The Bocskai uprising, known in Hungary as Bocskai's War of Independence () was a revolt which took place in Hungary, Transylvania and modern Slovakia during the Long Turkish War (between 1604 and 1606) against Emperor Rudolf II. The rebel leader was Stephen Bocskai, a Protestant Hungarian nobleman. The Ottoman wars had burdened the Kingdom of Hungary for years, causing famine and disease, and the armies of the Christian states had been weakened by losses to Ottoman and Tatar forces.
Rudolf II persecuted the Protestants, and the wealthy Hungarian noblemen were falsely accused of treason. Bocskai organized the revolt and persuaded the Hungarian military Hajduks to join, defeating the imperial forces and foreign mercenaries. The Hungarian nobility, soldiers and peasants (including the minorities) joined Bocskai's Hajduk army. Although he was supported by the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean Khanate, Moldavia, Transylvania, he prevented an Ottoman siege of Vienna. Bocskai was declared Prince of Transylvania and Hungary, but recognized that total Hungarian independence was impossible against the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. He blazed a political trail for his supporters: the preservation of an independent Transylvania, a potential base for the unification of Hungary. Based on the terms of the Treaty of Vienna in 1606, all constitutional and religious rights and privileges were granted to the Hungarians in both the Principality of Transylvania and Royal Hungary. The treaty also recognized Bocskai as the Prince of Transylvania and guaranteed the right of Transylvanians to elect their own independent princes in the future.
Background
Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria, who became Holy Roman Emperor in 1556, had centralized the military and finances of the Habsburg Empire. The Kingdom of Hungary (which had lost territory) was governed by the Hofkriegsrat, the Hofkammer, the Hofkanzlei and the Secret Council, based in Vienna. The border fortress system was imported from Vienna during the 16th century. Pozsony and Szepes (Spiš) were governed from Vienna, and the Court Chamber (Hofkammer) had no Hungarian members.
Complaints in the national parliaments included the behavior of foreign officials and mercenaries and the fact that the Habsburgs spent little time in Hungary. Rudolf moved his residence from Vienna to Prague in 1583; it was safer from the Ottomans, but further from Hungary. After the 1562 death of Palatine Tamás Nádasdy, his position remained vacant until 1608.
Prelude In 1591, the Long Turkish War began. The Habsburg Monarchy (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia, and Moravia) joined the Transylvanian and Ottoman vassal states of Moldavia and Wallachia. Several European states also sent troops to Hungary. The Papal State primarily recruited foreign Walloon and Italian mercenaries for the war. The Habsburg and Spanish kings also employed Walloon mercenaries in addition to German, Italian and Spanish soldiers.Finkel, Caroline (1988). The Administration of Warfare: The Ottoman Military Campaigns in Hungary, 1593-1606. Vienna: VWGÖ.
The Christian forces suppressed the Ottomans early in the war until the Battle of Keresztes (1596), when they were defeated. The war then dragged on, wearing out Hungary, Transylvania, and Croatia. The Habsburgs spent their military budget, and the unpaid mercenaries (particularly the Walloons) ventured into Hungary and Transylvania. The Tatar auxiliary of the Ottoman army wrought havoc in Hungary, and several thousand men died of hunger and disease.
The Long Turkish War's effects on Transylvanian domestic policy With minor clashes escalating along the border, the Long Turkish War began as early as 1591. More serious combat took place in 1593, when Sultan Murad III nullified the 1568 Treaty of Adrianople and declared war on the Habsburgs. Although the sultan called on Zsigmond Báthory to join the Ottoman army, he decided to join the anti-Ottoman league on the advice of his uncle Stephen Bocskai (captain of Várad, present-day Oradea) and the Jesuit priest Alonso Carrillo. Most of the Transylvanian Assembly feared that Turkish troops would loot Transylvania before the Christian army arrived, however, and the prince's plan was not adopted. Zsigmond Báthory resigned from the principality in the summer of 1594 in favor of his cousin, Boldizsár Báthory, who represented the Turks.
Bocskai began working behind the scenes to reverse this. After visiting the prince's trustees, he asked for soldiers. The Assembly of Kolozsvár passed a resolution dissolving the Turkish alliance and supporting the emperor. On orders from Sigismund, the opposition lords, the prince (Boldizsár Báthory), his cousin, chancellor Farkas Kovacsóczy, councilor Sándor Kendy (father-in-law of Boldizsár Báthory and Farkas Kovacsóczy), Ferenc Kendy (brother of Sándor János Kendy), Gábor Kendy Gergely and László Szalánczy from Branyicska were captured and executed. Others were imprisoned because prince Sigismund Bathory had pardoned János Gerendi, Albert Lónyai, György Szalánczi and Boldizsár Szilvásy.Acsady, Ignacz: Magyarország három részre oszlásának története (1526–1608)[History of Hungary 1526-1608.]In:
Szilagyi, Sándor [editor] :A magyar nemzet története[History of the Hungarian nation] Ötödikik köteyvFifth S voluok] Budapest.1898. Atheneu http://mek.oszk.hu/00800/00893/html/
The war was indecisive, and the Kingdom of Hungary was destroyed by German and Walloon mercenaries. Transylvania suffered the most from the war, which became a long-term civil war as a result of Zsigmond (Sigismund) Báthory's repeated resignations and returns. Rudolf appointed Michael the Brave Voivode of Transylvania; Michael overthrew the principality, briefly uniting Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia under one single ruler. Rudolf allowed him to be assassinated, replacing him with general Giorgio Basta.Szádeczky Kardoss, Lajos:Erdély és Mihály vajda története [History of Transsylvania and Mihail Vitezaul], 1595-1601. oklevéltárral. 1893. https://archive.org/details/erdlysmihl00szuoft
The financial problems of the Habsburg Empire At the turn of the 17th century, the Long Turkish War led to the empire accumulating millions of Rhine forints in annual debt. In some years of the 15-year war,Finkel, Caroline (1988). The Administration of Warfare: The Ottoman Military Campaigns in Hungary, 1593-1606. Vienna: VWGÖ. expenditures were five million forints; this created annual budget deficits of 800,000 to 1.5 million forints, which could only be resolved with credit. Annual revenue during the 1570s was 2–2.5 million Rhine forints, and the debt was sometimes 1,500 percent of that. Rudolf, his advisors and nobility tried to alleviate the fiscal problems by confiscating the property of the Hungarian aristocracy. Infringement (high treason) and betrayal lawsuits were brought against the wealthiest Hungarian barons and families, usually with the loss of property and goods. The idea originated with local Catholic priests, whose targets were Protestant. Legal proceedings were even brought against soldiers in the Long Turkish War: Sigismund Rákóczi, Tamás Nádasdy, Mihály Telekessy, and the Alaghy, Balassa, Drugeth and Kállay families from Homonna. The first verdict was handed down in March 1603 in the case of Istvan Illésházy, whose castles and estates were confiscated; however, he escaped to Poland.
Religion conflict
Unlike Emperor Maximilian I, who was tolerant of Protestants, Rudolf II supported the enforced conversion of Protestants to the Catholic faith. The Counter-Reformation began in the Habsburg Austrian and Styrian provinces (where Lutheranism was dominant) and Hungary (where Calvinism prevailed, although the cities of Upper Hungary were Lutheran). During the Long Turkish War, Rudolf turned Protestant churches over to Catholics.Benda Kálmán: Habsburg politika és rendi ellenállás a XVII. század elején. [Habsburg policy and resistance of the Estates in the XVII. century in Hungary] Történelmi Szemle,
13. évf. (1970) 404–427.; uő: A Kálvini tanok hatása a magyar rendi ellenállás ideológiájár[Effectaof the Calvinism to the resistance of the Estates] °.
Helikon, 16. évf. (1971) 322–330."1593-ban lett Felső-Magyarország kormányzója és Kassa parancsnoka. A kassai Szent Erzsébet dómot 1604. január 6-án Barbiano segédletével foglalták el a katolikusok. Három nappal később Belgiojoso a kisszebeni templomot is elfoglalta." [about general Barbiano's church consfications]. https://hu.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbian_Belgiojoso
Following the murder of Michael, Basta became military commander of Transylvania, but his cruelty led to public discontent. Under his leadership, iniquities and murders multiplied throughout Transylvania. During this brief period, Basta tried to uproot Protestantism. Following Papal and Imperial policy, Calvinist Hungarians and Székelys, Orthodox Wallachians and Serbs, and Lutheran Saxons were subject to any kind of abuse. Following years of warfare and his ruthless regime, famine and plague appeared in Transylvania. At that time Rudolf II decided to recall him from command, leading to Basta's departure from Transylvania and put him in charge to fight against the Ottomans of West Hungary(1604).23. July 1604. Basta's letter to Prince Matthias about to leave Transylvania to fight against Ottomans in West Hungary. In: Basta György hadvezér levelezése és iratai.[Giorgio Basta military leader's letters and documents]. II. Volume. 1602-1607Editor and translator: Dr. Veress, Endre. Budapest, 1913. Akadémiai Kiadó (Document no. 1601.)466. p, https://archive.org/stream/bastagyrgyhadv02bastuoft#page/466/mode/1up
Gabriel Bethlen's letter Gabriel Bethlen wrote to ask Stephen Bocskai to lead them against the illegitimate king. On behalf of those who fled to Turkish territory, Bethlen encouraged Bocskai to spearhead an anti-Habsburg uprising with the prospect of a Turkish alliance. Bocskai had a key position when he supported his nephew Sigismund Báthory and was a battle-hardened leader. Their correspondence was intercepted by Giovan Giacomo Barbiano di Belgioioso, captain of Kassa. Bocskai had to hire former Hajduks to defend himself from an imperial attempt to prevent his arrest for treason and save his property from consfication.A hajdúk a magyar történelemben – Benda Kálmán-Kenéz Győző: Barbiano generális jelentése a Bocskai-szabadságharc első hónapjairól. Hadjus in the Hungarian history. General Barbiano's report about the Bocskai uprising. Archiválva 2018. július 5-i dátummal a Wayback Machine-ben. "Scripsit et manifestavit diversis vicibus Betlen Gabor
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fuit, hoc idem Bochkaium acrius commonebat, quod postea Betlen Gabor animadvertens, Bochkaio citissime significavit. Eodem fere tempore supervenerunt
litterae domini generalis,
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illarum partium magnatibus ad castra in Rakamaz, ut cum illis necessaria
regni consultaret; sicuti et quidem tum comparuere dominus Batori per legatum suum, Stephanus Chaky, Sigismundus Racocy, Paulus Melith, Ladislaus
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cum quibus etiam Bochkaio litterae redditae sunt
amici sui cujusdam ex castris datae, in quibus ei significabat, quod nisi veniret,
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