Fraternity-Testvériség, 1956 (34. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1956-07-01 / 7. szám

FRATERNITY

7

of the Jesuits from the country. Bocskay even announced that because of the suspicious clause of the religious article he refuses to accept the treaty. At this Archduke Matthias declared in writing that he would assure Bocskay and the Protestants that the religious clause had neither secret nor malevolent intent, and moreover, this article was to be submitted by him to the coming Diet for further discussion.

Bocskay, having been instrumental in bringing the 15-year war with the Turks to an advantageous conclusion for Hungary, called a national Diet to Kassa for December 13, 1606. The Diet announced that it was willing to accept the Peace Treaty of Vienna, but with the provisions that the religious demands of the Protestants be sustained and be enacted at the coming Diet.

When the Diet of Kassa came to an end and its enactments were ratified by Bocskay on December 22, he was mortally ill, and a week later passed away in his 49th year. He was allegedly poisoned by Michael Katay, his chancellor, who was hired for this attempt by the Hapsburgs.

Bocskay’s unexpected death cast the people of the two Hungarian nations into deep mourning. The Prince, who was interred at Gyula- fehervar, was considered the father and Moses of his people. He was actually a great man, honest, of good intention, a deeply devout Reformed Christian. The main achievement of his life was the Peace Treaty of Vienna. It was not his fault that the clause, the source of so much later trouble and misunderstanding, which he opposed from the beginning, was included. The basic defect of the Peace Treaty, which couldn't be prevented at that time, was its lack of a specific guarantee of religious freedom for the peasantry as well.

In addition to the Peace Treaty of Vienna, Bocskay’s wisdom and patriotism is attested to by a number of cities and villages, located not only in Hajdú County, in which he established permanent Hungarian settlements successfully, the only time this was done since Bela IV. Contemporary writers noted that the Hajdus were half wild, almost animal-like mercenaries. It was Bocskay who detected Hungarian brothers longing for understanding and sympathy in these poor, unfortunate men, degraded by continuous warfare and misery. And as a result he settled them in the Trans-Tisza district, especially in the area of the present- day County of Hajdú. Cities and towns which continue to flourish in our day testify to the Hajdus’ wrothiness for Bocskay’s trust and the privileges he granted, elevating them from serfdom. It is to Bocskay’s credit that the Rumanian expansion stopped at Ermihalyfalva and couldn’t extend as far as Karczag. The approximately 200,0C0 Hungarians claiming Hajdú descent and almost all adherents of the Reformed Christian faith are also to his credit.

The eulogy delivered over the Prince wisely stated: “We lost Stephen, noble Prince of Transylvania, or more correctly, sent him as an advance guard to the eternal home of the blessed. He was the unparalleled hero of all times and all memories, the glory of whose virtue will never be covered by oblivion, and even the wickedest envy would never be justified in tarnishing his glory, and his memory will never be extirpated from human hearts by time, even though it destroys all things.”