of the Kingdom by Intrigues and Menaces 5. That far from leaving the Protestants a free exercise of their Religion which several Diets had granted them they had driven them violently from their Churches and had abused and banished their Ministers for no other reason but because they were not of their Princes Religion which was not done even in Turky That whereas one of the greatest Priviledges of the Hungarian Nobility bears that whatever Crime they were Guilty of it should not be tried but by a Judge of the Countrey it had often been removed before German Judges * Note this as the 3d. Method of enslaving free Countries 7. That for Crimes which they accused some private men of they had endeato punish the whole Kingdom without distinguishing the Innocent from the Guilty 8. That the Revenues which the Emperor received whether of the Mines Excise or other Rights were more than sufficient to maintain the Troops that were sent thither from time to time yet they were not at all paid which obliged them to commit great extorsions on the Hungarians or make Inroads on the Grand Signiors Lands whose subjects revenge themselves afterwards by treating those of the Emperor in the same sort The Year 1661 which followed these first troubles did further verifie all the Complaints The Transylvanians after the Death of George Rogotski and the flight of Francis his Son were divided into several Parties about chusing a Successor to him but the two strongest were that of Chimin Janos upheld by the Emperor and that of Folon Gabor Son to Bethlem Gabor who had been Vaivode before Ragotski The second put himself under the Protection of the Port and with the help of the Grand Vizier had the better of his Competitor the Vizier having promised to quit in his favours all sorts of Tributes of Transylvania for three Years The former had at first sent to demand succour at Vienna which was promised him so much the more easily as the Emperors Interest engaged him to it The Governour of Waradin where was a strong Turkish Garrison had put all the County of Zaâ—hmar under contribution and threatned with Fire and Sword those that refused to pay what they demanded The Ottoman Army was already in Transylvania to assist Gabor These Proceedings of the Turks gave Ground to fear that they had a design upon the Hungarians the Council at Vienna concluded to send an Army into Transylvania to hinder the Turks from making progress there But they first demanded of Chimin Janos two Places as Pledges of his Fidelity and to serve as Places of Arms for the Imperial Troops And he gave Zekelheid and Kovar where they put two strong German Garrisons and the Count of Montecuculi was sent into Hungary to command an Army of twenty thousand Men there From thence he passed into Transylvania where he preserved the Castle of Hust and forced the Turks to raise the Seige of Forgarats 'T is even said that he proffered them battle but that they would not accept of it In the mean while the Grand Signior not approving of the Election of Gabor conferr'd the Principality of Transylvania on Michael Abaffi who promised as is said a more considerable Tribute The Transylvanans would rather acknowledge this last than engage themselves in a very long War They complyed with the Port and Abaffi remained sole Vaivode of Transylvania A little time after the Turks having acquainted the Emperor that if he would not molest Abaffi they would attempt nothing upon Hungary The Imperial Council thought fit to withdraw their Troops from Transylvania but that was not done so soon in the mean while Hungary not being concerned in these troubles we will insist no longer upon them 1662. The German Army being return'd into Hungary began to give the Hungarians the same apprehensions as formerly As they hoped that the Emperor would renew a Truce with the Port and that they would have no need of Forreign Troops in Hungary they fear'd lest this Army would endeavour to seize all the Places of strength and subject the Kingdom to an absolute Authority They already had treated the Protestants so ill that 't was easie to judge that they had resolved on their ruine The Roman-Catholicks tho zealous and satisfied otherwise to see the Protestant Religion go down were jealous that under pretence of extirpating Heresie they began entirely to enslave the Hungarian Nation 'T was commonly said that 't was thus that the House of Austria had reduced the Bohemians All the Priviledges of Bohemia were involved in the ruine of the Protestants and the same Armies that they had employed to destroy them had served to oppress the Publick Liberty for ever Philip II. King of Spain and his Children would have done the same thing in the Low Countreys but seven of those Provinces who had the Courage to resist them had in fine shook off the Yoak their Tyranny and their Inhabitants were at this day the most free and most happy People of Europe One day the Palatine and the Arch-bishop of Strigonia passing in the great Market of Presbourg the People surrounded them and some of the most stirring praid them to write to the Emperor that the Priviledges of their Country did not permit that they should leave Forreign Troops there so long These Lords endeavour'd to sweeten them by the Promise that they made that they would getrepresented to the Emperor what they desired 'T is not known whether they did it but the Council at Vienna gave no Orders for the Army to return into Germany and the Hungarians refused absolutely to furnish them Provisions unless they paid for them and shut the Gates of their Cities when they thought to come thither to take up their Winter Quarters When they returned from Transylvania Raimond Count of Montecuculi who commanded them made them encamp near Tokai expecting that the Emperor should mark out the places where he meant they should be lodged In the mean while a great many Souldiers died of Fatigue and Hunger because there was nothing prepared for their subsistance either for want of Money or ill administration of it or that they had groundlesly depended on the Liberality of the Hungarians The Emperor being inform'd of the ill condition of his Army and how they were treated by the People of Hungary ordered some of the principal Lords of the Countrey to come instantly to Vienna Among those were the Arch-Bishop of Strigonia and Francis Nadasti President of the Soveraign Council who by the Emperors Order jointly with those others who were made come to Vienna sought out means of Subsistance for the Imperial Troops After they had concluded what they were to do they return'd into Hungary and Nadasti prevailed with them to receive the sick Souldiers into Hospitals and to furnish the rest Provisions and Lodging for some time But the Hungarians grew quickly weary of these troublesome Guests and returned to their first refusal founded upon the same reasons as before The
Altsâ—l Lindaw and Nemfr who had been made Counsellor of the Courtick Council and Substitute of the Palatin of the Kingdom after the Death of Count Wesselini during the Vacancy of the Charge 'T is Peter de Serini Ban of Dalmatia Slavenia and Croatia who in his most tender Youth jointly with his Brother Nicholas Count de Serini had repulsed the Turks in so glorious a manner that his Valour had procured him the Esteem of all Neighbouring Nations 'T is in a word Francis of Tersats Count of Frangipani equally illustrious for the Antiquity of his Nobility and his personal Qualities All these have perished by relying on their Faith What Formalities have been observed in their Trials Were they condemned by their natural Judges pursuant to the Rights of the Hungarians By no means They had Commissioners allowed them that were all Strangers ignorant in our Laws and devoted to those who were fixed upon their Destruction Who was chosen to be President of this Commission John Count of Rothal whose inhuman Temper is but too well known not only in this Kingdom but also in the Hereditary Lands of the Emperor These Commissioners Did they observe the accustomed Rules Did they hearken to the Accused in their Defences Did they confront their Witnesses Nothing of the matter notwithstanding they pronounced their Sentences upon Nadasti in Vienna and upon the other two Counts at Neustad upon the 30th of April 1671 before they were convinced of the Reality of what was alledged against them The Cruelty of the Emperor's Ministers did not stop there You have seen a Chamber established at Presburgh which has put into the hands of the Executioners all those whose Estates excited their Avarice or whose Zeal for the Preservation of your Liberty gave them any Suspicion Amongst all these unhappy Persons you ought in particular to regret Francis Bouis who had been the first Assessor of the County of Zemlin whom you have often seen to support with an unshaken Constancy the Freedom of his Country and the Reformed Religion When King Leopold who reigns at present would abolish your Privileges and make you Slaves he doth but pursue therein the Footsteps of his Ancestors who have forgot nothing to render the Crown of Hungary hereditary to their House You know that the States of this Kingdom have always enjoyed the Privilege of electing your Kings One reads in your Histories that all those who have preceded Ferdinand the First came to the Crown by this means alone but this Prince who was the first Hungarian King of the Austrian Family took a Method extreamly different He transacted with John Sepusa without the Participation of the States as if one or t'other had the Propriety thereof and it had been an Inheritance of which they enjoyed the free and absolute Disposal In the mean time you know that your Kings are but the Usufructuaries of their Dominions You have taken them to defend you against your Adversaries and to preserve your Rights At the moment they contradict them they have actually and legally forfeited the Soveraignty and you are dispensed from the Oath of Fidelity and Obedience that you have taken to them Notwithstanding Ferdinand was not contented with the Division he had made with Sepusa He compelled this dispossessed Prince to have recourse to Sigismond King of Poland and after that to Solyman when he found that he could not support himself by the Assistance of the first 'T is this Treaty which has afforded a Pretence to Ferdinand and his Successors to impose upon you that Yoke under which you have groaned since that time Their Partisans declared That you had sought the Protection of the Turks against your Sovereign and that Sâ—pusâ— had a mind to become Tributary to the Port. Was ever any thing so repugnant to Truth 'T was Ferdinand himself who had a mind to pay Tribute to the Turks Solyman having taken Buda and almost all the other Places of Hungary restored them to John Sepusa without exacting any thing of him but after the Death of this Prince when Ferdinand would have deprived his Widow Isabella and his Son John the 2d this unfortunate Widow was constrained to have recourse once more to the Protection of Solyman who for the Expences of the War retained Buda Quinque-Ecclesiae Alba Regalis and Gran. The Austrians can't deny that Ferdinand offered to pay Solyman for each Hungarian a Crown tribute if he would refuse his Protection to Sepusa It is true that this Prince disowned the Ambassador that he had dispatched to the Port when he received Advice that he had been stop'd by Sigismond as he cross'd over Poland altho his Instructions directed it in express Terms Behold how the Princes of the Austrian Family are become Masters of Hungary Let us see now what Methods they have practised to render this Crown hereditary in their House The first thing they attempted was to divide you under pretence of a differing Religion They perswaded the Roman-Catholicks that the Protestants had drawn the Turks into Hungary to the end of incensing the First against the Protestants Notwithstanding it is easy enough to know the contrary by the Letter which John Sepusa wrote to Clement the 7th by which he makes it appear that the Threats which Ferdinand made to Solyman by his Ambassadors disposed him to turn his Arms against this desolate Kingdom Although by several Treaties the Kings of the House of Austria had promised to leave the Protestants the free Exercise of their Religion they have not ceased to deprive them of their Churches and their Schools This is what 's expresly born by the Treaty of Vienna made with Boscai and confirmed after that by a Declaration of the Arch-duke Matthias who has been since Emperor and King of Hungary In 1608 this Liberty of Religion was extended to the very Peasants of Villages Ferdinand the 2d confirmed the Declarations of his Predecessors at his Coronation Ferdinand the 3d did the same thing in 1647. And there was a Declaration of the like nature in 1655. Nevertheless in spite of so many Assurances so often repeated the Germans have not failed to seize upon the great Church of Cassovia after having broke open the Doors and have dispossess'd the Protestants of the use thereof Next they surpriz'd that of Newfol a City of the Mountains in the night-time whilst the People slept and as Newsol was fortified they entred it by scaling I can't relate without Horror what Cruelties they exercised in the Church of Thalia a little Village when they became Masters of it They committed Rapes therein and disposed themselves to all sorts of Excess Judg if these Extremities are the Ways to bring back into the bosom the Church those whom they call seduced Nevertheless they engaged the Catholicks of the Kingdom to take Arms with them in order to chase the Protestants from their Churches and their Schools The Ministers of the Emperor after having sowed amongst you the Spirit of Division to weaken you
in Hungary from the Year 1656 to the Year 1671. IF those that have any share in the Management of the States whereof Europe is composed were mindful to leave to Posterity Memoirs of what comes within their Knowledge it would not at all be necessary to make such haste in publishing the Actions of Living Persons Those who should come after us might inform themselves by by these Memoirs after the Death of the Authors and of those whose History would be comprehended therein But Ministers of State minding nothing less than to write what has pass'd under their Administration Private Men ought not to be blamed who carefully observing what falls out in Europe and forgetting nothing as much as in them lies to distinguish the Truth from Falshood publish what passed in the view of all the World without expecting the Death of those whose History they compose Besides that they preserve the Memory of a great many Matters of Fact which would otherwise be forgot they thereby put themselves in a state of reaping Advantage from the Advice of those who have been concern'd in the things they speak of and to deliver nothing for certain but what is unquestionable A very great number of Events and Circumstances that are useful to be known are like Summer Fruits which we must quickly gather or resolve to eat them corrupted if we don't publish some things in the Times wherein they happen Posterity learns them only by a confused Tradition which mixes Falshood with Truth and often suppresses the most Essential parts This has made me take up a resolution of giving the Publick what I could remark on the Life of Emeric Count of Tekeli on whose person the Eyes of all Europe have been fixt for several Years without expecting his death to publish what I could know of him I am far from flattering my self with the thoughts of my having collected what may make a compleat History but at least I can say that having no particular Interest either to praise or dispraise him I omit nothing with a design to conceal the Truth as I add nothing herein to the advantage or disadvantage of any person Besides we must not believe that all the Life of Men that make a great figure in the World should be always full of remarkable Intrigues The greatest Men as well as others employ the half of their Life to satisfie the Necessities of Nature and it is very much that the other half is spent in a manner worthy of being known to Posterity A long time before the Birth of Count Tekely A lively representation of the Miseries of a Divided Countrey whose Life we undertake to write the Emperors of the House of Austria being only Kings of Hungary by Election The Hungarians distrust for their Civil Priviledges began to be distrustful of the Loyalty of the Hungarians and complained that that People did not shew all that submission to their Orders which they owed them On the other side the Nobility of Hungary saw with sorrow an Elective Kingdom to which their Merit might have formerly exalted them become in a sort Hereditary to the House of Austria whose Party was always the strongest in the Elections They fear'd that in time it would become so powerful that the Hungarians stript of all their Priviledges would have no more Liberty left them than the Subjects of Hereditary Princes have at this day in the rest of Europe A considerable part of the Hungarians that followed Luther or Calvin and who had a free exercise of their Religion And Religion feared further the loss of the Liberty of Conscience which they enjoyed with great comfort These Fears were sensibly encreast because the Kings of Hungary who were not in the least ignorant of the disposition of that People endeavoured to take measures to prevent this Distrust from producing any Disturbance hereafter The Nobility and People on their part lookt upon these Precautions as Chains prepared to fetter them with when they least thought of it They could not without a great deal of grief see them introduce as many Germans into Publick Places as was possible which were formerly bestowed only upon the Hungarian Nobility and that under pretence of defending the Kingdom against the Turk they encreased and multiplied German Garrisons in every place without being at the pains of considering whether they were a Charge to the Natives of the Countrey These Troops liv'd in no better Discipline than they used to do in Germany and the provoked People did not fail to revenge themselves on all occasions The Lutherans and Calvinists were also sensible that they strengthen'd the Roman Catholick Party by all means and that they filled their Countreys with Missionaries or Seminary Priests as we call them and New Churches As they knew that they could not hope to be tolerated if the House of Austria should become absolute Mistress of the Kingdom 't was feared lest they should make use of the first occasion that they could meet with to gratifie themselves in this When the Laws and the Antient Usages of the Countrey met with any opposition by the Precautions which the Emperors endeavour'd to take against the ill humour of the Hungarians they always interpreted these Laws and Usages in favour of what they design'd to do The Hungarians opposed all this in the Diets of the Kingdom to the utmost of their power but as they had always the worst on 't their Efforts became every day more feeble This was the reason that in the Year 1673. under the Reign of Leopold Ignatius who mounted the Throne in 1655. the Roman Catholick and Imperial Party openly declared and testified by their Discourses and by their Conduct that for the Catholick Religion to be the sole Religion in all Hungary and Absolute and Hereditary Authority were according to them two things which they were in the wrong to controvert with the Emperor Besides these mutual Discontents a part of the Hungarian Nobility was accused of serving themselves cunningly of this Disposition of Minds to advance their particular Interests Those among them that were in favour with the Emperor made use of his Authority to accomplish their Designs and the other whom standing by the Laws and Priviledges of their Countrey had rendred agreeable to the People made advantage of the kindness that their Countreymen had for them without giving themselves the trouble of considering whether their Conduct was conformable to Equity and to the Obedience which they owed to their Kings It is even said that to procure themselves a Sanctuary in case of need they had Intelligence with the Port and that sometimes to embroil the Emperor with the Grand-Signior they made Incursions upon the Turks Lands the blame whereof they laid on the German Garrisons who were no ways concern'd in it if we may believe the Imperialists In this state were the Spirits and Affairs in Hungary as far as can be learned from those who have given the History of
could satisfie them unless the Emperor did suffer the States of Hungary to raise Troops in their Countrey and to employ the Revenues of the Kingdom to maintain them The Imperial General who had reason to distrust the Hungarians as they distrusted him Lodged the residue of his Troops in good intrenchments Having received advice that the Turks beseiged Great Waradin in the County of Zathmar on the Frontiers of Transylvania he would according to some Historians make the best of this occasion by putting German Troops into it But the Inhabitants who believed they were strong enough to defend themselves refused to receive them They believed that the Germans by assisting them against the Turks would subdue them afterward themselves on the first opportunity The Protestants in the mean time were so ill treated in the Places where the Catholicks were the strongest that several of them would rather venture to fall under the Protection or Dominion of the Turk who does not force the Transylvanians to take up the Turban than be exposed to the Caprices of a Prince absolutely governed by the Jesuits a more Barbarous sort of People said the Hungarians than the Dervices They accused a Calvinist Minister of Waradin of having declared this dangerous Truth to the People Other Historians assure us that the Hungarians did their utmost in this occasion but that the Emperours Ministers whom they advised of the Importance of that Place and the danger it was in neglected to send succours thither The Prince de Portia Prime Minister naturally timorous and uncapable of a ready resolution thought upon the affairs of the War as slowly as could be Being desirous to shew the Provinces wherein he had Lands the Post that he held next to the Emperor and to draw presents from all hands he was induced to go to see Stiria Carinthia and the Neighbouring Provinces During this Royal Progress the Hungarians demanded succour in vain and tho' the Hungarians pressed at the Imperial Court to take Orders about Waradin they were little moved with their Prayers They at last ordained Count de Souches to succour it but as he had not wherewith to do it their Orders were to no purpose This small City flanked with five good Bastions and an advantageous Situation was taken fourty seven days after the Trenches were opened the Inhabitants having forgotten nothing that was necessary to defend themselves except their refusal according to some of the German succours which were not strong enough to fight the Ottoman Army The Turks afterward put this City into the hands of a Sangiack and made it a Magazine a Fronteer Garrison against the Emperor But then they made no attempt to make themselves masters of the rest of the Lands depending on Transylvania that the Germans had seized either because they would not entirely break with the Emperor or because the good Orders which the Count de Souches kept there had rendred this Conquest very difficult for them This General seeing that the Season was advanced and that the Turks made no Motion thought of putting his Troops into Winter-quarters He obtain'd in fine of the Princess Ragotski that Onod should receive a German Garrison and the Hungarians that the General Quarters should be at Cassovia a City of Upper Hungary which was always very averse from Lodging German Souldiers The rest of the Troops were posted in diverse Places of the County of Zathmar The Count as is said had agreed to enter Cassovia with only a Company of his Guards and seventy Musketeers The Burgers should guard the Gates of the City with two hundred Heyduques or Foot-Souldiers kept at the Emperors Charge but who were to receive their Orders from the Magistrates As Souches was upon his March for Cassovia whether for that he came with too many Men and with a Train of Artillery which there was no occasion for in Winter-Quarters or whether the Palatine was sensible of his fault that he had committed in promising the Germans Entry into a City of that importance as Cassovia was or for some other reasons the People took the fright and saw by the consequence that it was not without reason When then the Count appear'd they shut the Gates and the Burgers put themselves in Arms which forced him to go and lodge near by it at Sassaw in a Countrey House of the Bishop of Agria's He lodged the Cannon in sive adjacent Villages where he distributed the Souldiers On the Complaints that the Count made of the manner how he had been received 't was answer'd him in the name of the States that had been called at Cassovia before his arrival that they never had received even their Kings till they had first made them swear to preserve their Priviledges one of the principal whereof was that they should never be forced to receive strange Troops into their Cities and they could not part with a point of that importance The Germans not only pretended to be lodged but they would be maintained on free Quarters as if the Revenues which the Emperor had from Hungary had not been sufficient to sustain a small Body of an Army without oppressing the People Where-ever the Troops were they took away all they could finger without paying for it and as it is the custom of Souldiers who do not observe Discipline but when they receive Pay they made more waste than was needful for their maintenance The Hungarians on their part did not pardon any of these Violences but killed them when they could take them at an advantage They complained also to the Emperor of the Quartering of these Troops but no regard was had to their complaints either because they did not believe they were true as they were or because they had a design to push them on to a Revolt * Which is another of the Jesuits Methods which they employ on such occasions that they might thereby have occasion to treat them as a Conquest and so seize the great Estates of the Hungarian Nobility For in Hungary they believed that the Emperors Court was full of Princes and poor Gentlemen who thirsted after other Mens Estates as much as any where in the World The Hungarians in the mean time were no less apprehensive of the Army than of the Turks and indeed we are no less poor when we are ruined by good Christians than when by the most wicked Mahometans Thereupon was publisht for the Hungarians a Writing which contained a Breviate of the subjects of Complaint which they had the principal Heads where of are these 1. That the Priviledges of Hungary were entirely violated by sending of Foreign Troops into a Countrey which its Inhabitants could easily defend would they make use of their strength 2 That these Troops committed 1000. Violences and Cruelties 3. That the Hungarians that possessed some Offices durst not do all their duty for fear of displeasing the Emperor 4. That they had thwarted all the Resolutions which the Diet had endeavour'd to take for the good
but there was some treachery on one side or other in this capitulation since some shot with a Musket upon Esterhasi and that he took Baragozzi Prisoner and sent him to Vienna The others saved themselves once more in the Night and without hindrance got into the Castle of Hust in Transylvania That of Licowa surrendred it self the next day and by its surrendry leâ—â— the Imperialists absolute Masters of Upper Hungary 'T was thus that Count Tekeli made his first Apprentiship at his own cost in the matter of War All his moveables were seized and all his Plate and that of all the other Malecontents They carried it to Vienna as in Triumph and this was not unseasonable for paying the German Troops one part of what was due to them without speaking of what might continue in the hands of those who were commissioned to go and seize the most considerable Riches of Hungary The End of the First Book Memoirs on the Life Of EMERIC Count of TEKELI The Second Book Containing the most Remarkable Occurrences from the Year 1671. to the Year 168â— COVNT TEKELI being arrived at Transylvania if we may believe the common report immediately puts himself under the Protection of the Turks and pays them the Tribute which they call the Carche after which the Emperor could not pursue him without running the hazard of breaking with the Part. Abaffi received the Malecontents very kindly because he had cause to complain of the Imperial Troops which were upon the Frontiers of Transylvania and often made very great ravages upon his Lands In the mean while he takes a journey to the Port which joyned with some movements of the Turkish Army from Thrace gave ground of fear that the Grand Signior would take part with the Male-contents who as was said sollicited him to send an Army into Hungary But soon after it was known that the Turks had no design so hastily to engage in a War which they could not make without great expence The Imperial Council being delivered from this fear and seeing that all who could resist the design which it had to treat Hungary as a conquered Countrey were dead or banished or intimidated by the ill success of their Efforts thought that now at last the time was come to execute this project The first remarkable attempt which was made for this was the vacating the important charge of Palatine which investing them who had it with a very great Authority put them into a condition when they would to frustrate the designs which the Ministers at Vienna had upon the Liberty of the Hungarians If any one were disobliged by them he could hardly fail of taking his revenge at least of convicting them before Judges of the Countrey of having violated the Laws of their Countrey which it was not easie to do As this dignity was for Life the Death of him who was invested with it was peaceably to be expected or else it was to be forced from him an expedient dangerous and likely to make the Kingdom revolt Instead of the Palatine the Emperor resolved to send a Governour whom he might recall when he pleased and to whom he might give no authority but what he found fitting he also formed a new Sovereign Chamber composed of eight Counsellors and of two Secretaries besides the President who was to be the Governour of the Realm John Gasper Ampringhen Great Master of the Teutonick Order was chosen to fill this last place whether it were that he was judged the most likely to acquit himself well of this employment or that being born in Hungary the People might not look on him as a Forreigner This was conceived within the Year 1672. In the Twenty Eighth of February in the Year following the Emperor Signed a Declaration by which he gave his Subjects of Hungary to understand 1. That he had established in their Countrey a Sovereign Court which should regulate Publick and Private Affairs in the last resort 2. That he had chosen for President of this Chamber John Gasper Ampringhen Prince of the Empire and Great Master of the Teutonick Order and would have them render him an entire Obedience as to his own Person and also to the orders of the new Court The Great Master made his entry on the twenty second of March and immediately after the Chamber applyed it self to remedy the disorders of the Realm which were very great Ill meaning Persons on both sides having taken occasion from the troubles to commit all sorts of outrages Two things gave the Chamber the most troubles and in the end caused new broils The first was the Regulation of the Troops which they were obliged to maintain in Hungary rather against the Malecontents than against the Turks They found no way more proper to prevent the Insolence of the Souldiers than to appoint Commissaries in every County who should furnish the Troops with all things necessary and keep them within their Duty The second was the Protestant Religion which they were resolved to extirpate whatever it cost them Besides that the Catholick-Zeal was satisfied with that the Ecclesiasticks and Laicks found no burden of the Protestants goods which were Confiscated for very slight faults that they might be obliged to change their Religion Many Calvinist and Lutherian Ministers says an honest Priest who writes the History of these Troubles in Italian since they would not moderate their Seditious Ardour to Preach new Doctrines were sent to the Gallies of Naples to learn Modesty and Obedience in Chains c. The Rigor which they used to re-establish the Catholick Religion and in searching out them who adhear'd to Protestancy gave many companions to them who had fled to Transylvania The Protestants had in divers Languages published the Persecution which they said had been in Hungary against them of their Religion And the Ministers whom they had sent to the Gallies of Naples were not delivered till the Year 1676. By the mediation of Michael de Ruyter Admiral to the Vnited Provinces The Zealous Catholicks who were offended at this have seen by the consequences what People so treated are capable of doing and have repented a little too late Prince Ragotski died soon after his reconciliation with the Inperial Court and the Transylvanians pushed on by the Male-contents who were retired among them redemanded of the Emperor the Counties Zathmar and Zambolich At the same time many Hungarian Gentlemen assembled their Friends together to oppose the Violences of the new Soveraign Chamber They form a Body of 12000 Men and surprize Kalo and Little Waradin thro' the default of General Spankau and some other Imperial Commanders more fit to ruine and evil entreat the Peasants and disarmed Burghers than to fight an Enemy or take good measures against them The Emperor was obliged to send into Hungary 10000 Men under General Kops whom the Male-contents fail'd not to resist in many Rencounters As this was not a War of Quarter they defended themselves desperately and treated the Germans
before seem'd sufficiently inclin'd to satisfie the Protestants therein It is said that the Grand Seignior being advertis'd of the disposition Tekeli was in to agree with the Emperor sent him a Bassa who promis'd him the Principality of Transylvania after the Death of Abaffi and other Advantages to the Malecontents if they would put what they held in Hungary and what they should take under the Protection of the Port and that they consented and promis'd to Pay a Tribute of Eighty thousand Crowns provided it assisted them with a Speedy and Powerful Supply The Diet who fear'd as much as the Emperor lest the Turks who had newly made a Truce for Twenty Years with the Moscovites should enter Hungary with all their Forces hastened to conclude something which might satisfie the Malecontents Endeavours at the same time were us'd to draw Tekeli to come to the Diet by offering him the Sons of the Palatine as Hostages but he absolutely refus'd to go fearing Treachery In fine it was concluded with the consent of the Emperor that the Protestants should have those Churches restor'd which they had built at their own Charges but not the Churches which they had taken from the Catholicks with liberty to build Three more new ones and to have Preaching as before They also engaged to Pay once for all a certain Sum to the Turks in lieu of a yearly Tribute upon condition that they lengthned out the Truce of the Year 1664. for Twenty Years In July these Conclusions were communicated to Tekely who kept firm to what he had demanded He would have all places whatever where the Protestants had had Preachings to be absolutely restor'd and that the promis'd Tribute should be Paid which the Malecontents could not deny because the Turks had their Wives and Children in Hostage Although this was no bad Reason there was another not mentioned which was yet more forcible The Inconvenience of breaking Faith Which is that after what had pass'd it was no more possible for the Malecontents to trust to any Treaty being strongly perswaded that the destroying them would never be scrupled when it could be done with security Where Soveraign Princes think they have right to violate all sorts of Treaties with their Subjects nothing but a Foreign Protection and that interested in their Preservation can assure those who have once taken Arms against them Therefore the Malecontents could not hope to be restor'd to their Countrey under the Government of the House of Austria but by rendring the Kingdom of Hungary Tributary to the Turks who would find themselves engaged to support those who had render'd them this important Service And from that time the Turks began to make great Preparations and the report ran that they would go Succour Tekeli with 20000 Men who joyn'd to the Hungarians and Transylvanians might put them into a condition to Conquer all Hungary This oblig'd Count Caprara to draw nearer to Tekeli to observe his March and hinder him from joyning the Turks This report appear'd false at least for that Year and all was reduc'd to Incursions and Pillages like to those of former Years Tekeli took Besermin Little Waradin and Kalo but rather to Sack than keep them Soon after Abaffi who always had Pretensions upon the County of Zathmar joyn'd Tekeli with an Army of Transylvanians and with him undertook the Siege of Zathmar Their Army being 30000 strong Count Caprara was in no Condition to attack them with his much Inferior in Number All that he could do was to seize the Passes to hinder the Enemies from proceeding to attack the Towns on the Mountains or to cast themselves on any other side upon the Emperor's Lands However Tekeli nimbly pass'd the Tibisque with a Detachment of 5000 Men while Abaffi continued the Siege With this Body Tekeli exacted very great Contributions from divers places for permitting the Hungarians to gather their Vintages Abaffi in a little time makes himself Master of the Town but having found more resistance from the Cittadel than he expected he at last rais'd the Siege and contented himself with Pillaging several Villages about Samos some believ'd that he had rais'd this Siege because the Grand Seignior had sent him word that he intended that place as soon as they were Masters of it should be put into the hand of a Bassa who assisted Abaffi Others said that it proceeded from a misunderstanding between the Transylvanians and Hungarians and that this was the cause of raising the Siege The worst which hapned to them was that some German Troops coming up to Abaffi's Army which expected no such thing put it into disorder and took all their Booty After which they pursued it even into Transylvania and made more waste than that had done in Hungary The Campagne ended as the precedeing Years with a Suspension of Arms for some Months and Tekeli was permitted to put his Troops into Winter-Quarters within Four Counties on the other side of the Tibisque At last the Diet settled the Article concerning Religion which contain'd these following Heads 1. That the Free-Towns and all Estates depending immediately on the Crown should enjoy Liberty of Conscience 2. That they should have a Free Exercise of their Religion yet without injuring the Rights of particular Lords 3. That the Hungarian Soldiers which should be in Garrison upon the Frontiers should enjoy the same Liberty 4. That the Priests and Ministers should keep Possessions of the places of which they were seiz'd without the one sorts driving out the other 5. That it shall be permitted the Lutherans and Calvinists to build two Churches one for one Communion and the other for the other in the Counties which had none 6. Lords and Gentlemen should be permitted to build Chappels in their Castles and to have the Exercise of their Religion 7. That the Catholicks should have the free Exercise of their Religion throughout the Realm 8. That the Lutherans of Presbourg should be permitted to build a Church in a place which should be appointed them 9. That the Differences which might arise concerning Religion should be judged by the King 10. That it should be forbidden upon pain of the King's displeasure to all Persons whatsoever to speak ill of the Religions tolerated and to injure those who profess'd them The Protestants were not entirely satisfy'd with that Article but it must pass for that time and the Emperor to sweeten the People restor'd the Confiscated Goods which had not been dispos'd of to those who could pretend to them by the Death or Absence of the Possessors He also gave Gratifications to divers Hungarian Lords and outed from their Charges some Persons who were not acceptable to the Hungarian Nation All this was made known to Tekeli who would abate nothing of what he had demanded manifestly 1682. The Turks were dispos'd for great Enterprize and there was no doubt but it was for Hungary though they did not yet say so The Emperor resolv'd to send Count Albert Caprara the
its Jurisdiction The Turks continuing to make little Progress in their Affairs soon after had a sense of the Disadvantage they had given themselves by the apprehension of Teckely not only by the weakning of the whole Party of Malecontents but also by the taking of Lippa a City between the River Maros the Teys and the Danube where they had great Magazines This City being secured by a River and Great Waradin appeared to be out of danger but the Imperial Horse being accompanied with Hungarians to whom this Country was perfectly known and having nothing to fear elsewhere advanced so far and gain'd all the Ammunition and Provisions that were found therein The neighbouring Bassa's were sensible then more than ever that Teckely was much more necessary to them than they had imagined and made haste to put him in a condition of commencing the Campaign as soon as possible and to recollect once again the Friends he still retained in Hungary In the mean time he composed a Discourse directed to the Hungarians which he sent by one of his Domesticks who had continued with him and coming from Belgrade to Temiswaer dispersed from thence a great number of its Copies in Hungary This Piece being important and containing all the Subjects of Complaints which the Hungarians had against the Emperor and what they replied to the Accusations of the Imperialists better than any other extant it shall be inferted here intire The Discourse of Count Teckely containing the Reasons which the Hungarians have to take up Arms against the Emperor YE People of Hungary you are suddenly to see me in the Field in order to defend your oppressed Liberty Unite all your Minds and join your Arms to concur with me in so laudable a Design The French King should have done well to reflect on his own Actions at home and those of another Prince before he had thus exposed the Emperor's Proceedings in Hungary however he may expect we will consider them The Emperor offers to you an Act of Oblivion but be careful how you are seduced by this imposing Charm To accept a Pardon is to acknowledg a Guilt where there is none You may have recourse to Force to defend your Privileges without being accused with Justice of Rebellion T is what Andrew the Second has observed by his Declaration whose Terms inform you that 't is for the Palatine to support your Freedom But what Assistance can you expect from thence if he is Stranger as have been under the precedent Reigns the Suoudis the Mansfields the Bastes the Tranhausers and the Buquois And what Protection can you hope for from Bishops if Prelacies are only conferred upon the Germans How should the Nobles dare to undertake if the Governments of the most important Places of the Kingdom are in the Hands of Persons devoted to the House of Austria and Strangers to your Nation Have not your Ancestors seen those of Waradin and Javarin committed to Pucchain Lesle and Montecuculi and that of Cassovia to Teuffembach and Beljoycuse Have not you your selves still fresh in Memory the Barbarities which have been exercised in their Governments by Sporks the Spaniards and the Kâ—ps It is true that we have seen under this Reign Count Wesselini invested with the Charge of Palatin of the Kingdom but how long was it left vacant after his Death because it was observed this generous Count had concerted the Design of defending your Liberty It is true that this Dignity has been since conferred upon a Hungarian but it proceeded from an Observation of my being armed to maintain your Privileges They have been seen to be re-established when Stephen Boskai Gabriel Betlem and George Ragotski demanded at the Head of an Army the performance of the Declarations granted by your first Kings and whereof their Successors had swonn the Observation at their coming to the Crown But how long have these Regulations endured As long as they who had obtained them have been in a condition to preserve you in those Liberties which they had procured you Why should Vienna delivered Gran and Newhausel re-taken make you suspect the Circumstances of the Turks The Vigor with which they defended Buda last Campaign ought to convince you of their Forces What the Emperor can oppose against them can't be supposed very considerable and one may say that his Funds for the Payment of his Army are but ill assured If the present Pope should shut up his Purse or after him another should succeed of less Zeal for Religion should you not see this great Body disperse it self for want of Maintenance Can you embark your selves upon so weak a Vessel which is in danger of being split against the least Rock it encounters Let the Venetians cease to divert a part of the Ottoman Forces in the Morea let the Poles be weary of disputing a Passage with the Tartars Let the Pope withdraw his Succours can you expect not to be the Victims of your own Credulity and the first crush'd in pieces by the formidable Power of an Enemy who reigns in three parts of the World You cannot fix any Confidence in the word of a Prince who is incessantly besieged by certain Persons who referring all things to their Passions and not knowing what it is to govern People concern themselves in what they do not understand They endeavour to perswade the King that one may without breach of Duty infringe all the Engagements taken with Rebels If they had well perused St. Austin they would have seen that this Father of the Church is of a contrary Opinion when he says to Boniface in the 105th Epistle Fides suprâ—mum rerum humanarum vinculum est sacra laus fides inter hostes Faith is the supream Bond of humane Societies and its greatest Commendation is that it ought to be inviolably observed even amongst Enemies To which agrees the Disposition of the Roman Law in the 5th Law in the Digest de Pactis where it is said that Pactum pacis ligat All Covenants of Peace oblige Take care of experiencing the Misfortune of the Bohemians who laying down their Arms in 1621 upon the Faith of a general Pardon saw themselves dispossessed of their Estates and the chief of them brought to punishment like infamous Offenders But why should I seek Examples amongst our Neighbours when you have a fresh one amongst your selves That innocent Blood which the Hangmen have spilled still reaks and calls to you for Vengeance Is it not upon the Faith of these fallacious Treaties and those deluding Pardons that the Protectors of your Liberties have brought their Heads upon a Scaffold But who are these Heroes that have been treated like vile Criminals Why Francis Nadasti Count of Forgarats who by his transcendent Qualities had been esteemed worthy of entring into the Senate before the Age appointed by the Laws who had exercised the Charge of Judg of the Court-Royal those of Governor of the Counties of Castle-ferraâ— Kalo and Chemnitz Commander of the Garisons of
German Troops among several other Insolences had demolisht some Protestant Churches and plundered their Houses The Protestants not being of humour to suffer these evil treatments got together and put all the German Souldiers to the sword who had removed never so little from their Quarters The Emperor thereupon caused all those people to be attainted of High Treason There needed no more to persuade them that the Design was as much against their Possessions and Religion as their Persons as a Roman-Catholick Historian * Hist des troubles de Hung. l. 1. p. 26. has well judged That this reasoning was not far from Truth The Emperor adds he who pretends to so great Piety receives blindly all the Counsels that are given him for the Glory of God and the extirpation of Heresie without considering that those that inspire these sentiments into him laudable in appearance but dangerous in execution are moved thereto rather by humane considerations than for the Interest of Heaven and that they seek less to establish the Worship of the true Religion than to preserve the Hereticks goods for themselves which they had obtain'd the Confiscation of The Hungarians who did not look upon things with the same Eye were so exasperated with this Conduct that the States themselves Assembled at Cassovia resolved to refuse the Imperial Troops Victuals and Lodging unless they paid for them and got their Reasons represented to the Emperor At last in the month of July the Imperial States having entred into Negotiation with the Turks 't was resolved at Vienna to withdraw out of Hungary 9000 Men of the German Troops that were there at the end of the Campagne Baron John of Goes was gone to Themiswar on the Emperors side to treat with Ali Bassa and the Accommodation was reckoned easie because the Turks only demanded two things They only required that a Fort should be demolisht which Count Nicholas de Serin had caused to be built upon the Mure which discharges its self into the Save that they might bring in thither the Booties which Rovers took from the Turks They demanded further that the Emperor should call home his Troops that were in Transylvania and the Neighbouring Counties Yet in the mean while all the Year was spent in sending and receiving Courriers without concluding any thing That same Year the Emperor made a severe Regulation for the Marching and Quartering of Souldiers which might have prevented many of the Disorders had it been observed For this end they should have paid the Army well and treated the Souldiers with the same severity that they punisht the Disobediences of the Hungarians when they fell into the hands of the Imperial Comissaries But whether they had neglected the second thing or that they had some secret Order contrary to the Proclamation the Troops which should lodge in the Cities of the Mountains about the end of the Year 1662. to stay till they saw where they should be employed the following Year going along plundred several Countrey Houses and committed the same Insolences there that they had done in conquered Lands The Cities of the Hill Countrey having advice of this conduct believed that they had made the Regulation that was spoke of only to amuse them and refused absolutely to receive eight hundred Men that should have taken up their Winter Quarters there They offered in vain to pay all their charge they would by no means trust people that never kept their word but when they found it for their purpose Besides tho they had agreed to furnish Forrage for nothing to the Cavalry it made so great desolation that they were forced to pay for it Five hundred Men to whom they had designed for their Winter-Quarters Nagibamia a City of Upper Hungary on the Frontiers of Transylvania took so little notice of the Regulation during their March that when they came before this place the Inhabitants shut their Gates upon them believing that they were more safe on the Turks side than on those that were come to defend them The Germans who could not give any reason of their conduct endeavour'd to maintain it by violence They endeavoured to break open the Gates on the eighth of December but the Inhabitants who had called some of the Neighbouring Trained Bands to their assistance charged them very roughly and a great many were left dead on the place on both sides The like Quarrels happened in other places in Hungary where the Germans committed the like Insolences which constrain'd the Emperor to withdraw the greatest part in the middle of Winter for fear lest the desperate Hungarians should put these Ill-disciplin'd Souldiers to the sword in every place Chimin Janos having been defeated and kill'd by the Treachery of some of his Officers in the beginning of the Campagne 1662. tho his Son and some others attempted to oppose Michael Abffia as is already said the Party of this last was infine the strongest The Emperor opposing his advancement he joined himself wholly to the Turks The Negotiation of Themisware continued all the Winter the Turks making them still hope that it would be easily accommodated Yet they made a Bridge over the Morass of Essek which might have been awatch-word to the Germans that they had some design upon Hungary But as the Commissaries met at Themiswar to conclude the Truce provided the Imperialists called home their Troops that were at Zekelheid a place in Transylvania and demolisht the Fortifications thereof as the Turks for their part should that of St. Job it could not be thought at Vienna that there was any difficulty remaining to hinder the conclusion of the Treaty Yet the Grand Signior would not ratifie what had been done unless the Emperor would renounce in due form all claims that he could make to Transylvania and all its dependences that he should demolish the Fort of Serin that he should pay the charges of the War and that he should fend an Ambassador to the Port with great Presents The Court of Vienna not being able to digest these Propositions they began to commit acts of Hostility on both sides The Hungarians who had beheld this Negotiation with grief because it was not all communicated to them were not at all sorry that it came to nothing It seem'd hard to to them that in a thing that concerned the Kingdom of Hungary only two German Envoys were employed who by the Orders of the Emperor and without imparting it to the States made Treaties whereupon the Repose or Ruine of the Hungarians depended A little time after the Turks began to march with as great Numbers as they could into Hungary The long Siege of Candy which continued seven Years had exercised a great part of their Armies The Emperor and his Ministers who had lulled themselves asleep with hopes of a Peace began too late to give notice to the States of Hungary of the danger their Countrey was in if they did not take speedy measures to oppose the Enemy They answered the Emperor on
May 6th by the mouth of the Archbishop of Strigonia who went to Vienna that they would call together the Ban and the Arriere ban and put all the Kingdom in Arms if he would have it done but that they might be in case to maintain their Troops they must needs be raised before those of Germany arrived because otherwise these last would want so much Forrage that the Hungarian Cavalry after that could not make a Campagne It was not thought fit at Vienna that the Hungarians should put themselves in a posture of defence alone without the succours of the Germans and the Hungarians being unwilling to receive these last before they were in case to act themselves a considerable time was spent which gave occasion to the Turks to take a Place of Importance Achmet Coprogli the Grand Vizier had advanced at first to Belgrade where was the Rendezvous of his Army As soon as it was come together he marcht straight for the Bridge of Essex wherein they had been at Work all the Winter and from thence continuing their March to Buda he afterwards after a great deal of fatigue by reason of excessive Rains New-haussel came before Newhaussel on Aug. 14. After having summoned the place which refused to surrender he laid Siege to it and carried it by capitulation on the 27th of September It is situated on a Plain near the River Nitrie about two Leagues from Comorra and Ten from Presbourgh They had begun to fortifie it and had designed to flank it with six Bastions in form of a Star but that was but half done and they had not yet any Counterscarp The Garrison consisted but of 3000 Foot and 500 Horse which was not at all able to defend a Place half-fortified against an Army of above 70000 Men having no hopes of being relieved Count Adam de Forgats and the Marquess-Gibert Pie of Savoy commanded this Garrison Whilst the Grand Vizier was marching or busied at the Siege of Newhuassell it happen'd that the Emperor fell sick of the small Pox which retarded for some days all deliberations the Emperors Ministers not daring to resolve on any thing while this Prince was in danger Besides this Prince Portia his Prime Minister was accused of having been of a Humor so far from undertaking a War that the desire he had to enjoy Peace made him believe that the Turks desired it as sincerely on their part As soon as the Emperor found himself better he called a Diet at Presbourg to hasten the Levying of the Arrier-ban but it was very flow and there were but few Deputies there Those that did not come excused themselves on the fear they were possest with of being carried away by the Turks Scouts or that they could not return home As they had unseasonably refused the proffers they had made in time they too late required what they were no more in case to do when it was necessary Montecuculi was encampt on the Danube near Presbourg with the few Troops the Emperor had on foot to cover that place and durst not stir during the Siege of Newhaussel The Hungarians contenting themselves to act on the defensive were bare Spectators of the Turks Actions and these last took without resistance in upper Hungary Nitrie Lewents and Novigrade A little after the Imperial Garrisons that were in Transylvania in Zekelheid and Clausembourg surrended the Places to Abaffi for want of Provisions and Ammunition The Grand Vizier contented himself with these Conquests and design'd no more for that year than to keep what he had got During the Siege of Newhaussel a Body of Tartarians had almost over-run all Moravia and would have entred Stiria had not Nicholas Count of Serin opposed them at the Passage of the Mure and cut off 2000 of them that were already gone over His Brother Peter de Serin assisted by Francis Marquess de Frangipani and some of the Hungarian Nobility obtained likewise a considerable advantage over the Basha of Bosnia whose Brother he took Prisoner and routed the Army as it was entring Croatia He obtain'd this Victory on Octob. 16. a little after his Brother had beat the Tartars These two Victories very necessary to raise the Courage of the Imperialists shewed what the Hungarians would have done had the others had a design to make use of their strength rather than their money About the end of October Achmet after having taken care for the preservation of his Conquests returned to Adrianople where the Grand Signior was and put his Troops into Winter Quarters Montecuculi did the same with his and there was no more action this year but some Inroads on both sides The Emperor would gladly have had the Hungarians to furnish him Money to raise and maintain a German Army to carry on the War without their being concern'd in it seeing them no ways disposed to do that which they call'd a putting themselves into Chains was present at a Diet at Ratisbonne in the beginning of 1664. to demand of all the Princes of the Empire succour against the Common Enemy He obtain'd 30000 Men maintain'd as well Cavalry as Infantry on condition that he should furnish the Ordnance and Artillery and Horses to draw it besides at his own charge 16000 Horse and 18000 Foot The Diet also would have the Troops of the Empire to form a separate Body and that their Commanders should be Independant on those of the Emperors The Bishop of Munster and the Marquess of Baden Dourlach were named to command them It was no hard matter to see that the Princes of the Empire feared lest their Troops alone should be exposed to spare those of the Emperor 'T is even said that they would have been glad that the House of Austria should lose nothing but that they would have been * This is inserted here to make the German Princes Jealous of the Emperor at this time sorry to see it too potent lest she should make use of that Power against the Members of the Complices whom it would be more advantageous for her to assail than to drive the Turks beyond the Bosphorus The Emperor sent likewise to demand succour in France by Count Strozzi his Ambassador and King Lewis XIV out of Generosity or with design to gain the affections of the German Princes or to inform himself better of the state of Hungary granted to the Emperor 4000 Foot and 2000 Horse as one of the Princes of the League on the Rhine 'T is thought strange that the Emperor should give occasion to the French King to be concern'd in the affairs of Germany which good Policy would have requir'd that he should always be kept at a distance from He might have shunn'd this by making use of the Hungarians to defend their own Country but this is lookt upon as a dangerous extremity to which he could not come unless he exposed himself to the inviolably keeping their Priviledges which some * A true remark on those Princes that design against