Horváth M. Ferenc (szerk.): Vác The heart of the Danube Bend. A historical guide for residents and globetrotters (Vác, 2009)
Tartalom
VÁC IN THE OTTOMAN ERA 99 THE FIFTEEN YEARS'WAR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES At the turn of the 16-17th centuries the whole country and the occupied territories had to suffer the tragedy of another war lasting for one and a half decades (1591-1606). Territories and castles changed hands several times, the Principality of Transylvania temporarily rid itself of the Ottoman subordination. The war redrew the borderlines between parts of the country in several places; however, it had some more general consequences and lasting damage as well. The wars proved that it was possible to defeat the Ottoman army, which had been considered invincible until then; the military forces of the Habsburg emperors (who ruled the Hungarian Kingdom) now matched those of the Ottoman sultans, which was one of the reasons for the fights lasting so long. On the other hand, the deployment of armies tens of thousands strong every year resulted in much bigger destruction than the sieges of the castles between the 1540s Depiction of a siege of a castle in the 16th century and the 1560s. In the 16th century the people in the occupied territories had still owned the admirable vitality to rebuild their ransacked villages; now areas, which took a journey several days long to travel, became deserted, especially in the northern part of the Ottoman-occupied territory that suffered the most. It took decades for the remaining population to return and start working again. The budget of the treasury in Buda at the beginning of the 17th century faithfully reflected the awful consequences of the war. The production of the much suffered inhabitants of the war-stricken Buda district provided so little tax income for the treasury that it covered only 3-6% of the pay of the garrisons in the vilayet. The order of the Battle of Vác of 1597
