There was one robber knight who took a fancy to the castle. This was a certain Sarsko from Košice. He took advantage of the death of the steward Alexej Turzy in January 1543, and hoped to take control of the castle by cunning. He had agreed 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 Sarsko’s plan to the captain of the castle guard. A fresh plan was made. When, on the evening of the 27rd of April 1543, Sarsko and his retainers gathered beneath the castle walls, ropes were let down to the men and they started to be pulled up. They pulled up eighteen. Then it was Sarsko’s turn. When however they had hauled him up as far as the window, he realised that he had been betrayed. He resisted capture and demanded to be returned to the ground. One of the mercenaries, however, cut the rope, and Sarsko 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 shot high into the sky. Eight bandits were captured and seven of them were beheaded.
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