Andreas von Auersperg
Encyclopedia
Andreas von Auersperg, Lord of Schönberg und Seisenberg (Slovene: Andrej Turjaški; Croat and Bosnian: Andrija Auersperg) (9 April 1556 – 5 September 1593) was a Carniolan
Duchy of Carniola
The Duchy of Carniola was an administrative unit of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy from 1364 to 1918. Its capital was Ljubljana...

 noble
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

 and leader of the defending forces at the Battle of Sisak
Battle of Sisak
The Battle of Sisak was fought on June 22, 1593, between Ottoman forces of the Bosnian governor-general, or Beylerbeyi, Hasan-paša Predojević, and forces of the Holy Roman Empire under the supreme command of the Styrian general Ruprecht von Eggenberg...

 in 1593.

Life and Career

Andreas von Auersperg
Auersperg
Auersperg may refer to:* Principality of Auersperg, estates held by the princely Austrian family of Auersperg* Palais Auersperg, a large baroque palace in Vienna, build for the princely Auersperg family- Family members :...

 was born in Carniolan Seisenberg
Žužemberk
Žužemberk , is a town and a municipality in the Dinaric Alps of Slovenia, located south-east of the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. The area is part of the historical region of Lower Carniola. The municipality is now included in the Southeast Slovenia statistical region. As of 2002 the municipality...

 into one of the leading Protestant Austrian families in the Duchy of Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...

 as the youngest son of Wolfgang-Engelbert von Auersperg, Lord of Schönberg, Seisenberg and Flödnig
Smlednik
Smlednik is a village on the left bank of the Sava River in the Medvode Municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.The Parish Church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Ulrich .-External links:*...

, and Anna Maria von Lamberg. After his parents' early demise the governor of Carniola, Baron Weikhard von Auersperg (1533–1581), became the guardian of the one-year-old boy.

In 1569 the 13-year-old registered at the University of Tübingen, where the Collegiate Church, along with the rest of the city, was one of the first to have converted to Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

's teaching, but also, in 1573 and 1574, studied at the renowned universities of Padua
University of Padua
The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...

  and Bologna
University of Bologna
The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...

.
Andreas became a soldier accompanying Archduke Matthew
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
Matthias of Austria was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611...

 on his campaign in the in die Netherlands 1577–1578, fighting as a captain on the Croatian-Turkish border in 1578 and 1579 under Hans Ferenberger von Auer and Christoph von Auersperg. 1583 he rose to the rank of colonel and was appointed commander-in-chief ("Feldobrist") of the Croat and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

n frontier lands in Karlstadt
Karlovac
Karlovac is a city and municipality in central Croatia. The city proper has a population of 49,082, while the municipality has a population of 59,395 inhabitants .Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County...

 in 1589.

On June 22, 1593, the day of Saint Acacius
Acacius
Acacius may refer to:Saints* Agathius, also known as Acacius of Byzantium , Centurion of the Imperial Army. Feastday: May 8* Saint Acacius, 4th century Armenian priest. Feastday: November 27...

, the leader of the ten thousand martyrs
Ten thousand martyrs
The ten thousand martyrs of Mount Ararat were, according to a medieval legend, Roman soldiers who, led by Saint Acacius, converted to Christianity and were crucified on Mount Ararat in Armenia by order of the Roman emperor...

, a battle occurred near the fortress of Sisak
Sisak
Sisak is a city in central Croatia. The city's population in 2011 was 33,049, with a total of 49,699 in the administrative region and it is also the administrative centre of the Sisak-Moslavina county...

 in present day Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

 where the Sava and Kupa
Kupa
Kupa may refer to:*Kupa River, a river in Croatia and Slovenia*Kupa River , a river in Lithuania*Kupa River in Siberia, see Kuta River*Kupa Synagogue, a synagogue in Krakow*Kupa, Hungary, a village in Northern Hungary...

 rivers meet. It was the last fortress the Turks needed to conquer in order to expand northward into central Europe virtually unopposed. Sources report that the Turkish Army attacking the fortress was 38,000 strong, commanded by the Bosnian Beylerbey
Beylerbey
Beylerbey is the Ottoman and Safavid title used for the highest rank in the hierarchy of provincial administrators It is in western terms a Governor-general, with authority...

 (Governor-General), Hasan Pasha
Hasan Predojević
Hasan Predojević, Telli Hasan Paşa, Gazi Hasan-paša Predojević, was a military leader of the Ottoman army. Born Niko Predojević in Herzegovina, he was given the name Hasan after he converted to Islam.During the rule of Murat III he became Sandjakbey of the Sanjak of Segedin where he stayed until...

 (who was born as "Niko Predojević“). The Carniolan army under the command of the Ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia was the title of local rulers and after 1102 viceroys of Croatia. From earliest periods of Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Bans as a rulers representative and supreme military commander. In the 18th century, Croatian bans eventually become chief government officials in...

, Tamás Erdődy, which was defending the fort counted only 4,000 to 5,000 men led by Andreas von Auersperg and Ruprecht von Eggenberg
Ruprecht von Eggenberg
Ruprecht von Eggenberg was an Austrian colonel-general from the Duchy of Styria in Inner Austria, part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was a member of the Eggenberger family and cousin to Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg.-Military career:He chose a military career early on in his life...

 and reinforced by 1,240 Croatian horsemen and 500 Silesian
Silesian
Silesian or Upper Silesian is considered either a dialect of the Polish language , or a separate Slavic language of the Lechitic group spoken in the region of Silesia...

 mounted riflemen. Hasan Predojević attacked with his main force but was repelled by the heavy fire of the defending army. The Turks then retreated to the bridge they had just crossed, but Auersperg sent the Arquebusars to capture the bridge. The Turks were then forced to swim to the other side of the river. About 8,000 Turks died during the retreat, including Hasan Pasha, who drowned in the river. The remaining Turks (who were guarding the camp) set their gunpowder on fire and fled. Thus, Auersperg/Turjaški won the Battle of Sisak and saved central Europe from imminent Turkish invasion, whereupon Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII , born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 30 January 1592 to 3 March 1605.-Cardinal:...

sent the Protestant, who was nicknamed the "Carniolan Achilles" or even the "Christian Achill(es)" and called "the Terror of the Turks“, a handwritten letter of congratulation.

Andreas von Auersperg died unmarried in Karlovac three months later.
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