Ferenc Rákóczi, I (born Feb. 24, 1645—died July 8, 1676, Makovica, Hung.) was a scion of a noble Magyar family, and in 1670 a leader of an unsuccessful Hungarian–Croatian revolt against the Habsburgs.

Rákóczi, the son of György Rákóczi II, had been designated (1652) to become prince of Transylvania, but never did reign after his father’s death (1660). Ferenc’s mother, disregarding György’s last wishes, in 1662 induced Ferenc to become a Roman Catholic (as she had been before she turned Calvinist on her marriage to György).

In March 1666 Rákóczi married Ilona, daughter of Péter Zrínyi (Zrinski), bán (governor) of Croatia, and four years later he joined Zrínyi in a conspiracy aimed at ending Habsburg rule in Hungary and Croatia. The insurrection was put down, and Zrínyi was beheaded in 1671. Rákóczi was spared on payment of a ransom, however, through his mother’s influence with the Jesuits.