Pál Kinizsi

Kinizsi's ancestry is obscure. According to some he was a son of a miller,{{cite book|author1=Charles Hebbert|author2=Norm Longley|author3=Dan Richardson|title=Hungary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uuEQsiwrldoC&pg=PA284|year=2002|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-85828-917-5|pages=284–}} and prior to his military career, he was a journeyman miller.{{cite book|author=Franz Babinger|title=Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PPxC6rO7vvsC&pg=PA374|year=1992|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-01078-1|pages=374–}} According to some Serbian historians, he was of Serbian origin,{{cite book|author=László Szalay|title=Das Rechtsverhältniss der serbischen Niederlassungen zum Staate in den Ländern der ungarischen Krone|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QbIAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA7|year=1862|publisher=Lauffer & Stolp|pages=7–}}Љубомир Степанов: Срби у Кнезу (Темишвар, 1998) and was possibly a descendant of Vuk Branković, though this could not be determined.

The first mention of his name is in 1464, in a Latin written document mentioning that {{lang|la|Egrenius}} (His Excellency) {{lang|la|Paulus de Kenezy}} receives a possession in the Abaúj County.{{cite book|first=Csánki|last=Dezső|title=Magyarország történelmi földrajza a Hunyadiak korában|volume=I|page=228|language=hu}} Quoted in {{cite book|first1=Ioan|last1=Hațegan|first2=Ligia|last2=Boldea|first3=Dumitru|last3=Țeicu|title=Cronologia Banatului: Banatul între 934–1552|volume=II, part 1|location=Timișoara|publisher=Ed. Banatul|year=2006|language=ro|isbn=((973-7837-72-3))|page=262|url=https://www.bjt.ro/bv/ScritoriBanateni/HATEGAN_Ioan/Hategan%20Banatul%20934-1552.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903080729/https://www.bjt.ro/bv/ScritoriBanateni/HATEGAN_Ioan/Hategan%20Banatul%20934-1552.pdf|archive-date=Sep 3, 2013|url-status=dead}} Later in 1510, appears also in form of {{lang|la|Paulo de Kynys Comiti Themesiensi et Generali Capetaneo partium Regni nostrum inferiorum}}.{{cite book|first=Pál|last=Jászay|title=A magyar nemzet napjai: a Mohácsi vész után|location=Pest|publisher=Hartleben Konrád Adolf Tulajdona|year=1846|volume=I|page=379|language=hu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LzZjAAAAcAAJ&q=%22Paulo%20de%20Kynys%22&pg=PA379}}

His central estate was the Castle of Nagyvázsony since 1472 until his death.

After the death of king Matthias in 1490 he supported the Bohemian king Vladislas II of Hungary and the great magnates against Matthias' illegitimate son and designated successor John Corvinus. Kinizsi defeated the army of John Corvinus in the battle of Bonefield. He destroyed the former king's mercenary Black Army (battle of Halászfalva) which had become a robber band after its dissolution.

He then was crippled by a stroke and died shortly afterwards.

He is one of the few generals in history who never lost a battle.

He married Benigna Magyar,{{sfn|Országos Széchényi Könyvtár|1972|p=21}} the daughter of Blaise Magyar, another general of Corvinus.

• "Count of Temes" ({{langx|la|comes Temesiensis}}){{cite book|author1=Géza Dávid|author2=Pál Fodor|title=Ransom Slavery Along the Ottoman Borders: (Early Fifteenth - Early Eighteenth Centuries)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=00ZuXUdx2GgC&pg=PA4|year=2007|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-15704-0|pages=4–}}
• "Captain General of the Lower Parts of the Kingdom of Hungary" ({{langx|la|generalis capitaneus inferiorum partium regni}})

In legends, he is known as a commoner.{{cite book|author1=Peter F. Sugar|author2=Péter Hanák|author3=Tibor Frank|author3-link=Tibor Frank|title=A History of Hungary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SKwmGQCT0MAC&pg=PA72|year=1994|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-20867-X|pages=72–}} Kinizsi is a hero of some Hungarian and Romanian folk tales along with king Matthias Corvinus as an extremely strong former miller's apprentice. According to these tales, the king was hunting in the Bakony forest near the mill where he worked and asked for a drink; Kinizsi, to show his strength, served the cup on a millstone. The king, impressed, took him into his service, where Kinizsi's strength, prowess and loyalty earned him rapid promotion. He is said to have wielded two greatswords in battle and to have danced a victory dance after the Battle of Kenyérmező with a captured or dead Turk under each arm and a third held with his hair or belt in his teeth.

Chinezul Timișoara was a football club, which played both in the Romanian and the Hungarian championship during its existence. It was based in Timișoara, Romania (at the time of foundation Temesvár, Austria-Hungary).

Postage stamps: Pál Kinizsi postage stamps were issued by Hungary on 1 January 1943{{cite web|url=https://colnect.com/en/stamps/stamp/179984-Pál_Kinizsi_-1494-Characters_and_Relics_of_Hungarian_History-Hungary|title=Stamp: Pál Kinizsi (-1494) (Hungary) (Characters and Relics of Hungarian History) Mi:HU 709,Sn:HU 605,Yt:HU 616,Sg:HU 736,AFA:HU 670}} and in 1945. This same stamp was surcharged 28 fillér on 5 fillér and issued in 1945.{{cite web|url=https://colnect.com/en/stamps/stamp/253619-Pál_Kinizsi_-1494-Surcharged-Hungary|title=Stamp: Pál Kinizsi (-1494) (Hungary) (Surcharged) Mi:HU 784,Sn:HU 660,Yt:HU 683,Sg:HU 805}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite book |last=Kocsis |first=Károly |author2=Eszter Kocsisné Hodosi |title=Ethnic Geography of the Hungarian Minorities in the Carpathian Basin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zZ_NVM9mNEC&pg=PA105 |access-date=2008-05-21 |year=1998 |publisher=Simon Publications LLC |isbn=1-931313-75-X }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• {{cite book|author=Országos Széchényi Könyvtár|title=The National Széchényi Library|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZEJAQAAIAAJ|year=1972|publisher=National Széchényi Library}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinizsi, Pal}}

Category:1432 births

Category:1494 deaths

Category:15th-century Hungarian people

Category:Hungarian generals

Category:Hungarian people of Serbian descent

Category:Judges royal