Zsuzsanna Lorántffy, anglicized as Susanna Lorantffy (1602 in

Ónod Ónod is a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County in northeastern 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 th ...

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 ...

– 1660 in

Sárospatak Sárospatak (; ; Serbian language, Serbian: Муд Стреам; Slovak language, Slovakian: ''Šarišský Potok, Blatný Potok)'' History The area has been inhabited since ancient times. Sárospatak was granted town status in 1201 by Emeric ...

, Hungary) was a Princess consort of

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

by marriage to György Rákóczi I, Prince of

Early life

Born as one of three daughters of Mihály Lorántffy, one of the great lords of royal Hungary and his first wife Barbara Kamarás de Zelemér (d. 1609). After the death of her mother, her father remarried to Zsuzsanna

Andrássy Small arms of the Andrássy family The House of Andrássy is the name of a Hungarian noble family of very ancient lineage that was prominent in Hungarian history. The full family name is ''Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka''. Csí ...

with whom he had two further daughters. Zsuzsanna and her sisters were brought up in

, her family estate.

Biography

A passionate

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

, she assisted her husband in his successful struggle to introduce Protestant reforms in the Transylvanian church.Fest, Sándor. ANGLO-HUNGARIAN HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL RELATIONS, ''Angol Filológiai Tanulmányok / Hungarian Studies in English'', Vol. 4, (1969), pp. 5–44. Published by: Centre for Arts, Humanities and Sciences (CAHS), acting on behalf of the University of Debrecen CAHS. Under her influence,

John Amos Comenius John Amos Comenius (; ; ; ; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considered the father of modern education. He served as the last bishop of the Unit ...

, a prominent Calvinist teacher, took up residence in Sárospatak. Her older son,

George II Rákóczi George II Rákóczi (30 January 1621 – 7 June 1660), was a Hungarian nobleman, Prince of Transylvania (1648-1660), the eldest son of George I and Zsuzsanna Lorántffy. Early life He was elected Prince of Transylvania during his father' ...

, became

Prince of Transylvania The Prince of Transylvania (, , , Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77.) was the head of state of the Principality of Transylvania from the late-16th century until the mid-18th century. John Sigismund Zápolya was the first to adopt the title in 1 ...

. Her younger son, Sigismund

Rákóczi The House of Rákóczi (older spelling Rákóczy) was a Hungarian nobility, Hungarian noble family in the Kingdom of Hungary between the 13th century and 18th century. Their name is also spelled ''Rákoci'' (in Slovakia), ''Rakoczi'' and ''Rako ...

, Prince von Siebenbürgen, (1622–1652), was married to Henriette Marie of the Palatinate, daughter of

Elizabeth of Bohemia Elizabeth Stuart (19 August 1596 – 13 February 1662) was Electress of the Palatinate and briefly Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. The couple's selection for the crown by the nobles of Bohemia was part of the po ...

. She founded or sponsored several educational establishments, notably the Reformed College at Sárospatak. Her Protestant religious beliefs compelled her to shun the pampered life of an aristocrat and instead to express her religion through action especially through development of girls' education. While living in

Nagyvárad Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

she ensured that girls were taught not only the skills needed to run a home and bring up a family, but also to read, write, and do arithmetic. They were to be versed in the Bible. She sponsored the Várad Bible, a completely new translation (and not a reproduction of the

Vizsoly Bible The Vizsoly Bible, also called Károli Bible was the first Bible printed in the Hungarian language. It was translated in the 16th century by pastor Gáspár Károli and fellow Calvinists and was printed in 1590 by Bálint Mantskovit. A copy is ke ...

References

Bibliography

* 1602 births 1660 deaths 17th-century Hungarian people Hungarian Calvinist and Reformed Christians Princesses consort of Transylvania {{Hungary-bio-stub