In 1712, Paul Esterházy pledged Strečno castle to his daughter Terézia’s husband, Juraj Leopold Erdödy. Erdödy was from a Hungarian noble family, and inherited an important part of his property from his father Krištof, and in particular from his uncle Juraj. He gradually developed and multiplied his property, bringing the Erdödy its greatest prosperity. In 1720, Juraj Leopold Erdödy obtained a royal donation for the Hlohovec estate, which had fallen to the Hungarian chamber following its confiscation from Šimon Forgáč for his participation in Rákóczy’s uprising. He bought shares in the mines in Pukanec, Banská Štiavnica, Hodruša and Nová Baňa. In 1752, through his claims to the inheritance of the Cobor family, he obtained one third of the estate of Ostriež castle. He worked in the county and regional administration: from 1713 to 1759 he was the head of Tekov county; from 1714 to 1758 he was the administrator of the compossessorate of Orava and also, for example, a regional judge, a vice-counsellor and president of the Hungarian chamber. In 1748, he was made a Knight of the Golden Spur. With his wife Terézia, he had one daughter and five sons. The descendants of the Erdödy family are still alive today, but not from a direct line.
