Ferenc I Rákóczi, 17th century
Sub-Rosa hall, Sárospatak Castle
Zboró/Zborov (Makovica) Castle
Ferenc I Rákóczi
The son of György II Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania and Zsófia Báthory was born on February 24, 1645 in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia, RO). He was only seven when he was elected prince on 18 February 1652 (at the time, his father still lived). After his father’s defeat in Poland, the struggle for the position of the prince began. After his father’s death, he left Transylvania with his mother and moved to their estate in Sárospatak. On 15 August 1661, they both converted to the Catholic faith and gradually turned against the protestants. On 1 March 1666, he married Ilona Zrínyi. The wedding was a meeting place of the dissatisfied magnates led by palatine Ferenc Wesselényi. In 1669, Ferenc I Rákóczi concluded an agreement in Sárospatak with the representatives of the Protestant Estates of Upper Hungary. He promised to end their persecution on his estates and return the income of their churches, in return for his support in acquiring the Principality of Transylvania. Thus, he became the leader of the opposition movement in Upper Hungary. However, the initial momentum was soon lost and the leaders decided to lay down their arms in the hope of mercy. On 31 May, also Zsófia Báthory applied for mercy for her son, who was spared his life and property in exchange for a ransom of 400,000 Rhenish guilders, but he had to let imperial guards into all of his castles, except for Regéc and Munkács (Mukachevo, UA). His first child with Ilona Zrínyi, György, died as an infant. Their daughter, Julianna Borbála, was born in 1672. The wish of the head of the family, longing for a son, and his wife came true on 27 March 1676, when the boy baptised Ferenc Lipót was born. The head of the family (31) died a few months later, on 8 July 1676 in Makovica Castle.