There was a robber knight who took a fancy to the castle. Said knight was a certain Šarško from Košice. He took advantage of the death of the steward Alexej Thurzo in January 1543, and hoped to take control of the castle by cunning. He had made a deal with some of the castle garrison that they would secretly haul up his soldiers onto the battlements, who would then carry out a surprise attack on the remaining soldiers of the garrison, and capture the castle. Some of the mercenaries, however, disclosed Šarško’s plan to the Captain of the castle’s guard. A fresh plan was made. When, on the evening of the 27rd of April 1543, Šarško and his companions gathered beneath the castle walls, soldiers lower the rope and Šarško’s men started to climb up. Eighteen men climbed up. Then it was Šarško’s turn. However, when they had hauled him up as far as the window, he realised that he had been betrayed. He refused to surrender demanded to be returned to the ground. One of the mercenaries, however, cut the rope, and Šarško fell to his death. The bandits who had been pulled up set about fighting with the garrison. During the battle the castle was set ablaze and the gunpowder room exploded. Eight bandits were captured and seven of them were beheaded.
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