TheHouse of Erdődy de Monyorókerék et Monoszló (alsoHouse of Erdödy) is the name of an oldHungarian-Croatian[1] noble family with possessions inHungary andCroatia.[2] Elevated to theHungarian nobility in 1459, the family was subsequently raised to the rank of Count in 1485. In 1565, the family was then recognised by theHabsburg monarchy, which granted them the titleReichsgraf / Gräfin. The family was raised again in 1566 to the rank ofReichfürst; but the death the following year of the recipient (Péter II) prevented the title from being registered and so it did not become hereditary.
The family was first raised in a document dated 1187, under the name ofBakoch de genere Erdewd. It received the title of Count in 1485. (The first hereditary count in Hungary wasJohn Hunyadi in 1453 by KingLadislaus V). The family's origins were from the town ofErdőd (Romanian:Ardud, German:Erdeed) which is inSzatmár (now Satu Mare, Romania). They are barons of Monyorókerék (German:Eberau) and counts of Monoszló (Croatian:Moslavina). Monyorokerék is a small village in the south ofBurgenland (today Austria) near the Hungarian border. Monoszló is a region in central Croatia.
The Erdődy family originated from the Bakócz family, initially belonged to the serfdom at theDrágffy estates. They acquired wealth, whenTamás Bakócz became theArchbishop of Esztergom in 1497. After his death his estates were passed down to his nephew Peter and he took the name Erdődy.
Numerous members of the family held important offices:judges of the royal court,masters of the treasury,chamberlains,Croatian bans, bishops,Master[s] of the Horse and generals were among the members of the family. In 1607, because of the family's great contribution to theCroatian-Ottoman Wars, KingRudolph named the family theperpetual counts ofVaraždin County, and they consequently gave 17 župans up until 1845.[3][4]
The family owned many estates in western Hungary and in Croatia and were one of the largest landowners in the empire, making themmagnates of the empire. ThePalais Erdődy in Vienna, which was acquired by the Erdődy family from theEsterházys, suffered bombing damage duringWorld War II and was consequently demolished in 1955.
After the collapse of theAustro-Hungarian Empire, the Erdődys' possessions in the successor states of the monarchy were reduced, mostly through forced expropriation by theBéla Kun regime. This caused some of the family to flee west intoGermany andFrance.
DuringWorld War II, theBavarian royal family, relatives of the Erdődy family, stayed in the castles of Somlóvár and Vép, after they had fled from theNazis in Germany. The invasion of theSovietRed Army forced most descendants of the family to flee to the West and resulted in their complete expropriation and the destruction of most of their goods.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
