George Martinuzzi
George Martinuzzi OSPPE (Hungarian György Utjesenović, also known as Frater Gyorgy, brother George; * 1482 Kamicac, Dalmatia, † December 16, 1551 at Castle Winzendorf ) was a Hungarian cleric and statesman during the Renaissance.
Life
Martinuzzi was the advisor to the Hungarian King John Zápolya and took over after his death, in 1540, the regent for the infant John Sigismund Zápolya. In order to strengthen its position against the claims of the archduke and future emperor Ferdinand I of Habsburg, Martinuzzi accepted the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, and succeeded to obtain Transylvania practically independent. He then changed his policy and tried in 1545 to build with Ferdinand a common front against the Turks. The agreement was confirmed at the Diet of Cluj-Napoca in 1551 and put the reunification of Hungary under the Habsburgs fixed. Since Martinuzzi feared, however, Suleiman I could work against his measures with a massive battle attack, he tried to appease the Turks. Then the commander Ferdinand Giovanni Battista Castaldo and András Báthory denounced him as a traitor and the Archduke arranged his assassination.
His grave is located in the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Alba Iulia.