page_title: Iacob Heraclid
section_title: Transylvanian projects
hierarchical_section_title: Iacob Heraclid / Biography / Transylvanian projects
caption_attribution_description: العربية: جون سيجسموند ملك المجر مع سليمان في 1556. English: John Sigismund of Hungary with Suleiman the Magnificient in 1556 Español: Juan Segismundo Szapolyai arrodillado ante el sultán Solimán el Magnífico en 1556. فارسی: مینیاتوری که یانوش دوم را به خاک افتاده در برابر سلیمان قانونی نشان می‌دهد. Français&#160;: Jean Sigismund de Hongrie avec Soliman en 1556. Bahasa Indonesia: Raja John Sigismund dari Hongaria bersama Suleiman pada tahun 1556. Íslenska: John Zápolya konungur Ungverjalands með Súleiman 1556. Italiano: Giovanni II d'Ungheria al cospetto di Solimano nel 1556. 日本語: 1556年、スレイマン大帝に跪くハンガリーのジグムント王. Қазақша: Венгриялық король Джон II Сигисмунд Сүлейменмен бірге (1556 ж.). Джон Сигизмунд және Сулейман патша. Bahasa Melayu: Raja John II Sigismund Zápolya di Hungary bersama dengan Sultan Sulaiman al-Qanuni pada tahun 1556. پنجابی: 1556ء چ ھنگری دا بادشاہ جان سیگیسمونڈ سلطان سلیمان اعظم نال. Română: Regele Ioan Sigismund Zápolya al Ungariei se inchina in fata sultanului Suleiman în 1556. Türkçe: 1556 yılında Macar Kralı ile Sultan Süleymanın görüşmesi. 1566 yılında ismi bilinmeyen bir Osmanlı sanatçının eseridir. Tiếng Việt: Vua Hungary là János Zsigmond gặp Suleiman năm 1556.
context_page_description: Iacob Heraclid, born Basilicò and also known as Iacobus Heraclides, Heraclid Despotul, or Despot Vodă, was a Greek Maltese soldier, adventurer and intellectual, who reigned as Prince of Moldavia from November 1561 to November 1563. He is remembered as a pioneer of the Protestant faith in Eastern Europe, a champion of Renaissance humanism, and a founder of academic life in Moldavia. Active within the Greek diaspora in several countries, he was a student of Hermodorus Lestarchus, and worked as a scribe alongside his cousin, Iakobos Diassorinos. Heraclid forged his genealogy several times, claiming to be a member of the Branković dynasty; he was more reliably related to the Byzantine nobility in Rhodes, and claimed the titular lordship of Samos. In the late 1540s and early '50s, he studied medicine at the University of Montpellier, and married a local. A duelist and alleged infanticide, Heraclid fled over the border with the Holy Roman Empire before he could be executed for murder. He was slowly won over by the Reformation, serving the Protestant princes of the Upper Saxon Circle.
context_section_description: In January–February 1562, the Prince became involved in the effort to absorb Eastern Hungary into Ferdinand's realm. He contributed to the deteriorating relations between the two camps by stating his own territorial claims in Transylvania, demanding the return of Ciceu and Cetatea de Baltă, and preparing a favorite of his to serve as Transylvania's puppet ruler. In the Habsburg parts of Hungary, Zsigmond Thorda described Despot as a most reliable ally who, it was hoped, would counteract and help discipline the Eastern Hungarians. The Moldavian troops, Thorda reported, were fully loyal to, and financially supported by, the Habsburgs; however, they could not be used against Eastern Hungary, for fear of angering Despot's Ottoman overlords. Diplomat Ferenc Zay was more enthusiastic about the project, arguing that Despot could incapacitate resistance by attacking in Partium while the Habsburgs took other regions. After confronting both sides of the argument, on February 15 Ferdinand appointed Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq as his rapporteur on the Moldavian matter. On the Eastern Hungarian side, Gábor Majláth began gathering troops in preparation for Despot's expected intervention.
  Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent finally recognized Despot as his vassal on April 24, with a ceremony outside Suceava. The affair was not without some tensions: Kapucu Ferhat, who presented Despot with his "regnal banner", received from him a bribe of some 15,000 ducats and 100 horses; however, Ferhat still complained to the Sultan that the ceremony had been held indoors, which went against customary law. As noted by Iorga, Despot was embarrassed by the ceremony, and in his correspondence pretended that the "banner" signified an Ottoman order of chivalry, rather than a label of submission. Before May 1562, Suleiman, as overlord of both Moldavia and Eastern Hungary, ordered Despot and John Sigismund Zápolya to settle their differences. The monarchs complied, with Despot concealing his Habsburg sympathies and addressing letters of friendship to Zápolya.
  Heraclid maintained his objectives and, as early as June 1562, sent letters to Székely Land, encouraging its secession and union with Moldavia; his mercenary friend, Anton Székely, was entrusted with the planning of a revolt. Chronicler Nicolae Costin claims that, once informed that Zápolya had been incapacitated by illness, Despot marched his 700-strong army toward the Transylvanian border; news of Zápolya's recovery arrested his advance, somewhere on the Trotuș River. He eventually backed out of his invasion plan, sending the boyar Orăș to negotiate a peace between Zápolya and the Székelys. However, he gave a free hand to another one of his mercenaries, Paul Székely, to act as a seemingly independent warlord of Székely Land; this scenario was prevented by Zápolya, who resumed control of the areas before autumn. Around that time, Despot began sending envoys, including his confidant Pierre Roussel, to the courts of Western Europe, requesting support for an anti-Ottoman crusade. He also defied the Crimean Khanate, reducing the Moldavian annual tribute to a gift consisting of two honey barrels, and made a public show of his contempt for Ottoman merchants.
  Despot had fathered an illegitimate son by "a Greek woman", or, according to other readings, had an infant daughter. He also wanted to have a more conventional line of succession. During the first half of 1562, he planned his marriage to Princess Dobra, sister of Peter the Younger, Prince of Wallachia. For this he approached Peter's mother, Doamna Chiajna. His envoys were Moțoc and Avram Banilovschi. These two arranged for the dynastic union to take place in August, and brought back a diamond ring as Peter and Chiajna's gift for Heraclid. Later, Wallachia's Vornic Radu Socol traveled to Suceava, bringing Despot two steeds, a kuka hat with precious stones, and 24,000 ducats. Heraclid intended to make his wedding a grand ceremony. His "extravagant parvenu's idea" involved sending out invitations to the leading royal houses of Europe. Among the projected guests
caption: John Sigismund Zápolya paying homage to Suleiman the Magnificent in 1566. From a late 16th-century muraqqa
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