the Paşa of Bosna has gathered his army and intends to invade the Kingdom of Croatia.  Great harm looms unless help arrives swiftly."

The collusion of Hans Katzianer with the Türks and his threats to hand over Kostajnica to the Sultân deeply affects the Zrinski brothers.  Thus, they begin plotting how to rid themselves of this unwelcome guest.  On July 9, 1539, they met in Ivanić with Supreme Captain Jurišić to negotiate.  Jurišić promises to intervene with the king on their behalf to secure for them a letter of safe conduct (literas, quae vocantur salvus conductus), pardoning them for any transgressions against His Majesty.  Additionally, the king will grant them, and their subjects, the towns of Susjedgrad, Zelin, Petrovljan, and Kostajnica, and issue letters of inheritance (literas hereditarias) for Medvedgrad, Rakovec, and Lukavec.  If Jurišić fails to secure these promises from the king by January 1, 1540, he pledges to cede to them his own town of Kőszeg, along with its villages, revenues, and associated lands.  However, this is unnecessary because, on July 24, 1539, acting on Jurišić's advice, King Ferdinand issues a charter to the Zrinski brothers by which, all the promises made to them by Jurišić, are solemnly confirmed and he promises to fulfill them by the new year.  Notably, Ferdinand writes that he is making these concessions to the Zrinskis not only for their past and future services but also "for certain, otherwise different reasons.” 

There is no doubt that the agreement between the Zrinskis and Jurišić, as well as the promises of King Ferdinand, contributed greatly to the brothers deciding to free themselves of Katzianer.  What happens next is not certain; only this is certain, that Nikola Zrinski had Katzianer killed in Kostajnica on October 27. Historian Miklós Istvánffy tells the story like this: 

Ferdinand wrote a secret letter to Nikola Zrinski, reproaching him for ceding Kostajnica to Katzianer and urging him to either arrest or execute him.  Nikola then travelled to Kostajnica, where Katzianer hosted him.  On October 27, 1539, after the banquet, when Katzianer retired to his bedchamber, Zrinski sent two of his soldiers, Croats by birth, Juraj Grabus and Ivan Hojsić, to Katzianer, while he [Zrinski] went to the city gates, where he engaged various people and guards in conversation to distract them and prevent any interference with his plan. Grabus and Hojsić took the stairs to the upper floor,  pretending to deliver a message of personal importance to Katzianer.  After Katzianer dismissed his companions and admitted them, Grabus attacked him first, wounding him in the belly with a dagger.  Though mortally wounded, Katzianer reached for weapons hanging on the wall, but Hojsić struck him on the head with an axe, and Katzianer fell to the ground dead.  Then, they cut off his head and threw his corpse into the city courtyard.  The head was sent to King Ferdinand in Vienna.

Historian Ferenc Forgách offers a different account, stating that:

Nikola himself killed Katzianer out of greed for his wealth.  One day, Zrinski dined with Katzianer in Kostajnica, and after the meal, he drew Katzianer’s sword out of its scabbard, under the pretext of examining it, and then killed Katzianer with it.

Whatever the precise details, the murder sets off ripples of controversy. Three days later, on October 30, Nikola Mikulić, the castellan of Kraljeva Velika, writes a brief letter to Ban Tamás Nádasdy, who, along with Ban Petar Keglević, had been staying in Zagreb since October 16, stating:  “As for the murder of Hans Katzianer by Count Zrinski, I trust Your Eminence is already aware of it.”  Mikulić, unperturbed by the killing, focuses on Türkish preparations in Bosnia and Požega.  Followings orders from the Slavonian Ban, he dispatches horsemen and footmen to Požega, Caklovec, and Savski Brod near Gradiška, where Murad Beğ, the sançakbeğ of Klis, is mobilizing an army for a new attack into Slavonia.

The death of Katzianer causes greater concern among King Ferdinand’s adversaries.  On November 6, from Papa, Bálint Török writes to Ban Nádasdy, expressing disapproval of Katzianer's senseless (absurda) and miserable (misero) murder, which cannot be approved by anyone. He states: 

“To Your Majesty, we write in accordance with the duty of a faithful friend to advise you to guard your head (life) and your possessions.  We do not know enough, in whom we can trust, when the trampling of oaths is so common to everyone, that no thing is considered so insignificant, as to break the faith, which, we believe, Katzianer made a mistake with the princes, because otherwise he would not have trusted them.” 

Specifically because of this, many accused the Zrinski brothers of treachery and murder, forcing the brothers to take refuge under the special protection of King Ferdinand.  In a special petition to the king, Ivan and Nikola Zrinski explain that they removed Katzianer from his path neither for possessions nor dominion (pro nullis bonis nec dominio), but only for the sake of the Christian faith and His Majesty, and thus they request that Ferdinand gives them a letter of grace ensuring that neither they nor their descendants will ever face accusations.  They also ask the king to grant them the towns of Susjedgrad, Stubica, Petrovljan, Zelin, and Kostajnica, and further to confirm for all time their possession of Medvedgrad, Rakovec, and Lukavec, and for this they will forgive him all the debts, which he owes to their ancestors and to them.  They also ask that he secure their properties of the Vrana Priory until a debt of 12,000 forints, for which they bought it, is returned to them or their descendants.  Finally, they appeal to him, that he set an annual salary for the maintenance of 500 light horsemen, with whom they will faithfully serve the king and all of Christendom, and risk their property and heads for him. 

Ferdinand happily forgives the Zrinski brothers for everything they had ever committed (eo vel alio nomine), frees them from any royal disfavour, which they had earned, and decrees that: “…no one may, for them or their heirs, reproach them for the said incident, nor it be turned into a crime, nor insultingly attributed, nor in any way may offend their honour.”  In response, the brothers issue another statement, that they will always recognize him as their rightful king, avoid any negotiations with the Türks or other enemies, and always persist in due loyalty and obedience as loyal subjects.  

The cities of Susjedgrad, Stubica, Petrovljani, Zelina and Kostajnica cannot, for now be recorded to them, because the lands are not in their hands at this time; regarding Medvedgrad, Rakovec and Lukavac, as for the property of the Vrana Priory, he will do as they wish.  Finally, regarding the salary for the maintenance of 500 light horsemen, the supreme captain Nikola Jurišić will negotiate with them.  In addition, Ferdinand will send commissioners who will inspect the border cities and arrange everything so that they are more suitable for defence.

While the Zrinski brothers can expect rewards from Ferdinand for removing Hans Katzianer from his path, the supporters of king János Zápolya, including Sultân Süleymân, become cold to them.  Moreover, Süleymân is filled with such anger at the Zrinski brothers that he demands that Ferdinand punish them for the murder.  He threatens that if Ferdinand does not punish them, that he will punish them himself by sending his sançakbeğs of Bosna and Smederevo against them, to destroy them and their ancestral lands.  As the possessions of the Zrinski brothers are deemed the gateway and shield of Croatia, this poses a grave threat to the entire Kingdom of Croatia.  Thus, much depends on Ferdinand's envoy to Istanbul, Hieronymus Łaski, a former supporter of János Zápolya, who had, two years earlier, aligned himself with Ferdinand.  Łaski’s mission is to discredit Zápolya before the Sultân, thus facilitating Ferdinand's plans to neutralize his rival.

Afterwards

Early in 1540, Osmanlı soldiers cross the Una River and attack Pakrac, and then the Zrinski estate at Pounje, with a desire to strike at other Zrinski towns and forts, including Kostajnica.  Zrinski’s mining town of Gvozdansko is besieged but while the fort holds, the mines are destroyed.  The city of Zrin, the estate from which the Šubić family took its name, Zrinski meaning ‘of Zrin’, is besieged but Nikola IV Zrinski defends valiantly and keeps the city.  Calls for aid are sent out, including to Queen Anne, wife of King Ferdinand, but no aid arrives because the Habsburgs fear breaking the peace treaty with the Sultan.  The Zrinski estates suffer great harm from both physical destruction and the loss of countless people taken captive.