| Country | Croatia |
|---|---|
| Titles | Duke, Prince, Ban |
| Founding | 1118 |
The Frankopans are a Croatian noble family. Also called Frankapan, Frangepán in Hungarian, and Frangipani in Italian.
The Frankopan family is the leading princely Croatian aristocratic family which dates back to the 12th Century and even earlier to Roman times.[1] Along with the Zrinski family it has, in Croatian history, ranked high in terms of importance by virtue of power, wealth, fame, glory and role in Croatia's public life. They are closely connected with the Roman patrician Frangipani family.[2] The Frangipani were a Roman princely family, earlier called Onicii or Anicii. The family took the name Frangipani in the 8th Century.[3] In 837 four brothers of the Frangipani family left Rome: Michele chose Venice as his domicile and Nicolò Dalmatia and Slavonia. The descendants of Michele obtained the island Veglia from the Venetians.[4] The Frankopan family is mentioned in Croatian documents in 1133 when Dujam Frankopan is recorded as ruler and lord of the island of Krk and of areas of Dalmatia. Around 1200 the family owned wide areas on the mainland, including the Castle of Ribnik, near Karlovac.
In 1227 the Mongol prince Genghis Khan advanced from Poland toward Hungary whose King, Bela IV, resisted bravely but finally had to seek refuge in Dalmatia. King Bela stayed with the Frankopans who assisted him with arms and funds and brought him into safety in Veglia and then brought him back to his own land. As reward the King gave the Frangipani the county of Segn with surrounding lands and the castle of Modrus.[5]
In 1246 there was another war, between Frederic of Austria and Bela, who, with the assistance of the Frankopans, won a victory. As a further reward, King Bela then, by Royal Decree, created the Frankopans Lords of their territory for them and their descendants.[6]
The Frankopans constantly supported the Catholic Church. In particular, Nikola Frankopan reconstructed the Holy House of Our Lady in 1294 in Tersatto (Trsat).[7] It is recorded that, in 1291, Nikola Frankopan, sent a delegation to Nazareth to measure the Holy House after the House had been saved, presumably by the Crusaders, and brought to Trsat, or Tersatto, on the Adriatic Coast where the Frankopans had a Castle. In 1294 Nikola Frankopan, gave the Holy House to the Pope to be placed on Papal lands, at Loreto, near Ancona.
Although the possessions of the family were exposed to every assault both from the east and the west, their power increased steadily until the seventeenth century when their lands reached further east. The Zrinski and Frankopan families came into closer affinity by marriage ties until in the eyes of the European courts they had become one of the most important families of Croatia.
In 1420 the Swedish King Erik of Pomerania called Ivan VI Frankopan, the eldest son of the Croatian ban Nikola IV, to Sweden to accompany the Swedish King to the Holy Land and later to assist the King at the Court in Sweden. Ivan VI Frankopan lived in Sweden at intervals between 1420 and 1430. After his father's death he returned to his home country. His eldest son called Mattias (Matija)[8] stayed in Sweden.
Bernát Frangepans (abt. 1450 died aft.1527) paternal grandmother Dorottya de Garay, was from a prominent Hungarian noble family. Through ancestry from royal Spanish families Bernát had even Árpad ancestry (the Árpad dynasty founded the Kingdom of Hungary.) The famed Nikola Šubić Zrinski, who died fighting and won the title of "Hero of Sziget," became the first outstanding example of the epithet "bulwark of Christianity". The Frankopan family was persecuted after the Zrinski-Frankopan conspiracy, where the Prince and Marquess Fran Krsto Frankopan led an uprising against Habsburg King Leopold I,to make Croatia independent. He, and his brother-in-law, Petar Zrinski, were executed in Wiener Neustadt. The Fran Krsto Frankopan line died out soon thereafter, but the elder line from Trsat is still in existence (see below).
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Several of the Frankopan castles remain in Croatia, mostly around the Gorski kotar region and the island of Krk. The castle at Stara Susica near Trsat incorporates structures going back to the Illyrian and Roman periods. The town of Bosiljevo has a medieval fortified castle, renovated in the last century in the spirit of the Romanesque. The castle and park at Severin na Kupi were owned by the Frankopan family until the mid 17th century. Other castles or property of the Frankopans could be found in Ribnik, Bosiljevo, Novi Vinodolski, Ogulin, Slunj, Ozalj, Cetingrad, , Trsat, and other surrounding towns. The Frankopan castle in the town of Krk is currently used for open-air performances in the summer months.
The present members of the Frankopan family lived in England until Croatia became independent in 1991 and rid itself of the communist system. Members of the present family then assisted Croatia in the independence and recognition process. They also repaired several Churches and national monuments and awarded scholarship to a number of young Croats to study in the United Kingdom and in the United States.
The present members of the Frankopan family are Louis and Ingrid Doimi de Lupis Frankopan and their five children and ten grandchildren. In 2006 The Times published an article suggesting that the family had added Frankopan to their surname under British Civil law but later published a retraction and a clarification. The Times corrected the article, stating:
"Since 2006 a judgment of the Italian courts has confirmed the genealogical entitlement and the right of all members of the Frankopan family to make use of the titles Princes Frankopan Frangipane Šubić and Counts Doimi de Lupis, even if, for political reasons, they did not always use them. The Frankopan family did not change its name under UK law as stated above." [9]
The eldest son, Peter, Senior Research Fellow of Worcester College at Oxford University and Director of the University's Centre for Byzantine Studies, says that the "title (of the family) is not any claim on anything. It is just a reflection of the age of the family".[10] He says that his family split from other branches of the Frankopan family in the 14th century. Doimo III Frangipani or Frankopan, (+ 1348), Count of Veglia, married Elisabetta Subich, daughter of Jakab, Count of Bribir (+ post 1347); see [11]
The family has now major investments in Croatia. In 1991, Prince Louis Frankopan and his wife Ingrid were appointed official spokespersons for the Croatian Government. Immediately after the end of the Croatian War of Independence, Louis Frankopan founded the Croatian Nobility Association, a private non-governmental organisation, but after internal disagreements, he resigned from the Association.
Louis Doimi de Lupis Frankopan read Geology at Oxford University and then took a Degree in Philosophy at London University. He also qualified as a Barrister, and is a member of Middle Temple. He is a businessman and a banker and was for many years the Vice-President of a large Brazilian bank in London.
Louis Frankopan met his future wife at Oxford where they were both studying at the University. His wife, Ingrid Detter de Frankopan, is a distinguished Professor Emeritus at Stockholm University, sometime Fellow of LMH and of St. Antony's College, Oxford and sometime Advisor on International Law to HH John Paul II, professor of international law, double doctor, D.Phil. (Oxon), Jur.Dr.(Stockholm), Lic. en droit (Paris) and Dipl. Diritto Europeo (Turin), Barrister at Lincoln's Inn.[12][13]
The present Frankopan family have five children, all educated at Oxford and/or Cambridge. There are two daughters, Paola and Christina, and three sons, Peter, Nicholas and Lawrence, Princes Frankopan, Counts Doimi de Lupis.
Their eldest daughter, Paola, Lady Nicholas Windsor, married to Lord Nicholas Windsor, who is son of H.R.H. the Duke and Duchess of Kent, cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. She read Classics at Cambridge University where she was a Choral Scholar and took a Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondis (M.Phil) at Paris IV, La Sorbonne in Philosophy, submitting a thesis on L'autorité de l'Etat in French.[14] She has, as Paola Frankopan, written for The Tatler where she is a contributing editor and for Vogue USA [15] She has published and introduction to the history of the Sanctuary of Trsat 'Trsatska Sveta Kuča', in Croatian.
Their eldest son Peter, D.Phil. (Oxon); M.Phil. (Oxon); M.A. (Cantab), studied Russian and French at Cambridge University where he was a Choral Scholar. He then read for a doctorate in History at Oxford University. He is now a historian and author of 'The First Crusade'.[16] He is Director of Oxford University's Centre for Byzantine Research. He is University Lecturer at the Faculty of Modern Languages and Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford University.[17] He is a Governor of Wellington College [18] and trustee of the World Monuments Fund.[19] Together with his wife, he founded Cambridge University's Frankopan Directorship for Gender Studies.[20]
Their second daughter, Christina is an investment banker,.[21] She read Economics at Cambridge University where she was a Choral Scholar. She is married to Patrick Nicholson, Head of Communications for Caritas Internationalis in the Vatican.[22]
Their second son, Nicholas, read History, first at Oxford and then at Cambridge University and is M.A. (Oxon); M.Phil. (Cantab); MBA (Columbia). He won two gold Medals for Great Britain at the Junior European Championships in Rowing in 1992. He is now an investment banker in London.
Their youngest son, Lawrence, read History at King’s College, London and was then Visiting Scholar in History at New College, Oxford. He is now a sports agent and is the Head of Lagardère Unlimited (UK) in London.[23]
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