Chapter XV: Part 15

… Zapolya, having taken up his position in Buda, ruled over
the greatest part of Hungary; while Croatia submitted to
Ferdinand. … A useless war was thus for a while carried on
between the two rival sovereigns, in the midst of which Buda
had to sustain a heavy siege conducted by General Roggendorf;
but the garrison, though reduced so far as to be obliged to
eat horseflesh, succeeded in repelling and routing the
Austrian besiegers (1530)." Ferdinand now humbled himself to
the sultan, beseeching his friendship and support, but in
vain. The war of the rival kings went on until 1538, when it
was suspended by what is known as the Treaty of Grosswardein,
which conceded to each party possession of the parts of the
country which he then occupied; which gave the whole to
Zapolya if Ferdinand died without male issue, and the whole to
Ferdinand if Zapolya died before him, even though Zapolya
should leave an heir—but the heir, in this latter case, was
to marry Ferdinand's daughter. This treaty produced immense
indignation in the country. "That the never-despairing and
ambitious Zapolya meant that step rather as a means of
momentary repose, may safely be assumed; but the development
of his schemes was arrested by the hand of death (1540), which
removed the weary warrior from these scenes of blood, at the
very moment when his ears were gladdened by the news that he
had become the father of a son." Ferdinand now claimed the
undivided sovereignty, according to the terms of the Treaty of
Grosswardein; but the queen-dowager Isabella, wife of John
Zapolya, maintained the rights of her infant son. She was
supported by a strong party, animated and led by one George
Martinussius, a priest of extraordinary powers. Both Ferdinand
and Isabella appealed to the sultan, as to an acknowledged
suzerain. He declared for young Zapolya, and sent an army to
Buda to establish his authority, while another Turkish army
occupied Transylvania. "Soliman soon followed in person, made
his entry into Buda [1541], which he determined to keep
permanently occupied during the minority of Sigismund; and
assuring Isabella of his affection to the son of John, bade
her retire with the child to Transylvania; a piece of advice
which she followed not without some reluctance and distrust.
Buda was thus henceforward governed by a pasha; the army of
Ferdinand was ruined, and Soliman, under the title of an ally,
became absolute lord of the country." After a few years "new
complications and difficulties arose in Transylvania, when
Martinussius, who was confirmed by Soliman in his capacity of
guardian to the young Sigismund and regent of that country,
began to excite the suspicion of queen Isabella. Ferdinand,
aware of these circumstances, marched an army into
Transylvania, headed by Costaldo, who was instructed to gain
over the monk-tutor." Martinussius was won by the promise of a
cardinal's hat; with his help the queen-dowager was coerced
into abdicating in behalf of her son. Having brought this
about, Ferdinand basely procured the assassination of the monk
Martinussius. "'Far from gaining by an act that stamped his
own name with eternal shame, Ferdinand was soon driven by the
Turks from Transylvania, and lost even the places occupied by
his troops in Hungary.' … Transylvania owned the sway of
Sigismund Zapolya, while Ferdinand, in spite of the crown of
the German empire, recently conferred upon him, … was fain
to preserve in Hungary some small districts, contiguous to his
Austrian dominions. … In the year 1563, Ferdinand convoked
his party at Presburg," and prevailed upon them to go through
the form of electing his son Maximilian to the Hungarian
throne. "Ferdinand soon after died (1564), leaving three sons.
Of these, Maximilian succeeded his father in Austria;
Ferdinand inherited the Tyrol; and Charles, the youngest son,
got possession of Styria. Maximilian, who, in addition to his
Austrian dominions, succeeded to the throne of Bohemia and to
that of the German empire, proved as impotent in Hungary as
his father had been. The Pasha of Buda ruled the greater part
of Hungary proper; Sigismund Zapolya continued to maintain his
authority in Transylvania. … His [Maximilian's] reign left
Hungary much the same as it was under his predecessor,
although much credit is due to the neutral line of conduct he
observed in regard to religious affairs. Unlike the rise and
progress of the Reformation in the rest of Europe, religious
reform in Hungary was rather an additional element in the
political conflict than its originator. … By the battle of
Mohacs, the Reformation was freed from a bigoted king and many
persecuting prelates; while Ferdinand, conniving at the
Protestant party in Germany, was withheld from persecuting it
in Hungary, the more so from the dread that his rival might
win the Protestant party to his interest. The Protestants thus
increased in number amid the din of arms. … The sectarian
spirit, though somewhat later than elsewhere, found also its
way into this land of blood, and Hungary was soon possessed of
considerable bodies of Lutherans and Calvinists, besides a
smaller number of Anabaptists and Socinians. … Calvin's
followers were mostly Magyars, while Lutheranism found its
centre point in the German population of Transylvania." In
1566, Maximilian, encouraged by some subsidies obtained from
his German subjects, began hostilities against the Turks and
against Sigismund in Transylvania. This provoked another
formidable invasion by the great sultan Soliman. The progress
of the Turk was stopped, however, at the fortress of Szigeth,
by a small garrison of 3,000 men, commanded by Nicholas Zriny.
These devoted men resisted the whole army of the Moslems for
nearly an entire month, and perished, everyone, without
surrendering their trust. Soliman, furious at the loss of
20,000 men, and the long delay which their obstinate valor
caused him, died of apoplexy while the siege went on. This
brought the expedition to an end, and Maximilian "bought a new
peace at the hands of Selim II., son of Soliman, for a tribute
of 30,000 ducats (1567). Shortly after, Maximilian was also
relieved of his rival, John Sigismund Zapolya, who died a
sudden death."

_E. Szabad,
Hungary, Past and Present,
part 2, chapter 1._

ALSO IN:
_R. W. Fraser,
Turkey, Ancient and Modern,
chapters 12-13._

{1676}

HUNGARY: A. D. 1567-1604.
Successive disturbances in Transylvania.
Cession of the principality to the House of Austria, and
consequent revolt.
Religious persecutions of Rodolph.
Successful rebellion of Botskai.
Continued war with the Turks.

John Sigismond Zapolya refused at first to be included in the
peace which Maximilian arranged with the Turks, and endeavored
to stir up an insurrection in Hungary; but his scheme failed,
and "he had no resource but to accept the terms of peace
offered by Maximilian, which were advantageous to both
parties. He engaged not to assume the title of king of
Hungary, except in his correspondence with the Turks, and to
acknowledge the emperor as king, his superior and master; in
addition to Transylvania, as an hereditary principality, he
was to retain for life the counties of Bihar and Marmarosch,
with Crasna and Zolnok, and whatever territories he could
recover from the Turks. In return, the emperor promised to
confer on him one of his nieces in marriage, and to cede to
him Oppelen in Silesia, if expelled from Transylvania. On the
death of John Sigismond without issue male, Transylvania was
to be considered as an elective principality, dependent on the
crown of Hungary. The intended marriage did not take place,
for John Sigismond dying on the 16th of March, 1571, soon
after the peace, all his possessions in Hungary reverted to
Maximilian. The diet of Transylvania chose Stephen Bathori,
who had acted with great reputation as the general and
minister of John Sigismond; and Maximilian, although he had
recommended another person, prudently confirmed the choice.
… The new waivode was accordingly confirmed, both by
Maximilian and the Turks, took the oath of fidelity to the
crown of Hungary, and continued to live on terms of friendship
and concord with the emperor. … Maximilian being of a
delicate constitution, and declining in health, employed the
last years of his reign in taking precautions to secure his
dignities and possessions for his descendants. Having first
obtained the consent of the Hungarian states, his eldest son
Rhodolph was, in 1572, crowned king of Hungary, in a diet at
Presburgh." Subsequently, the election of Rhodolph by the
Bohemian diet was likewise procured, and he was crowned king
of Bohemia on the 22d of September, 1575. A few weeks later,
the same son was chosen and crowned king of the Romans, which
secured his succession to the imperial dignity. This latter
crown fell to him the following year, when his father died.
Educated in Spain and by the Jesuits, the new emperor was
easily persuaded to reverse the tolerant policy of his father,
and to adopt measures of repression and persecution against
the Protestants, in the Austrian provinces, in Hungary and in
Bohemia, which could not long be endured without resistance.
"The first object of Rhodolph had been to secure his dominions
in Hungary against the Turks. In order to diminish the
enormous expense of defending the distant fortresses on the
side of Croatia, he transferred that country, as a fief of the
empire, to his uncle Charles, duke of Styria, who, from the
contiguity of his dominions, was better able to provide for
its security. Charles accordingly constructed the fortress of
Carlstadt, on the Kulpa, which afterwards became the capital
of Croatia, and a military station of the highest importance.
He also divided the ceded territory into numerous tenures,
which he conferred on freebooters and adventurers of every
nation, and thus formed a singular species of military colony.
This feudal establishment gradually extended along the
frontiers of Sclavonia and Croatia, and not only contributed,
at the time, to check the incursions of the Turks, but
afterwards supplied that lawless and irregular, though
formidable military force … who, under the names of Croats,
Pandours, and other barbarous appellations, spread such terror
among the enemies of Austria on the side of Europe. …
Notwithstanding the armistice concluded with the Sultan by
Maximilian, and its renewal by Rhodolph in 1584 and 1591, a
predatory warfare had never ceased along the frontiers." The
truce of 1591 was quickly broken in a more positive way by
Sultan Amurath, whose forces invaded Croatia and laid siege to
Siseek. They were attacked there and driven from their lines,
with a loss of 12,000 men. "Irritated by this defeat, …
Amurath published a formal declaration of war, and poured his
numerous hordes into Hungary and Croatia. The two following
years were passed in various sieges and engagements, attended
with alternate success and defeat; but the advantage
ultimately rested on the side of the Turks, by the capture of
Siseck and Raab. In 1595, a more favourable though temporary
turn was given to the Austrian affairs, by the defection of
the prince of Transylvania from the Turks. On the elevation of
Stephen Bathori to the throne of Poland, his brother
Christopher succeeded him as waivode of Transylvania, and,
dying in 1582, left an infant son, Sigismond, under the
protection of the Porte. Sigismond, who possessed the high
spirit and talents of his family, had scarcely assumed the
reins of government before he liberated himself from the
galling yoke of the Turks, and in 1595 concluded an offensive
alliance with the house of Austria. … He was to retain
Transylvania as an independent principality, the part of
Hungary which he still held, and Moldavia and Wallachia. …
The conquests of both parties were to be equally divided. …
By this important alliance the house of Austria was delivered
from an enemy who had always divided its efforts, and made a
powerful diversion in favour of the Turks. Sigismond
signalised himself by his heroic courage and military skill;
uniting with the waivodes of Moldavia and Wallachia, he
defeated the grand vizir, Sinan, took Turgovitch by storm, and
drove the Turks back in disgrace towards Constantinople.
Assisted by this diversion, the Austrians in Hungary were
likewise successful, and not only checked the progress of the
Turks, but distinguished their arms by the recovery of Gran
and Vissegrad. This turn of success roused the sultan Mahomet,
the son and successor of Amurath. … He put himself, in 1596,
at the head of his forces, led them into Hungary, took Erlau,
and defeating the Austrians under the archduke Maximilian, the
lateness of the season alone prevented him from carrying his
arms into Austria and Upper Hungary, which were exposed by the
loss of Raab and Erlau. As Mahomet could not a second time
tear himself from the seraglio, the war was carried on without
vigour, and the season passed rather in truces than in action.
But this year, though little distinguished by military events,
was memorable for the cession of Transylvania to Rhodolph, by
the brave yet fickle Sigismond, in exchange for the lordships
of Ratibor and Oppelen in Silesia, with an annual pension."
{1677}
The capricious Sigismond, however, soon repenting of his
bargain, reclaimed and recovered his Transylvanian dominion,
but only to resign it again, in 1599, to his uncle, and again
to repossess it. Not until 1602, after much fighting and
disorder, was the fickle-minded and troublesome prince sent
finally to retirement, in Bohemia. Transylvania was then
placed under the government of the imperial general Basta.
"His cruel and despotic administration driving the natives to
despair, they found a chief in Moses Tzekeli, who, with other
magnates, after ineffectually opposing the establishment of
the Austrian government, had sought a refuge among the Turks.
Tzekeli, at the head of his fellow exiles, assisted by bodies
of Turks and Tartars, entered the country, was joined by
numerous adherents, and, having obtained possession of the
capital and the adjacent fortresses, was elected and
inaugurated prince of Transylvania. His reign, however, was
scarcely more permanent than that of his predecessor; for,
before he could expel the Germans, he was, in 1603, defeated
by the new waivode of Wallachia, and killed in the confusion
of the battle. In consequence of this disaster, his followers
dispersed, and Basta again recovered possession of the
principality. During these revolutions in Transylvania,
Hungary had been the scene of incessant warfare between the
Austrians and the Turks, which exhausted both parties with
little advantage to either. … Rhodolph had long lost the
confidence of his Hungarian subjects. … He treated the
complaints and remonstrances of his subjects with contempt and
indifference; and the German troops being free from control,
filled the country with devastation and pillage. While,
however, he abandoned the civil and military affairs to
chance, or to the will of his officers, he laboured to fetter
his subjects with religious restrictions, and the most
intolerant edicts were issued against the Protestants, in
various parts of the kingdom. … The disaffected increasing
in numbers, soon found a leader in Stephen Botskai, the
principal magnate of Upper Hungary, uncle of Sigismond
Bathori. … The discontents in Transylvania, arising from the
same causes as the rebellion in Hungary, greatly contributed
to the success of Botskai. … Being in 1604 assisted by a
Turkish army, which the new sultan, Achmet, despatched into
Transylvania, he soon expelled the Austrians, and was formally
inaugurated sovereign. … But Botskai was too disinterested
or too prudent to accept the regal dignity [as king of
Hungary, which the grand vizier of the sultan proclaimed him].
… He acted, however, with the same vigour and activity as if
he had a crown to acquire; before the close of the campaign he
conquered all Upper Hungary, almost to the walls of Presburgh;
at the same time the Turks reduced Gran, Vissegrad and
Novigrad."

_W. Coxe
History of the House of Austria,
chapters 38-42 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:
_J. H. Merle D'Aubigne,
History of the Protestant Church in Hungary,
chapters 12-20._

HUNGARY: A. D. 1595-1606.
The Turkish war.
Great defeat at Cerestes.
The Peace of Sitvatorok.

'The disasters which the Turkish arms were now experiencing in
Wallachia and Hungary made the Sultan's best statesmen anxious
that the sovereign should, after the manner of his great
ancestors, head his troops in person, and endeavour to give an
auspicious change to the fortune of the war. … The
Imperialists, under the Archduke Maximilian and the Hungarian
Count Pfalfy, aided by the revolted princes of the Danubian
Principalities, dealt defeat and discouragement among the
Ottoman ranks, and wrung numerous fortresses and districts
from the empire. The cities of Gran, Wissgrad, and Babocsa,
had fallen; and messengers in speedy succession announced the
loss of Ibrail, Varna, Kilic, Ismail, Silistria, Rustchuk,
Bucharest, and Akerman. These tidings at last roused the
monarch in his harem. … Mahomet III. left his capital for
the frontier in the June of 1596. … The display of the
sacred standard of the Prophet, which now for the first time
was unfurled over a Turkish army, excited … the zeal of the
True Believers. … The Grand Vizier, Ibrahim Pacha, Hassan
Sokolli Pacha, and Cicala Pacha, were the principal commanders
under the Sultan. … The Archduke Maximilian, who commanded
the Imperialists, retired at first before the superior numbers
of the great Ottoman army; and the Sultan besieged and
captured Erlau. The Imperialists now having effected a
junction with the Transylvanian troops under Prince Sigismund,
advanced again, though too late to save Erlau; and on October
23rd, 1596, the two armies were in presence of each other on
the marshy plain of Cerestes, through which the waters of the
Cincia ooze towards the river Theiss. There were three days of
battle at Cerestes." Repeatedly, the effeminate Sultan wished
to order a retreat, or to betake himself to flight; but was
persuaded by his counsellors to remain on the field, though
safely removed from the conflict. On the third day the battle
was decided in favor of the Turks by a charge of their cavalry
under Cicala. "Terror and flight spread through every division
of the Imperialists; and in less than half an hour from the
time when Cicala began his charge, Maximilian and Sigismund
were flying for their lives, without a single Christian
regiment keeping their ranks, or making an endeavour to rally
and cover the retreat. 50,000 Germans and Transylvanians
perished in the marshes or beneath the Ottoman sabre. …
Mahomet III. eagerly returned after the battle to
Constantinople, to receive felicitations and adulation for his
victory, and to resume his usual life of voluptuous indolence.
The war in Hungary was prolonged for several years, until the
peace of Sitvatorok [November 11, 1606] in the reign of
Mahomet's successor. … No change of importance was made in
the territorial possessions of either party, except that the
Prince of Transylvania was admitted as party to the treaty,
and that province became to some extent, though not entirely,
independent of the Ottoman Empire."

_Sir E. S. Creasy,
History of the Ottoman Turks,
chapter 12._

HUNGARY: A. D. 1606-1660.
The Pacification of Vienna.
Gabriel Bethlem of Transylvania and the Bohemian revolt.
Participation and experience in the Thirty Years War.

In 1606, the Archduke Mathias—who had lately been appointed
to the Governorship of Hungary, and who had been acknowledged,
by a secret compact among the members of the Hapsburg family as
the head of their House—arranged the terms of a peace with
Botskai. This treaty, called the "Pacification of Vienna,"
restored the religious toleration that had been practised by
Ferdinand and Maximilian; provided that Mathias should be
lieutenant-general of the kingdom; gave to Botskai the title
of Prince of Transylvania and part of Hungary; and stipulated
that on the failure of his male issue these territories should
revert to the House of Austria.
{1678}
"This treaty, at last, restored peace to Hungary, but at the
expense of her unity and independence. Some idea may be formed
of the state of weakness and lassitude to which these long
wars had reduced the country … by a statement of the
divisions into which it had been split up by the various
factions. Hungary, with Croatia, Sclavonia, and the frontiers,
was then reckoned to cover an area of 4,427 square miles, and
Transylvania one of 736. Of these 5,163 miles, Turkey
possessed 1,859; Botskai in Hungary 1,346, in Transylvania
736=2,082; [sic] and Austria only 1,222. Botskai died in 1606,
and was succeeded by Sigismond Rakoczi, who, however, soon
abdicated in favour of Gabriel Bathori." At this time the
plans of the Austrian family for taking the reins of power out
of the feeble and careless hands of the Emperor Rodolph, and
giving them to his more energetic brother, the Archduke
Mathias, came to a head.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1556-1609.

Mathias "marched into Bohemia: and Rodolph, after a feeble
resistance, found himself abandoned by all his supporters, and
compelled to resign into the hands of Mathias Hungary, Austria
and Moravia, and to guarantee to him the succession to the
crown of Bohemia; Mathias in the meantime bearing the title of
king elect of that kingdom, with the consent of the states.
Rodolph at the same time delivered up the Hungarian regalia,
which for some time past had been kept at Prague." Before his
coronation, Mathias was required by the Hungarian diet to sign
a compact, guaranteeing religious liberty; stipulating that
the Hungarian Chamber of Finances should be independent of
that of Austria, that all offices and employments should be
filled by natives, and that the Jesuits should possess no real
property in the country. The peace of the country was soon
disturbed by another revolution in Transylvania. "Gabriel
Bathori, who had succeeded Sigismond Bathori on the throne of
the principality, had suffered his licentiousness to tempt him
into insulting the wives of some of the nobles, who instantly
fell upon him and murdered him; and in his place Gabriel
Bethlem, a brave warrior and an able statesman, was
unanimously elected, with the consent and approbation of the
sultan. Under his government his dominions enjoyed a full
measure of peace and tranquillity, and began to recover from
the horrible devastations of preceding years. He did not,
however, assume his dignity without dispute. Transylvania had
been secured to the house of Austria on the death of Botskai,
by the Pacification of Vienna, and Mathias was, of course, now
anxious to enforce his rights, and he considered the present
opportunity (1617) favourable, as the Turks were engaged in
wars on the side of Asia and Poland. He therefore summoned a
diet of the empire, to the throne of which he had succeeded in
1612 by the death of Rodolph. … But the diet refused all
aid," and he was forced to conclude a peace with the sultan
for the further period of twenty years. "No mention being made
in it of Transylvania, the rights of Gabriel Bethlem were thus
tacitly recognised. Mathias died soon after, in 1619, leaving
his crown to his cousin, Ferdinand II." Then followed the
renewed attempt of an imperial bigot to crush Protestantism in
his dominions, and the Bohemian revolt (see BOHEMIA: A. D.
1611-1618) which kindled the flames of the "Thirty Years'
War." Hungary and Transylvania were in sympathy with Bohemia.
"Gabriel Bethlem entered Hungary, in answer to the call of the
Protestants of that country, at the head of a large army—took
Cassau, Tiernan, Newhasel, dispersed the imperial forces under
Homonai, sent 18,000 men to enforce Count Thurn, got
possession of Presburg by treachery, and seized upon the
regalia." The cause of the Bohemians was lost at the battle of
the White Mountain, before Prague; but "Gabriel Bethlem for a
long time supported the prestige acquired by his earlier
successes. He was proclaimed king of Hungary, and obtained
considerable advantages over two generals of ability and
reputation." But a treaty of peace was concluded at length,
according to which Gabriel surrendered the crown and royal
title, receiving the duchies of Oppelen and Ratibor in
Silesia, and seven counties of Hungary, together with Cassau,
Tokay, and other towns. Ferdinand promised complete toleration
to the Protestants, but was not faithful to his promise, and
war was soon resumed. Bethlem "collected an army of 45,000
men, joined his forces with those of Mansfeldt, the general of
the confederacy [the Protestant Union], after his victory over
the imperialists at Presburg; and at the same time the Bashaw
of Buda entered Lower Hungary at the head of a large force,
captured various fortresses in the district of Gran, and laid
siege to Novigrad. They were opposed by two able generals, the
famous Wallenstein and Swartzemberg, but without checking
their progress. Wallenstein, however, followed Mansfeldt into
Hungary, where the two armies remained for some time inactive
in the presence of one another; but famine, disease, and the
approach of winter at last brought the contest to, a close.
The king of Denmark had been defeated, and Gabriel Bethlem
began to fear that the whole force of the Austrians would now
be directed against him, and concluded a truce. The bashaw of
Buda feared the winter, and followed his example; and
Mansfeldt, finding himself thus abandoned, disbanded his
soldiers.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1624-1626.

… The treaty of peace was again renewed, the truce with the
Turks prolonged." Gabriel Bethlem, or Bethlem Gabor, died in
1629. "The Transylvanians elected George Rakotski to fill his
place, and during nearly four years Hungary and Transylvania
enjoyed the blessings of peace." Then they were again
disturbed by attempts of Ferdinand to reduce Transylvania to
the state of an Austrian province, and by hostile measures
against the Protestants. The latter continued after the death
of Ferdinand II. (1637), and under his son Ferdinand III.
Rakotski inspired an insurrection of the Hungarians which
became formidable, and which, joining in alliance with the
Swedes, then warring in Germany, extorted from the emperor a
very favorable treaty of peace (1647). "At the same time
Ferdinand caused his son of the same name, and elder brother
of Leopold, to be elected and crowned king. During his short
reign, the country was tranquil; but in 1654 he died, leaving
his rights to Leopold. The reign of Leopold [1655-1697] was a
period which witnessed events more important to Hungary than
any which preceded it, or have followed it, save only the
revolutionary years, 1848 and 1849.
{1679}
No monarch of the house of Austria had ever made so determined
attacks upon Hungarian liberty, and to none did the Hungarians
oppose a braver and more strenuous resistance. Nothing was
left untried on the one side to overthrow the constitution;
nothing was left untried on the other to uphold and defend
it."

_E. L. Godkin,
History of Hungary,
chapters 15-17._

HUNGARY: A. D. 1660-1664.
Turkish attacks on Upper Hungary.
The battle of St. Gothard.
Liberation of Transylvania.
A twenty years truce.

"Hostilities had recommenced, in 1660, between the Ottoman
empire and Austria, on account of Transylvania. The Turk was
suzerain of Transylvania, and directly held Buda and the part
of Hungary on the west and south of the Danube, projecting
like a wedge between Upper Hungary, Styria, and Vienna. George
Rakoczi, Prince of Transylvania, having perished in combat
against the Sultan, his suzerain, the Turks had pursued the
House of Rakoczi into the domains which it possessed in Upper
Hungary. The Rakoczis, and the new prince elected by the
Transvlvanians, Kemeni, invoked the aid of the emperor. The
Italian, Montecuculi, the greatest military chieftain in the
service of the House of Austria, expelled the Turks from a
part of Transylvania, but could not maintain himself there;
Kemeni was killed in a skirmish. The Turks installed their
protégé, Michael Abaffi, in his place, and renewed their
attacks against Upper Hungary (1661-1662). The secret of these
alternations lay in the state of feeling of the Hungarians and
Transylvanians, who, continually divided between two
oppressors, the Turk and the Austrian, and too weak to rid
themselves of either, always preferred the absent to the
present master. … Religious distrust also complicated
political distrust; Protestantism, crushed in Bohemia,
remained powerful and irritated in Hungary. The emperor
demanded the assistance of the Germanic Diet and all the
Christian states against the enemy of Christianity. … Louis
XIV., at the first request of Leopold, supported by the Pope,
replied by offers so magnificent that they appalled the
Emperor. Louis proposed not less than 60,000 auxiliaries, half
to be furnished by France, half by the Alliance of the Rhine;
that is, by the confederates of France in Germany. … The
Emperor … would have gladly been able to dispense with the
aid of France and his confederates; but the more pressing
danger prevailed over the more remote. The Turks had made a
great effort during the summer of 1663. The second of the
Kiouprouglis, the Vizier Achmet, taking Austrian Hungary in
the rear, had crossed the Danube at Buda with 100,000 fighting
men, invaded the country between the Danube and the
Carpathians, and hurled his Tartars to the doors of Presburg
and Olmütz. Montecuculi had with great difficulty been able to
maintain himself on the island of Schütt, a species of vast
intrenched camp formed by nature in front of Presburg and
Vienna. The fortified towns of Upper Hungary fell one after
another, and the Germanic Diet, which Leopold had gone to
Ratisbon to meet, replied with maddening dilatoriness to the
urgent entreaties of the head of the Empire. The Diet voted no
effective aid until February, 1664; but the Alliance of the
Rhine, in particular, had already accorded 6,500 soldiers, on
condition that the Diet should decide, before separating,
certain questions relative to the interpretation of the Treaty
of Westphalia. The Pope, Spain, and the Italian States
furnished subsidies. Louis persisted in offering nothing but
soldiers, and Leopold resigned himself to accept 6,000
Frenchmen. He had no reason to repent it. … When the
junction was effected [July, 1664], the position of the
Imperialists was one of great peril. They had resumed the
offensive on the south of the Danube in the beginning of the
year; but this diversion, contrary to the advice of
Montecuculi, had succeeded ill. The Grand Vizier had repulsed
them, and, after carrying back his principal forces to the
right bank of the Danube, threatened to force the passage of
the Raab and invade Styria and Austria. The Confederate army
was in a condition to stand the shock just at the decisive
moment. An attempt of the Turks to cross the Raab at the
bridge of Kerment was repulsed by Coligni [commanding the
French], July 26, 1664. The Grand Vizier reascended the Raab
to St. Gothard, where were the headquarters of the
Confederates, and, on August 1, the attack was made by all the
Mussulman forces. The janizaries and spahis crossed the river
and overthrew the troops of the Diet and a part of the
Imperial regiments; the Germans rallied, but the Turks were
continually reinforced, and the whole Mussulman army was soon
found united on the other side of the Raab. The battle seemed
lost, when the French moved. It is said that Achmet
Kiouprougli, on seeing the young noblemen pour forth, with
their uniforms decked with ribbons, and their blond perukes,
asked, 'Who are these maidens?' The 'maidens' broke the
terrible janizaries at the first shock; the mass of the
Turkish army paused and recoiled on itself; the Confederate
army, reanimated by the example of the French, rushed forward
and charged on the whole line; the Turks fell back, at first
slowly, their faces towards the enemy, then lost footing and
fled precipitately to the river to recross it under the fire
of the Christians; they filled it with their corpses. The
fatigue of the troops, the night that supervened, the waters
of the Raab, swelled the next day by a storm, and above all
the lack of harmony among the generals, prevented the
immediate pursuit of the Turks, who had rallied on the
opposite bank of the river and had preserved the best part of
their cavalry. It was expected, nevertheless, to see them
expelled from all Hungary, when it was learned with
astonishment that Leopold had hastened to treat, without the
approbation of the Hungarian Diet, on conditions such that he
seemed the conquered rather than the conqueror. A twenty
years' truce was signed, August 10, in the camp of the Grand
Vizier. Transylvania became again independent under its
elective princes, but the protégé of the Turks, Abaffi, kept
his principality; the Turks retained the two chief towns which
they had conquered in Upper Hungary, and the Emperor made the
Sultan a 'present,' that is, he paid him 200,000 florins
tribute."

_H. Martin,
History of France: Age of Louis XIV.,
volume 1, chapter 4._

ALSO IN:
_W. Coxe,
History of the House of Austria,
chapter 62 (volume 2)._

{1680}

HUNGARY: A. D. 1668-1683.
Increased religious persecution and Austrian oppression.
Tekeli's revolt.
The Turks again called in.
Kara Mustapha's great invasion and siege of Vienna.
Deliverance of the city by John Sobieski.

In Hungary, "the discontent caused by the oppressive
Government and the fanatical persecution of Protestantism by
the Austrian Cabinet had gone on increasing. At length, the
Austrian domination had rendered itself thoroughly odious to
the Hungarians. To hinder the progress of Protestantism, the
Emperor Leopold, in the excess of his Catholic zeal, sent to
the galleys a great number of preachers and ministers; and to
all the evils of religious persecution were added the violence
and devastations of the generals and the German
administrators, who treated Hungary as a conquered province.
The Hungarians in vain invoked the charters which consecrated
their national liberties. To their most legitimate complaints
Leopold replied by the infliction of punishments; he spared
not even the families of the most illustrious; several
magnates perished by the hands of the executioner. Such
oppression was certain to bring about a revolt. In 1668 a
conspiracy had been formed against Leopold by certain
Hungarian leaders, which, however, was discovered and
frustrated; and it was not till 1677, when the young Count
Emmerich Tekeli, having escaped from prison, placed himself at
the head of the malcontents, that these disturbances assumed
any formidable importance. … Tekeli, who possessed much
military talent, and was an uncompromising enemy of the House
of Austria, having entered Upper Hungary with 12,000 men,
defeated the Imperial forces, captured several towns, occupied
the whole district of the Carpathian Mountains, and compelled
the Austrian generals, Counts Wurmb and Leslie, to accept the
truce he offered." In 1681 the Emperor made some concessions,
which weakened the party of independence, while, at the same
time, the Peace of Nimeguen, with France, allowed the House of
Austria to employ all its forces against the rebels. "In this
conjuncture Tekeli turned for aid towards the Turks, making an
appeal to Mahomet IV.; and after the conclusion of the Turkish
and Russian war in 1681, Kara Mustapha [the Grand Vizier]
determined to assist the insurgents openly, their leader
offering, in exchange, to acknowledge the suzerainty of the
Porte. Tekeli sought also succour from France. Louis XIV. gave
him subsidies, solicited the Sultan to send an army into
Hungary, and caused an alliance between the Hungarians,
Transylvanians, and Wallachians to be concluded against
Austria (1682). The truce concluded in 1665 between Austria
and Turkey had not yet expired," but the Sultan was persuaded
to break it. "The Governor of Buda received orders to support
Tekeli, who took the title of King. … Early in the spring of
1683 Sultan Mahomet marched forth from his capital with a
large army, which at Belgrade he transferred to the command of
Kara Mustapha. Tekeli formed a junction with the Turks at Essek."

_S. Menzies,
Turkey, Old and New,
book 2, chapter 9, section 3 (volume 1)._

"The strength of the regular forces, which Kara Mustapha led
to Vienna, is known from the muster-roll which was found in
his tent after the siege. It amounted to 275,000 men. The
attendants and camp-followers cannot be reckoned; nor can any
but an approximate speculation be made as to the number of the
Tartar and other irregular troops that joined the Vizier. It
is probable that not less than half a million of men were set
in motion in this last great aggressive effort of the Ottomans
against Christendom. The Emperor Leopold had neither men nor
money sufficient to enable him to confront such a deluge of
invasion; and, after many abject entreaties, he obtained a
promise of help from King Sobieski of Poland, whom he had
previously treated with contumely and neglect. … The Turkish
army proceeded along the western side of the Danube from
Belgrade, and reached Vienna without experiencing any serious
check, though a gallant resistance was made by some of the
strong places which it besieged during its advance. The city
of Vienna was garrisoned by 11,000 men under Count
Stahremberg, who proved himself a worthy successor of the
Count Salm, who had fulfilled the same duty when the city was
besieged by Sultan Solyman. The second siege of Vienna lasted
from the 15th July to the 12th September, 1683, during which
the most devoted heroism was displayed by both the garrison
and the inhabitants. … The garrison was gradually wasted by
the numerous assaults which it was called on to repulse, and
in the frequent sorties, by which the Austrian commander
sought to impede the progress of the besiegers. Kara Mustapha,
at the end of August, had it in his power to carry the city by
storm, if he had thought fit to employ his vast forces in a
general assault, and to continue it from day to day, as
Amurath IV. had done when Bagdad fell. But the Vizier kept the
Turkish troops back out of avarice, in the hope that the city
would come into his power by capitulation; in which case he
would himself be enriched by the wealth of Vienna, which, if
the city were taken by storm, would become the booty of the
soldiery. … Sobieski had been unable to assemble his troops
before the end of August; and, even then, they only amounted
to 20,000 men. But he was joined by the Duke of Lorraine and
some of the German commanders, who were at the head of a
considerable army, and the Polish King crossed the Danube at
Tulm, above Vienna, with about 70,000 men. He then wheeled
round behind the Kalemberg Mountains to the north-west of
Vienna, with the design of taking the besiegers in the rear.
The Vizier took no heed of him; nor was any opposition made to
the progress of the relieving army through the difficult
country which it was obliged to traverse. On the 11th of
September the Poles were on the summit of the Mount
Kalemberg," overlooking the vast encampment of the besiegers.
Sobieski "saw instantly the Vizier's want of military skill,
and the exposure of the long lines of the Ottoman camp to a
sudden and fatal attack. 'This man,' said he, 'is badly
encamped: he knows nothing of war; we shall certainly beat
him.' … The ground through which Sobieski had to move down
from the Kalemberg was broken by ravines; and was so difficult
for the passage of the troops that Kara Mustapha might, by an
able disposition of part of his forces, have long kept the
Poles in check, especially as Sobieski, in his hasty march,
had brought but a small part of his artillery to the scene of
action. But the Vizier displayed the same infatuation and
imbecility that had marked his conduct throughout the
campaign. … Unwilling to resign Vienna, Mustapha left the
chief part of his Janissary force in the trenches before the
city, and led the rest of his army towards the hills, down
which Sobieski and his troops were advancing.
{1691}
In some parts of the field, where the Turks had partially
intrenched the roads, their resistance to the Christians was
obstinate; but Sobieski led on his best troops in person in a
direct line for the Ottoman centre, where the Vizier's tent
was conspicuous; and the terrible presence of the victor of
Khoczim was soon recognised. 'By Allah! the King is really
among us,' exclaimed the Khan of the Crimea, Selim Ghirai; and
turned his horse's head for flight. The mass of the Ottoman
army broke and fled in hopeless rout, hurrying Kara Mustapha
with them from the field. The Janissaries, who had been left
in the trenches before the city, were now attacked both by the
garrison and the Poles and were cut to pieces. The camp, the
whole artillery, and the military stores of the Ottomans
became the spoil of the conquerors; and never was there a
victory more complete, or signalised by more splendid
trophies. The Turks continued their panic flight as far as
Raab. … The great destruction of the Turks before Vienna was
rapturously hailed throughout Christendom as the announcement
of the approaching downfall of the Mahometan Empire in
Europe."

_Sir E. S. Creasy,
History of the Ottoman Turks,
chapter 16._

"It was cold comfort to the inhabitants of Vienna, or to the
King of Poland, to know that even if St. Stephen's had shared
the fate of St. Sophia and become a mosque of Allah, and if
the Polish standards had been borne in triumph to the
Bosphorus, yet that, nevertheless, the undisciplined Ottomans
would infallibly have been scattered by French, German and
Swedish armies on the fields of Bavaria or of Saxony. Vienna
would have been sacked; Poland would have been a prey to
internal anarchy and to Tartar invasion. The ultimate triumph
of their cause would have consoled few for their individual
destruction. … So cool and experienced a diplomatist as Sir
William Temple did indeed believe, at the time, that the fall
of Vienna would have been followed by a great and permanent
increase of Turkish power. Putting this aside, however, there
were other results likely to spring from Turkish success. The
Turks constantly made a powerful diversion in favour of France
and her ambitious designs. Turkish victories upon the one side
of Germany meant successful French aggressions upon the other,
and Turkish schemes were promoted with that object by the
French. … 'If France would but stand neutral, the
controversy between Turks and Christians might soon be
decided,' says the Duke of Lorraine. But France would not
stand neutral."

_H. E. Malden,
Vienna, 1683,
chapter 1._

ALSO IN:
_G. B. Malleson,
The Battle-Fields of Germany,
chapter 9._

HUNGARY: A. D. 1683-1687.
End of the insurrection of Tekeli.
Bloody vengeance of the Austrian.
The crown made hereditary in the House of Hapsburg.

The defeat of the Turks was likewise a defeat for the
insurgent Tekeli, or Tököli, "whom they called the king of the
Kurucz, and after it he found himself reduced to guerilla
warfare. The victory over the Turks was followed by the
capture of some of the chief Magyar towns … and in the end
[1686] Buda itself, which was at last recovered after so long
an occupation. … Kara Mustapha attributed his defeat to
Tököli, and had his former ally arrested and imprisoned in
Belgrade. His captivity put an end to the party of the king of
the Kurucz. … An amnesty was proclaimed and immediately
afterwards violated, the Italian general, Caraffa, becoming
the merciless executioner of imperial vengeance. He
established a court at Éperjes, and the horrors of this
tribunal recall the most atrocious deeds of the Spaniards in
the Low Countries. … After having terrorized Hungary,
Leopold thought he had the right to expect every sort of
concession. Notwithstanding persecution, up to this date the
monarchy had remained elective. He was determined it should
now become hereditary; and the diet of 1687, in conformity
with the wishes of the sovereign, made the crown hereditary in
the male line of the house of Habsburg."

_L. Leger,
History of Austro-Hungary,
chapter 20._

HUNGARY: A. D. 1683-1699.
Expulsion of the Turks.
Battle of Zenta.
Peace of Carlowitz.

After the great defeat of the Turks before Vienna, their
expulsion from Hungary was only a question of time. It began
the same autumn, in October, by the taking of Gran. In 1684,
the Imperialists under the Duke of Lorraine captured Visegrad
and Waitzen, but failed in a siege of Ofen, although they
defeated a Turkish army sent to its relief in July. In 1685
they took Neuhäusel by storm, and drove the Turks from Gran,
which these latter had undertaken to recover. Next year they
laid siege again to Ofen, investing the city on the 21st of
June and carrying it by a final assault on the 2d of
September. "Ofen, after having been held by the Porte, and
regarded as the third city in the Ottoman Empire, for 145
years, was restored to the sway of the Habsburgs." Before the
year closed the Austrians had acquired Szegedin, and several
lesser towns. The great event of the campaign of 1687 was a
battle on the field of Mohacs, where, in 1526, the Turks
became actual masters of Hungary, for the most part, while the
House of Austria acquired nominally the right to its crown. On
this occasion the fortune of 1526 was reversed. "The defeat
became a rout as decisive against the Turks as the earlier
battle on the same spot had proved to the Jagellons."
Transylvania and Slavonia were occupied as the consequence,
and Erlau surrendered before the close of the year. In 1688,
what seemed the crowning achievement of these campaigns was
reached in the recovery of Belgrade, after a siege of less
than a month. A Turkish army in Bosnia was destroyed; another
was defeated near Nissa, and that city occupied; and at the
end of 1689 the Turks held nothing north of the Danube except
Temeswar and Grosswardein (Great Waradein); while the
Austrians had made extensive advances, on the south of the
river, into Bosnia and Servia. Then occurred a great rally of
Ottoman energies, under an able Grand Vizier. In 1690, both
Nissa and Belgrade were retaken, and the Austrians were
expelled from Servia. But next year fortune favored the
Austrians once more and the Turks were severely beaten, by
Louis of Baden, on the field of Salankament. They still held
Belgrade, however, and the Austrians suffered heavily in
another attempt to regain that stronghold. For several years
little progress in the war was made on either side; until
Prince Eugene of Savoy received the command, in 1697, and
wrought a speedy change in the military situation.
{1682}
The Sultan, Mustapha II., had taken the Turkish command in
person, "with the finest army the Osmanli had raised since
their defeat at Mohacs." Prince Eugene attacked him, September
11, at Zenta, on the Theiss, and destroyed his army almost
literally. "When the battle ceased about 20,000 Osmanli lay on
the ground; some 10,000 had been drowned; scarcely 1,000 had
reached the opposite bank. There were but few prisoners.
Amongst the slain were the Grand Vizier and four other
Viziers. … By 10 o'clock at night not a single living
Osmanli remained on the right bank of the Theiss. … The
booty found in the camp surpassed all … expectations.
Everything had been left by the terror-stricken Sultan. There
was the treasury-chest, containing 3,000,000 piastres. … The
cost of these spoils had been to the victors only 300 killed
and 200 wounded. … The battle of Zenta, … regarded as part
of the warfare which had raged for 200 years between the
Osmanli and the Imperialists, … was the last, the most
telling, the decisive blow." It was followed by a period of
inaction, during which England and Holland undertook to
mediate between the Porte and its several Christian enemies.
Their mediation resulted in the meeting of a Congress at
Carlowitz, or Karlowitz, on the Danube, which was attended by
representatives of the Sultan, the Emperor, the Czar of
Russia, the King of Poland, and the republic of Venice. "Here,
after much negotiation, lasting seventy-two days, was
concluded, the 26th January, 1699, the famous Peace of
Carlowitz. The condition that each party should possess the
territories occupied by each at the moment of the meeting of
the congress formed its basis. By the treaty, then, the
frontier of Hungary, which, when the war broke out, extended
only to within a short distance of the then Turkish towns of
Gran and Neuhäusel, was pushed forward to within a short
distance of Temeswar and Belgrade. Transylvania and the
country of Bacska, between the Danube and the Theiss, were
yielded to the Emperor. To Poland were restored Kaminietz,
Podolia, and the supremacy over the lands watered by the
Ukraine, the Porte receiving from her in exchange, Soczava,
Nemos, and Soroka; to Venice, who renounced the conquests she
had made in the gulfs of Corinth and Ægina, part of the Morea,
and almost all Dalmatia, including the towns of Castelnuovo
and Cattaro; to Russia, the fortress and sea of Azof." By the
Peace of Carlowitz "the Ottoman Power lost nearly one-half of
its European dominions, and ceased to be dangerous to
Christendom. Never more would the discontented magnates of
Hungary be able to find a solid supporter in the sultan."

_G. B. Malleson,
Prince Eugene of Savoy,
chapters 2 and 4._

ALSO IN:
_Sir E. S. Creasy,
History of the Ottoman Turks,
chapter 17._

See, also, on the "Holy War," or "War of the "Holy League"
against the Turks, of which the war in Hungary formed only
a part, the TURKS: A. D. 1684—1696.

HUNGARY: A. D. 1699-1718.
The revolt of Rakoczy and its suppression.
The Treaty of Szathmar.
Recovery of Belgrade and final expulsion of the Turks.
Peace of Passarowitz.