Grantville Gazette, Volume 69

by Bjorn Hasseler

  City of Körmöcbánya (Kremnica)

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/967+01+K%C3%B6rm%C3%B6cb%C3%A1nya,+Szlov%C3%A1kia/@48.7116134,18.8890416,16424m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x4715230a6fad0131:0x400f7d1c6972d80

  This mining town was established in the twelfth century by German settlers invited here from Silesia and Thuringia. It was a world-famous mining city due to the abundant gold ore deposits in the mountains of Körmöcbánya. Starting in 1335 the mint produced golden florins and later the famous "Körmöci ducats," which were used as an international means of payment because of their consistently high purity of gold. It was the most important mint, and later the only one, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was the capital of the mining towns in central Upper Hungary in the Ring of Fire period. As one of the most important centers of the Protestant Reformation in the country, the town belonged to the Protestant "League of Seven Mining Towns." The town didn't open its gates before Prince Bocskay in 1604, but the next year they sided with him, and later Prince Bethlen was allowed to enter, too. Besides the gold mining, it was famous for its paper factory.

  City of Lőcse (Levoca)

  https://www.google.h%91cse,+Szlov%C3%A1kia/@49.0099157,20.5157858,16326m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x473e466038eadf49:0x400f7d1c69777a0u/maps/place/L%C5

  The town became the capital of the Association of Szepességi (Zipt) Germans, with a form of self-rule within the Kingdom of Hungary.

  Located on an intersection of trade routes between Poland and Hungary, Lőcse became a rich center of commerce. It exported iron, copper, furs, leather, corn, and wine. At the same time the town became an important cultural center. The English humanist Leonard Cox taught around 1520 in a school in Lőcse. The bookseller Brewer from Wittenberg transformed his bookstore into a prolific printing plant that lasted for one hundred fifty years. Also, one of the best-known medieval woodcarvers settled here.

  The town kept this cultural and economic status until the end of the sixteenth century, in spite of two damaging fires; one in 1550 which destroyed nearly all of the Gothic architecture, and another in 1599. During this period of prosperity several churches were built, and the town had a school, library, pharmacy, and physicians. There was a printing press as early as 1624. The town was a center of the Protestant Reformation in Northern Hungary. The town started to decline during the anti-Habsburg uprisings in the seventeenth century. A famous printing house was established here in 1630 that remained in use until 1754. Other printing presses were there, too, and many famous people taught and were taught in the city's schools.

  Castle and City of Sárospatak

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/S%C3%A1rospatak/@48.3177624,21.4436253,33104m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x4738ca243049413b:0x400c4290c1e1540

  The Reformed College of Sárospatak was founded in 1531 and had become legendary as it was one of the most significant schools of Royal Hungary. The castle was the basis for Prince Bethlen's campaign of 1619. György Rákóczi I established a cannon-casting factory in 1620 where high-quality cannons were produced. It was the time when tens of thousands of German Hutterites (Anabaptists) had to flee Switzerland and immigrated to Hungary and Transylvania. A large group of them settled in Sárospatak and introduced their special pottery-making style. The fort of Sárospatak had traditionally been the dwelling place of the Rákóczi family, and it kept its importance because it is situated halfway between Transylvania and Royal Hungary.

  Castle of Murány (Muran)

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/Hrad+Mur%C3%A1%C5%88/@48.7583708,20.0299645,8204m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x473fcfe8caea136b:0x80be437e2a7a5874

  The castle was built on a cliff of a mountain top and was one of the highest castles of Central Europe. The Habsburgs sold it, and the castle was obtained by György (George) Széchy's father. His wife Mária Homonnay purchased it from his father-in-law and made Murány a center of the Protestant spirit and culture in 1613. György Széchy was facing both Ferdinand II and Prince Bethlen. When he died in 1625, his widow bribed the Viennese court with twenty-two thousand florins so she could become the castle's owner again. She had to swear that she would never yield it to the Transylvanian princes. She held on to her word but her daughter Maria didn't. She sided with Prince György Rákóczi I. At the time of the Ring of Fire, three daughters inherited the castle: Éva, Kata, and Mária. The castle was under the control of Mária Széchy and her sisters' husbands. Mária's husband, István Kun, took an active part in the ownership of the castle and controlled it between 1634-1637, but Mária divorced him and chased him away. Mária, the "Venus of Murány," was an outstanding figure of the period. Her life is detailed in a subsequent chapter among the list of persons found in the 1630s.

  Castle and City of Pozsony (Pressburg, Bratislava )

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/Pozsony,+Szlov%C3%A1kia/@48.1356952,16.9758327,33222m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x476c89360aca6197:0x631f9b82fd884368

  Initially it used to belong to the chief treasurer of Hungary. Its university was established by King Matthias in 1467. Owing to Ottoman advances into Hungarian territory, the city was designated the new capital of Hungary in 1536, becoming part of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy and marking the beginning of a new era. The Turks besieged and damaged Pozsony (Pressburg, Bratislava) but always failed to conquer it. The city became a coronation town and the seat of kings, archbishops (1543), the center of nobility, and all major organizations and offices. The Holy Crown was held there. Between 1536 and 1830, eleven Hungarian kings and queens were crowned in St. Martin's Cathedral. The army of Prince Bethlen took the town in 1620, and he made his peace with the Emperor in this city in 1626. The beginning of the Hungarian baroque period is around 1630, first appearing on territories here, near Austria. The reconstruction of the royal palace of Pozsony began in 1635 in baroque style. The fort guarded the Danube river with its cannons so it was the greatest roadblock before Vienna. Vienna could be reached in 1683 by the Ottoman Empire because Pozsony was taken by the rebel Baron Imre Thököly who let the Turks pass.

  Castle of Nógrád

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/N%C3%B3gr%C3%A1d,+2642/@47.9007782,18.9753918,16687m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x476a8492a3c17dcf:0x400c4290c1e52f0

  It was a northern frontier castle that used to be the center of a county. Its defenders ran away after 1544 so Hussein, Bey of Esztergom, and Muhamed, Pasha of Buda, took the empty castle easily.

  It was only fifty years later, in 1594, that the army of Miklós Pálffy and Christopher Tiefenbach occupied it. Prince Bocskay—with Turkish aid—took it from the Habsburgs in 1605, but it had to be returned according to the Peace of Vienna. Prince Bethlen also took it in 1619 but a few years later he had to give it back to the emperor. It was handed over to the Turkish-Transylvanian troops in 1663 by Miklós Nadányi. It had been in the Turks' hands for only twenty-two years when a lightning bolt struck the gunpowder stores and exploded the castle: Bey Csonka set the rest of the fort on fire and abandoned it. Later he converted to Catholicism and he received great lands from Emperor Leopold I for handing over Nógrád castle.

  City of Kassa (Kosice, Kaschau)

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/Kassa,+Szlov%C3%A1kia/@48.6973299,21.0991083,32857m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x473ee01b67c6957b:0x400f7d1c6978bd0

  It was the eastern key city of Upper Hungary. Prince Bethlen took it in 1619, with the help of György Rákóczi, his strongest supporter. Here was held Bethlen's wedding, and he issued his proclamations from here. It was the town of the princes in the seventeenth century. When the city was taken by Rakoczi for Prince Bethlen, three Jesuits (István Pongrátz, Menyhért Grodecz and Márk Kőrösi) were murdered in spite of the promise made that they could leave freely. Allegedly, Péter Alvinczi, the Reformed preacher of the city had demanded their heads along with the death of all the Catholics of Kassa. Alvinczi was the greatest Reformed preacher and the legendary enemy of Archibishop Péter Pázmány. One of the executed priests happened to be Pázmány’s dear friend. The savage Hajdu sold
iers tortured the Jesuits to find out where their gold was and who might have been members of a Catholic conspiracy. After two days of starving them they were offered some raw liver to eat before their execution, but being a Friday, they couldn't accept the food. Two of them were beheaded, the third was thought to be dead and thrown into the cesspit where he died twenty hours later. Some circumstances and motives are not clear but the murders very well could have happened with the twenty-three-year-old Rákóczi's and Prince Bethlen's knowledge, and this raises questions concerning the famous religious freedom of Transylvania (when Catholics were concerned). Half a year later the peace talks between Prince Bethlen and Palatine Zsigmond Pálffy were taking place in the same house where the martyrs had been executed. Upon reaching an agreement they held a great feast and Prince Bethlen asked the wife of the Palatine, Katalin Pálffy for a dance. She was willing to dance only under the condition that the martyred priests could get a decent burial. It was grudgingly agreed, provided the burial would happen at night.

  We know that Bethlen made further compensations some years later when he wed Catherine of Brandenburg who had demanded it. The situation must have improved during György Rákoczi's rule because he allowed the existence of a Jesuit mission in Kassa from 1630 on. We know that this Jesuit office in Kassa was led between 1632-34 by Dániel Vásárhelyi.

  The victims' corpses finally were carried to a nunnery of Poor Claires in Nagyszombat where Maria Forgach, the daughter of the Palatine, was the Abbess in 1635.

  Later in 1905 the martyrs were canonized by the Catholic church as the Martyrs of Kassa. Their day in the Catholic calendar is September 7, when they were killed.

  Castle of Tokaj

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/Tokaj/@48.1124216,21.3494844,16619m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x4738ac26cb62a66d:0x8786533afa289efd

  This castle guarded the most important and world-famous wine region of the country. It was also a junction of trade routes coming from the eastern part of Royal Hungary and Transylvania. The other, similarly significant, crossing place over the Tisza river was only at the Turkish-owned Szolnok. The castle on Tokaj hill was the witness to the defeat of the Habsburg army in 1630 by the Transylvanians and their Hajdu soldiers.

  The fort was in a very poor condition although the Diet of Pozsony had issued several orders for its renovation. It was said to be "not good enough for a pigstry, if it wasn't surrounded by water one could easily ride straight into the middle of it through its gentle slopes."

  Its captain was Miklós Abaffy who sided with Prince Bethlen, aiding him with soldiers. Yet, it was again in Habsburg hands in 1630 as we can see it on a drawing made by Johann Ledentu, military engineer, who was visiting the place at that time. The city of Tokaj was an agricultural settlement and according to a list from 1640 seventy-three peasant families lived in it, including their judge, and there were an additional twenty-two stately homes with sixteen noble families in them. Only six people served as ferry-men at the important military and trade crossing of the Tisza river. The castle fell into Prince György Rakoczi I's hands after a short siege in 1644, and he was allowed to keep it according to the Peace of Linz.

  City of Besztercebánya (Banská Bystrica, Neusohl)

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/Beszterceb%C3%A1nya,+Szlov%C3%A1kia/@48.7392253,18.9908868,32830m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x47153de36e8ad42f:0xf8223f8a0b8b9032

  One of the most famous mining towns of the Carpathian Basin was destroyed by the Mongols in 1241 but soon the king had German miners from Thuringia settled there. Later it was the city where the Diet elected Prince Bethlen to be King of Hungary. The copper mines around the town were rented by the Fugger banker family. The city was renowned for its rich gold, silver, copper, mercury, and lead mines.

  City of Selmecbánya (Banská Štiavnica, Schemnitz)

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/969+01+Selmecb%C3%A1nya,+Szlov%C3%A1kia/@48.4441879,18.8353149,16511m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x471532da0c4e3f1f:0xb7b95f1d8cf0a454

  This mining town presently is a World Heritage site. The mining of silver and copper had been more significant than the gold mines. Besides the Hungarian miners there were miners coming from Flanders and Bavaria. It was the first place in Europe where gunpowder was used for mining, in 1627.

  The relationship between the town and Prince Bethlen was remarkably good. The city also kept very good relations with the Palatine of Royal Hungary, György Thurzó. It was due to the friendship between the chief notary public of the city, Abraham Unverzagt, and the Palatine's confidential man called Muller, who was the aristocrat's secretary. Thanks to this friendship, Palatine Thurzó helped protect the country roads around the city against robbers. At the same time, Prince Bethlen confirmed the city's privileges in his letters of 1621. The city received a confirmation from King Ferdinand II the same year—the emperor praised the city as a loyal mining town and gave them the religious freedom to practice their Evangelical [i,e., Lutheran] faith. The letter was also signed by István Pálffy, Miklós Pálffy, and Péter Koháry, faithful Hungarian aristocrats of Ferdinand II. The privileges were also confirmed and in addition to this, the king and emperor granted the mining towns' citizens the right to be called Reichsmitglied, a rank of the Empire. The contest for the mining towns' loyalty was obvious. After Ferdinand's letter, Bethlen was quick to issue a document for the town to save them from any Transylvanian military unit that should happen to wander near. A bit later he gave a letter of safe conduct for the envoys of Selmecbánya. The city balanced itself well between these powers but in 1648 it suffered from anti-Protestantism.

  ****

  Trans-Danubian Region

  Castle of Sárvár

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/S%C3%A1rv%C3%A1r/@47.2551844,16.8638241,16894m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x47694d0704a1a833:0x400c4290c1e19a0!8m2!3d47.2524196!4d16.9294867

  The Turks laid an unsuccessful siege on the castle in 1532. Three years later the castle and the city became the property of the Nádasdy family. It was Thomas Nádasdy, an educated “Renaissance man” who turned the place into one of the most sophisticated cultural centers of Royal Hungary. He established a school in 1534 and a printing house in 1537 and assigned János Sylvester to lead them. Sylvester was the first in Hungary who translated the New Testament into the Hungarian language. He printed it as well, in 1541, so it became the first book printed in Hungarian. Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos, a 16th-century Hungarian lyricist, epic poet, political historian, and minstrel, died here in 1556.

  The most famous lord of Sárvár was Ferenc Nádasdy II, the famous “Black Bey.” Ferenc helped conquer the castles of Esztergom, Waitzen, Visegrád, Székesfehérvár, and, years later, Győr. During his long period of military service, Count Nádasdy was known for great courage in battle. His wife was the infamous Erzsébet (Elizabeth) Báthory who allegedly committed terrible crimes at the Castle of Csejthe, though some say the charges against her had been fabricated in order to get the Nádasdy-Báthory property for the Emperor. It is strange that Ferenc Nádasdy died of a mysterious and sudden illness in the middle of a battle. Ferenc's mysterious death benefitted Emperor Matthias II, who sought to acquire the extensive territories produced by the Báthory-Nádasdy marriage. After the death of Elizabeth, the diminished possessions of her estate were divided among her four children. Later, Emperor Matthias accused the Báthory-Nádasdy children of treason based on the crimes committed by their mother. All land formerly belonging to the Nádasdy family, in addition to the new lands that had been accumulated from their political family, became available to the Hungarian crown. The descendants of Ferenc and Elizabeth were banished from Hungary and went to Poland. Although some returned to Hungary after 1640, that was the end of the noble status of the Báthory-Nádasdy family in Hungary.

  By the mid-seventeenth century vast property piled up in Sárvár castle, ruled then by Ferenc Nádasdy III, grandson of Ferenc Nádasdy II. He was the one who built the main hall of the castle, one of the most beautiful hall of the age. Ferenc got invo
lved in the Wesselényi conspiracy against the king and was beheaded in 1671. His castle was given to the Draskovich family.

  Castle of Kanizsa

  https://www.google.hu/maps/place/Nagykanizsa/@46.451078,16.8651749,34298m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x476893061c075be9:0x400c4290c1e12b0

  This famous castle was built at the entrance gate of the Trans-Danubian region. This strategically important location became the target of fierce fighting.

  The most renowned Hungarian castle captain, György Thury, was its leader between 1567-1571. Thury was the greatest hero of the Turk wars, defending his castles with very few soldiers and winning battles and sieges in the most hopeless situations. He was also a great duelist: we know of six hundred noted duels against Turkish warriors who sought him out from places as remote as Persia. He also led countless raids against the Trans-Danubian Turkish castles; the only successful strategy to keep the Frontier against the overwhelming enemy was the series of ceaseless and bold attacks from winter to summer.