Emeric Thököly

Emeric Thököly de Késmárk ( hu, késmárki Thököly Imre; sk, Imrich Tököli; ; tr, Tököli İmre; 25 September 1657 13 September 1705) was a Hungarian nobleman, leader of anti-Habsburg uprisings like his father, Count István Thököly, before him. Emeric was Prince of Upper Hungary, an Ottoman vassal state, from 1682 to 1685, and briefly Prince of Transylvania during the year 1690. Having formed an alliance with the Turks, Thököly assisted the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vienna in 1683 and led the Turkish cavalry at the battle of Zenta. Refusing to surrender to Habsburg Emperor Leopold I, Thököly lost his principality of Upper Hungary and finally retired to Galata, near Constantinople, with large estates granted him by Mustafa II.

Early life

Emeric was born in Késmárk in Royal Hungary (now Kežmarok in Slovakia) on 25 September 1657 as the fifth son of Count István Thököly and Mária Gyulaffy. His father was one of the wealthiest aristocrats in Upper Hungary (in present-day Slovakia); his mother was the granddaughter of Stephen Bethlen, who had been prince of Transylvania in 1630, she was related to three princes of Transylvania. Being his parents' only son to survive childhood, Emeric inherited when he was still a child his mother's estates in the Principality of Transylvania in 1659. His uncle, Count Francis Rhédey, Prince of Transylvania who died in 1667, also bequeathed his domains in Máramaros County to Emeric. A significant part of Emeric's inherited lands were located in Máramaros County. István Thököly persuaded Michael I Apafi, Prince of Transylvania, to make Emeric the ''ispán'' (or head) of the county in 1667. Actually, Apafi's influential counselor, Mihály Teleki, administered Máramaros on behalf of the minor ''ispán''.

Emeric started his formal studies at the Lutheran lyceum in Eperjes (now Prešov in Slovakia) in January 1668. Being an intelligent student, he quickly understood the main aspects of Lutheran theology and learnt to write long texts in perfect Latin. He played the role of the king of Hungary in a drama presented at the school in October 1669.

István Thököly was accused of participating in the leading aristocrats' conspiracy against the Habsburg monarch, Leopold I, in 1670. Being concerned about his son's safety, he ordered Emeric to return to Késmárk. They soon moved to Árva Castle (now Orava Castle in Slovakia), which stood near the border of Hungary and Poland. The king's troops laid siege to the fortress and István Thököly died during the siege on 4 December. According to one version of the story of the siege, Emeric escaped from the fortress through a tunnel after his father died and fled first to Poland, then to Transylvania. Other sources say that his father had sent Emeric to Likava Castle before the siege of Árva began, and he fled to Transylvania after learning of his father's death.

In exile

Leopold I's soldiers suppressed all resistance in Royal Hungary. Hundreds of noblemen were dispossessed of their estates; foreign mercenaries replaced the Hungarian troops in the fortresses and started plundering the nearby towns and villages. Leopold I did not respect the fundamental laws of the kingdom and appointed a Directorium to administer Hungary in 1673, led by Johann Caspar von Ampringen, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. The new government pursued a violent anti-Protestant policy and dozens of Protestant pastors were sentenced to slavery. The persecuted Hungariansexpelled noblemen, ousted soldiers and fugitive serfssought refuge in Ottoman Hungary and the Partium. The refugees, who were called ''kuruc'', made frequent raids against the borderlands of Royal Hungary.

Emeric's patrimony was confiscated, but he remained a wealthy man because he retained his Transylvanian estates. He accepted Mihály Teleki's advice and continued his studies at the Reformed college of Nagyenyed (now Aiud in Romania). Contemporaneous diaries evidence that the handsome young count easily enchanted both men and women.

The envoys of Louis XIV of France and Apafi signed a treaty in Warsaw in May 1677. The French promised to send an annual subsidy to the Kuruc to finance their fight against the Habsburgs. Apafi did not declare war on Leopold I, but promised to secure the professional command of the Kuruc troops and to provide asylum to them in case of defeats. Emeric soon started to urge Apafi to allow him to join the refugees. Louis XIV's envoy, Abbé Dominique Révérend, who met with Imre around that time, described him as "the most powerful lord and the most honest men in Hungary". The princely council appointed Emeric to command the Kuruc army on 26 September. Apafi also authorized him to raise volunteer troops in Transylvania.

Uprising

Emeric and the Transylvanian volunteers joined the Kuruc at Derecske on 27 November 1677. His revenues from his Transylvanian estates enabled him to improve the equipment of the army. According to a new French–Transylvanian treaty, Mihály Teleki was installed as the supreme commander of the Kuruc army on 16 February 1678, but Teleki's appointment did not affect Emeric's actual leadership. The Kuruc and Transylvanian troops assembled near Tasnád (now Tășnad in Romania), before they invaded Royal Hungary in June. Emeric captured the fortresses of Szendrő and Murány in early August.

Teleki and the Transylvanian army attacked Eperjes, but they abandoned the siege as soon as they were informed of the arrival of a relieving army in the middle of the month. Emeric continued the invasion with the support of local Slovak peasants. He captured Igló and Rózsahegy (now Spišská Nová Ves and Ružomberok in Slovakia), and the mining towns along the river Garam (Hron

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