Tale of the Tragic Love of Katarína Szuňoghová
Crypts inside the churches of Trenčín still have in store interesting life stories. Besides the members of the mighty Ileszhazi family, here are buried castle captains, district officers, common landlords, members of the Jesuit order, commanders of Trenčín garrison who died far from their homeland, and their wives, often owners of great names.
Crypt of the Piarist Church, for example, stores the remains of the wife of Earl Pfeffershofen, with maiden name of Plassin de Mylleyton, who died in 1708. Buried here is also General Pott, bearer of the Order of Maria Theresa, who died on February 1, 1850. The most tragic story; however, is told of the body of Katarína Szugoňová, daughter of the lord of Budatín castle. This known tale tells us that her father ordered to wall her inside the Budatín tower because she did not want to marry the old Ján Jakušith, Lord of Vršatec. She had already had a secret lover – a young earl Francis Forgáč. At last, to save her own life, she consented to marry Jakušith. However, what happened afterward did not really come as surprise. Katarína was not faithful to her husband and had an affair with the young Forgáč. When the cuckold Jakušith finally learned about the matter, he, together with several of his armigers, awaited the young earl and slew him on January 23, 1647. The news of the murder spread and created a big reverberation. The victim was not a common man. Francis Forgáč was Lord of Tekov district and the captain of Tekov.
It seems that Katarína at last got reconciled with her destiny as a record in the Jesuit annals tells us of her burial in 1712. At the time of her death, she was a well-known rich widow of Ján Jakušith and a generous patroness of the church, who funded the construction of two rows of church pews and donated 20 guilders for the establishment of a drugstore called “Way to the Holy Ghost”. This drugstore was in operation until the second half of the twentieth century. Preserved letter of Forgáč’s mother, in which she calls her relatives to attend the funeral of her son, tells us that rather than the legend, this might have been a criminal case instead.
Crypt of the Piarist Church, for example, stores the remains of the wife of Earl Pfeffershofen, with maiden name of Plassin de Mylleyton, who died in 1708. Buried here is also General Pott, bearer of the Order of Maria Theresa, who died on February 1, 1850. The most tragic story; however, is told of the body of Katarína Szugoňová, daughter of the lord of Budatín castle. This known tale tells us that her father ordered to wall her inside the Budatín tower because she did not want to marry the old Ján Jakušith, Lord of Vršatec. She had already had a secret lover – a young earl Francis Forgáč. At last, to save her own life, she consented to marry Jakušith. However, what happened afterward did not really come as surprise. Katarína was not faithful to her husband and had an affair with the young Forgáč. When the cuckold Jakušith finally learned about the matter, he, together with several of his armigers, awaited the young earl and slew him on January 23, 1647. The news of the murder spread and created a big reverberation. The victim was not a common man. Francis Forgáč was Lord of Tekov district and the captain of Tekov.
It seems that Katarína at last got reconciled with her destiny as a record in the Jesuit annals tells us of her burial in 1712. At the time of her death, she was a well-known rich widow of Ján Jakušith and a generous patroness of the church, who funded the construction of two rows of church pews and donated 20 guilders for the establishment of a drugstore called “Way to the Holy Ghost”. This drugstore was in operation until the second half of the twentieth century. Preserved letter of Forgáč’s mother, in which she calls her relatives to attend the funeral of her son, tells us that rather than the legend, this might have been a criminal case instead.
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