Ulrich of Celje | |
|---|---|
| Count of Celje, Ortenburg and Zagorje | |
 Portrait (from ca. 1700) | |
| Coat of arms | .svg) |
| Holding(s) | County of Celje,Slavonia |
| Born | 16 February 1406 Krško |
| Died | 9 November 1456 (aged 50) Belgrade |
| Noble family | Counts of Celje |
| Spouse | Katarina Branković |
| Issue Details | Hermann IV Elizabeth Catherine George Albert |
| Father | Frederick II of Celje |
| Mother | Elizabeth of Frankopan |
Ulrich II, orUlrich of Celje (Slovene:Ulrik Celjski / Urh Celjski;Hungarian:Cillei Ulrik;German:Ulrich II von Cilli; 16 February 1406 – 9 November 1456), was the lastPrincelyCount of Celje. At the time of his death, he was captain general andde factoregent ofHungary,ban (governor) ofSlavonia,Croatia and Dalmatia and feudal lord of vast areas in present-daySlovenia,Croatia,Bosnia,Austria, andSlovakia. He was also a claimant to theBosnian throne.[1] He was killed by agents of theHunyadi clan under unknown circumstances, which plunged Hungary into civil unrest that was resolved a year later by the sudden death of kingLadislas the Posthumous and the election ofMatthias Corvinus, the son ofJohn Hunyadi and Ulrich's son-in-law, as king. Ulrich's possessions in theHoly Roman Empire were inherited byEmperor Frederick III, while his possessions in Hungary were reverted to the crown.
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Ulrich II[2] was the son of CountFrederick II ofCelje and his wifeElizabeth, a scion of theCroatianHouse of Frankopan and a grand daughter ofFrancesco I da Carrara, lord ofPadua. Little is known of his youth. On 20 April 1434 he marriedKantakuzina Katarina Branković, daughter ofĐurađ Branković, despot ofSerbia.,[3] and the sister ofMara Branković.
His influence in the affairs of theKingdom of Hungary and theHoly Roman Empire soon overshadowed that of his father, with whom he was raised to aPrince of the Empire by EmperorSigismund of Luxembourg in 1436. This led to feuds with the AustrianHouse of Habsburg, wounded in their rights asStyrian overlords of Celje, ending, however, in an alliance with the Habsburg KingAlbert II of Germany, who made Ulrich his lieutenant inBohemia for a short while. Upon King Albert's death in 1439, Ulrich took up the cause of his widowElizabeth of Luxembourg, and presided at the coronation of her infant sonLadislaus the Posthumous with theHoly Crown of Hungary in 1440.[3]
A feud with the HungarianHunyadi family followed, embittered by John Hunyadi's failed attack on the forces of theOttoman Empire at theBattle of Varna in 1444—while Ulrich remained idle—and Hunyadi's refusal to recognize Ulrich's claim toBosnia on the death of KingTvrtko II (1443). In 1446 Hunyadi, now regent ofHungary, harried the Celje territories inCroatia-Slavonia; however his power was broken at theSecond Battle of Kosovo in 1448, and Count Ulrich was able to lead a successful crusade, nominally in the Habsburg interest, into Hungary (1450).
In 1452, he forced EmperorFrederick III to hand over the boy king Ladislaus to his keeping, practically making him ruler of Hungary. In 1454 his power was increased by his succession to his father's vast wealth; and after the death of John Hunyadi at theSiege of Belgrade in 1456, he was named Captain General of Hungary by Ladislaus,[3] an office previously held by his rival.
Ulrich's triumph did not last: On 8 November, he entered the fortress ofBelgrade with King Ladislaus; the next day he was killed by agents of John Hunyadi's sonLászló in unknown circumstances. With him died the male line of the Counts of Celje.[4]He was buried in the Minorite Church of St. Mary in Celje. The eulogy was delivered by the famous humanist rhetorician and prelateJohann Roth.[5]
Ulrich's estates were claimed by his widow Catherine, his son-in-lawMatthias Corvinus - the younger brother of László Hunyadi - as well asCount John of Gorizia, and Emperor Frederick III of Austria, who outlived his rivals.
Ulrich's high ambitions were sharply criticized by Aeneas Sylvius (the laterPope Pius II), although his writings were politically minded, as he had served as the personal secretary of Emperor Frederick III at the height of his conflict with Ulrich.
On his mother's side, Ulrich was the closest surviving male descendant ofFrancesco I da Carrara, lord ofPadua. However, he is not known to have ever pressed claim on theCarraresi inheritance.
At the time of his death, Ulrich held around 12 towns, 30market towns and 125 castles: around 20 in Carinthia, Carniola, and Slavonia each, and the rest mostly in Styria.[6][7] He owned around a third of all castles in modern-day Slovenia at the time.[8]
Some of his most important possessions are listed below.
On 20 April 1434, Ulrich marriedPrincess Katarina Brankovic of Serbia. She was a daughter ofDespotĐurađ Branković of Serbia andPrincess Eirene Kantakouzene of Byzantium. Through this marriage, Ulrich became the brother-in-law of the Ottoman sultanMurad II.Ulrich and Katarina had five children, all of whom died before their parents:[9]
| Ulrich of Sanneck | Catherine of Heunburg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Frederick I of Celje ∞ Diemut of Wallsee | Władysław I of Poland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Casimir III of Poland | Ulrich I of Celje ∞ Adelaide of Ortenburg | Hermann I of Celje | Catherine of Bosnia | Elizabeth of Poland ∞Charles I of Hungary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anna of Poland | William of Celje | Hermann II, Count of Celje ∞ Anna Schaunberg | Elizabeth of Bosnia | Louis I of Hungary and Poland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anna of Celje | Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland | Anna ∞Nicholas II Garai | Frederick II, Count of Celje ∞Elizabeth of Frankopan | Barbara of Cilli | Sigismund of Hungary and Bohemia | Mary, Queen of Hungary | Jadwiga of Poland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Catherine of Gara ∞Henry VI, Count of Gorizia | Ulrich II, Count of Celje ∞Katarina Branković | Elizabeth of Luxembourg ∞Albert II of Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leonhard of Gorizia | John II, Count of Gorizia | Elizabeth of Celje ∞Matthias Corvinus | Ladislas Posthumous | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ancestors of Ulrich II, Count of Celje | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cilli, Ulrich".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 366.| International | |
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