Tamás Erdődy

Tamás 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	Benedek Thuróczy
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 (1584) Battle of Brest (1592) Battle of Sisak (1593)

Count Tamás Erdődy de Monyorókerék et Monoszló (Hungarian: monyorókeréki és monoszlói gróf Erdődy Tamás, Croatian: Toma Bakač Erdedi; 1558 – 17 January 1624), also anglicised as Thomas Erdődy, was a Hungarian nobleman, who served as Ban of Croatia between 1583-1595 and 1608-1615 and a member of the Erdődy magnate family. He scored significant victories in wars against the Ottoman Empire's armies.

Tamás Erdődy was born in 1558 as the son of former ban Péter Erdődy and Margit Tahy. He had two siblings. He married Maria Ungnad, the daughter of Croatian ban Krsto Ungnad, they had three sons (including ban Zsigmond Erdődy) and four daughters. Through his sons, Tamás Erdődy was also a grandfather of Hungarian nobles György Erdődy and Imre Erdődy.

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