György Szondy

Szondy György
Szondy György
	Captain
Unit	Infantry
Battles/wars	Battle of Mohács (29 August 1526); Drégely Castle (July 1552)
Relations	Jakab Szondy (brother)

György Szondy was a

Hadim Ali Pasha

with full military honours.

Family

Szondy's origin is obscure. Hontvármegye, and he either came from a peasant^[1]^[2] or a civic^[3] family. According to other sources, he was a yeoman of Turóc County with original name Juraj Šucha.^[4] After the sudden death of his mother he joined the army at the age of 15 with his younger brother Jakab where he met Ferenc Révay, a general officer from a prominent Hungarian noble family.

Révay saw great potential in Szondy and took him under his wing. Révay made Szondy into a

Captain after he showed his military genius and courage in a courageous night assault at a Turkish camp, in an attempt to demoralise the Turkish forces after the catastrophic Battle of Mohács

.

Role in History

After becoming the captain of Drégely Castle in 1544,^[5] which had a small garrison of only sixty men, six small cannon and twelve castle guns, Szondy was faced with the task of defending it. Drégely Castle was of strategic importance not only to the Hungarians but also to the Turks as a base for raids into Upper Hungary. After hearing that a Turkish force of great numbers was heading towards Drégely, Szondy sent a letter to Erasmus Teuffel, the Captain of the castle in Léva (today Levice, Slovakia), to send reinforcements. Teuffel could only supply him with 146 soldiers.

The Siege of Drégely began on 6 July 1552 when an Ottoman army

Hajdús

. Despite outnumbering them by 12 to 1, the Janissaries were defeated by Szondy's 100 Hajdús. After acknowledging the bravery of his opponent Ali Pasha decided to launch a full-scale cannonade the next day. The walls were destroyed by noon on 8 July.

On 9 July 1552 Ali Pasha prayed to

Catholic priest to Szondy and offer him a choice: either to surrender and be given safe passage and escort to Upper Hungary, or to perish. Szondy sent his scribe and servant with his answer to Ali Pasha saying "Spare the boys and let God settle the fate of this castle".^{[citation needed}

] In the afternoon the Janissaries attacked and Szondy ordered the last cannonade to be fired and ordered a full-scale attack against the Turks. Four hours of intensive fighting ensued until Szondy's forces were reduced to sixty men. Szondy led the attack and was shot through the knee and fought even on his knees until he was brought down by the Turks.

One of the Janissaries cut off his head and brought it to Ali Pasha.[6] Ten of Szondy's Hajdús survived and were granted safe passage back to Upper Hungary. Ali Pasha acknowledged Szondy's bravery, and ordered an ornate marble sarcophagus to be made for Szondy and for him to be buried with full military honours.

Legacy

After being given the news of Szondy's demise by the ten remaining Hajdús, the news of his bravery spread beyond Upper Hungary: it became an example also in Poland and even in the farthest corners of the Ottoman Empire.

His name was often used by

impostors.^{[citation needed]} Even now, between 6 and 9 July every year Slovaks and Hungarians alike celebrate the life of the great warrior at his sarcophagus in Drégelypalánk, Hungary.^{[citation needed}

]

References

^ Hori Lal Saxena, The Hungarian story New Literature, 1961
^ Gerő, László, Magyar várak (Hungarian castles), Műszaki Könyvkiadó, 1968, p. 143 Cited: "A jobbágy származású Szondy György, György Szondy had peasant ancestry"
^ Magyar Tudományos Akadémia. Agrártörténeti Bizottság, Historia rerum rusticarum, Volume 17 A Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Agrártörténeti Bizottságának Folyóirata., 1975 Cited: "Szondi György, Drégely kapitánya, polgárinak tekinthető családból származik/György Szondi, captain of Drégely, originated from a civic family"
^ Jaroslav César, Československo-jugoslávská historická komise , Ottoman rule in Middle Europe and Balkan in the 16th and 17th centuries: papers presented at the 9th Joint Conference of the Czechoslovak-Yugoslav Historical Committee, Oriental Institute in Academia, 1978 Cited: "a yeoman of Turiec"
^ ^a ^b Múlt-kor historical portal Hétvégi várkalauz: Drégely
^ Origo.hu Drégely várának története

External links

[1] Hori Lal Saxena, The Hungarian story New Literature, 1961

[2] Gerő, László, Magyar várak (Hungarian castles), Műszaki Könyvkiadó, 1968, p. 143 Cited: "A jobbágy származású Szondy György, György Szondy had peasant ancestry"

[3] Magyar Tudományos Akadémia. Agrártörténeti Bizottság, Historia rerum rusticarum, Volume 17 A Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Agrártörténeti Bizottságának Folyóirata., 1975 Cited: "Szondi György, Drégely kapitánya, polgárinak tekinthető családból származik/György Szondi, captain of Drégely, originated from a civic family"

[4] Jaroslav César, Československo-jugoslávská historická komise , Ottoman rule in Middle Europe and Balkan in the 16th and 17th centuries: papers presented at the 9th Joint Conference of the Czechoslovak-Yugoslav Historical Committee, Oriental Institute in Academia, 1978 Cited: "a yeoman of Turiec"

[mk-5] Múlt-kor historical portal Hétvégi várkalauz: Drégely

[6] Origo.hu Drégely várának története

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