She died in obscurity in a monastery in Graz following the downfall of the Zrinski-Frankopan conspiracy in 1671 and the execution of both her husband Petar Zrinski and her brother Fran Krsto Frankopan.

Katarina was born in Bosiljevo near the modern city of Karlovac in present-day Croatia to Vuk Krsto Frankopan of the House of Frankopan, a well-known commander (general) and nobleman in the Croatian Military Frontier (which was an autonomous region carved out of the Kingdom of Croatia within the Austrian Empire) and his second wife Uršula Inhofer.

Katarina and Petar had four children, born between 1643 and 1658: Known as Jelena Zrinska in Croatia and Ilona Zrínyi in Hungary, she married Hungarian nobleman Francis I Rákóczi in 1666.

The leaders of the conspiracy were Katarina's husband Petar Zrinski, her half brother Fran Krsto Frankopan and the Hungarian count Ferenc Wesselényi.

May Almighty God bless you together with our daughter Aurora Veronika.The downfall of the conspiracy practically destroyed the House of Zrinski as their enormous property was either confiscated or plundered.

The book was included in the famous Bibliotheca Zriniana, the private library of Nikola Zrinski, Ban (Viceroy) of Croatia, which was established in Čakovec.

The speech spurred renewed interest in the whole affair and anniversaries of Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan's deaths started to be commemorated publicly in growing numbers, with increasingly political overtones, as Croatian politicians became vocal in their calls for greater Croatian independence (which was at the time still part of Austria-Hungary).

In the 1880s a committee was even founded with the purpose of transporting their remains from Wiener Neustadt to Croatia, and in 1893 writer and politician Eugen Kumičić published a historical novel titled Urota Zrinsko-Frankopanska (English: The Zrinski-Frankopan Conspiracy), which helped to further popularise the image of Zrinkis and Frankopans as Croatian patriots and martyrs for freedom.

The bones of conspiracy leaders were eventually transferred back to Croatia in 1919 by the Brethren of the Croatian Dragon and were greeted by masses upon their return to Zagreb.

However, soon after WWI broke out, the society was actively engaged in helping the Pan-Slavic Yugoslav movement and was thus renamed JNO Katarina Zrinska.

In North America the Kćeri Katarine Zrinjske (English: Daughters of Katarina Zrinski) society was formed in 1917 which even had a youth branch in Youngstown, Ohio.

The society was designed as an organisation of middle class Croatian Catholic women in the area, and they claimed they chose to be named after Katarina because "strictly adhered to Christian principles throughout her life".

All these societies were active until the early 1940s, but were eventually disbanded in May 1943 by a decree issued by the fascist government of Independent State of Croatia.

Other associations abroad carrying her name include Hrvatska žena – Katarina Zrinska in Adelaide, Australia (est.

In their press release the bank described Katarina as "a writer, ardent patriot and a martyr, as well as a spiritual initiator of the liberation movement against foreign rule".