After studying at the Jesuit university of Trnava he became the hereditary commander of Fülek castle.

Emperor Leopold called him Speculum Fidelitatis, the mirror of loyalty [3] and awarded him the title Count and the hereditary headship of Hont County.

[4] During his captivity István began to write poems, unusual for his time not in Latin, but in Hungarian language.

[5] István Koháry remained unmarried and died highly honoured at the age of 82 at Csábrág castle.

1909 Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria commissioned a marble monument for the church to honour his famous ancestor.