The Frankopan family was one of the leading Croatian
aristocratic families from the 12th to the 17th century. Since the 15th century they were trying to link themselves to the
Roman patrician
Frangipani family (which claimed descent from a
Roman plebeian family of
Anicii and ended in 1654 with Mario Frangipane being its last male descendant). However
Croatian Encyclopedia,
Italian Encyclopedia and
German Biographical Lexicon of the History of Southeastern Europe by the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies highly question the bloodline connection between the two families and remind of the common fashion of medieval noble families in Europe to try and connect themselves to ancient Roman nobility. Along with the members of the
Zrinski family the Frankopan ranked high in terms of importance by virtue of power, wealth, fame, glory and role in Croatian and Hungarian history. The first known member of Croatian lineage of the Frankopan family was Dujam I Krčki (
Doymus Veglensis in Latin sources that also attribute the title of
comes to him), lord of
Krk who received permission by Domenico Michieli,
Doge of Venice from 1118 to 1130, to rule the island of Krk as
vassal of the
Republic of Venice. In 1428
Nikola IV Krčki (
Ban of Croatia and Dalmatia from 1426 to 1432) was the first of the Counts of Krk to call himself Frankapan. In 1430 he managed to receive recognition from
Pope Martin V for being a descendant of the old Roman patrician family Frangipani and officially started using the name and coat of arms Frangipani. In 1246 there was another war, between
Frederick II, Duke of Austria and Béla, who, with the assistance of the Frankopan,
won a victory. As a further reward, King Béla then, by royal decree, created the Frankopans as Lords of their territory for them and their descendants. stayed in Sweden. In 1425
Emperor Sigismund confirmed the noble status of
Nikola Frankopan referring to him as
Niklas Frangiapan Comes de Begle, Segnie et Modrusse (
Nikola Frankopan, Count of Krk, Senj and Modruš) using the
Latin title of
comes. He also granted the family the privileges of red wax, (Rotwachsprivilegien), i.e., the right to use red
wax for their seals. Sigismund underlines at the end of this document that no one must ever dispute these rights of the family.
Bernardin Frankopan's (1453–1529) paternal grandmother Dorothy was from a prominent Hungarian noble family,
Garay, while his mother Isotta from
Este family was
Duchy of Ferrara of
Ferrara. Through ancestry from royal Spanish families Bernardin had even
Árpád ancestry (the Árpád dynasty founded the Kingdom of Hungary.) The Frankopan family was persecuted after the
Zrinski-Frankopan conspiracy, where the Count
Fran Krsto Frankopan participated in an uprising against
Habsburg King
Leopold I. He and his brother-in-law,
Petar Zrinski were executed in
Wiener Neustadt. The line of Stjepan II Frankopan, Ban of Croatia (d. 1481), died out with Katarina Frankopan in the 16th century. The line of Sigismund Frankopan expired with Franjo Frankopan,
Bishop of Eger in 1542. Another branch died out in 1572 with Franjo Frankopan, Ban of Croatia; and the Trsat branch died out with
Fran Krsto Frankopan in 1671 (and in the female line with Maria Juliana Frankopan, married Countess of
Abensberg und Traun and later Countess von
Attems). Vjekoslav Nikola Antun Doimi de Lupis (1939–2018), originally also
Dujmić-Vukašinović, by then a
British citizen, changed his name and surname to "Louis Doimi de Frankopan
Šubić Zrinski" or "Louis Michal Antun Doimi de Lupis de Frankopan Shubich Zrinski" under British Civil law, adding several names of medieval Croatian noble families that combined in such a fashion were historically never attributed to any member of mentioned noble families. Louis's descendants include
Lady Nicholas Windsor, and historian
Peter Frankopan who also claimed that they always had the same name. In 2002, the wife of Louis Doimi de Lupis,
Swedish lawyer
Ingrid Detter, bought the Ribnik Castle, once the property of the Frankopans, and today in the
Register of Cultural Goods of Croatia (Z-301), for the price of 1.6 million
kunas from the
Ribnik municipality and in accordance with the decision of the
Ministry of Culture, the Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, however hardly anything has been invested. In 2003, they also founded the literary awards "Katarina Zrinska" and "Petar Zrinski", which were held only once. In the same year, during the
Pope John Paul II visit of
The Shrine of Our Lady of Trsat, which was tightly related to the Frankopan family, the members of de Lupis family managed to get presented not by their original name yet as Frankopans. == Notable members ==