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| estate = Csesznek, Macedonia
| estate = Csesznek, Macedonia
| coat of arms = [[Image:Cseszneky comital big.jpg‎|200px]]
| coat of arms = [[Image:Cseszneky comital big.jpg‎|200px]]
| country =
| country = [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]], [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]
* [[Kingdom of Hungary]]
* [[Kingdom of Naples]]
* [[Kingdom of Poland]]
* [[Kingdom of Croatia]]
* [[Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia]]
* [[Grand Voivodeship of Macedonia]]
* [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| parent house = Clan Bána-Katapán
| parent house = Clan Bána-Katapán
| titles = <nowiki></nowiki>
| titles = <nowiki></nowiki>

Revision as of 15:57, 31 August 2010

House of Cseszneky
Parent houseClan Bána-Katapán
Country
Founded1263
FounderBaron Jakab Cseszneky
Current headCount László Cseszneky
Final rulerGrand Voivode Michael I Cseszneky
Titles
Estate(s)Csesznek, Macedonia
Deposition1949

The House of Cseszneky (pronounced [tʃɛsnɛki]) was one of the most prominent noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary. The Counts Cseszneky de Milvány et Csesznek have produced many individuals notable in Hungarian, Austrian, Slovak, Croatian, Italian, Macedonian and general European history and culture.

Name and origin

According to the tradition the Cseszneky family has descended from the Clan Bána, whose origin - in György Györffy's opinion - traces back to the 10th century.[1] Another notable historian, Erik Fügedi has proven that the Clan Bána was a collateral branch of the Clan Katapán (Koppán) descending from the princely house of the Pecheneg Talmat tribe.[2] According to the medieval Gesta Hungarorum, Ketel Cuman (in fact Pecheneg) khagan joined the people of Hungarian Grand Prince Álmos at Kiev in 884 CE. After the conquest of Hungary, one part of Ketel's clan settled down between Sátorhalom and Tolcsva river, whilst the other part where the Vág river falls into the Danube. At the bank of Vág Ketel's son, Alaptolma constructed the castle of Komárom, where later they were buried in a Pagan way.[3] The Clan Bána split off from the Katapáns and had its primeval estates around Bana village and in the Bakony mountains. They were known as Counts of Bana and Wildgraves of Bakony.[4]

The direct forefather of the Cseszneky family, Count Apa from the Clan Bána, is mentioned in a document from 1230. In accordance with this record, Pope Gregory IX investigated the complaint of Pannonhalma Abbey, since Count Apa and his son, Jakab had occupied the Benedictines' possessions and fishing places around Gönyű.[5] Another son of Apa, Mihály was mentioned in 1225 as King Andrew II's equerry, and later he rendered great service to King Béla IV during the Mongol invasion.[6] Mihály's son, another Jakab, who was royal swordbearer and lord of Trencsén Castle, constructed Csesznek Castle around 1263. He and his descendants took the name Cseszneky after ther ancestral home.[7]

Coat of arms and motto

The traditional coat of arms of the family consisted of a simple blason representing a dove as it can be seen in Count Mátyás Cseszneky's seal from 1597.[8]

King Ferdinand II by a royal patent dated on 8 March 1626 in Vienna granted to Benedek Cseszneky, his wife, Sára Kánya de Budafalva, also to Jakab Patonyi and his wife, Anna Kánya, furthermore to Boldizsár Kánya and his sister, Erzsébet a different coat of arms showing a pelican feeding her young with her blood.[9] Nevertheless, most of the family members continued using some sort of the ancient coat of arms with the dove.

The current comital standard was established in 1943. The family motto is a quote from Virgil's The Aeneid: Famam extendere factis (We extend our fame by our deeds).[10]

Nationality

The Cseszneky family have generally been known as a Hungarian noble family. However, their nationality has been an object of controversy. The controversy largely stems from the fact that during the lives of numerous family members the modern concept of nationality based on ethnicity had not yet been fully developed and the term Hungarian had a much broader geographic meaning than it does now. Many family members had been brought up in the culture of the Kingdom of Hungary, a multicultural state that had encompassed most of what today are known as Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Vojvodina, Transylvania, Subcarpathia, Transmurania and Burgenland. As a result of their ethnicity the principal language used at their homes and in private correspondence was Hungarian, but Csesznekys living in parts of the Kingdom of Hungary where other languages were spoken by the population also spoke those languages, especially German and Slavic languages.

Religion

In pre-Christian Hungary the ancestors of the Cseszneky family followed Tengrism, the ancient religion of the steppic equestrian civilizations. Tengrism has been fundamentally a monotheistic religion, though its followers have revered the spirits of ancestors and nature as well.

In the Middle Ages, the Csesznekys practiced Roman Catholicism, and often sacrificed their lives in the defense of Christendom by taking part in the Crusades or fighting the Mongol and Ottoman invaders. Several churches were built and patronized by the family all over the Kingdom of Hungary, they founded the Benedictine Abbey of Koppánmonostor and had strong ties with Pannonhalma Archabbey.[11]

In the late 16th century the family supported the Reformation, and most of its members became Protestants. Count György Cseszneky was an ardent supporter of Lutheranism and he built one of the first Protestant prayer houses in Hungary in his estates in Kisbabot.[12] Erzsébet Cseszneky, mother of the famous Lutheran theologian Mátyás Bél, is highly respected today in the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary and the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia as their benefactress.[13]

During the Counter-Reformation the main line of the Csesznekys re-embraced Catholicism. In recent times most family members have been christened Roman Catholic and some in the Reformed or Unitarian Churches.[14]

Count Gyula Cseszneky, Macedonian Grand Voivode, himself a Catholic, in 1943 founded the autonomous Macedonian Orthodox Church,[15] which was shortly abolished by the Greek ecclesiastical hierarchy, but then re-established in 1959 in the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Politics

Several prominent family members have been involved in domestic and foreign political arenas. They took an active part in the political life of the Kingdom of Hungary and held high military and court positions. They reached their splendour during the interregnum after the extinction of the Árpád dynasty, when they ruled vast regions as de facto sovereign counts of Csesznek and even declared war on King Wenceslas almost capturing him in the royal palace.[16]

Under the Angevin kings of Hungary, the Cseszneky family was also involved in the affairs of the Kingdom of Naples, Poland and many Balkan states.

The Ottoman invasion left most of their estates devastated and many family members felt the obligation of defending the Crown of Saint Stephen with their swords, and their braveness was respected even by the Turks.[17]

After the expulsion of Turks, the most important event in the history of Csesznekys was Rákóczi's War for Independence, in which the members of the family played an active role. Following Francis II Rákóczi's defeat, the glory of Cseszneky family also was on the decline, and their goods were confiscated.

In spite of their diminished riches, the family supported financially the famous Hungarian poet, Mihály Vörösmarty's election to the parliament following the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, and many family members also took part in the war of independence.[18]

In 1919 Ferenc Cseszneky was commissioner of public supply in the government of Gyula Károlyi.[19]

In 1941 Gyula Cseszneky was appointed counselor for King Tomislav II of Croatia.[20]

Macedonia

The name of the Cseszneky's ancestral clan (Katapán) suggests that an important member of the clan was Katepano, a senior Byzantine office holder, often supreme commanders and administrators of Macedonia. They may have attained this status in the time when alliances were formed between the Byzantine Empire and Pecheneg and Magyar tribes.[21] The Csesznekys, as descendants of ancient Pecheneg khagans, also claimed ties to the Pecheneg and Cuman leaders who settled down in medieval Macedonia. In the late middle ages some members of the family were granted feudal fiefdoms in Macedonia. The Csesznekys have been also distantly related to the Buondelmonte family, former rulers of the Despotate of Epirus, and to the House of Mrnjavčević, who ruled the Kingdom of Prilep, and whereof some members took refuge in Hungary.[22] [23]

Count Gyula Cseszneky in August 1943 was proclaimed, under the name Julius I Cseszneky, Macedonian Grand Voivode.[24] He aimed to establish a united Macedonian state and his attempt was tolerated by the antifascist Italian authorities and supported by some local Macedonian leaders. Nevertheless, the Grand Voivode failed to extend his authority - which was limited to a small mountainous area in West Macedonia - to larger territories, and by the end of September 1943 he was deposed by Nazi Germany. Upon his forced abdication, he renounced his rights in favour of his brother, Count Mihály Cseszneky, who was proclaimed Grand Voivode Michael I Cseszneky.[25] Due to the unfavourable political and military circumstances the new leader was unable to set foot on the territory of the statelet, but his supporters controlled tiny portions of Aegean Macedonia as late as 1949, the year when Greek civil war ended. Macedonian monarchists today consider Michael's son, Count László Cseszneky to be the Voivode of Pelagonia and Guardian of the Crown of Macedonia.[26] [27]

Family residences

  • Historical sites related to the Cseszneky family
  • Trencsén Castle
    Trencsén Castle
  • Csesznek Castle
    Csesznek Castle
  • Tata Castle
    Tata Castle
  • Nagygeresd Manor
    Nagygeresd Manor
  • Győr Castle
    Győr Castle

Over the generations the family members have resided in some notable historic homes and seats. Some of the more prominent of these are:

Notable family members

Since World War II the descendants of the family mostly have lived in Hungary, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, England, France and the United States.

Current family

Styles of
Counts and Countesses Cseszneky
Reference styleHis/Her Illustrious Highness
Spoken styleYour Illustrious Highness
Alternative styleSir/Ma'am
  • Count and Wildgrave László Róbert Cseszneky de Milvány et Csesznek, Guardian of the Crown of Macedonia, (born 1 January 1944); married: (1) Etelka Vincze (born 26 October 1946); (2) Katalin Terézia Takács de Saár (born 22 March 1944, died 23 October 1985); (3) Klára Margit Tischler (born 20 June 1956); had issue:
    • Countess Ágnes Erzsébet Cseszneky de Milvány et Csesznek, (born 21 February 1965); married: Balázs Rékasi de Majsa (born 14 December 1962); had issue:
      • Renáta Ágnes Rékasi de Majsa, (born 6 July 1987)
      • Balázs Rékasi de Majsa, (born 12 December 1989)
      • Ágnes Rékasi de Majsa, (born 9 July 1993)
    • Count László György Cseszneky de Milvány et Csesznek (born 1 July 1967, died 14 April 2003)
    • Count Miklós Mihály László Cseszneky de Milvány et Csesznek, (born 15 May 1979), heir apparent.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Györffy György: Az Árpád-kori Magyarország történeti földrajza
  2. ^ Fügedi Erik: Ispánok, bárók, kiskirályok, Budapest, 1986
  3. ^ Anonymus: Gesta Hungarorum, Helikon Könyvkiadó, Budapest 1977
  4. ^ Czére Zsigmond-Sarkadi Ferenc-Száles Andor: Bana vázlatos története és jelene, Bana, 1959
  5. ^ Wenczel Gusztáv Árpád-kori új okmánytár
  6. ^ Wenczel Gusztáv Árpád-kori új okmánytár
  7. ^ Wenczel Gusztáv Árpád-kori új okmánytár
  8. ^ Frederik Federmayer: The heraldic seals collection, 2001
  9. ^ Alapi Gyula: Komárom vármegye nemes családjai, Komárom, 1911
  10. ^ Cseszneky de Milvány et Csesznek
  11. ^ Cseszneky de Milvány et Csesznek
  12. ^ Megújulva fogadja a híveket a templom
  13. ^ Jozef Fraňo: A tudós Bél
  14. ^ Cseszneky de Milvány et Csesznek
  15. ^ Aromanian-Macedonian Church
  16. ^ Anjou-kori oklevéltár
  17. ^ Jászay Pál: A magyar nemzet napjai a mohácsi vész után
  18. ^ A Bácskai Védsereg adattára
  19. ^ Cseszneky de Milvány et Csesznek
  20. ^ Almanach de Gotha: House of Savoy
  21. ^ Karácsonyi János: Magyar nemzetségek
  22. ^ Cseszneky family tree
  23. ^ Engel Pál: Középkori magyar genealógia
  24. ^ Regnal chronologies: Macedonia
  25. ^ Michele Rallo: I “Regni-meteora” nell’Europa Orientale durante le guerre mondiali (“Storia del Novecento”, anno V, n. 89, settembre 2008)
  26. ^ Principality of Pindus and Voivodeship of Macedonia
  27. ^ Balkans Royalty

Template:Titled noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary

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