Original scientific paper
The Noble Krupić Family of Velika Mlaka in the Fifteenth and the Sixteenth Century
Suzana Miljan
; Department of Historical Research of IHSS of CASA, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In this article the author depicts the history of the Krupić family of Velika Mlaka from the first mention in the sources until the late sixteenth century, when in Turopolje there started the new period of local history with the revival of the claims of the nobility of the area through common descent from the same blood line and lineage and the renewal of local autonomy, even though the history of the Krupić family itself may be followed in the sources even further (until the late seventeenth century, when they became extinct in the male line).
The first mentioned member of the family was Benedict Krupić, who started the rise of the Krupići in the noble milieu of Turopolje from 1439 with his marriage to Scolastica, a daughter of George of Mlaka. Through that marriage, he transferred his residence from the noble village of Kurilovec to the noble village of Mlaka and received as his possession an estate qualified as Scolastica’s quarta puellaris in Mlaka with an additional possession where their family house was situated. He started to become actively involved in the political life of the noble community and bought some more estates in Turopolje to improve his social and economic status. Accordingly, his heirs inherited a good economic basis for their further developments. He had five male heirs, and from four of them emerged the third generation of the Krupići. Benedict Krupić is a good example of a nobleman who was well integrated into the noble community of Turoplje, but also on the micro-level into that of the village of Mlaka.
The situation of the second and the third generation of the Krupići is somewhat different. Still, it seems that rather strong family cohesion is visible in the second generation. Because of the great number of family members belonging to the third generation, the Krupići disintegrated into smaller branches, which corresponded to the closer nuclear families (e.g. the male members and their children). However, the larger family cohesion is also apparent from numerous examples from sources. It has to be emphasised that for some branches the inherited economic basis was not good enough to maintain a large family, as happened in the case of Thomas, son of Benedict, who had seven sons. Consequently he bought some more estates in Mlaka, which was the first indicator of long-term planning to enlarge the main estate. The Krupići had their estates in the villages of Mlaka, Kurilovec and Donja Lomnica, but also various arable lands and hayfields in Turopolje. They also managed to group together various parcels of vineyard land on the hills of Markušev and Persinov Vrh. In the later charters those parcels are treated as hereditary. The process of estate division started with the Krupići in the third generation, a process that fits the general model of nobility of the Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia. It seems that the division did not weaken their economic power, because they managed to compensate for the losses in different ways (e.g. by marriage or plain purchase of the new possessions).
The Krupići were active and well-respected members of the noble community of Turopolje, and in this article the author offers an overview of their services – from the most distinguished ones such as comes terrestris to the important ones of peace arbitrators. It is also important to indicate that by following the activities of the Krupići, the political history of Turopolje may be followed too. They participated in the disputes with Margrave George of Brandenburg or Count Nicholas of Zrin, but they also witnessed the acceptance of Ambrose Gregorijanec and Matthew Slatinski into the noble community of Turopolje. Because of their services they travelled to medieval Buda, Vienna and Pressburg.
Some of the family members also settled in Zagreb, the centre of political and economic power of contemporary Slavonia, which attracted various newcomers, noblemen included. The best-known story about the Krupići is the case of the goldsmith Peter Krupić, because of his long-term dispute with Stephan Gregorijanec, a Slavonian magnate and owner of the castle of Medvedgrad. The story was widely popularised in the nineteenth-century historical novel of August Šenoa (The Goldsmith’s Precious). Female family members were also mentioned in the urban settlement of Zagreb, where they owned properties jointly with their spouses, and it is interesting to note that some of them were married twice (which was also a common practice of the people who resided there). However, the Krupići in Zagreb did not lose their contact with Mlaka, and nor did they renounce their noble status.
Although the noble community of Turopolje is suitable for researching the history of women, only a relatively small amount of sources depict the lives of the female members of the Krupići. However, all of the women mentioned as wives of the Krupići or their daughters showed a certain endogamy in choosing a spouse: if it was possible, even taking one from their own village; if not, from the other villages of Turopolje. On the other hand, it is visible that the Krupići (and the whole noble community of Turopolje in general) were quite tolerant in their marriage strategies, so they welcomed newcomers into their family, even to the degree of allowing morganatic marriages and producing illegitimate offspring.
The history of the Krupići of Velika Mlaka can be used as a paradigm for the functioning of the noble families of Turopolje, but also of medieval Slavonia in general, as a peripheral region of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia; demonstrating this was the main intention of this article. In the appendix, the genealogy of the Krupići in the period of the fifteenth and the sixteenth century has been given.
Keywords
Turopolje; nobility; family history; the Late Middle Ages; the Early Modern Age; the Krupići
Hrčak ID:
75840
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2011.
Visits: 3.235 *