Celjski

The Counts of Celje, German Cilli, were the most powerful late medieval noble dynasty of present-day Slovenia. They began as lords of Sanneck castle in Lower Styria, first recorded around 1130. Frederick of Sanneck inherited the Celje lands in 1333, and in 1341 Emperor Louis IV raised him to imperial count, taking the title Cilli from Celje Castle.

At the 1396 Battle of Nicopolis, Hermann II saved King Sigismund's life and received Croatian estates; his daughter Barbara married Sigismund in 1405 and became Holy Roman Empress. In 1436 the counts became imperial princes, leading to war with the Habsburgs until an inheritance treaty in 1443.

Ulrich II, regent of Hungary, succeeded John Hunyadi as captain general in 1456 but was murdered in Belgrade that November by Hunyadi's son. The male line died out, and the Habsburgs inherited the Celje domains.