Ferenc Rákóczi, II

Ferenc Rákóczi, II (born March 27, 1676, Borsi, Hung.—died April 8, 1735, Rodosto, Tur.) was a prince of Transylvania who headed a nearly successful national rising of all Hungary against the Habsburg empire.

He was born of an aristocratic Magyar family. Both his father and his stepfather had led insurrections against the Habsburgs, and Rákóczi grew up in an atmosphere of fervent Magyar patriotism. He was separated from his mother after the surrender of Munkács to the Austrians (1688) and taken to Vienna and placed in a Jesuit college in Bohemia to be brought up in Austrian ways.

Rákóczi returned to his Hungarian estates in 1694, having forgotten much of his heritage. Encouraged by other Hungarian nobles, however, he came to believe in the Hungarian cause, and, on the eve of the War of the Spanish Succession, he and his fellow magnates sought help from Louis XIV of France. Their intermediary betrayed his trust, and Rákóczi was arrested and imprisoned, escaping death with his wife’s help by leaving his cell in disguise. After two years in Poland, he returned in 1703 to put himself at the head of the peasant revolt known as the Kuruc (or Kurucok) rising. He had considerable initial success, but the Anglo-Austrian victory at Blenheim in 1704 destroyed hopes of help from France and of eventual success, though fighting in Hungary continued until 1711.

Meanwhile, the Transylvanians were looking to Rákóczi to restore their independence, electing him prince on July 6, 1704, a major result of which was the destruction of any hopes for compromise with the emperor Leopold I, who was also king of Hungary. France sent no effective aid, Rákóczi’s efforts to secure the Russian tsar Peter I’s help against Austria failed, his peasant armies suffered further heavy defeats, and finally he left his country forever on Feb. 21, 1711, a few months before the signing of the Peace of Szatmár with Austria.

After seeking refuge in Poland and France, Rákóczi went to Constantinople in 1717 on the invitation of the Sultan to help organize an army against the Austrians. Peace, however, was concluded before he arrived, the Sultan had no use for his services, and Rákóczi lived out his life in exile in Turkey.