Ottoman Principality of Transylvania
| Principality of Transylvania | ||||||||||
| Principatus Transsilvaniae | ||||||||||
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Vassal state of the Ottoman Empire Hungarian Crown Land |
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| Capital |
Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár) 1570–1692 Cibinium (Nagyszeben/Hermannstadt) 1692–1711 |
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| Languages |
Latin (in administration, science and politics); Hungarian (in the Diet and legislation), German, Romanian, Ruthenian (vernacular). |
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| Religion |
Roman Catholicism, Calvinism, Lutheranism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Unitarianism, Judaism |
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| Government | Principality, Elective monarchy | |||||||||
| Rulers | ||||||||||
| • | 1570–1571 | John II Sigismund Zápolya (first) | ||||||||
| • | 1704–1711 | Francis II Rákóczi (last) | ||||||||
| Legislature | Transylvanian Diet | |||||||||
| History | ||||||||||
| • | Established | 1570 | ||||||||
| • | Treaty of Karlowitz | 1699 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 1711 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Romania Hungary Slovakia Ukraine
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The Principality of Transylvania (German: Fürstentum Siebenbürgen; Hungarian: Erdélyi Fejedelemség; Latin: Principatus Transsilvaniae; Romanian: Principatul Transilvaniei or Principatul Ardealului) was a semi-independent state, ruled primarily by Hungarian princes. Its territory, in addition to the traditional Transylvanian lands, also included eastern regions of Hungary, called Partium. The establishment of the principality was connected with Treaty of Speyer. However Stephen Báthory's status as king of Poland also helped to phase in the name Principality of Transylvania. It was usually under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire; however, the principality often had dual vassalage (Ottoman Turkish sultans and the Habsburg Hungarian kings) in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The principality continued to be a part of the Lands of the Hungarian Crown and was a symbol of the survival of Hungarian statehood. It represented the Hungarian interests against Habsburg encroachments in Habsburg ruled Kingdom of Hungary. All traditional Hungarian law remained to be followed scrupulously in the principality; furthermore, the state was imbued with a preponderantly Protestant feature. After the unsettled period of Rákóczi's War of Independence, it became part of the Habsburg Monarchy.
On 29 August 1526, the army of Sultan Suleiman of the Ottoman Empire inflicted a decisive defeat on the Hungarian forces at Mohács. John Zápolya was en route to the battlefield with his sizable army but did not participate in the battle for unknown reasons. The youthful King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia fell in battle, as did many of his soldiers. As Zápolya was elected king of Hungary, Ferdinand from the House of Habsburg also claimed the throne of Hungary. In the ensuing struggle John Zápolya received the support of Sultan Suleiman I, who after his death in 1540, occupied Buda and central Hungary in 1541 under the pretext of protecting Zápolya's son, John II. Hungary was now divided into three sections: the West and north Royal Hungary, Ottoman Hungary, and the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom under Ottoman suzerainty, which later became the Principality of Transylvania where Austrian and Turkish influences vied for supremacy for nearly two centuries. The Hungarian magnates of Transylvania resorted to policy of duplicity in order to preserve independence.
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Wikipedia