52 Facts About Stephen Bocskai

Stephen Bocskai spent his youth in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian, who was the ruler of Royal Hungary.

Stephen Bocskai led the Transylvanian army to Wallachia, which had been occupied by the Ottomans.

Stephen Bocskai hired Hajdus and defeated Rudolph's military commanders.

Stephen Bocskai expanded his authority over the Partium, Transylvania proper, and nearby counties with the support of the local noblemen and burghers who had been stirred up by Rudolph's tyrannical acts.

Stephen Bocskai's father was a Hungarian nobleman whose inherited estates were located in Bihar and Zemplen Counties.

Stephen Bocskai's mother was related to the influential Torok and Hedervary families.

Stephen Bocskai converted from Catholicism to Calvinism in the 1560s.

Stephen Bocskai again came back to Kismarja in the summer of 1575 to see his ailing mother and to administer his estates.

Stephen Bocskai was not appointed to higher offices during Christopher's rule.

Stephen Bocskai was only made the commander of a troop of 32horsemen and 20foot soldiers in Varad.

However, before their departure for Poland, Stephen Bocskai Bathory set up a new regency council, confirming Kendi and Kovacsoczy's position.

Stephen Bocskai was appointed head of Sigismund's court, but he renounced the office because his relationship with the regency council remained tense.

Stephen Bocskai only retained his membership in the royal council.

Stephen Bocskai married a wealthy widow, Margit Hagymassy, in late 1583.

Stephen Bocskai's dowry included the fortress of Nagykereki and the nearby villages.

Some rumours circulated about Stephen Bocskai, either describing him as Sigismund's most faithful councillor or accusing him of a conspiracy against the Bathory family.

Stephen Bocskai established a strong relationship with the commanders of the army around that time.

Sigismund, who was a devout Catholic, ordered the Calvinist Stephen Bocskai to protect the Catholics in his new seat.

Stephen Bocskai continued the reconstruction of the fortress, which protected the most important route between Transylvania and Royal Hungary.

Years later, Sigismund Bathory told Ferenc Nadasdy that Stephen Bocskai had forced him to order their execution.

Stephen Bocskai was made ispan of Inner Szolnok and Kraszna Counties.

Two days later, Stephen Bocskai personally led the decisive attack against the fortress, forcing the Ottoman soldiers to abandon it and try to break through the besiegers.

Stephen Bocskai sent troops to Szekely Land, ordering the punishment of the ringleaders.

Stephen Bocskai's lieutenants overrode his instructions and put down the rebellion with extreme cruelty during the "Bloody Carnival" of 1596.

Stephen Bocskai personally led his troops against the Crimean Tatars and Ottomans who had broken into the Partium.

Stephen Bocskai persuaded Sigismund Bathory to have Josika imprisoned shortly before his official abdication.

The commissioners did not trust Stephen Bocskai and deprived him of his offices.

Stephen Bocskai mustered his troops at Szaszsebes to secure Sigismund's return.

Stephen Bocskai kept his negotiations with Andrew secret because Bocskai had always been a strong opponent of the pro-Ottoman policy represented by Andrew.

Stephen Bocskai returned to Transylvania as Rudolph's envoy and refused to swear fealty to Andrew.

Stephen Bocskai was planning to invade Transylvania, but Michael of Wallachia was quicker and broke into the principality.

Stephen Bocskai thought that Michael was willing to withdraw from Transylvania and urged Giorgio Basta, the commander of Rudolph's army, to send new commissioners to Transylvania to put an end to the anarchy.

Stephen Bocskai sent letters to Rudolph in Prague, describing Michael as an uneducated trickster and tyrant who wanted to establish an empire of his own, but Rudolph's new commissioners, David Ungnad and Mihaly Szekely, did not trust him.

Stephen Bocskai gave his nephew's envoy over to Rudolph's official, Pal Nyary, but this did not earn him the trust of Rudolph's commissioners.

Michael of Wallachia came to Prague and persuaded Rudolph to allow him to return to Transylvania, while Stephen Bocskai was forbidden to leave Prague.

Stephen Bocskai was made the emperor's councillor, but he could leave Prague only in late 1602.

Stephen Bocskai again settled in Szentjobb and made several attempts to secure the restoration of his confiscated Transylvanian estates, but Basta sharply opposed his plan.

The leader of the Transylvanian noblemen who had fled to the Ottoman Empire, Gabriel Bethlen, sent a letter to Stephen Bocskai urging him to rise up against Rudolph, but Stephen Bocskai refused.

Stephen Bocskai visited Transylvania and realized that the towns and villages had almost completely been destroyed during the previous years.

Stephen Bocskai's experiences convinced him that only an autonomous Transylvania supported by the Ottomans could secure the restoration of the freedom of Hungary.

Stephen Bocskai issued a proclamation to the noblemen from Kassa, reminding them of the tyrannical acts of Rudolph and his officials.

Stephen Bocskai made the young Calvinist lords, Balint Drugeth and Ferenc Magocsy, commanders of his army, and the Catholic nobleman, Mihaly Kathay, his chancellor.

Stephen Bocskai sent letters to Transylvania urging the leaders of the Three Nations to support his uprising.

Stephen Bocskai played a crucial role in convincing the Szekelys to forgive Bocskai for the Bloody Carnival of 1596.

Stephen Bocskai made an alliance with Ieremia Movila, Voivode of Moldavia, and promised the Szekelys that he would restore their liberties, enabling him to secure his rule in Transylvania.

Stephen Bocskai was acknowledged as the hereditary prince of Transylvania, which was expanded to Szabolcs, Szatmar, Ugocsa, and Bereg Counties and the castle of Tokaj.

Stephen Bocskai was willing to mediate a peace treaty between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire.

Stephen Bocskai had already in the spring of 1606 stated that his feet felt heavy, suggesting that he suffered from edema.

Stephen Bocskai urged his successors to preserve the independence of Transylvania as long as the Habsburgs reigned in Royal Hungary.

Stephen Bocskai's dying mother made Lestar's brother, Kristof Hagymassy, Margit's guardian around 1570.

Stephen Bocskai was the guardian of the sons of his widowed sister, Sara.

Stephen Bocskai did not abandon the idea of a new marriage until his death.