Századok – 2008

TANULMÁNYOK - Papp Sándor: Homonnai Drugeth Bálint, Rákóczi Zsigmond és Báthory Gábor küzdelme az Erdély feletti hatalomért 1607-ben IV/807

Transylvania and, at least nominally, over the whole of Hungary, and in practice over its eastern marches. Prince Bocskai had designated Bálint Drugeth of Homonna as his political heir, and he was accordingly appointed as prince of Transylvania and king of Hungary by Murad pasha early in 1607. Yet Homonnai also intended to secure the support of the entourage of emperor Rudolph. But the Transylvanian orders rejected the political testament of Bocskai, and at the assembly held on 12 February 1607 they appointed the former lieutenant of Bocskai, Zsigmond Rákóczi, as their voievod. He also emphasised his fidelity to the Habsburgs. The third pretender, Gábor Báthory, enjoyed as a catholic aristocrast the support of the Hungarian catholic elite. Profiting from a new revolt of the hayducks of Bocskai, prompted by the Ottomans as well, he was able to achieve in March 1608 the removal of Zsigmond Rákóczi and occupied the Transylvanian throne himself. The Ottomans not only supported him but also acknovledged his authority soon thereafter. The study examines the chain of events summarised above on the basis of sources from Hungarian, Austrian, English and Turkish archives. It analyses how the local political aspirations of the individual pretenders were influenced by the shifting political aims of the two rival powers, namely the Ottoman and Habsburg Empires.