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Tállya." Further on, Prince George Rákóczi received the whole Tokaj estate with
its vineyards as a privilege from the Viennese Court in 1644." In this way, the
Rákóczi family became the politically strongest and greatest vineyard holder in
Tokaj Wine-Region. Ihus, in the historiography, regarding the vineyard posses¬
sions in Tokaj Wine-Region, Prince George Rákóczi ITs reign was regarded as the
First or Great Golden Age of Tokaj. However, there were also downsides to his
rule. For example, Prince George Räköczi I as a hardliner adherent or faithful to
Protestantism, did not tolerate the Jesuits in Tokaj Wine-Region.”* Therefore, he
expelled them by force with his soldiers from Tokaj, and all their vineyards were
confiscated to himself arbitrarily. Further on, in 1644, he seized coercively all the
vineyards possessed by the free royal city of Lécse (now Levoca in Slovakia) in
Erdébénye. His illegal acts had no consequences either in the Hungarian King¬
dom or in Transylvanian Principality. "é
With by death of Prince George Rakéczi I in 1648, the carrier of the Räkéczis
started to decline in the second half of the 17° century. His eldest son, George
Rakéczi IT (1621-1660; Prince: 1648-1660), who was elected, and of course, ap¬
pointed as a Prince of Transylvania, gambled politically because he endeavoured
to be elected and crowned as the king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
without the approval of the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, the Prince did not take
account of the political reality in that period and waged war upon the Polish-Lith¬
uanian Commonwealth with a huge army in 1657.”
In the next year, this warfare caused very tremendous catastrophes to the Tran¬
sylvanian Principality. For this reason, Prince George Räköczi Il lost his power in
Transylvania in 1658 because, in the meantime, the Diet of Transylvania deposed
him for undertaking an unauthorised war on Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
However, the Prince in the same year gathered a newer Diet in Transylvania,
where he was re-instated as a Prince of Transylvania again. But the Ottoman
Empire did not acknowledge this fact at all and charged and overran Transyl¬
vania with an army. His troops were defeated in the battle of Szaszfenes (now
Floresti, earlier Fenes in Romania), and Prince George Rak6czi II died of wounds
received at the battle." At the same time, there wasn’t any exact and concrete
13, MNL-OL A 57. Vol. 7. No. 570., No. 575., No. 576., No. 626.; MNL-OL E 156. UC. No. 96:12., No.
96:13., No. 96:14., No. 96:15., No. 158:2.
4 MNL-OLE 156. UC. No. 153:15.
5 MNL-OL E 156. NRA (= Neo-Regestrata Acta). No. 719:25., No. 1251:41., ELTE EKK (= Eétvés
Loránd Tudományegyetem Egyetemi Könyv és Kézirattár/ Loránd Eötvös University’s Library and
Archive, Budapest, Hungary). Coll. Hev (= Collectio Hevenesiana). Cod. 7. Pag. 438-439.
16 MNL-OL E 156. UC. No. 18:1.
7 KARMAN, Gäbor, Confession and Politics in Principality of Transylvania, 1644-1657, Göttingen,
Vandenhoeck Rurpecht Verlag, 2020, (Refo 500; Academic Stuides, Vol. 69.), 103-117, 157-177.
Katx6, Gaspar, The Redemption of Transylvanian Army Captured by Tatars = Crimean Khanate between
East and West (15” and 18” Century), ed. Denise Klein, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, 2012, 91-106.
152