Fraternity-Testvériség, 1956 (34. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1956-07-01 / 7. szám
FRATERNITY 5 leader was needed for the defense 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 Haps- burgs. 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 Haps- burg leadership. He thus supported the plan of uniting Transylvania with 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 especially 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 destitue 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 Belgiojoso, one of Rudolph’s generals. Bocskay refused to give in and Belgiojoso moved against him with troops. On the way the mercenaries of the emperor vanquished a small force of Transylvanians 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 Hapsburgs, they were handy for Belgiojoso 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 defense. He succeeded in gaining the Hungarian mercenaries known as Hajdus, who had until that time served the Emperor, 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 Belgiojoso at Almosd and in a few short months his troops occupied all of Transylvania and Hapsburg 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
