János Imreffy de Szerdahely (''Imreffi''; c. 1559-60 – 9 July 1611)Markó 2006, p. 108. was a Hungarian soldier and noble in the Principality of Transylvania, who served as

Chancellor of Transylvania The following is the list of chancellors of Transylvania during the Principality of Transylvania. List of chancellors Principality of Transylvania Habsburg rule The Transylvanian Court Chancellery was established in 1694, according to the ' ...

from Spring 1610 to his death on 9 July 1611. He was a member of the

Imreffy family Imreffy de Szerdahely (or ''Imreffi'') was a Hungarian noble family from the Győr (genus), kindred of Győr. Origins The forefather of the family was Péter (c. 1321 – c. 1347), the second son of Ders Szerdahelyi. He inherited the Order of Sai ...

of old origin.

Biography

János Imreffy was a grandson of

Mihály Imreffy Mihály Imreffy de Szerdahely (c. 1458-60 – 1536) was a Hungarian soldier and noble from the Imreffy family, who was master of the horse ( hu, lovászmester), which was one of the high dignitaries in the Kingdom of Hungary. Biography He ...

, castellan of

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

. His parents were János, Sr. and Margit Forgách de Ghymes et Gács. He inhretied Diószeg (today: ''Sládkovičovo, Slovakia'') from his mother. He moved to

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

at young age. He married Kata Iffjú, daughter of János Iffjú, a member of the Transylvanian Royal Council and Margit Majláth. Due to that marriage, he became relative to the Báthory de Somlyó family, because his wife was half-sister of

Balthasar Báthory Balthasar Báthory de Somlyó ( hu, Báthory Boldizsár; 1560 – 11 September 1594) was a Transylvanian politician from the Báthory family, and like his brother, prince Andrew Báthory, an opponent of the Habsburgs in Transylvania. Biogra ...

, Stephen Báthory (father of

Gabriel Báthory Gabriel Báthory ( hu, Báthory Gábor; 15 August 1589 – 27 October 1613) was Prince of Transylvania from 1608 to 1613. Born to the Roman Catholic branch of the Báthory family, he was closely related to four rulers of the Principality of ...

) and Cardinal

Andrew Báthory Andrew Báthory ( hu, Báthory András; pl, Andrzej Batory; 1562 or 1563 – 3 November 1599) was the Cardinal-deacon of Sant'Adriano al Foro from 1584 to 1599, Prince-Bishop of Warmia from 1589 to 1599, and Prince of Transylvania in 1599. His ...

. Imreffy also became the lord of Alvinc (today: ''Vinţu de Jos, Romania''). In 1593, he served envoy of

Sigismund Báthory Sigismund Báthory ( hu, Báthory Zsigmond; 1573 – 27 March 1613) was Prince of Transylvania several times between 1586 and 1602, and Duke of Racibórz and Opole in Silesia in 1598. His father, Christopher Báthory, ruled Transylvania as voi ...

to Christoph Teuffenbach, Captain General of Kassa (today: ''Košice, Slovakia''). After 1598, he moved to the ''

Partium Partium (from Latin ''partium'', the genitive of '' pars'' "part, portion") or ''Részek'' (in Hungarian) was a historical and geographical region in the Kingdom of Hungary during the early modern and modern periods. It consisted of the eastern a ...

'' where served as familiar of

Judge royal The judge royal, also justiciar,Rady 2000, p. 49. chief justiceSegeš 2002, p. 202. or Lord Chief JusticeFallenbüchl 1988, p. 145. (german: Oberster Landesrichter,Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 72. hu, országbíró,Zsoldos 2011, p. 26. sk, krajinsk� ...

Stephen Báthory de Ecsed. There he met

for the first time. Imreffy joined to

Stephen Bocskay Stephen Bocskai or Bocskay ( hu, Bocskai István; 1 January 155729 December 1606) 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 th ...

's War of Independence and became a member of the Royal Council. He also functioned as the treasurer of Bocskay's army in the summer of 1605. He successfully crushed the rebellion of

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

militia in Lippa (today: ''Lipova, Romania''). He had an active role in the election of Gabriel Báthory as

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 ...

in 1608. Since then he served as President of the Royal Council. After the betrayal of

István Kendi István Kendi de Szarvaskend (''Kendy''; ? – c. 1628)Markó 2006, p. 112. was a Hungarian noble in the Principality of Transylvania, who served as Chancellor of Transylvania from 31 March 1608 to 20 March 1610. Biography He was the only ...

, who tried to murder Prince Gabriel, Imreffy was appointed Chancellor of Transylvania. Soon, the Transylvanian Civil War broke out. He was killed in the Battle of Brassó (today: ''Brașov, Romania'') against

Radu Şerban Radu may refer to: People * Radu (given name), Romanian masculine given name * Radu (surname), Romanian surname * Rulers of Wallachia, see * Prince Radu of Romania (born 1960), disputed pretender to the former Romanian throne Other uses * Radu ( ...

in 1611.

References

Sources

* Markó, László: A magyar állam főméltóságai Szent Istvántól napjainkig – Életrajzi Lexikon ''p. 108.'' ''(The High Officers of the Hungarian State from Saint Stephen to the Present Days – A Biographical Encyclopedia)'' (2nd edition); Helikon Kiadó Kft., 2006, Budapest; . * Trócsányi, Zsolt: Erdély központi kormányzata 1540–1690. Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1980. * Nagy, László: Imreffi János a magyar históriában: Legendák és tények. ''Irodalomtörténeti Közlemények'', LXXXVI. 1982. 4.
online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imreffy, Janos 16th-century births 1611 deaths Hungarian politicians Hungarian soldiers Janos Hungarian nobility Chancellors of Transylvania People killed in action Year of birth uncertain