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Fran Krsto Frankopan
Croatian baroque poet, nobleman and politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Fran Krsto Frankopan (Hungarian: Frangepán Ferenc Kristóf; 4 March 1643 – 30 April 1671) was a Croatian baroque poet, nobleman and politician. He is remembered primarily for his involvement in the failed Zrinski-Frankopan conspiracy. He was a Croatian marquess, a member of the Frankopan noble family and its last male descendant.
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Biography
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Early life and poetry
Born in Bosiljevo, Croatia,[1] twenty years younger than his brothers, Fran Krsto Frankopan was an authentic poet in his own right. Following the death of his father, Vuk Krsto Frankopan, he was sent to be schooled in Zagreb, where he enrolled at the Jesuit academy. He lived at today's Habdelić street in the Upper Town, before continuing his education in Italy.[2] There he published his first poetic work in Latin, Elegia, aged 13, in 1656.
During Frankopan's stay in Italy, the last member of the Roman branch of the Frangipane, Mario Frangipane decided that he wanted to leave his assets to the Veglian branch of which Frankopan belonged, and therefore the young Frankopan visited Rome. Frangipane died in 1654 and the title of Marquis of Nemi and all of his fortune was left to Frankopan.
Frangipane had made the cardinal Antonio Barberini the executor of his will, Barberini then, it is thought, arranged for Frankopan to marry a Barberini connection, Giulia di Naro.
Naro is sometimes referred to as a niece of Cardinal Barberini, though the exact relation is unclear,but there was at least a family connection as the Naro family were related to the Magalotti family, (Barberini's mother was a Magalotti) and were therefore relatives of the Barberini family. Members of the Naro family would hold several offices under the popes Urban VIII and Innocent X.
In 1658, Frankopan and Naro were betrothed, they would be married 7 October 1660.
Frankopan underwent various poetic influences, none of which was able to deafen his own inspiration. In such a vein was written his The Garden in which to Cheat Time (Gartlic za čas kratiti), a personal account of the poet's experiences while in prison.
Living in an area bordering on several Croatian dialects, Frankopan mainly wrote his poetry in the Kajkavian-ikavian dialect of the Croatian language (as seen in his poem Srića daje kaj misal ne zgaje). In prison, Frankopan translated Molière's Georges Dandin, the first translation to Slovenian and any Slavic language.[3]
Along with Petar Zrinski, his brother Nikola, Frankopan and his sister Katarina (Petar's wife), contributed various works of poetry and prose to 17th century Croatian literature.
Peace of Vasvár
Both Frankopan and his brother-in-law Ban (viceroy) Petar Zrinski were described as competent statesmen and prolific writers. They have seen successes in negotiating and liberating the ethnic Hungarian and Croatian areas occupied by the waning Ottoman Empire. However, the Viennese military council, wishing to curb the Hungarian influence in the Monarchy, decided to ultimately sign a peace treaty with the Ottomans, by which the liberated territories had to be ceded back to the Ottoman Empire. Hungarian and Croatian nobles saw the resulting peace treaty, the Peace of Vasvár, as utterly unfavourable and disgraceful to their interests. In response, Frankopan and Zrinski decided to raise a rebel against the king, Leopold I.
Death
Frankopan and Zrinski were seized by the Royal guard while in Vienna. As a punishment for sedition, they were sentenced to be executed in Wiener Neustadt in 1671.[1]
Before his death Frankopan would write a heartfelt good-bye letter to his wife.
Afraid of being accused of being complicit with her husband's actions,[7] when she learnt of Frankopan's imprisonment, she hired a ship and removed from the castles Bosilievo and Novi, "...cupboards, chests, silver, gold, precious stones, movables and household goods, which were worth many thousands and thousands of scudi[7]." Naro then fled to Venice,[8][9] accompanied by Orfeo Frangipane (son of Pietro Urbano Frangipane) where they took refuge with a relative of Frangipane, count Francesco Valvasone di Rosacis. (Frangipane's mother was Elena Valvasone di Maniago).
Frangipane himself would leave secretly in order to escape to France, leaving di Naro in an uncertain situation and with the authorities of Venice receiving demands from officials of the Holy Roman Empire to hand over di Naro.
di Naro eventually managed to leave Venice and make her way to Rome[9] where she entered a convent[9] and died January 28 1721.[10] The couple had no known children.[11]
A painting said to depict Julia Naro Frankopan as St. Julia is located in the church of the Holy Trinity [croatian: crkva Sv. Trojstva]in Novi Vinodolski[12]
The deaths of Zrinski and Frankopan caused an outrage among Croatian nobles. Zrinski and Frankopan did not even try to answer the court in Vienna on the terms in which Vienna dealt with them, but rather wished to counteract its injustices with what was then a quite justifiable diplomacy. Viennese officials later recognized that the main reason for the rebellion was the dissatisfaction among Hungarians and Croats prompted by the unfavorable Peace of Vasvár, rather than unprovoked sedition.
The remains of Fran Krsto Frankopan and Petar Zrinski were handed over to the Croatian authorities and buried in the Cathedral of Zagreb in 1919, following World War I.
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List of works
From the following list only Elegia was published during Frankopan's lifetime, the rest was found in manuscript following his execution at Wiener Neustadt.[4]
Lyric
- Elegia (1656), written in Latin
- Gartlic za čas kratiti, completed c. 1671
- Various pious poems
- Zganke za vrime kratiti
- Sentencije vsakojaške
Prose
- Trumbita sudnjega dneva
- Preljubljeno zlato i izabranice moga srca
Drama
- Jarne bogati (translation from Moliere)
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Legacy
The portraits of Frankopan and Zrinski are depicted on the obverse of the Croatian 5 kuna banknote, issued in 1993 and 2001.[5]
His poems are still popular and are written in a combination of all three Croatian dialects: štokavian, kajkavian and čakavian. This type of writing was also regular for other writers of the Croatian Baroque Ozalj Literary Circle: Ana Katarina Zrinski and Petar IV Zrinski.[6]
Quotes
He who dies honorably lives forever.
— Fran Krsto Frankopan, Conscription
Is it possible, Almighty Creator, that such injustice oppresses your country?
— Fran Krsto Frankopan
See also
References
External links
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