Part 548

John Sigismond Zapolya refused at first to be included in the peace which Maximilian arranged with the Turks, and endeavored to stir up an insurrection in Hungary; but his scheme failed, and "he had no resource but to accept the terms of peace offered by Maximilian, which were advantageous to both parties. He engaged not to assume the title of king of Hungary, except in his correspondence with the Turks, and to acknowledge the emperor as king, his superior and master; in addition to Transylvania, as an hereditary principality, he was to retain for life the counties of Bihar and Marmarosch, with Crasna and Zolnok, and whatever territories he could recover from the Turks. In return, the emperor promised to confer on him one of his nieces in marriage, and to cede to him Oppelen in Silesia, if expelled from Transylvania. On the death of John Sigismond without issue male, Transylvania was to be considered as an elective principality, dependent on the crown of Hungary. The intended marriage did not take place, for John Sigismond dying on the 16th of March, 1571, soon after the peace, all his possessions in Hungary reverted to Maximilian. The diet of Transylvania chose Stephen Bathori, who had acted with great reputation as the general and minister of John Sigismond; and Maximilian, although he had recommended another person, prudently confirmed the choice. … The new waivode was accordingly confirmed, both by Maximilian and the Turks, took the oath of fidelity to the crown of Hungary, and continued to live on terms of friendship and concord with the emperor. … Maximilian being of a delicate constitution, and declining in health, employed the last years of his reign in taking precautions to secure his dignities and possessions for his descendants. Having first obtained the consent of the Hungarian states, his eldest son Rhodolph was, in 1572, crowned king of Hungary, in a diet at Presburgh." Subsequently, the election of Rhodolph by the Bohemian diet was likewise procured, and he was crowned king of Bohemia on the 22d of September, 1575. A few weeks later, the same son was chosen and crowned king of the Romans, which secured his succession to the imperial dignity. This latter crown fell to him the following year, when his father died. Educated in Spain and by the Jesuits, the new emperor was easily persuaded to reverse the tolerant policy of his father, and to adopt measures of repression and persecution against the Protestants, in the Austrian provinces, in Hungary and in Bohemia, which could not long be endured without resistance. "The first object of Rhodolph had been to secure his dominions in Hungary against the Turks. In order to diminish the enormous expense of defending the distant fortresses on the side of Croatia, he transferred that country, as a fief of the empire, to his uncle Charles, duke of Styria, who, from the contiguity of his dominions, was better able to provide for its security. Charles accordingly constructed the fortress of Carlstadt, on the Kulpa, which afterwards became the capital of Croatia, and a military station of the highest importance. He also divided the ceded territory into numerous tenures, which he conferred on freebooters and adventurers of every nation, and thus formed a singular species of military colony. This feudal establishment gradually extended along the frontiers of Sclavonia and Croatia, and not only contributed, at the time, to check the incursions of the Turks, but afterwards supplied that lawless and irregular, though formidable military force … who, under the names of Croats, Pandours, and other barbarous appellations, spread such terror among the enemies of Austria on the side of Europe. … Notwithstanding the armistice concluded with the Sultan by Maximilian, and its renewal by Rhodolph in 1584 and 1591, a predatory warfare had never ceased along the frontiers." The truce of 1591 was quickly broken in a more positive way by Sultan Amurath, whose forces invaded Croatia and laid siege to Siseek. They were attacked there and driven from their lines, with a loss of 12,000 men. "Irritated by this defeat, … Amurath published a formal declaration of war, and poured his numerous hordes into Hungary and Croatia. The two following years were passed in various sieges and engagements, attended with alternate success and defeat; but the advantage ultimately rested on the side of the Turks, by the capture of Siseck and Raab. In 1595, a more favourable though temporary turn was given to the Austrian affairs, by the defection of the prince of Transylvania from the Turks. On the elevation of Stephen Bathori to the throne of Poland, his brother Christopher succeeded him as waivode of Transylvania, and, dying in 1582, left an infant son, Sigismond, under the protection of the Porte. Sigismond, who possessed the high spirit and talents of his family, had scarcely assumed the reins of government before he liberated himself from the galling yoke of the Turks, and in 1595 concluded an offensive alliance with the house of Austria. … He was to retain Transylvania as an independent principality, the part of Hungary which he still held, and Moldavia and Wallachia. … The conquests of both parties were to be equally divided. … By this important alliance the house of Austria was delivered from an enemy who had always divided its efforts, and made a powerful diversion in favour of the Turks. Sigismond signalised himself by his heroic courage and military skill; uniting with the waivodes of Moldavia and Wallachia, he defeated the grand vizir, Sinan, took Turgovitch by storm, and drove the Turks back in disgrace towards Constantinople. Assisted by this diversion, the Austrians in Hungary were likewise successful, and not only checked the progress of the Turks, but distinguished their arms by the recovery of Gran and Vissegrad. This turn of success roused the sultan Mahomet, the son and successor of Amurath. … He put himself, in 1596, at the head of his forces, led them into Hungary, took Erlau, and defeating the Austrians under the archduke Maximilian, the lateness of the season alone prevented him from carrying his arms into Austria and Upper Hungary, which were exposed by the loss of Raab and Erlau. As Mahomet could not a second time tear himself from the seraglio, the war was carried on without vigour, and the season passed rather in truces than in action. But this year, though little distinguished by military events, was memorable for the cession of Transylvania to Rhodolph, by the brave yet fickle Sigismond, in exchange for the lordships of Ratibor and Oppelen in Silesia, with an annual pension." {1677} The capricious Sigismond, however, soon repenting of his bargain, reclaimed and recovered his Transylvanian dominion, but only to resign it again, in 1599, to his uncle, and again to repossess it. Not until 1602, after much fighting and disorder, was the fickle-minded and troublesome prince sent finally to retirement, in Bohemia. Transylvania was then placed under the government of the imperial general Basta. "His cruel and despotic administration driving the natives to despair, they found a chief in Moses Tzekeli, who, with other magnates, after ineffectually opposing the establishment of the Austrian government, had sought a refuge among the Turks. Tzekeli, at the head of his fellow exiles, assisted by bodies of Turks and Tartars, entered the country, was joined by numerous adherents, and, having obtained possession of the capital and the adjacent fortresses, was elected and inaugurated prince of Transylvania. His reign, however, was scarcely more permanent than that of his predecessor; for, before he could expel the Germans, he was, in 1603, defeated by the new waivode of Wallachia, and killed in the confusion of the battle. In consequence of this disaster, his followers dispersed, and Basta again recovered possession of the principality. During these revolutions in Transylvania, Hungary had been the scene of incessant warfare between the Austrians and the Turks, which exhausted both parties with little advantage to either. … Rhodolph had long lost the confidence of his Hungarian subjects. … He treated the complaints and remonstrances of his subjects with contempt and indifference; and the German troops being free from control, filled the country with devastation and pillage. While, however, he abandoned the civil and military affairs to chance, or to the will of his officers, he laboured to fetter his subjects with religious restrictions, and the most intolerant edicts were issued against the Protestants, in various parts of the kingdom. … The disaffected increasing in numbers, soon found a leader in Stephen Botskai, the principal magnate of Upper Hungary, uncle of Sigismond Bathori. … The discontents in Transylvania, arising from the same causes as the rebellion in Hungary, greatly contributed to the success of Botskai. … Being in 1604 assisted by a Turkish army, which the new sultan, Achmet, despatched into Transylvania, he soon expelled the Austrians, and was formally inaugurated sovereign. … But Botskai was too disinterested or too prudent to accept the regal dignity [as king of Hungary, which the grand vizier of the sultan proclaimed him]. … He acted, however, with the same vigour and activity as if he had a crown to acquire; before the close of the campaign he conquered all Upper Hungary, almost to the walls of Presburgh; at the same time the Turks reduced Gran, Vissegrad and Novigrad."

_W. Coxe History of the House of Austria, chapters 38-42 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN: _J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Protestant Church in Hungary, chapters 12-20._

HUNGARY: A. D. 1595-1606. The Turkish war. Great defeat at Cerestes. The Peace of Sitvatorok.

'The disasters which the Turkish arms were now experiencing in Wallachia and Hungary made the Sultan's best statesmen anxious that the sovereign should, after the manner of his great ancestors, head his troops in person, and endeavour to give an auspicious change to the fortune of the war. … The Imperialists, under the Archduke Maximilian and the Hungarian Count Pfalfy, aided by the revolted princes of the Danubian Principalities, dealt defeat and discouragement among the Ottoman ranks, and wrung numerous fortresses and districts from the empire. The cities of Gran, Wissgrad, and Babocsa, had fallen; and messengers in speedy succession announced the loss of Ibrail, Varna, Kilic, Ismail, Silistria, Rustchuk, Bucharest, and Akerman. These tidings at last roused the monarch in his harem. … Mahomet III. left his capital for the frontier in the June of 1596. … The display of the sacred standard of the Prophet, which now for the first time was unfurled over a Turkish army, excited … the zeal of the True Believers. … The Grand Vizier, Ibrahim Pacha, Hassan Sokolli Pacha, and Cicala Pacha, were the principal commanders under the Sultan. … The Archduke Maximilian, who commanded the Imperialists, retired at first before the superior numbers of the great Ottoman army; and the Sultan besieged and captured Erlau. The Imperialists now having effected a junction with the Transylvanian troops under Prince Sigismund, advanced again, though too late to save Erlau; and on October 23rd, 1596, the two armies were in presence of each other on the marshy plain of Cerestes, through which the waters of the Cincia ooze towards the river Theiss. There were three days of battle at Cerestes." Repeatedly, the effeminate Sultan wished to order a retreat, or to betake himself to flight; but was persuaded by his counsellors to remain on the field, though safely removed from the conflict. On the third day the battle was decided in favor of the Turks by a charge of their cavalry under Cicala. "Terror and flight spread through every division of the Imperialists; and in less than half an hour from the time when Cicala began his charge, Maximilian and Sigismund were flying for their lives, without a single Christian regiment keeping their ranks, or making an endeavour to rally and cover the retreat. 50,000 Germans and Transylvanians perished in the marshes or beneath the Ottoman sabre. … Mahomet III. eagerly returned after the battle to Constantinople, to receive felicitations and adulation for his victory, and to resume his usual life of voluptuous indolence. The war in Hungary was prolonged for several years, until the peace of Sitvatorok [November 11, 1606] in the reign of Mahomet's successor. … No change of importance was made in the territorial possessions of either party, except that the Prince of Transylvania was admitted as party to the treaty, and that province became to some extent, though not entirely, independent of the Ottoman Empire."

_Sir E. S. Creasy, History of the Ottoman Turks, chapter 12._

HUNGARY: A. D. 1606-1660. The Pacification of Vienna. Gabriel Bethlem of Transylvania and the Bohemian revolt. Participation and experience in the Thirty Years War.

In 1606, the Archduke Mathias—who had lately been appointed to the Governorship of Hungary, and who had been acknowledged, by a secret compact among the members of the Hapsburg family as the head of their House—arranged the terms of a peace with Botskai. This treaty, called the "Pacification of Vienna," restored the religious toleration that had been practised by Ferdinand and Maximilian; provided that Mathias should be lieutenant-general of the kingdom; gave to Botskai the title of Prince of Transylvania and part of Hungary; and stipulated that on the failure of his male issue these territories should revert to the House of Austria. {1678} "This treaty, at last, restored peace to Hungary, but at the expense of her unity and independence. Some idea may be formed of the state of weakness and lassitude to which these long wars had reduced the country … by a statement of the divisions into which it had been split up by the various factions. Hungary, with Croatia, Sclavonia, and the frontiers, was then reckoned to cover an area of 4,427 square miles, and Transylvania one of 736. Of these 5,163 miles, Turkey possessed 1,859; Botskai in Hungary 1,346, in Transylvania 736=2,082; [sic] and Austria only 1,222. Botskai died in 1606, and was succeeded by Sigismond Rakoczi, who, however, soon abdicated in favour of Gabriel Bathori." At this time the plans of the Austrian family for taking the reins of power out of the feeble and careless hands of the Emperor Rodolph, and giving them to his more energetic brother, the Archduke Mathias, came to a head.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1556-1609.

Mathias "marched into Bohemia: and Rodolph, after a feeble resistance, found himself abandoned by all his supporters, and compelled to resign into the hands of Mathias Hungary, Austria and Moravia, and to guarantee to him the succession to the crown of Bohemia; Mathias in the meantime bearing the title of king elect of that kingdom, with the consent of the states. Rodolph at the same time delivered up the Hungarian regalia, which for some time past had been kept at Prague." Before his coronation, Mathias was required by the Hungarian diet to sign a compact, guaranteeing religious liberty; stipulating that the Hungarian Chamber of Finances should be independent of that of Austria, that all offices and employments should be filled by natives, and that the Jesuits should possess no real property in the country. The peace of the country was soon disturbed by another revolution in Transylvania. "Gabriel Bathori, who had succeeded Sigismond Bathori on the throne of the principality, had suffered his licentiousness to tempt him into insulting the wives of some of the nobles, who instantly fell upon him and murdered him; and in his place Gabriel Bethlem, a brave warrior and an able statesman, was unanimously elected, with the consent and approbation of the sultan. Under his government his dominions enjoyed a full measure of peace and tranquillity, and began to recover from the horrible devastations of preceding years. He did not, however, assume his dignity without dispute. Transylvania had been secured to the house of Austria on the death of Botskai, by the Pacification of Vienna, and Mathias was, of course, now anxious to enforce his rights, and he considered the present opportunity (1617) favourable, as the Turks were engaged in wars on the side of Asia and Poland. He therefore summoned a diet of the empire, to the throne of which he had succeeded in 1612 by the death of Rodolph. … But the diet refused all aid," and he was forced to conclude a peace with the sultan for the further period of twenty years. "No mention being made in it of Transylvania, the rights of Gabriel Bethlem were thus tacitly recognised. Mathias died soon after, in 1619, leaving his crown to his cousin, Ferdinand II." Then followed the renewed attempt of an imperial bigot to crush Protestantism in his dominions, and the Bohemian revolt (see BOHEMIA: A. D. 1611-1618) which kindled the flames of the "Thirty Years' War." Hungary and Transylvania were in sympathy with Bohemia. "Gabriel Bethlem entered Hungary, in answer to the call of the Protestants of that country, at the head of a large army—took Cassau, Tiernan, Newhasel, dispersed the imperial forces under Homonai, sent 18,000 men to enforce Count Thurn, got possession of Presburg by treachery, and seized upon the regalia." The cause of the Bohemians was lost at the battle of the White Mountain, before Prague; but "Gabriel Bethlem for a long time supported the prestige acquired by his earlier successes. He was proclaimed king of Hungary, and obtained considerable advantages over two generals of ability and reputation." But a treaty of peace was concluded at length, according to which Gabriel surrendered the crown and royal title, receiving the duchies of Oppelen and Ratibor in Silesia, and seven counties of Hungary, together with Cassau, Tokay, and other towns. Ferdinand promised complete toleration to the Protestants, but was not faithful to his promise, and war was soon resumed. Bethlem "collected an army of 45,000 men, joined his forces with those of Mansfeldt, the general of the confederacy [the Protestant Union], after his victory over the imperialists at Presburg; and at the same time the Bashaw of Buda entered Lower Hungary at the head of a large force, captured various fortresses in the district of Gran, and laid siege to Novigrad. They were opposed by two able generals, the famous Wallenstein and Swartzemberg, but without checking their progress. Wallenstein, however, followed Mansfeldt into Hungary, where the two armies remained for some time inactive in the presence of one another; but famine, disease, and the approach of winter at last brought the contest to, a close. The king of Denmark had been defeated, and Gabriel Bethlem began to fear that the whole force of the Austrians would now be directed against him, and concluded a truce. The bashaw of Buda feared the winter, and followed his example; and Mansfeldt, finding himself thus abandoned, disbanded his soldiers.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1624-1626.

… The treaty of peace was again renewed, the truce with the Turks prolonged." Gabriel Bethlem, or Bethlem Gabor, died in 1629. "The Transylvanians elected George Rakotski to fill his place, and during nearly four years Hungary and Transylvania enjoyed the blessings of peace." Then they were again disturbed by attempts of Ferdinand to reduce Transylvania to the state of an Austrian province, and by hostile measures against the Protestants. The latter continued after the death of Ferdinand II. (1637), and under his son Ferdinand III. Rakotski inspired an insurrection of the Hungarians which became formidable, and which, joining in alliance with the Swedes, then warring in Germany, extorted from the emperor a very favorable treaty of peace (1647). "At the same time Ferdinand caused his son of the same name, and elder brother of Leopold, to be elected and crowned king. During his short reign, the country was tranquil; but in 1654 he died, leaving his rights to Leopold. The reign of Leopold [1655-1697] was a period which witnessed events more important to Hungary than any which preceded it, or have followed it, save only the revolutionary years, 1848 and 1849. {1679} No monarch of the house of Austria had ever made so determined attacks upon Hungarian liberty, and to none did the Hungarians oppose a braver and more strenuous resistance. Nothing was left untried on the one side to overthrow the constitution; nothing was left untried on the other to uphold and defend it."

_E. L. Godkin, History of Hungary, chapters 15-17._

HUNGARY: A. D. 1660-1664. Turkish attacks on Upper Hungary. The battle of St. Gothard. Liberation of Transylvania. A twenty years truce.