Zrínyi Ádám received an excellent education. At first, he learned at home from Jesuit monks, then he became a student of the Jesuit School of Vienna in 1673. He had access to the Habsburg court, and Emperor Leopold personally expressed his good-will towards him. When the ruler wed Princess Claudia Felicitas in 1673, the young Zrínyi Ádám was allowed to greet the young couple with a poem.

Ádám continued his studies at the University of Vienna in 1676 where he acquired a classic education, including mathematics, military sciences, geography, state-administration, and legal studies. He was increasing his father’s library which had been quite large before, too.  Fortunately, the library has been almost fully saved during the turbulent centuries and is stored now in Zagreb. He was very much interested in the deeds of the Zrínyi family.

It was in the spring of 1679 when he returned home to legally take over his domains and the rank of Captain of Légrád that he had inherited from his father. It was also the first time when he, leading his soldiers first fought with the Turks. The captaincy of Légrád was withheld from him for the time being due to his caretaker, Batthyány Kristóf who rather sent him to learn abroad.

Ádám set out in January 1680 to Brussels, then he went to the famous university of Leuven where he learned jurisprudence and about military architecture and fortifications. He came home during the spring of 1681 when he was of full age already. thus, he could take over the control of his domains, and soon he went to war with his military unit, joining the troops of noble insurrection. Ádám took part in the Battle of Kahlenberg in 1683 where he was defending the walls of Vienna.

 He joined the army in March 1688 and fought along the Száva River. He took Brod at the end of July. He fought on the side of General Louis of Baden in the Battle of Dervent on 5 September when they defeated the reinforcing army of the Ottomans. Belgrade fell as a result of this on the very next day. He was in the general’s army during his Balkan campaign in 1689 when the castles of Kosztajnica, Dubica, Jeszenóc, Banjaluka were liberated, along with the Zrínyi family’s ancient nest, Zrín. Not much later they defeated the Ottoman army at Nis and Batocsin. Here is a video about the reconquest wars of Hungary and Croatia:

Ádám fought in Transylvania in 1690, and we can find him with a sword in his hand in the Szerémség (Sirmium) in 1691. It was the location of the “bloodiest” battle of the century on 19 August 1691: the Battle of Szalánkemén. At first, the Ottomans managed to get around the army of General Louis of Baden and succeeded in pushing the Christians’ lines back everywhere.

In the most crucial moment, Vice-General Johann Dietrich Dünnewald led the cavalry of the left-wing forward. Zrínyi Ádám was in this unit. The Imperials finally gained victory but they lost 20,000 men, and Zrínyi Ádám was one of them. He was killed by a bullet when he was assaulting the Ottoman trenches.