The Zrinski family, known as Zrínyi in Hungarian, was an noble family from Croatia influential in the Kingdom of Hungary during the period in history marked by the Ottoman wars in Europe.
The Zrinskis, "those of Zrin", were initially created when the King of Hungary retaliated against the Šubić family for their disobedience during a dynastic struggle between the Arpads and the Angevins, and gave them the Zrin estate in Međimurje.
It seems to be hard to decide what nationality they belonged to, because the idea of nation as we see it today evolved only in the 18th-19th century. Those times people other types of identities. The Zrínyis/Zrinskis surely had an identity called hungarus or natio hungarica, that means somebody from the kingdom of Hungary, regardless of the language they speak. They were one of many noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary.
Because they lived, worked and intermarried with nobility from all parts of the multiethnic kingdom, it was natural and expected to be fluent in four or five languages. It is sure, that Nicholas Zrinski spoke at least Croatian, Hungarian, Italian, Turkish and of course Latin. It is also interesting that he is the most prominent Hungarian poet in the 17th century, while his brother Peter is known for his Croatian poems.
The family gave four bans of Croatia:
- Nicholas Šubić Zrinski (Nikola Šubić Zrinski in Croatian, Szigeti Zrínyi Miklós in Hungarian) (1508-1566, ban: 1542-1556)
- George Zrinski (Juraj Zrinski in Croatian, Zrínyi György in Hungarian) (ban: 1622-1626)
- Nicholas Zrinski (Nikola Zrinski in Croatian, Zrínyi Miklós in Hungarian) (1620-1664, ban: 1647-1664)
- Peter Zrinski (Petar Zrinski in Croatian, Zrínyi Péter in Hungarian) (ban: 1665-1670)
Joannes Torquatus de Corbavia who was the ban between 1521 and 1524 had also married one Helen Zrinski. Another Helen Zrinski was the wife of Francis Rakoczy and of Imre Thököly (whom she married in 1682).
During Stanley's expedition in Africa in 1882, his explorer and confidant Dragutin Lerman in Congo discovered the waterfalls which he named "Zrinski chutes."
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