The Kubinyi family is one of the oldest surviving Hungarian noble houses. The exact age of the family remains unknown; however, its noble status predates the 13th century. The earliest securely documented member of the family was Ithe, a wealthy Hungarian nobleman, although the historian Horvát István believed him to be the son of Hudkont, who was born around 1170-1190 AD. The earliest record of Hudkont is from the year 1222 AD, where he was recorded as the count of Liptó county. He lived during the reign of King Andrew II. In 1233, he was granted the estate of Reucha in Liptó County by the king in recognition of his faithful service from his earliest youth, as stated in the royal charter of donation.
Throughout the centuries, members of the Kubinyi family often served as generals and commanders and held important judicial positions in the Kingdom of Hungary. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the family held a seat on the Royal Council (and later the Hungarian Council) and participated actively in the Hungarian Diet. They were also involved in major national events, including the Bocskai Uprising, the Magnate Conspiracy, the Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–49, and the Great War. Their service included positions as royal officials, diplomats, and members of the Hungarian Parliament, with most members taking part in the wars against the Ottoman Empire. In later centuries, the family also made notable contributions to Hungarian science and culture.
Their social standing is reflected in their matrimonial alliances, with members of the Kubinyi family frequently marrying with the wealthiest Hungarian noble families, including the Eszterházy, Andrássy and Festetics families. Particularly significant was the marriage with the Mérey family, through which the Kubinyis became descendants of the Árpád dynasty, with their lineage tracing back through the Mérey line to Álmos, dated to around 820 AD.
They held extensive estates throughout the Kingdom of Hungary, including the lordships and castles of Gedő, Zagyvafő, Damásd, Pata, Ajnácskő, and Deregnyő, as well as gold, silver, and copper mines throughout the kingdom. In addition, they possessed substantial estates in the counties of Somogy, Zala, Pest, Zemplén, Liptó and Nógrád.
Major castles
Gedő castle Patha castle
Damásd castle Deregnyő castle Ajnácskő castle Büdy castle Ráhó castle Zagyvafő castle (in ruins) Krasznahorka castle (lost due to lack of heirs)
Ancient estates Estates in Zemplén county: Deregnyő castle, and part estates of: Kulcs, Hosszúmező, Kisfalu, Körtvélyes, Harklócz, Kucsin, Izbugya, Hrabócz, Radván, Alsó and Felső-Harbok, Béla, Valentócz, Volicza, Sztrekovicz, Czabolovcz, Vitává, Zbonya, Rakitó, Jablonya, Gálszécs, Kacsáncz, Zelmencz, Palin, Ubris and Klasán territories.
Estates in Liptó county: Deménfalva, Pepernyik puszta, Hlinik (rb.), Madacsán, Patak, Bessenyőfalva (rb.), Nagy-Olaszi, Fiacsicze, Dubrava, Verbó, Bertelenfalva, Vidafölde, Szent-Anna (Almanfalva), Váralja, Jánosháza, Parizsháza (Mezőháza), Lehota, Alsó-Rásztok, Bobrovnyik (Hódászfalva), Tvarozsna, Német-Lipcse, Kormos, Moysfalva (rb.).
Estates in Bérég county: Homok, Munkács (rb.), Meseszeg, Bodolló, Nagy- és Kis-Surány, Monokpapi, Barkasszó, Dávidháza, Kerecsen, Adony, Vid, Szalka, Atya, Czoroda, Deda, Girsano, Sápon, Kászon, Eszternye, Barrobás (rb.).
Estates in Nógrád county: Zagyvafő castle, with Zagyvafő, Garáb, Korláthfalu and Szenterzsébet territories, and Inaz plains, Ebeczk, Pogony (rb.), Videfalva, Piliny, Karans-Ságh, MálasMedgyes, Kelecsény, F.-Kovácsi, Bolyk, Petőfalva.
Estates in Szepes county: Kaczwinkel, Sunyava, Bethlenfalva, Hozelecz, Gánfalva, Filefalva, Huoran and Thronfalva, Kisfalva, Görgő, Harho, Olsavicza, F.-Répás, Krigh, Rokusz territories and plains.
Estates in Trencsén county: Part estates in the Beczkói, Kaszavári and Ledniczei lordships (Lehotka, Horócz, Jaczkó, Ihricze, Dohnan, Dubkova, Moszticz), Hrabova, Hlinik Horka, Závoda, Mois (rb.).
Estates in Szabolcs county: Tisza-Eszlár, Mihálydi, Petneháza, Zakoly, Bűd, Rakamáz, Gelsa, Nádudvar, Balsa (rb.).
Estates in Somogy county: Patha castle with the Patha lordship, Patha city and the territories of Poklosi, Molvány, Keresztút, Basal, Veget, Erdőalja together with all villages and plains.
Estates in Nyitra county: Zelena, Szőllős, Thurcza, Málnapataka, Bisztricska, Nyitraszegh, Bisztricsény, Emőke, Vágszerdahely with (rb.).
Estates in Pest county: Mácsa, Ecskend, Tápió-Szt.-Márton, Tatár-Szentgyörgy, Zsidó, Oszlár, Kemperd, Arkos-Berczel, Szilvás-Berczel.
Estates in Hont county: Felső-Palojta, Szuhány, Csab (rb.), Kővár, Bátorfalva, Cséri (rb.).
Estates in Árva county: Felső-Kubin, Malatina, Alsó-Felső-Stepanó, Isztebne (rb.) and Laukó.
Estates in Borsod county: Múcsony, Kazincz, Igricz, Harnócz.
Estates in Kishont county: Nyustya, Klenócz, and half of the city of Tiszolcz.
Estates in Vas county: Part estates in the settlements of Tropolócz, Domanince and Sztrúkócz belonging to Lindva castle.
Estates in Sáros county: Tizsite, Eperjes (rb.).
Estates in Abaúj county: Felső-Kázsmárk (rb.).
Estates in Gömör county: Gedő castle with Gedőalja, Gömöri, Kisfalva, Csókfalva, Dúsa, Geszthete, Simonfalva and Lech, villages and plains.Estates in Györ county: Balog.
Estates in Heves county: Csány (rb.).
Estates in Jász-Nagy kun-Szolnok county: Tisza-Nána.
Estates in Torna county: Egerszeg.
Estates in Ung county: Csap and part estates in the Dobó-Ruszkai lordship.
Estates in Szatmár county: Batisz, Udvari, Kölese, Cseke, Milota, Hülesd, Szeberén (rb.).
House of Kubinyi during the Campaigns of Louis the Great Salamon I of the Kubinyi family was a fourteenth-century Hungarian nobleman. Contemporary sources referred to him as literatus de Felsew-Kwbyn (“Salamon, the learned man of Felső-Kubin”). The designation literatus indicated his education and familiarity with the legal and administrative practices of the period.
Salamon was active during the reign of Louis I of Hungary (r. 1342–1382) and participated in a number of the king's military campaigns in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe. In 1354, he commanded royal forces in Ruthenia, where Hungary, Poland, and Lithuania competed for control and influence over territories including Halych and Volhynia. Salamon is recorded as having besieged and captured Halych during the campaign.
House of Kubinyi during the battle of Mohács and the Hungarian Civil Wars
The Battle of Mohács Several members of the Kubinyi family participated in the Battle of Mohács in 1526. Máté (Vice-comes of Árva county), the eldest of the brothers, Lénárd, lord of Gedő Castle, and Márk II survived the battle. Their brother Dániel (commander of the county banderium from Liptó County), and Salamon II died in battle.
The Hungarian Civil Wars Following the death of King Louis II at Mohács, Hungary was divided between two kings, John Zápolya and Ferdinand of Habsburg, each elected by a different faction of the Hungarian nobility. Máté initially supported John, but changed allegiance after Zápolya entered into an alliance with the Ottoman Empire and subsequently joined Ferdinand's forces. Máté and his sons, György II and Benedek I, participated in military campaigns against the Ottomans.
Dániel's son, Kristóf (among the first Directors of the Holy Crown), began participating in the campaigns against the Ottoman Empire in 1527. He fought at his own expense under the family's insignia, financed initially by the family's holdings and later by the income from the gold, silver, and copper mines he acquired. He took part in most of the major campaigns of the period.
He had initially begun studying law, but the political and military conflicts following the Battle of Mohács led him to enter military service. In 1527, at the age of twenty-five, he travelled to the southern frontier and took part in the fighting in Slavonia during the civil war between the supporters of Ferdinand and John Zápolya. Kristóf's first campaigns were fought in the conflict between Ferdinand and John Zápolya. These campaigns increasingly developed into frontier warfare following the intervention of the Ottoman Empire. In Slavonia, Kristóf fought alongside other powerful lords including Ferenc Batthyány, Miklós Zrínyi, Lukács Székely, Péter Keglevich, and Lajos Pekry. Frangepán captured several of Pekry's castles, but during his withdrawal his forces were attacked by Hungarian troops, who had taken up positions in the surrounding forests. Frangepán's forces suffered a severe defeat.
In subsequent years, Kristóf accompanied Ferdinand's forces in Upper Hungary, where they captured the strategically important Szepesvár from the supporters of John Zápolya, followed by Liptó Castle and Liptóújvár castle in Liptó County. In 1530, under General Wilhelm von Roggendorf, Kristóf participated in the siege of Buda, then held by John Zápolya, although the city was not captured. He fought at the siege of Pest in 1535, and then along Lénárd Vels participated in the defence of Győr against the Ottoman threat in 1540. Following the Ottoman capture of Buda in 1541, he continued fighting on the Hungarian frontier, participating in campaigns around Esztergom and Székesfehérvár. Between 1554 and 1562, Kristóf participated in the campaigns of Palatine Tamás Nádasdy against the Ottomans and the remaining supporters of the Johnite faction.
The Magnate conspiracy (Wesselényi-összeesküvés) The Kubinyi family was among the noble houses that played a leading role in organizing the Magnate Uprising of 1670. On 9 April 1670, IV. Kubinyi László joined the gathering at the castle of Rákóczi Ferenc I in Sárospatak. The assembly served as a council of war, during which the participants coordinated their opposition to Habsburg rule and laid the foundations for the armed uprising that followed. The families in attendance were Bocskay, Kubinyi, Szuhay, Szepesy, Bornemisza, Forgách, Csérnél, Marczibányi, Komjáthy, Fáy, Kazinczy, Barkó, and Rády.
English translation of Nagy Iván's 1860 Overview of the Dynasty's History
One of our most extensive and ancient noble families. Its earliest known ancestor was Hudkont, whom the scholar István Horvát holds to have descended from the Hunt-Pázmán genus (genus). The said Hudkont lived under King Andrew II, and in 1233 was granted by this king—as the charter of donation states—for his loyal services rendered from his earliest youth, the land called Reucha in Liptó County (now the localities of Lower and Upper Revúca in Liptó County).