CILLI

cilli, ulrich, count of (1406-1456), son of frederick ii., count of cilli, and elizabeth frangepan. of his youth we know nothing certain. about 1432 he married catherine, daughter of george brankovich, despot of servia. his influence in the troubled affairs of hungary and the empire early overshadowed that of his father, together with whom he was made a prince of the empire by the emperor sigismund (1436). hence feuds with the habsburgs, wounded in their rights as overlords of cilli, ending, however, in an alliance with the habsburg king albert ii., who made ulrich for a short while his lieutenant in bohemia. after albert's death (1439) ulrich took up the cause of his widow elizabeth, and presided at the coronation of her infant son ladislaus v. posthumus (1440). a feud with the hunyadis followed, embittered by john hunyadi's attack on george brankovich of servia (1444) and his refusal to recognize ulrich's claim to bosnia on the death of stephen tvrtko (1443). in 1446 hunyadi, now governor of hungary, harried the cilli territories in croatia-slavonia; but his power was broken at kossovo (1448), and count ulrich was able to lead a successful crusade, nominally in the habsburg interest, into hungary (1450). in 1452 he forced the emperor frederick iii. to hand over the boy king ladislaus v. to his keeping, and became thus practically ruler of hungary. in 1454 his power was increased by his succession to his father's vast wealth; and in 1456 he was named by ladislaus his lieutenant in hungary. the hunyadis now conspired to destroy him. on the 8th of november, in spite of warnings, he entered belgrade with the king; the next day he was attacked by laszlo hunyadi and his friends, and done to death. with him died the male line of the counts of cilli. count ulrich's ambition was boundless, his passions unbridled; but the hostile judgments passed by aeneas sylvius and other contemporaries upon him must be read with caution. cilli (slovene, _celje_), a town in styria, austria, 82 m. s. by w. of graz by rail. pop. (1900) 6743. it is picturesquely situated on the left bank of the river sann, and still has remains of the old walls and towers, with which it was once surrounded. memorials of a still earlier period in its history--roman antiquities--are to be seen in the municipal museum, while its canals and sewers are also of roman origin. these were discovered during the second half of the 19th century, and were in such a good state of preservation that after a few small repairs they are now utilized. the parish church, dating from the 14th century, with its beautiful gothic chapel, is one of the most interesting specimens of medieval architecture. the so-called german church, in romanesque style, belonged to the minorite monastery, founded in 1241 and closed in 1808. the throne of the counts of cilli is preserved here, and also the tombs of several members of the family. on the schlossberg (1320 ft.), situated to the s.e. of the town, are the ruins of the castle of ober-cilli, the former residence of the counts of cilli. ten miles to the n.w. of cilli are situated the baths of neuhaus, with indifferent thermal waters (117° f.), frequented by ladies. not far from it is the ruined castle of neuhaus, called since 1643 schlangenburg, from which an extensive view of the neighbouring alps is obtained. cilli is one of the oldest places in styria, and was probably a celtic settlement. it was taken possession of by the romans in 15 b.c., and in a.d. 50 the emperor claudius raised it to a roman municipium and named it _claudia celeja_. it soon became one of the most flourishing roman colonies, and possessed numerous great buildings, of which the temple of mars was famous throughout the whole empire. it was incorporated with aquileia, under constantine; and towards the end of the 6th century was destroyed by the invading slavs. it had a period of exceptional prosperity from the middle of the 14th to the latter half of the 15th century, under the counts of cilli, on the extinction of which family it fell to austria. in the 16th century it suffered greatly both from revolts of the peasantry and from the counter-reformation, protestantism having made many converts in the district, particularly among the nobles. see glantschnigg, _celeja_ (cilli, 1892).