Székely Mózes erdélyi fejedelem hatalomra kerülésének diplomáciai tanulságai és egy nagyvezíri előterjesztés keletkezése
The diplomatic lessons of the rise to power of ruling Prince Mózes Székely of Transylvania, and the origins of a Grand Vizier's report

Summary/Abstract: The resistance put up by Mózes Székely to the Hapsburgs in the Transylvanian theatre of war is a relatively brief episode in the history of the Fifteen Years' War (1593-1606). Having made himself a name as an outstanding soldier,Székely took over the leadership of the pro-Turkish aristocrats in Transylvania. After Giorgio Basta had defeated him at Tövis, he fled to Temesvár, then in the territory of the Ottoman Empire. There he made contacts with Grand Vizier Yemişçi Hasan, operating in the Hungarian theatre of war and preparing for the siege of Székesfehérvár (İstolni Belgrad). After he had contacted the Grand Vizier, the latter sent a report to the Sultan, in which he introduced Mózes Székely. Székely's autograph letter from Temesvár to Pasha Yemişçi Hasan, written on paper used by the Turkish authorities, in which he offers his services has recently been found by accident in one of the collections of the Hungarian National Archives. Székely asks the Grand Vizier to give him the title of ruling Prince of Transylvania, and promises to loyally serve the Sultan in return. He gives advice concerning the ways Transylvania could be recaptured from the Hapsburgs. The emergence of the letter is a curiosity of diplomatic history: the petition writen in Hungarian is the basis of the Gand Vizier's report to the Sultan. After the capture of Székesfehérvár, Pasha Yemişçi Hasan wanted to go to Transylvania via Pest to grant Székely his request. This would have secured a pro-Turkish ruler at the head of the principality. However, launching an attack from Esztergom, the troops of the Hapsburgs took Pest and laid siege to Buda. When the Grand Vizier heard that, he turned back. Mózes Székely marched into Transylvania in the following year, 1603, with Turkish and Tartar support. The paper discusses and analyses the so far available data on his confirmation by the Sultan. The sources so far known do not make it possible to clarify all the details, but it would seem that he also received a letter of contract (‘ahd-n āme-i hümāy ūn ) from the Sultan. In possession of that, Mózes Székely's son made an attempt thirty years later to take over the principality from ruling Prince György I Rákóczi (1633). Having quashed domestic resistance, Mózes Székely immediately found himself up against Radu Şerban, ruler of Wallachia, who broke into Transylvania. Mózes Székely himself was one of those who fell in the battle near Braşov (Kronstadt). At the end of the paper, an appendix contains the Prince's letter to Yemişçi Hasan Grand Vizier as well as the instructions of György I Rákóczi to a Transylvanian noble lady to send him Székely's letter of contract from the Sultan.

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