page_title: Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)
section_title: Reformation
hierarchical_section_title: Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867) / Royal Hungary (1526–1699) / Reformation
caption_attribution_description: English: Central Europe during the short-term existence of Imre Thököly's Principality of Upper Hungary. - Habsburg and Ottoman territories, including Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary (Royal Hungary) and Habsburg Croatia, Ottoman vassal states (Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, Principality of Upper Hungary (existed between 1682-1685), Montenegro, Ragusa) and Ottoman eyalets. The Ottoman expansion was asked by prince Imre Thököly in Upper Hungary (centered in present-day Slovakia) against the Habsburgs. The Ottoman Rule in Upper Hungary lasted only for 3 months.
context_page_description: The Kingdom of Hungary between 1526 and 1867 was outside the Holy Roman Empire but part of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy that became the Austrian Empire in 1804. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the country was ruled by two crowned kings. Initially, the exact territory under Habsburg rule was disputed because both rulers claimed the whole kingdom. This unsettled period lasted until 1570 when John Sigismund Zápolya abdicated as King of Hungary in Emperor Maximilian II's favor.
  In the early stages, the lands that were ruled by the Habsburg Hungarian kings were regarded as both "the Kingdom of Hungary" and "Royal Hungary". Royal Hungary was the symbol of the continuity of formal law after the Ottoman occupation, because it could preserve its legal traditions. but in general, it was de facto a Habsburg province. The Hungarian nobility forced Vienna to admit that Hungary was a special unit of the Habsburg lands and had to be ruled in conformity with its own special laws. However, Hungarian historiography positioned Transylvania in a direct continuity with Medieval Kingdom of Hungary in pursuance of the advancement of Hungarian interests.
context_section_description: The Reformation spread quickly, and by the early 17th century hardly any  noble families remained  Catholic. In Royal Hungary, the majority of the population became Lutheran by the end of the 16th century.
  Archbishop Péter Pázmány reorganized Royal Hungary's Roman Catholic Church and led a Counter-Reformation that reversed the Protestants' gains in Royal Hungary, using persuasion rather than intimidation. The Reformation caused rifts between Catholics, who often sided with the Habsburgs, and Protestants, who developed a strong national identity and became rebels in Austrian eyes. Chasms also developed between the mostly Catholic magnates and the mainly Protestant lesser nobles.
caption: Royal Hungary, the Principality of Upper Hungary, the Principality of Transylvania and Ottoman eyalets around 1683
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