Zapolyaye, Imre

Imre (Mirko) from birth belonged to the Magnat class, being a representative of a noble family of Hungarian feudal lords Zapolyai or Zapolye ( Hungarian. Zapolyai, Szapolyai ). Mirko is a direct descendant of the Croatian hero Tvrde Zapolje ^[1] . Mirko - the son of Vladislav Zapolyai, the owner of Shoymosh , and his first wife Dorothea; brother of Istvan and Miklos Zapolyaya .

Mirko distinguished himself in the service of the legendary Janos Hunyadi . Since 1458, he held high posts at the court. For services he received from the son of Janos, King of Hungary Matthias I, in 1460 in the possession of Spisski Grad , the largest castle in present-day Slovakia , and in 1461 - Kezmarok .

On September 12, 1463, Matthias I concluded an alliance with Venice against the Turks in Petrovaradin . Near Gradisky, the Hungarian troops crossed the Sava and divided into two detachments, which on both sides approached the Bosnian fortress of Egg . The king commanded one detachment, and Mirko the other. October 10 began the siege of Egg. The Turks bravely defended the city, but were forced to surrender before Christmas on December 25th. The governor of Bosnia , the Yaik ban, Matthias appointed Mirko. At the same time, Mirko Zapolyai became known as the Croatian-Slavonic-Dalmatian ban.

On July 12, 1464, the army of the great vizier Mahmud Pasha Angelovich approached the Egg. The Hungarian garrison withstood all Turkish attacks. Being in Goryanima, Mirko Zapolyai, learning about the siege of Egg, moved to help and drove off the Turks. On August 22, the Sultan sent fresh forces to Bosnia. For his part, the king, at the head of a large army, again crossed the Sava. In October, Matthias I besieged the Zvornik fortress. The Bosnian governor Muhammad Minetovich provided Zvorn with food and ammunition in advance. The siege dragged on ... The king ordered Mirko to appear under Zvornik, but he, due to a serious wound, could not. As a result, the king dismissed Mirko from the post of ban of Bosnia and Croatia, appointing Janos Ace in his place. The next year, in 1465, Matthias appointed Mirko Zapolyai as the zupan of Spis and Orava .

Mirko led an independent foreign policy, as a result of which in the same year 1465 his relations with the king became aggravated again, and in 1467 Mirko Zapolyai became one of the leaders of the opposition and mass party of Semigrad (Transylvanian) feudal lords who opposed Matthias I.

In 1468, after the suppression of the rebels, Mirko was forgiven by King Matthias. And took part in a military campaign against the king of the Czech Republic, Jiri from Podebrad . The war for the possession of the Czech Republic extended for ten years (1468-1478). In 1471, Mirko joined the rebellion against King Matthias, which was led by the Archbishop of Esztergom, Croat Ivan Vitez . The rebels accused Matthias of indifference to the fate of the Croatian lands, methodically ravaged by the Ottomans ... But after the death of the archbishop, Mirko Zapolyai reconciled once again with King Matthias. In 1475, Matthias I made Mirko the royal locum tenens.

In 1486, Imre Mirko Zapolyai became the palatine of the Kingdom of Hungary . He died on September 12, 1487 and was buried in the Spissky church.

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