Századok – 1995

Tanulmányok - Gecsényi Lajos: Bécs és a hódoltság kereskedelmi összeköttetései a 16. században (Thököly Sebestyén felemelkedésének hátteréhez) IV/767

790 GECSÉNYI LA-DOS The Ottoman drive to the West in the 1540's meant a constant threat for Vienna. Spies could easily mingle with the merchants and cattlemen coming from the occupied Hungarian and Southern Slav territories. So the Court and the Lower Austrian administration ordered all aliens, especially the merchants, to be watched intensively, and they were also restricted in their movement. However, the economic interests of Vienna did not allow the centre of commerce to be shifted to the eastern part of Austria or to Hungary and the Turkish subjects to be expelled altogether. In 1544, the continuous state of war finally made the ruler draw a list of goods not to be exported to the Ottoman territories. The ban on weapons and utensils that could be used as such (knifes, sickles, etc.) was enacted also by the Hungarian Diet, but the bill could practically not be enforced. The citizens of Royal Hungary made a great use of their free movement in Vienna as subjects of the Habsburg king, and of their connections with the occupied territories, and became important factors in commercial life. Such a man was Thököly Sebestyén, the ancestor of the famous Thököly dynasty, who moved from around Gyula and Debrecen to Nagyszombat as a cattle merchant. As a big merchant, Thököly transferred goods from Vienna via Komárom and Buda (Vác) by ships on the Danube, and from there to Debrecen overland, by carts. On the way back, his men drove cattle to Austria. He stood in connection with several merchants from Vienna and Nuremberg, while his subcontractors were inhabitants of Debrecen, Szatmár and Mezőtűr in Easter Hungary. In 1572, he was ennobled by the king, and his wealth grew rapidly. He entertained good relations also with the circles of the Pasha of Buda, for which he became suspicious as a spy in the eyes of Vienna. In 1575, he was arrested for a short while and interrogated. Thököly drew the lessons and transformed his commercial activities. In 1575, he wished to buy the Vöröskő estate of the Fuggers, abandoned all direct relations with the occupied territories and Transylvania, and commissioned an agent with full powers in Debrecen to act on his behalf there. Retaining his connections in Vienna and Nuremberg, he dealt mostly with providing the soldiers of the border regions of Hungary with wine and cerials, and with lending money for their pay. For his activity he was made a baron in 1593, so his family rose to the ranks of the Hungarian aristocracy.