Ákos Barcsay (Achatius) (1619 ? - Kozmatelke July 1661) , was

Prince of Transylvania The Prince of Transylvania ( hu, erdélyi fejedelem, german: Fürst von Siebenbürgen, la, princeps Transsylvaniae, ro, principele TransilvanieiFallenbüchl 1988, p. 77.) was the head of state of the Principality of Transylvania from the last d ...

from September 1658 to August 1659 and June to December 1660.

Biography

Barcsay was born in a respected noble family from

Hunyad County Hunyad (today mainly Hunedoara) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary, of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom and of the Principality of Transylvania. Its territory is now in Romania in Transylvania. The capital of the co ...

. He grew up at the court of

Gabriel Bethlen Gabriel Bethlen ( hu, Bethlen Gábor; 15 November 1580 – 15 November 1629) was Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of th ...

. The first significant station in his career was an embassy to the Sublime Porte in 1642 in the service of George I Rákóczy. In 1648 he was chief governor of the Hunyad county. Prince George II Rákóczy appointed him princely councilor in 1657 and governor for the time of his campaign to Poland. The Turks deposed Rákóczy after his unfortunate an unauthorised campaign and had

Ferenc Rhédey Ferenc () is a given name of Hungarian origin. It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, Francesco, François, Frank and Franz. People with the name include: * Ferenc Batthyány, Hungarian magnate and general * Ferenc Berényi, Hungarian artist * F ...

elected prince on 2 November 1657. However, Rákóczy returned in January 1658 and forced the Diet to recognize him on 25 January 1658. As a reaction the Turks invaded Transylvania, leaving a trail of destruction through the country. Grand Vizier

Köprülü Mehmed Pasha Köprülü Mehmed Pasha ( ota, كپرولی محمد پاشا, tr, Köprülü Mehmet Paşa; or ''Qyprilliu'', also called ''Mehmed Pashá Rojniku''; 1575, Roshnik,– 31 October 1661, Edirne) was the founder of the Köprülü political dynas ...

appointed Barcsay as prince on 14 September 1658, and the Diet had to agree to the payment of a high tribute and recognition of Barcsay's principality (11 October). Rákóczy invaded Transylvania again, and Barcsay fled to the Pasha of Timisoara (August 1659). When Rákóczy was killed in battle in June 1660, Barcsay was reinstated , but a new pretender to the throne appeared in the person of János Kemény. He relied on the

Székelys The Székelys (, Székely runes: 𐳥𐳋𐳓𐳉𐳗), also referred to as Szeklers,; ro, secui; german: Szekler; la, Siculi; sr, Секељи, Sekelji; sk, Sikuli are a Hungarian subgroup living mostly in the Székely Land in Romania. ...

who were radically against Barcsay's collaboration with the Turks and hoped for the help of the Viennese court. He invaded Transylvania in November 1660. Although Barcsay had voluntarily abdicated on 11 December 1660, the new prince had him imprisoned in Görgény and his brother Andreas hanged. He finally accused Barcsay of having contacted the Turks from prison and had him murdered in July 1661.

Sources

IOS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barcsay, Ákos Monarchs of Transylvania 1661 deaths 17th-century Hungarian people