| Siege of Novi Zrin (1664) | |||||||
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| Part of theCroatian–Ottoman wars andOttoman–Habsburg wars | |||||||
 Novi Zrin Castle, situated on the right bank of theMura River (Muhr flus), in 1664, before it was destroyed. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 .svg) Nikola Zrinski,Ban (viceroy) ofCroatia.jpg) .svg) General Wolfgang Julius count ofHohenlohe General Peter count ofStrozzi † |   Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha,Grand Vizier Ismail Pasha BosniakEvliya Çelebi | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~ 3,000Croatian and other (mostlyGerman (~1,200) andHungarian (~700)) defenders (not far in the open fields around 27,000-30,000 men encamped awaited the outcome of the battle) | 70,000[1] – 100,000 Ottomans andTatars | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| ~ Unknown | ~ Unknown | ||||||
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Thesiege ofNovi Zrin (New Zrin Castle);[2] Croatian:Utvrda Novi Zrin; Hungarian:Új-Zrínyivár; Turkish:Zerinvar) in June/July 1664 was last of the military conflicts between theCroatian forces (with allies) led byNikola Zrinski,Ban (viceroy) ofCroatia, and theOttoman army commanded byKöprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha,Grand Vizier, dealing with possession ofNovi Zrin Castle, defended byCroats, situated on the bank and marshy islands ofMura River, near the border line between northernCroatia and southwestern part ofHungary, at the time occupied by the Ottomans. The battle resulted in destruction[1] of the castle, and retreat of the Croatian crew, which was forced to withdraw to safer territory of inland Croatia.
Despite local skirmishes and battles along the Ottoman border withCroatia,Hungary andTransylvania at the beginning of the 1660s, there was a period of unstable and insecure (tacit assumption) temporary peace between theHabsburg monarchy and theOttoman Empire. It seemed that both sides wanted to keep it; however,Leopold I of Habsburg, twenty-year-old inexperienced Emperor, under strong influence of his advisors, feared Ottoman campaign towardsVienna and possible siege of the Austrian capital, so he kept the majority of his military forces close to Vienna.
At the same time, Nikola Zrinski, Croatian ban and brave and skillful warrior, well-known all over Europe, demanded support from the Viennese court to consolidate and reinforce the border line in northern Croatia, by constructing newfortifications that would parry and neutralize the Ottoman threat fromKanije Eyalet in the occupied southwestern Hungary, but with no success. In 1661 Zrinski started construction of new stronghold - Novi Zrin Castle, on his own, at the confluence of the Mura River with theDrava, finishing it during 1662. Since then, the castle was attacked several times by the Ottomans, especially in 1663, but its defence was solid and successful.
At the beginning of June 1664 a large Ottoman army, numbering up to 100,000 men (some sources mention even much more), including around 40,000 Ottoman and 30,000Tatar fighters, led personally by the Grand Vizier Köprülü, was moving fromConstantinople to the northwest and approaching Novi Zrin (later to fight in theBattle of Saint Gotthard on 1 August 1664). The defenders of Novi Zrin consisted mostly of Croatian and German soldiers (around 3,000 men in total), while the majority of the Habsburg army (30,000 men) under command ofRaimondo Montecuccoli, encamped not far from the battle field, awaited the outcome of the battle.
On 5 June 1664 Köprülü orderedsiege and continuous attacks upon the castle. After a few weeks of fighting, with exhausted defenders receiving only insignificant reinforcements from the Emperor's headquarters, the Turks managed to diglagums, or tunnels, below thebastions and ignitedgunpowder to blow them up. On 7 July 1664 the strong explosions destroyed parts of the walls, making big holes. Aggressors consequently rushed and penetrated into the castle.
As the siege of Novi Zrin was ongoing, Crimean Tatars led by kahn's son Ahmed Giray raided the Croatian countryside, which according toEvliya Celeby'sSeyahatnâme resulted in sack ofKrapina.[3]
The surviving and enormously outnumbered Croatian defenders were forced to withdraw from the castle and abandon the Mura River area. Ottoman commanders gave the order to their soldiers to destroy Novi Zrin completely to the ground and then marched their army northwards, first towardsKanije and then towards Saint Gotthard.
The destruction of Novi Zrin, together with a little bit later (on 10 August 1664) signed thePeace of Vasvár, that was recognized by many Croatian and Hungarianmagnates like Zrinski asunfavourable and shameful. Their tension with the Habsburg government lead to theZrinski–Frankopan conspiracy. Later in the same year Zrinski died, allegedly killed by awild boar, but the rest of magnates continued the conspiracy, which ended tragically in 1671.
Novi Zrin was never rebuilt.[1] Today there is only amemorialobelisk on the place where the castle once was.
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