page_title: Stephen Bocskai
section_title: Captain of Várad
hierarchical_section_title: Stephen Bocskai / Career / Captain of Várad
caption_attribution_description: Magyar: Báthory Zsigmond – 1596.
context_page_description: Stephen Bocskai or Bocskay was Prince of Transylvania and Hungary from 1605 to 1606. He was born to a Hungarian noble family. His father's estates were located in the eastern regions of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, which developed into the Principality of Transylvania in the 1570s. He spent his youth in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian, who was also the ruler of Royal Hungary.
  Bocskai's career started when his underage nephew, Sigismund Báthory, became the ruler of Transylvania in 1581. After the Diet of Transylvania declared Sigismund of age in 1588, Bocskai was one of the few members of Sigismund's council who supported his plan to join an anti-Ottoman coalition. Sigismund made Bocskai captain of Várad in 1592. After the pro-Ottoman noblemen forced Sigismund to renounce his throne in 1594, Bocskai supported him in his bid to regain it, for which Sigismund rewarded him with estates confiscated from the leaders of the opposition. On Sigismund's behalf Bocskai signed a treaty concerning the membership of Transylvania in the Holy League in Prague on 28 January 1595. He led the Transylvanian army to Wallachia, which had been occupied by the Ottomans.
context_section_description: Influenced by his Jesuit confessor, Alfonso Carillo, Sigismund Báthory decided to turn against the Ottoman Empire. His cousins sharply opposed his plan, which outraged Sigismund. He replaced Stephen Báthory with Bocskai, making the latter captain of Várad and ispán (or head) of Bihar County in May 1592. The captains of Várad were the commanders of the strongest army in the principality. Sigismund, who was a devout Catholic, ordered the Calvinist Bocskai to protect the Catholics in his new seat. Bocskai continued the reconstruction of the fortress, which protected the most important route between Transylvania and Royal Hungary.
  The Ottoman Sultan, Murad III, ordered the Grand Vizier, Koca Sinan Pasha, to invade Royal Hungary in August 1593. In the same month, Ferenc Wathay (who was the cousin of Bocskai's wife) visited Bocskai in Várad. In his memoir, Wathay mentioned that his commander, Ferdinand Hardegg ("the king's representative"), had ordered him to meet Bocskai. Young Transylvanian noblemen hurried to Royal Hungary to fight against the Ottomans, but most Transylvanian politicians wanted to avoid war with the Ottoman Empire as long as Poland remained neutral. Sigismund did not abandon his plan to fight against the Ottomans, but only Bocskai and Ferenc Geszthy, who was the captain of Déva (now Deva in Romania), supported him in the royal council.
  Crimean Tatars stormed into Hungary and pillaged the Partium in June 1594, forcing Bocskai to stay in Várad. Sigismund Báthory convoked the Diet, but the delegates of the Three Nations of Transylvania refused to declare war against the Ottoman Empire. Taking advantage of the prince's failure, Balthasar Báthory persuaded him to abdicate in late July. Sigismund went to Kővár (now Remetea Chioarului in Romania), and then announced that he wanted to move to Italy. Ferenc Kendi and Kovacsóczy prevented Balthasar from securing the princely throne for himself.
  Bocskai and the other commanders of the army hurried to Kővár, where they and Friar Carillo convinced Sigismund to change his mind. Bocskai and his troops accompanied Sigismund back to Kolozsvár, forcing the delegates of the Three Nations to again pay homage to him on 27 August. A day later, fifteen leaders of the opposition were arrested at the prince's order. In a few days, many of them (including Balthasar Báthory and Farkas Kovacsóczy) were executed or murdered. Years later, Sigismund Báthory told Ferenc Nádasdy that Bocskai had forced him to order their execution. Most historians also say that Bocskai was responsible for the purge, which made him his nephew's most influential advisor.
  Bocskai was made ispán of Inner Szolnok and Kraszna Counties. Many estates confiscated from the executed noblemen were granted to him during the following years, making him one of the wealthiest landowners of the principality. For instance, he seized the fortresses at Marosvécs in Transylvania proper (now Brâncovenești in Romania), and Szentjobb and Sólyomkő in Partium (now Sâniob and Șinteu in Romania).
  Sigismund Báthory sent Bocskai as his plenipotentiary to Prague in November 1594 to start negotiations with the representatives of the anti-Ottoman Holy League. He signed a treaty regarding the membership of Transylvania in the League on 28 January 1595. The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph (who was also the king of Hungary), acknowledged the independence of Transylvania and promised his niece, Maria Christina, to Sigismund Báthory. Bocskai went to Graz, where he married Maria Christina as his nephew's proxy on 6 March. Upon his return to Transylvania, the Diet confirmed the treaty on 16 April. Bocskai accompanied Maria Christina from Kassa (now Košice in Slovakia) to Gyulafehérvár (present-day Alba Iulia in Romania) in July.
  Sigismund Báthory made György Borbély Ban of Karánsebes (now Caransebeș in Romania), ordering him to invade the nearby Ottoman territories. Bocskai dispatched his deputy in Várad, György Király, to support Borbély's campaign. The Transylvanian army forced the Ottomans to abandon the fortresses along the Maros (Mureș) River b
caption: Bocskai's nephew, Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania
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