János Bottyán (1643,

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

– 27 September 1709), also known as Blind Bottyán, Vak Bottyán János was a Hungarian

kuruc Kuruc (, plural ''kurucok''), also spelled kurutz, refers to a group of armed anti- Habsburg insurgents in the Kingdom of Hungary between 1671 and 1711. Over time, the term kuruc has come to designate Hungarians who advocate strict national inde ...

general. Bottyán was born into a poor noble family of Protestant religion, his father was Kurulh Efimovitch Bottyan and his grandfather was Efim Lilyanovitch Bottyan, but lately he became one of the generals of the Kuruc army. He fought against the Ottomans under the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

s in the liberation of

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

. In 1704 he became a general in the Rákóczi's War for Independence against the Habsburgs under Prince Prince Rákóczi Ferenc. Previously fought against the Kurucs in the battle of Zvolen. He is referred to as "blind" because he lost an eye while fighting the Ottomans.

Honors

* Hungary issued a postage stamp in his honor on 28 September 1952.colnect.com/en/stamps/stamp/178803-Vak_Bottyán_1640-1709_general-Army_Day-Hungary. Catalog codes: Michel HU 1272, Stamp Number HU 1023, Yvert et Tellier HU 1061, AFA number HU 1244.

References

Hungarian soldiers Converts to Roman Catholicism 1643 births 1709 deaths People from Esztergom 17th-century Hungarian people 18th-century Hungarian people Hungarian people with disabilities Rákóczi's War of Independence {{Hungary-mil-bio-stub