Absztrakt

It is a common claim in historical literature on the leader of the early eighteenth-century Hungarian uprising against the Habsburgs, Ferenc Rákóczi II, that prior to his election as prince of Transylvania in 1704, he bore the title princeps Sacri Romani Imperii, a title allegedly granted to his family in a 1645 peace treaty between King Ferdinand III of Hungary and his great-grandfather, György Rákóczi I, prince of Transylvania. The present study proves that this tradition was based on a mistake by Leopold I’s court historian, Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato, used by Ferenc Rákóczi in repeated requests to have his assumed title confirmed between 1694 and 1700. Close analysis of his arguments reveals that they were based on erroneous historical evidence and a voluntarist interpretation of some basic rules of inheriting princely titles. Rákóczi also wrote letters asking for support among the elite of the Holy Roman Empire, attaching copies of the 1650 marital contract between his grandfather’s brother, Zsigmond Rákóczi and Henriette, daughter of Frederick V of the Palatinate. This agreement displays the title S.R.I. princeps next to each member of the Rákóczi family, which would be a convincing piece of evidence, if the same information was not missing in all surviving mid-seventeenth-century copies. Ferenc Rákóczi II appears to have been firmly convinced that he had a rightful claim to this title, just as his predecessors had. He was also able to convince many about his truth, except for the Viennese court; as a result, the charter he had aspired to was never granted. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the Hungarian elite seemed content to acknowledge his claim and refer to him as prince; especially, as the princely title, typically granted externally by Transylvania or the Empire, conferred no particular privileges in Hungary.