Thomas Erdődy

Thomas Erdődy
gravestone in Zagreb Cathedral
Ban of Croatia
In office 25 September 1583 – 15 May 1595
Preceded by	Krsto Ungnad
Succeeded by	Gašpar Stankovački
In office 1608 – 27 November 1614
Preceded by	Ivan Drašković
Succeeded by	Benedikt Thuroczy
Personal details
Born	1558
Died	17 January 1624 Krapina, Kingdom of Croatia, Habsburg Monarchy
Resting place	Zagreb Cathedral, Croatia
Religion	Roman Catholic
Military service
Battles/wars	Battle of Slunj Battle of Brest Battle of Sisak

Count Thomas Erdődy (Hungarian: Tamás Erdődy, Croatian: Toma Bakač Erdedi) (1558 – 17 January 1624) was a Croatian ban between 1583-1595 and 1608-1615 and a member of the Erdődy magnate family of Hungarian ancestry.^[1] He scored many victories in wars against the Ottoman Empire's armies.

He succeeded Krsto Ungnad as ban in 1583. He was the son of former ban Péter Erdődy. His first victory occurred at battle of Slunj in 1584. In 1591 he freed the Moslavina region. In 1592 he suffered his only great defeat at battle of Brest. When Ottoman forces tried to retake the area in 1593, the battle of Sisak ensued between the Holy Roman Empire's forces and the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman troops lost, severely hampering their ability to expand further into Europe. For this victory Erdődy received congratulations from Pope Clement VIII and was knighted into the Order of Saint Saviour by Philip II of Spain.

He left his role as ban in 1595. However, he reclaimed it from 1608 to 27 November 1614 when he renounced his position, but held his rank at the request of the Croatian Parliament until a new Ban, Benedikt Thuroczy, was named on 16 February 1615.^[2] Thomas Erdődy died on 17 January 1624.

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