Count Petar Zrinski was born in Vrbovec in 1621. The town was the property of the Zrinski family at the time. The Zrinskis, together with the Frankopans, were the most powerful Croatian feudal family until their fall in 1671, when Count Petar Zrinski and his brother-in-law, Fran Krsto Frankopan, were accused of treason and executed in Wienerneustadt by the King's order. They became too powerful for the Habsburgs' taste. Zrinski is still celebrated as Croatian national hero.