page_title: Međimurje County
section_title: Medieval history
hierarchical_section_title: Međimurje County / History / Medieval history
caption_attribution_description: English: Zrinski Castle in Čakovec - north view Hrvatski: Stari grad Zrinskih u Čakovcu - sjeverna strana
context_page_description: Međimurje County is a triangle-shaped county in the northernmost part of Croatia, roughly corresponding to the historical and geographical region of Međimurje. Despite being the smallest Croatian county by size, it is the most densely populated one. The county seat is Čakovec, which is also the largest city of the county.
  The county borders Slovenia in the north-west and Hungary in the east, with about 30 kilometers of Slovenian territory separating it from Austria. The south-eastern corner of the county is near the town of Legrad and the confluence of the Mura into the Drava. The closest cities include Varaždin, Koprivnica and Bjelovar in Croatia, Lendava, Murska Sobota and Maribor in Slovenia, as well as Nagykanizsa in Hungary and Graz in Austria. The Croatian capital of Zagreb is about 90 kilometers south-west of Čakovec.
  There are slopes of the Alpine foothills in the north-western part of the county, the Upper Međimurje, making it suitable for vineyards. The south-eastern part of the county, the Lower Međimurje, touches the flat Pannonian Plain.
context_section_description: The Hungarians occupied the region in 896 and expanded to the river Sava, but as the Principality of Hungary transformed to the Kingdom of Hungary, the borders with the Kingdom of Croatia were set along the river Drava. In 1102 Croatia entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary. During 13th century tradesmen and merchants (mostly ethnic Germans) started to arrive and began to develop the urban localities that are present today. Prelog (Perlak) was founded in 1264, shortly after the invasion of the Mongols in 1242, and the other settlements followed. Later it was part of Zala County. In the beginning of the 14th century, the area was ruled by powerful semi-independent oligarch Henrik Kőszegi.
  Čakovec (Csáktornya) got its name from Count Dimitry Csáky, who at the beginning of the 13th century erected the timber fortification that eventually was "Csáky's tower", mentioned for the first time in 1328. King Charles I named Čakovec as the capitol in 1333. In 1350, King Louis I. gave the land to viceroy (Ban) Stjepan I Lacković, a member of the ruling Lacković family of Transylvania. It remained Lacković property until 1397, when King Sigismund executed Stjepan II Lacković, and took back the area to the Crown.
  In 1405, the Celje family received Međimurje (Muraköz) as a gift from the Crown, and the land was mortgaged. The monastery in Goričan (Goritsán) managed the administration of the seat of the main territorial dominion as an attorney of the Celje family. King Matthias Corvinus bought the mortgage and donated the land to John I Ernuszt and his son, who were Jewish merchants from Sweden, living in Buda. The monastery in Goričan, which had managed the administration of the seat of the main territorial dominion, was dissolved. The seat of the administration of the main territorial dominion Goričan came under the administration of the Bishop of Ljubljana. It remained in the hands of the Ernušts until 1526, when the family died out without heir.
  Since 1526, the region became part of the Habsburg Monarchy, as did Kingdom of Hungary along with Croatia. It followed a succession and inheritance dispute between the Keglević family and the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand I. Since 1530 until 1790 Goričan was by interdictum under the administration of the Bishop of Zagreb as an attorney of both the Emperor and the Keglević family to prevent any violent confrontations between them both, but Čakovec became the seat of the administration of the main territorial dominion in 1546, because even the Bishop Simon Erdődy (1518–1543, Bishop of Zagreb) could not prevent a violent confrontation between the Emperor and Petar Keglević in 1542/43. In 1546 the Diet in Pressburg (Pozsony, today's Bratislava) approved the transfer of Čakovec and Međimurje to Nikola Šubić Zrinski.
  Rapid development began in 1547 under the ruling Zrinski family. In 1579 the craftsmen and merchants outside the walls of Čakovec Castle (csáktornyai kastély) were granted the right to trade; this was the beginning of the formal and legal city structure. The area was of importance as a trade center with Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia and Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary positioned nearby on the main roads, facilitating the exchange of goods, crafts and ideas. The region was also a military buffer zone against the expanding Ottoman Empire.
  Nikola Šubić Zrinski ruled as Nicholas IV (1508–1566). He was a hero of the Battle of Szigetvár of the Habsburg-Ottoman wars. Then followed his son, Juraj IV Zrinski (George IV), until 1603, and his grandson Nikola VI. Zrinski (Nicholas VI) until 1624. Next was another grandson, a brother of Nicholas VI, Juraj V Zrinski (George V). He was poisoned in 1626 by the general Albrecht Wallenstein in Pressburg and was buried in Pauline Monastery of Sveta Jelena (St. Helen in English) near Čakovec, next to the graves of his ancestors. He was followed by his son Nikola VII Zrinski (Nicholas VII), (1620–1664), a famous Croatian Ban. At the coronation of Ferdinand IV, he carried the sword of state and was made Captain General of Croatia. He was killed while hu
caption: Čakovec Castle
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