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| George II Rákóczi | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 George II Rákóczi | |||||
| Prince of Transylvania | |||||
| Reign | 11 October 1648 –7 June 1660 | ||||
| Predecessor | George I Rákóczi | ||||
| Successor | John Kemény | ||||
| Born | (1621-01-30)30 January 1621 Sárospatak,Hungary | ||||
| Died | 7 June 1660(1660-06-07) (aged 39) Nagyvárad,Principality of Transylvania | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | |||||
| |||||
| House | Rákóczi | ||||
| Father | George I Rákóczi | ||||
| Mother | Zsuzsanna Lorántffy | ||||
| Religion | Calvinism | ||||
George II Rákóczi (30 January 1621 – 7 June 1660), was aHungarian nobleman,Prince of Transylvania (1648-1660), the eldest son ofGeorge I andZsuzsanna Lorántffy.[1]
He was elected Prince of Transylvania during his father's lifetime (19 February 1642).[1] On 3 February 1643, he marriedSophia Báthory, a granddaughter ofStephen Báthory IX. Their son wasFrancis I Rákóczi.
On ascending the throne (October 1648), his first thought was to realize his father's ambitions inPoland. With this object in view, he allied himself, in the beginning of 1649, with theCossackhetmanBohdan Khmelnytsky, and thehospodars ofMoldavia andWallachia, (Vasile Lupu andMatei Basarab),[1] but took no action for several years. On 6 December 1656, by theTreaty of Radnot, he also allied with KingCharles X Gustav of Sweden against KingJohn II Casimir of Poland. Rákóczi was to seize the provinces ofLesser Poland andMazovia, together with rich salt deposits inWieliczka andBochnia.
In 1657, he invaded thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the third part of theSecond Northern War (1655–1660), also known asthe Deluge.
In late January 1657, Rákóczi's 25,000-strong army crossed theCarpathian Mountains nearKrosno. The Transylvanians headed towardsMedyka, where 10,000Zaporozhian Cossacks underAnton Zdanovich joined them. The Transylvanian-Cossack army approachedLwów, but failed to capture the fortified city. Then it headed westwards, toKraków. The army's march was marked by atrocities, destruction, and looting. Rákóczi captured and destroyedDukla,Lesko, andSanok, but failed to seizePrzemyśl,Krosno, andŁańcut. On 21 March 1657, Rákóczi enteredTarnów, and seven days later reached Kraków, which was already under Swedish control. Kraków's Swedish garrison was reinforced by 2,500 Transylvanians underJános Bethlen, while the rest under Rákóczi headed northwards.
The Swedish garrison of Kraków was reinforced by 2,500 Transylvanians underJános Bethlen, while Rákóczi headed northwards. On 12 April, nearĆmielów, the Transylvanians joined the Swedish army underCharles X Gustav. The combined forces crossed theVistula atZawichost, on 19 April capturingLublin.
On 8 May the Swedish-Transylvanian army besiegedBrest Litovsk, capturing it two days later. After the siege, Rákóczi's soldiers plundered and looted intensely. The Transylvanians burnedBiała Podlaska andBrańsk to the ground among other towns. On 20 May, news of theDano-Swedish War reached Charles X Gustav and the king decided to march towardsSwedish Pomerania, leavingGustaf Otto Stenbock in charge.
The army then marched towardsWarsaw, burning the towns ofMielnik,Drohiczyn,Nur,Brok, andPniewo. On 17 June, after a three-day siege, Rákóczi and Stenbock captured Warsaw. Swedish forces remained in Warsaw only for a few days, as on 22 June they left the city forStettin, to join the war against Denmark. Since Rákóczi was well aware of the real quality of his army, he decided to abandon Warsaw as well, and head southeast.
Following an order of the Polish KingJohn II Casimir Vasa, the Transylvanians were followed by a 10,000-strongStefan Czarniecki's mounted army, supported byAleksander Hilary Połubiński [pl]'s Lithuanians and Austrian allies. Simultaneously,Jerzy Lubomirski's forces organized a revenge invasion of Transylvania, with widespread looting and destruction of Rákóczi's realm. On 8 July 1657 in Lancut, Polish leaders decided to split their forces. Stefan Czarniecki was to follow Rákóczi, while Jerzy Lubomirski andStanisław "Rewera" Potocki were to cut the Transylvanians and Cossacks from crossing the border and escaping Poland. On 11 July Czarniecki partly destroyed the Transylvanian army in theBattle of Magierów. On 16 July, the Polish armies united and on 20 July Rákóczi was defeated in theBattle of Czarny Ostrów.
After the defeat and subsequent retreat of his Cossack allies, Rákóczi withdrew towards thePodolian town of Miedzyboz, where he capitulated to Jerzy Lubomirski (23 July), promising to break his alliance with Sweden, abandon the cities of Kraków and Brest Litovsk, and pay a contribution in the total amount of over 4 millionzłotys.
Polish commanders allowed his forces to march towards Transylvania, but on 26 July, Rákóczi was attacked byTatars from theCrimean Khanate, who at that time were Poland–Lithuania's allies. Rákóczi abandoned his army, leaving it in the hands ofJános Kemény. The Transylvanian camp, located nearTrembowla, was captured by the Tatars on 31 July. Some 500 were killed, and about 11,000 Transylvanians werecaptured andtaken to the Crimea. As a result, Rákóczi's army ceased to exist.
On 3 November 1657, at the command of theOttoman Empire (to which Transylvania was tributary), theDiet deposed him for undertaking an unauthorized war and replaced him byFrancis Rhédey. But in January 1658 he was reinstated by a new session of the Diet at Medgyes. Again he was deposed by the TurkishGrand Vizier, and again reinstated as if nothing had happened.[1]
Finally the Turks invaded Transylvania, and Rákóczi died at Nagyvárad of wounds received at thebattle of Gyalu (May 1660).[1]
| Ancestors of George I Rákóczi[2][3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Preceded by | Prince of Transylvania 1648– Nov.1657 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prince of Transylvania Jan.1658–Sep.1658 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prince of Transylvania Aug.1659–Jun.1660 | Succeeded by |
