Magyar Egyház, 1956 (35. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1956-08-01 / 8-9. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 11 his predecessors, the Holy Roman Emperors as well as the Kings of Hungary, he professes the Holy Roman Catholic faith with all sincerity and wishes to see this as the dominant religion in all his countries, especially in Hungary, furthermore he wishes to cleanse it from all heresy and to protect it as part of his royal office.” “In view of this he approves and ratifies all the laws enacted in the interest of the Roman Catholic faith from the time of St. Stephen and in the future forbids, under penalty, the discussion of the same in Diet, because it merely interferes with the handling of more important matters.” This notorious article, which was received with joy only by the Croatians, bore within itself the death sentence of Protestantism. It is no wonder that dissatisfaction reached the boiling point and only a leader was needed for the defence of constitutional and religious liberties. Stephen Bocskay of Kismarja, became the hoped for leader. Stephen Bocskay was one of the richest magnates in Transylvania. He was a fervent adherent of the Reformed religion, a man of broad vision and military ability. His family traditionally supported the Habsburgs. In his youth he spent a few years at the court of King Maximilian. After the King’s death he returned to Transylvania and played an important role under his nephew, Prince Sigismund Báthory. He was convinced that the Turks could only be expelled from Hungary by Habsburg leadership. He thus supported the plan of uniting Transylvania to Hungary under Rudolph. The break with his nephew was caused by the fact that Sigismund either didn’t want or else couldn’t adhere to the agreement made with Rudolph. With the ascendence of the Turkish party in Transylvania, Bocskay left for Rudolph’s court in Prague. Here he had ample opportunity to become convinced about the anti- Magyar and expecially anti-Protestant sentiments of the court. He also found that Rudolph had absolutely no means to expel the Turks. He returned to his estate in Bihar in great disillusionment, and with the firm determination never to deal with politics again. Conditions determined otherwise. The Transylvanian exiles who were made destitute by Rudolph’s general Basta, applied to the Turks and were promised that if they were to find a suitable leader they would gain support. The refugees unanimously chose Bocskay, whom they hated while he served Rudolph, but now even more persistently urged to support their cause. Bocskay, who didn’t want to turn against his king, hesitated before he gave in to their request. The deciding factor in his final decision was the attempt at extortion by Belgijoso, one of Rudolph’s generals. Bocskay refused to give in and Belgijoso moved against him with troops. On the way the mercenaries of the emperor vanquished a small force of Transylvania and among the captured equipment they discovered the correspondence between Bocskay and the Transylvanian exiles. Although these letters did not prove that Bocskay was against the Habsburgs, they were handy for Belgijoso who branded Bocskay a traitor and sought to confiscate his estates and capture him. For Bocskay, who was driven from Rudolph by force, there was no other alternative but defence. He succeeded in gaining the Hungarian mercennaries known as Hajdus, who had, until that time served the Enperor, and made them understand that their place was not with the enemy of the nation but rather with their own people. With the help of the Hajdus he succeeded in defeating Belgijoso at Almosd and in a few short months his troops occupied all of Transylvania and Habsburg Hungary. He was elected Prince of Transylvania at the Diet of Nyaradszereda on February 21, 1605, and Prince of Hungary at the Diet of Szerencs on April 20, 1605. Bocskay and his insurgents were willing to make peace but Rudolph declared that he would never consent to granting religious liberty to “heretics”. Rudolph’s brothers realized that this stubbornness could easily lead to the complete loss of Hungary, so the issue of negotiating a peace was taken over by his oldest brother, Archduke Matthias. In order to have the Hungarian nation express its own desires, Bocskay called a Diet at Korpona in November of 1605. During preparations for the Diet he visited Transylvania where he was installed Prince. Bocskay’s meeting with Lala Mohammed, Turkish Grand Vizier at Rákos, also took place during preparations for the Korpona Diet. The Grand Vizier handed him the letters patent of the Sultan, in which he was recognized Prince of Hungary and Transylvania; Hungary was released from tribute, Transylvania’s tribute was released for ten years, and after that time set at 10,000 forints a year. The Sultan also sent Bocskay a royal crown, but he was unwilling to be a king, for kingly office received from the Sultan would have meant the humbling of the nation. He thus declared that he would accept the crown as a symbol of the Sultan’s friendship, for Hungary already had a legal King. This scene at Rákos presents the unselfishness and patriotism of Bocskay at its best. It is further proven by his attitude during the peace negotiations, for in essence his demands were primarily that religious liberty be guaranteed, political grievances remedied, and the securing of religious and political liberty by the recognition of Transylvania independence. He also sought a peace treaty with the Turks that would serve the best interests of the nation. He announced that if the King is willing to comply with these requests, he would retain Transylvania but would return the remaining part of Hungary to the King. The negotiations under Archduke Matthias were prolonged, for the Pope and his legates, together with the Austrian and Hungarian Roman Catholic bishops and the royal counsellors did all they could to prevent the granting of religious liberty to the Protestants. In the meantime Rudolph’s insanity became so grave that the family council made Archduke Matthias head of the family. By conducting the negotiations with full authority, he saw the peace treaty signed in Vienna on June 23, 1606. This peace treaty was the first guarantee of religious liberty and freedom of conscience for Hungary. It repealed laws enacted against the Protestants, among them especially the notorious Article XXII of 1604. It further states that: “The Maj-Megjelent NAGY LAJOS esperes "ÁRON VETT ALKALMAK" cimü alkalmi igehirdetéseket tartalmazó könyve. Ára: $2.00 Kapható a szerzőnél vagy a lap szerkesztőségében. — A szerző eddig megjelent könyveiből kaphatók még: "Otthoni harangszó" elbeszélések $1.00 "Testvéri szó bujdosó magyarokhoz" Igehridetések $2.00 1
