Lists of political office-holders in Transylvania

List of rulers of Transylvania, from the first mention of a ruler in the tenth century, until 1918.

Overview

From approximately the year 1000, Transylvania was a largely autonomous Voivodate within the Kingdom of Hungary. In the 16th century, the conflict between Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire allowed Transylvania to gain a certain indepedence until it was finally integrated until the Habsburg Monarchy around 1700. The Habsburg rulers continued to use the title of Prince of Transylvania (and later Grand Prince of Transylvania) as part of their official title until the end of their monarchy. The territory was administered by an appointed governor until 1867, when it was dissolved as an adminstrative unit in the wake of the Austro-Hungarian Ausgleich of 1867 and integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary. At the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1919, Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of Romania. It was divided between Romania and Hungary in 1940 but reverted back to Romania in 1945.

List

Affiliation	Ruler	Years	Remarks
	Gelou (Gyula the Old)	? – 904	"Gelou Dux Ultrasilvanus"
	Tuhutum	904 - ?
	Prokuj (Gyula the Young)	? – 1003	Ruler of the upper Tisza region and northern Transylvania. Defeated by Stephen I of Hungary
	Kean		voivode of the southern Transylvanian bolgars, defeated by Stephen I of Hungary c. 1003-1015
Arpads	St. Stephen (István)	1003–1038	first Christian King of Hungary (1000), maternal grandson of Gyula the Old, defeated Gyula the Young and Kean
Voivods of Transylvania subject to the King of Hungary
	Mercurius	c. 1110
	Leustachius	1176–1199
	Legforus	1199–1200
	Eth	?
	Gyula I	?–1201
	Benedict	1201–1206
	Smaragd	1206
	Benedict	1206–1209
	Michael	1209–1211
	Bertold of Andechs-Meran, Archbishop	1211–1213
	Miklos I	1213
	Gyula I	1213
	Simeon	1213–1215
	Hippolitus	1215–1217
	Raphael	1217–1218
	Neka	1218–1221
	Paul	1221–1231
	Gyula II	1230–1233
	Dennis	1233–1234
	András I	1234–1235
	Posza	1235–1240
First Mongol invasion 1240-1242
	Lawrence	1242–1252
	Interregnum	1252–1261
	Ereny Akos	1261
Arpads	Stephen Arpád	1261–1270
	Matyas	1270–1272
	Miklos	1272–1273
	John	1273–1274
	Miklos	1274–1275
	Ladislas Borsza	1275
	Ugrin	1275–1276
	Matyas	1276–1277
	Miklos Pok	1277
	Aba	1278–1279
	Stephen	1280
	Roland Borsza	1281–1282
	Apor Pecz	1283
	Roland Borsza	1284–1285
Second Mongol invasion 1284-1285, followed by direct Hungarian rule 1285-1288
	Roland Borsza	1288–1294	opposed Hungarian rule
	Ladislas II Kan	1294–1315	opposed Hungarian rule
	Ladislas III Kan	1294–1315	not confirmed by the King
	Miklos Meggyesi Pok	1315–1318
	Doja of Debrecen	1318–1321
	Thomas of Szecseny	1322–1342
	Miklos of Siroka	1344–1350
Lackfi	Stephen Lackfi	1344–1350
Lackfi	Thomas Csor	1350
	Miklos Konth	1351–1356
Lackfi	András Lackfi	1356–1359
Lackfi	Dionys Lackfi	1360–1367
Lackfi	Nicolae Lackfi	1367-1368
Lackfi	Emeric Lackfi	1368–1372
Lackfi	Stephen Lackfi	1373–1376	brother of Emeric
	Ladislau de Losoncz	1376–1391
	Emeric Bebek I	1392–1393
	Frank de Szècsèny	1392–1393
	Stibor of Stiboricz	1395–1401
	Nicolae Csaki & Nicolae Marczali	1401–1403
	Ioan Tamasi & Iacob Lackfi	1403–1409
	Stibor of Stiboricz	1410–1414
	Nicolae Csaki	1415–1426
	Ladislau IV. Csaki	1426–1437	son of Nicolae Csaki
	Petru Cseh	1436–1438
	Desideriu de Losoncz	1441-1440
	Ladislau V. Jakcs	January 1441
	John Hunyadi (János Hunyadi)	1441–1446
	Emeric Bebek I & Nicolae de Ujlak	1446–1447
	Emeric Bebek II & John Hunyadi	May-October 1448
	Ioan de Rozgony	1449-1460
	Nicolae de Ujlak	1449-1458
	Sebastian de Rozgony	1458-1461
	Nicolae de Ujlak	1460
	Ladislau de Kanizsa	1460
	Nicolae de Ujlak & Ioan Pongracz de Dindeleag	1462-1465
	Sigismund de Szentgyörgy & Ioan de Szentgyörgy (de Sancto Giorgia)	1465-1467
	Ioan Pongracz de Dindeleag & Nicolae Csupor	1468–1472
	Blasius Magyar	[[1472-1475
	Ioan Pongracz de Dindeleag	1475–1476
	Petru Gereb de Vingrad	1478–1479
Báthory	Stephen Báthory of Ecsed	1479–1493
	Bartolomeu Dragfi	1493–1499
	Ladislau de Losoncz	1493–1495
	Petru de Szentgyörgy şi de Bozin	1499–1510
Zápolya	John I Zápolya (Zápolya János)	1511–1526	elected King of Hungary by one party of Hungarian nobles in 1526, while another party elected Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria.
	Petru de Pereny	1526–1534	appointed by John I Zápolya
Báthory	Stephen Báthory of Somlyó	1529–1534	appointed by John I Zápolya
	Hieronymus Laski	1531–1534
	István Maylád	1534–1536
	Imre Balassa	1536–1540
	Fráter György	1542–1551	guardian of John II Sigismund Zápolya
Báthory	Andreas Báthory	1542–1551	lieutentant of Ferdinand of Austria
	István Dobó & Francise Kendi	1552–1556
	vacant	1556–1570	direct rule of John II Sigismund Zápolya as claimant to the Kingship of Hungary
Zápolya	John II Sigismund Zápolya (János Zsigmond)	1570-1571	Son of John Zápolya, renounced his royal claim in 1570 in favour of Emperor Maximilian and remained Prince of Transylvania and parts of Hungary until his death in 1571.
Bathory	Stephen Báthory	1571–1586	elected Voivod by a diet, King of Poland since 1575, assumed title of Prince of Transylvania and parts of Hungary
	Gáspár Bekes	rival voivod 1571–???
Bathory	Christopher Báthory	1575-1581	older brother of Stephen Báthory, administered Transylvania as voivod during the absence of his brother.
Princes of Transylvania and parts of Hungary subject to the King of Hungary
Bathory	Sigismund Báthory	1581–1598	son of Christopher, abdicated in April 1598 in favor of Habsburg Rudolf, King of Hungary
Habsburg	Rudolf	April-August 1598
Bathory	Sigismund Báthory	August 1598 – March 1599	returned in August 1598, again abdicated in March 1599 favor of his cousin Andrew Cardinal Báthory.
Bathory	Andrew Cardinal Báthory	March-November1599	Cousin of Sigismund, driven out by Habsburg general Girgio Basta and Michael of Wallachia
Habsburg	Rudolf	1599–1600	ruled through the governors: *Michael of Wallachia, 1599–1600 *Giorgio Basta, 1600-1601
Bathory	Sigismund Báthory	1601	attempted to regain Transylvania, recognized by the diet of Cluj but defeated by Basta and Michael, eventually abdicated in 1602 in favor of King Rudolf II
Habsburg	Rudolf	1601–1606	ruled through the governor Giorgio Basta, 1600-1604
	Mózes Székely	April - July 1603	rebelled against Habsburgs and defeated Basta with Tartar mercenaries and claimed the title of Prince but was defeated by Radu Şerban, Voivode of Wallachia
Princes of Transylvania between Ottomans and Habsburgs
	István Bocskay	1605–1606	rebelled against Habsburgs with support of Hungarian nobles and the Turks, confirmed in his position in the Treaty of Vienna (1606)
Rákóczi	Sigismund Rákóczi	1607–1608
Bathory	Gabriel Báthory	1608–1613	nephew of Andrew Cardinal Báthory
	Gabriel Bethlen	1613–1629	claimed the Kingship of Hungary 1619-1621
	Catherine of Brandenburg	1629–1630	daughter of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, widow of Gabriel Bethlen
Rákóczi	George I Rákóczi	1630–1648
Habsburg	Ferdinand III	1630–1645	claimed the Principality but accepted George I in 1645 in the treaty of Linz
Rákóczi	George II Rákóczi	1648–1657	married Sophia Báthory, niece of Gabriel Báthory, claimed the Kingship of Poland in 1657, abdicated in favor of Habsburg Leopold, King of Hungary, deposed by a diet at Turkish command
Aba	Francis Rhédey	1657–1658
Rákóczi	George II Rákóczi	1657–1658	restored by a diet, deposed by the Turks
	Achatius Barcsai	1658–1659
Rákóczi	George II Rákóczi	1659–1660	fell in battle against the Turks
	John Kemény	1661–1662	backed by the Habsburg King Leopold
Apafi	Michael I Apafi	1661–1690	backed by the Turks, opposed King Leopold, made peace with the Habsburg King in 1685/7
Apafi	Michael II Apafi	1681–1692	elected as heir during his father's lifetime, and accepted as such by the Turks, ruled with George Bánffy as governor, moved to Vienna and forced to cede the Principality to King Leopold
	Emeric Thököly	1690 – 1699	earlier claimant of Upper Hungary, appointed Prince of Transsylvania by the Turks at the death of Michael I, held the country with Turkish support briefly in 1690/91
In 1692 the Habsburg Kings of Hungary permanently assumed the title of Prince of Transylvania, administering the country through governors.
Habsburg	Leopold I	1690–1705	governors: *George Bánffy, [[1691-1696 *Rabutin de Bussy 1696-1708
Rákóczi	Francis II Rákóczi	1704 - 1711	grand-son of George II Rákóczi, rebelled against King Leopold, claiming the titles Prince of Transylvania and Ruling Prince of Hungary
Habsburg	Charles VI	1711–1740	governors: *Stephen Haller, 1709-1710 *Stephen Wesselényi, 1710-1713 *Sigismund Kornis, 1713-1731 *Stephen Wesselény, 1731-1732 *Francisc Anton Wallis, 1732-1734 *John Haller 1734-1755
Habsburg	Maria Theresia	1740–1765	governors: *Francisc Venceslav Wallis, 1755-1758 *Ladislaus Kemény, 1758-1762 *Adolf Buccow, 1762-1764 *Andreas Hadik, 1764-1765
The Principality is elevated to the Grand Principality of Transylvania, with the Habsburg Grand Princes administering the country through governors.
Habsburg	Maria Theresia	1765–1780	governors: *Andreas Hadik 1765-1767 *Carol O'Donell 1767-1770 *Joseph Maria von Auersperg 1771-1774 *Samuel von Brukenthal 1774-1775, 1776-1787
Habsburg-Lorraine	Joseph II	1780–1790	governors: *Samuel von Brukenthal 1774-1775, 1776-1787 *George Bánffy II, 1787-1822
Habsburg-Lorraine	Leopold II	1790–1792	governor: George Bánffy II, 1787-1822|
Habsburg-Lorraine	Francis II	1792–1835	governors: *George Bánffy II, 1787-1822 *John Jósika 1822-1834 *Ferdinand d'Este 1835-1837
Habsburg-Lorraine	Ferdinand I	1835–1848	*John Kornis, 1838-1840 *Joseph Teleki, 1842-1848
Habsburg-Lorraine	Franz Joseph I	1848–1916	governors: *Ludwig Wohlgemuth, 1849-1851 *Karl B. Schwarzenbeger, 1851-1858 *Friedrich von Liechtenstein, 1858-1861 *Emeric Mikó 1860-1861 *Ludwig Fohot of Crenneville, 1861-1867
In the wake of the Austro-Hungarian Ausgleich, the Hungarian government dissolved the Grand Principality and incorporated its territory into the Kingdom of Hungary. The Habsburg Kings continue to use the title of a Grand Prince of Transsylvania.
Habsburg-Lorraine	Karl I	1916–1918