György Rákóczi

The Habsburgs had in 1591 invaded Transylvania under George Basta, who persecutes Protestants and expropriates estates illegally until Istvan Bocskay, a former Habsburg supporter, musters an army that expels Basta's forces in 1604-05.

In 1606 Bocskay concludes the Peace of Vienna with the Habsburgs and the Peace of Zsitvatorok with the Turks.

The treaties secure his position as prince of Transylvania, guarantee rights for Royal Hungary's Protestants, broaden Transylvania's independence, and free the emperor of his obligation to pay tribute to the Ottomans.

After Bocskay's death, the Ottomans compel the Transylvanians to accept Gabor Bethlen as prince.

Transylvania prospers under Bethlen's enlightened despotism.

He stimulates agriculture, trade, and industry; sinks new mines; sends students to Protestant universities abroad; and prohibits landlords from barring children of serfs from an education.

Unfortunately, when Bethlen dies in 1629, the Transylvanian Diet abolishes most of his reforms.

After a short succession struggle, Gyorgy Rakoczi I (1648-60) becomes prince.

Under Rakoczi, Transylvania fights with the Protestants in the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) and is mentioned as a sovereign state in the Peace of Westphalia.

Transylvania's golden age ends after Gyorgy Rakoczi II (1648-60) launches an attack on Poland without the prior approval of the Ottomans or Transylvania's Diet.

The campaign is a disaster, and the Turks use the opportunity to rout Rakoczi's army and take control of Transylvania.

Basta's army in Transylvania persecutes Protestants and illegally expropriates their estates until Stephen Bocskay (1605-07), a former Habsburg supporter, musters an army that expels the imperial forces.

In 1606 Bocskay concludes treaties with the Habsburgs and the Turks that secure his position as prince of Transylvania, guarantee religious freedom, and broaden Transylvania's independence.

After Bocskay' s death and the reign of the tyrant Gabriel Bathory (1607-13), the Porte compels the Transylvanians to accept Gabor Bethlen (1613-29) as prince.

Transylvania experiences a golden age under Bethlen's enlightened despotism. 

He promotes agriculture, trade, and industry, sinks new mines, sends students abroad to Protestant universities, and prohibits landlords from denying an education to children of serfs.

After Bethlen dies, however, the Transylvanian Diet abolishes most of his reforms.

Soon Gyorgy Rakoczi I (1630-40) becomes prince.

Rakoczi, like Bethlen, sends Transylvanian forces to fight with the Protestants in the Thirty Years' War; and Transylvania gains mention as a sovereign state in the Peace of Westphalia.

Transylvania's golden age ends after Gyorgy Rakoczi II (1648-60) launches an ill-fated attack on Poland without the prior approval of the Porte or Transylvania's Diet.

A Turkish and Tatar army routs Rakoczi's forces and seizes Transylvania.

For the remainder of its independence, Transylvania will suffer a series of feckless and distracted leaders, and throughout the seventeenth century Transylvania's Romanian peasants will linger in poverty and ignorance.

Transylvania has experienced a golden age under Bethlen's enlightened despotism.

He has promoted agriculture, trade, and industry, sunk new mines, sent students abroad to Protestant universities, and prohibited landlords from denying an education to children of serfs.

After Bethlen’s death on November 15, 1629, however, the Transylvanian Diet abolishes most of his reforms.

György Rákóczi I (1630-40) soon becomes prince.

Protestant Transylvania during the Thirty Years Wa has successfully kept the Catholic Habsburgs from effectively enforcing the Counter-Reformation in Hungary, of which Transylvania was formerly its eastern part.

Transylvania, under the leadership of György I Rákóczi (1591-1648), has gained international stature as a champion of Protestantism and has attracted the attention of the Swedes, who have marched victoriously through Silesia to Moravia, taking the city of Leipzig in 1642.

Rákóczi’s forces march north, endangering Vienna itself.

The combined Swedish and Transylvanian forces, aided by French and Hessian troops, trounce the Imperial (Austro-Bavarian) army at the Battle of Allerheim (or Nördlingen) in Bavaria on August 3, 1645, during which the courageous imperial commander, baron Franz von Mercy, is killed.

György II Rákóczi, elected prince of Transylvania during his father's lifetime (February 19, 1642), succeeds his illustrious father György I as prince in October 1648 and continues his policy of seeking alliances with the hospodars (lords) of Moldavia to the east and Wallachia to the south, and with the Cossack hetman, Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

Transylvania gains mention as a sovereign state in the Peace of Westphalia, the European settlements of 1648 that bring to an end the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch and the German phase of the Thirty Years' War.