Principality of Transylvania

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Coat of arms of Transylvania

The Principality of Transylvania (in Hungarian Erdélyi Fejedelemség , in Romanian Principatul Transilvaniei ) was a principality in the northwest of what is now Romania , which split off from the Kingdom of Hungary in the mid-16th century under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire and fell to the Habsburg Empire in 1711 . It was elevated to a Grand Duchy in 1765 and existed as such until it was incorporated into Romania in 1918.

history

prehistory

The Principality of Transylvania came into being as a result of the Turkish Wars of the early modern period and the division of the Kingdom of Hungary into two and then three .

After the victory of the Ottomans and the death of the Hungarian king . Ludwig II in the Battle of Mohács on August 29, 1526 came to Hungary to a double royal election: The Székesfehérvár parliament certain on November 10, 1526 John I Zápolya , the Bratislava parliament on the other hand, on December 17th of the same year, the Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand of Austria became King of Hungary. From 1531 Ferdinand also officiated as Roman-German King and in 1555 followed his brother Charles V as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire .

The double election sparked a civil war in which the Ottomans supported John I. It ended in 1538 with the Peace of Great Oradea (Nagyvárad / Oradea ). This stipulated that Hungary should be divided according to the status quo at that time, that both pretenders to the throne would continue to bear the Hungarian royal title and that Johann's part of the country should fall to the House of Habsburg after his death. When Johann died in 1540, however, a provincial parliament in Ofen (Buda), improvised by his widow Isabella and Cardinal Martinuzzi , elected his only a few weeks old son Johann II. Zápolya as king. In order to forestall the Habsburg claims, Sultan Suleyman I had central Hungary occupied in 1541, which was now administered directly from Ofen by the Ottomans for almost 150 years.

Origin of the principality

Transylvania on the Honterus map from 1532

The court of John II Zápolya moved to Transylvania in 1541, which the Sultan left to the underage king. Habsburg continued to question his royal title; the Ottoman Empire, France and Poland recognized him. The 1568 from the Transylvanian parliament adopted Edict of Torda in which freedom of religion was enshrined for the first time, recognized Catholic, Reformed, Lutheran and Unitarian to legally alike. In the Treaty of Speyer , which was concluded on August 16, 1570 with Emperor Maximilian II during the Diet of Speyer , John II finally renounced the title of king, but retained control over Transylvania and some Central Eastern Hungarian counties beyond the Tisza , the so-called Partium . From then on he referred to himself as Prince Johann Sigismund "Transilvaniae et partium regni Hungariae princeps". Johann died on March 14, 1571, shortly after the Treaty of Speyer was ratified.

Transylvania as an independent electoral principality

Since Johann Sigismund had no legal heir, he appointed his treasurer Gáspár Bekes , who had negotiated the Treaty of Speyer, as his successor. Contrary to this rule, the Transylvanian estates elected Stephan Báthory as their new prince on May 25, 1571 . He prevailed in the controversy against Bekes and ruled the country until he was elected King of Poland-Lithuania in 1576 . He was followed by his brother Christoph Báthory . His son and successor Sigismund Báthory ceded the land to Austria in 1598 in exchange for the Silesian duchies of Opole and Ratibor. This led to revenge campaigns by the Turks and Tatars and the temporary domination of the Wallachian voivodes Michael and Radul. After Sigismund's fourth and final abdication, Transylvania came under the control of the imperial general Basta, whose reign of terror Stephan Bocskay put an end to in 1604. Elected Prince of Transylvania, Bocskai urged Emperor Rudolf to conclude the Peace of Vienna (1606) , which secured him the so-called Partium and three Upper Hungarian counties in addition to Transylvania. He was followed by Sigismund I. Rákóczi and Gabriel Báthory . After Báthory's murder, Transylvania experienced its heyday under Gabriel Bethlen and Georg I. Rákóczi . During the Thirty Years' War, in league with the German Protestant princes, France and Sweden, both princes shook the power of the House of Habsburg from the east and increased their own power in the Peace of Nikolsburg (1621) and the Peace of Linz (1645) by adding seven Upper Hungarian ones Acquired counties. They also secured Hungary's constitution and freedom of religion. With George II Rákóczi troubled times came up again. The princes (Rhédei, Barcsai, Kemény) who were appointed or elected to replace George, who had been dethroned by the Sultan, were unable to gain a foothold, and under Michael I. Apafi , Transylvania lost its independence to the Habsburg Empire from 1687.

The principality under Habsburg rule

On the basis of the Treaty of Blasendorf (1687), Transylvania was occupied by imperial troops. The (temporary) success of Emmerich Thököly , who was elected prince by the estates, induced Emperor Leopold I to recognize the constitution and freedoms of the three nations in the Diploma Leopoldinum (1691) . The transfer to the Habsburg Empire was confirmed in the Treaty of Karlowitz between the Holy League and the Ottoman Empire in 1699 . The membership of Transylvania and Hungary to the Habsburg Empire was controversial in parts of the local population, and the discontent erupted in 1703 in an uprising by the Hungarian nobleman Franz II. Rákóczi , which was suppressed in 1711.

In the Peace of Sathmar on April 29, 1711 between the Habsburgs and the rebels, Transylvania remained part of Austria, and the Viennese government managed to consolidate control over the area. In the same year the title of Prince of Transylvania was replaced by a governor , who in fact assumed the role of governor .

From 1734, Transylvania was the settlement area of ​​the German-speaking Protestant peasants who lived under Charles VI. and Maria Theresa were deported from the Habsburg hereditary lands between 1734 and 1756 . It was the only area of ​​the empire where Protestantism was tolerated. Maria Theresa raised Transylvania to the rank of Grand Duchy in 1765.

For the further history of Transylvania, see Grand Duchy of Transylvania .

List of the Princes of Transylvania

Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania
George II Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania

From 1690/91 hereditary principality of the House of Habsburg under local chancellors

From 1765 the Grand Duchy ruled by the Habsburg monarchs as Apostolic Kings of Hungary in personal union. Their rule was represented by a gubernator (governor). The Habsburgs held the title of prince in their grand title even after the dissolution of the crown land from 1867 to 1918.

See also

literature

  • Transylvania in: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Volume 18. Leipzig 1909, pp. 430–433.
  • Béla Köpeczi (ed.): Brief history of Transylvania ("Erdély rövid története"). Akademie-Verlag, Budapest 1990, ISBN 963-05-5667-7 ( also as an online version )
  • Walter Myß (Ed.): The Transylvanian Saxons. Dictionary. History, culture, civilization, science, economy, living space Transylvania (Transylvania). License issue. Kraft, Würzburg 1993, ISBN 3-8083-2018-4 .

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Partium is the genitive plural of the Latin word pars = part, which means “of parts”. The term was used for this part of old Hungary, which today belongs to Romania.
  2. ↑ Bohemian Landtafel Hall Books, Volume XII b. 1060 BC