1526 - 1541: Turkish campaigns to central Hungary and the Civil War

1541 - 1711: Turkish occupation of central Hungary (1541-1686/1699) and anti-Habsburg uprisings in Slovakia (1604-1711)

1712 - 1714

1526 (August): Hungarian troops are totally defeated by the Turks (i.e. the Ottoman Empire) in the Battle of Mohács and king Louis II dies. One day later (on August 30), queen Maria (Louis II’s wife) and the Court quickly flee from Buda to Bratislava. The whole Hungarian infantry (mostly students and poors from towns) is killed and Hungarian magnates themselves run away long before the end of the battle. The Turkish sultan will not be sure whether he really has won, because he cannot believe that Louis II could only send such a small army against the Turks (which was due to the rule of magnates in Historic Hungary).

1526 (September-October) 1^st Turkish post-Mohacs campaign to Historic Hungary: The Turks temporarily occupy Buda, the capital of Historic Hungary, loot in present-day Hungary, reach the present-day southern Slovak border, but then leave Historic Hungary.

1526 (November): The supporters of John Zapolya elect and coronate him king of Historic Hungary at a diet in Székésfehérvár. He is coronated by the Slovak bishop of Nitra � tefan Podmanický. John Zapolya was the richest Hungarian magnate, duke of Transylvania since 1511, he owned 30 castles all over Historic Hungary and huge properties also in Slovakia.

1526 (December 17): The supporters of Ferdinand of Habsburg elect him king of Hungary at a Diet in Bratislava (his coronation will take place one year later). The fact that Historic Hungary has 2 kings will trigger the Civil War (see below). Bratislava and western Slovakia is and will be the center of Ferdinand’s supporters in the Civil War.

1527 (February): Ferdinand appoints queen Maria (Louis II’s widow and Ferdinand’s sister) governor of Historic Hungary.

1527-1538: Civil War between Ferdinand and John Zapolya (and his allies - the Turks). Many of the fightings of the Civil War take place in Slovakia. At the beginning, Ferdinand of Habsburg only controls (or has allies in) western Slovakia and Croatia, while John Zapolya controls (or has allies in) the rest of Historic Hungary:

1528-1848: Ferdinand founds the Hungarian chamber (the supreme financial, economic and administrative authority in Historic Hungary) in 1528. Its seat is at Bratislava (from 1531 on - until then at Buda). It reports to the Court Chamber in Vienna. It will cease to exist in 1848, when it will be replaced by new ministries (see also 1567).

1529(summer): Bratislava, expecting the Turks moving to Vienna to pass through the town, has several churches and houses deliberately demolished, so that the Turks cannot entrench themselves there, but the Turks only loot to the south of the town (present-day districts of Bratislava).

1529(August) – 1530(summer): Famine und plague in Buda and other regions of Historic Hungary.

1529(August-September): Central authorities of Historic Hungary flee from Buda to Bratislava.

1530: See 1527 – 1538

1530-1534: War between the towns Levoča (supporting Ferdinand I) and Kežmarok (supporting John Zapolya).

1532: See 1527 – 1538

1533: See 1527 – 1538

1536: See 1527 – 1538

1536 – 1784/1830/1848 : The Diet of Historic Hungary declares Bratislava the capital of Historic Hungary in 1536. Central authorities will be in the town till 1784, coronations will take place in the town till 1830 (see 1563), the Hungarian diet (see 1542) will hold its meetings in the town till 1848.

1538(February 24): A secret peace agreement putting an end to the Civil War (see 1527-1538) is concluded between Ferdinand and John Zapolya at Oradea. The agreement basically recognizes the status quo - both of them become kings of Historic Hungary and Historic Hungary is divided in two parts: Ferdinand receives western present-day Hungary, Slovakia (except for Košice and parts of eastern Slovakia) and Croatia, John Zapolya receives the rest, i.e. Transylvania, parts of eastern Slovakia and Ruthenia. In addition, the territories of John Zapolya are supposed to be annexed by Ferdinand after Zapolya’s death (but see 1540).

1540(July): John Zapolya dies. His son John Sigismund is born shortly before.

1540(September): John Zapolya’s supporters elect John Sigismund king of Historic Hungary, declare the peace of Oradea (under which Ferdinand is the king of whole Historic Hungary, see 1538) void and ask the Turks to do this too. The Turks will take advantage of this situation and invade Historic Hungary under the pretext of protecting Sigismund’s interest (see 1541).

The kings of Historic Hungary (almost always parallely the kings of Germany, Austria and Bohemia) were the Habsburg s : Ferdinand (1526-1564), Maximilian (1564-1576)), Rudolf I (1576-1608), Matthias II (1608-1619), Ferdinand II (1619-1637), Ferdinand III (1637-1657, 1647-1654 parallely Ferdinand IV), Leopold I (1657-1705), Joseph I (1705-1711).

1541 – 1820: Trnava is the seat of the Archbishopric of Esztergom. Esztergom will be conquered by the Turks in (see) 1543.

1542 (?): Mikuláš Kostka, a robber-knight (see 1548) and the captain of Upper Hungary (see 1563), is sentenced to death and loss of properties by king Ferdinand. The reason was that Kostka had been a supporter of John Zapolya, so that Ferdinand had deprived him of all properties, but Kostka stayed at Zapolya’s Lietava Castle. In 1542, when the castle had a new owner after Zapolya‘s death (in 1540), Kostka had the executors beaten (one of them died).

1542(autumn): Ferdinand’s troops fail to reconquer Buda.

1542 - 1848: Bratislava is the meeting place of the Hungarian Diet (see also e. g. 1526, 1536, 1563). rarely, other towns are seat of the diet (e. g. Banská Bystrica in 1543-1544).

1542 (November): The Hungarian Diet in Bratislava decides on the creation of a governing council consisting of eight members.

1543 6^th Turkish post-Mohacs campaign to Historic Hungary: The Turks conquer the town of Esztergom at Slovak border. The town will become a base for Turkish invasions in southern Slovakia. This is the first time the Ottoman Empire reaches present-day Slovakia.

1543 (November): The Hungarian Diet in Banská Bystrica decides that 75% of the taxes will be used for the defense against the Turks. In addition, the deputies ask the king to do something against the spreading of Protestantism in Historic Hungary.

1544: The Turkish governor of Buda conquers southern central Slovakia in the regions north of Esztergom.

1545: Anabaptists - see: After 1541

1545-1546: See 1573-1580

1547: After a truce in 1545, a 5-year peace between the Habsburgss (Ferdinand) and the Turks is signed at Edirne.

1547 - 1551: The Transylvanian border temporarily passes through the vertical middle of eastern Slovakia (see also 1621).

1547-1548: The Hungarian Diet in Trnava reorganizes the defense and allows the retainers to move to other places under certain conditions (see 1550).

1547: The territory of Historic Hungary is divided (at the Diet in Trnava?) for the purposes of defense into two Captaincies-General, one on each side of the Danube, see also 1563.

1548: Maria, the sister of emperor Ferdinand I, gives the central Slovak mining towns to Ferdinand I.

1549: The Confessio Pentapolitana, a special moderate Evangelical Lutheran religious form, is written by Leonhard Stöckel snd established in the Pentapolitana towns (see 1440-1445). The aim is to prevent (Catholic) accusations of heresy. The document is the oldest proof of Lutheran religion in Historic Hungary. See also 1548, 1559, 1569.

1549: The Slovak noble Rafael Podmanický, a robber-knight (see 1548), is sentenced to dead and loss of all properties. The brothers Ján and Rafael Podmanický had occupied several castles in the Váh basin.

1550: The Hungarian Diet in Bratislava restrains the possibility of retainers to move to other places.

1550-1571: Long negotatiations between the central Slovak mining towns and the Habsburg rulers (Ferdinand I, then Maximilian; see also 1548) concerning the Mining Code draft. The towns refuse to accept it, because it would cancel all their municipal freedoms and privileges, and increase the influence of the emperor. See 1571.

1556: 8^th Turkish post-Mohacs campaign to Historic Hungary: The Turks, led by Süleyman I, conquer the fortress of Szigetvár (in today’s southern Hungary) and in the summer they reach southern Slovakia, but are stopped by Habsburg troops.

late 1550s-early 1560s: Fightings shift to Transylvania and the Tisza region, where the Turks support John Sigismund.

1556: The Hungarian Diet publicly condemns František Bubek, the hereditary leader of the Gemer county, because he has behaved like a robber-knight (see 1548) – he has been attacking his political adversaries, devastating their properties, stealing the bells from their churches and making from them counterfeited coins showing the pictures of both Ferdinand I and John Zapolya.

1559: The Confessio Heptapolitana (or Montana), a special moderate Evangelical Lutheran religious form, is established in the Heptapolitana towns (see 1453) according to the model of the Confessio Pentapolitana (1549). The aim was to prevent (Catholic) accusations of heresy. See also 1549, 1569.

1560: Gál (Havel) Husár, the first book-printer in Slovakia, prints his first book in Košice. See also 1480, 1577.

1562 (January 1): The first Jesuits come to Slovakia (and Historic Hungary). They had been invited by Mikuláš Oláh, the Archbihop of Trnava (see 1541-1820) in 1588 to stop the increasing Protestantism in Slovakia. They found a Jesuit school, but will have to leave in 1567 due to various problems. Jesuits will only come back to Slovakia in 1586, when they found a school in Kláštor pod Znievom.

1562(April): Anti-Turkish troops (10000 men including many soldiers from Slovak towns) led by Ján Balaša temporarily manage to push the Turks from Slovakia back to the south, but they are defeated when they try to reconquer the castle of Szécsény (near present-day Slovak border, see 1552). 2/3 of the soldiers die and 1000 nobles are abducted.

1562(August): An 8-year peace between the Habsburgs (Ferdinand) and the Turks is signed at Istanbul. It will be violated soon.

1563 - 1830: Bratislava is the coronation town for Hungarian kings and queens (by order of Ferdinand I), initially because the traditional coronation town Székésfehérvár became part of the Turkish empire. The first coronation is the coronation of king Maximilian of Habsburg (on September 9 1563) , the last one the coronation of Ferdinand V 11 kings and 8 queens will be crowned altogether in the towns’ St. Martin’s Cathedral. (see also 1536, 1542).

1563 (March – November): The Hungarian Diet in Bratislava decides that those nobles who have fled to from the Turks into free royal towns (in Slovakia) are supposed to pay the same municipal taxes as the remaining burghers and are allowed to buy houses and municipal property there. This will enable the penetration of nobles (especially ethnic Hungarian ones) into the administration of towns.

1563-1686: The anti-Turkish defense is reorganized. For this purpose, Slovakia forms a separate entity and is divided in 2 “captaincies”: The captaincy Cisdanubia and Mining Towns (in western and central Slovakia) and the captaincy Upper Hungary (in eastern Slovakia and a small part of northeastern present-day Hungary and a part of Ruthenia, see 1541). The capital of the former will be – depending on the military situation –Nitra (till 1568), � urany (till11581), Levice (till 1589), Nové Zámky (till 1663) and Komárno (till 1686). The capital of the latter is Košice. A small part of southwestern Slovakia belongs to the captaincy Transdanubia based at Györ (see also 1567).

1564(May): A military conference takes place in Banská � tiavnica by order of the king, at which a (successful) system for the defense of the central Slovak region against Turkish attacks is adopted.

1565 (February): Lazar Schwendi, the captain of Upper Hungary (see 1563-1686), conquers Tokaj after a ten-days besiege. Tokaj had been held by John Sigismund, the son of John Zápolya.

1566: 9^th Turkish post-Mohacs campaign to Historic Hungary: The Turks, led by Süleyman I, want to conquer Vienna, but they are stopped at the Sziget castle (in present-day southern Hungary), where sultan Süleyman I dies. Süleyman’s death marks the beginning of a slow, but unstoppable decay of the Ottoman Empire.

1567-1848: The Spiš (Zips) chamber - since 1539 only a subsidiary of the Hungarian chamber - is split from the Hungarian chamber (see 1528) and becomes responsible for the territory of the captaincy Upper Hungary (see 1563). Its seat is at Košice. It reports to the Court Chamber in Vienna. It will cease to exist in 1848 together with the Hungarian chamber. This marks the de-facto partition of Hungary and Slovakia in different 2 parts: Upper Hungary (in eastern Slovakia and a small part of northeastern present-day Hungary and a part of Ruthenia, see 1541, 1563) and Lower Hungary (remaining territories, see 1541). Although the 2 chambers will exist till 1848, the terms Upper and Lower Hungary will change their meaning after the defeat of the Turks in the late 17^th century - Upper Hungary will comprise whole present-day Slovakia and parts of northern present-day Hungary north of the Tisza River, and Lower Hungary the remaining territories.

1567 (April): The Calvinists of Historic Hungary split from the Lutherans at a synode in Debrecen and create a separate ecclesiastic organization. See also 1521, 1548.

1568(February 17): An 8-year peace agreement is concluded between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire at Edirne. Under the agreement the Turks will not loot villages and abduct people in the frontier regions (but small military actions are not prohibited) and the Habsburg emperor will pay 30000 ducats each year to the Turks. The agreement also tries to establish the common border to prevent double tax payments of the population in the frontier regions, but this point will be violated often in the following years.

1567: The Hungarian Diet at Bratislava decides that (1)confiscated ecclesiastic properties are to be returned to their original owners, (2) a new list of all retaines is to be set up, and (3) the extent of obligatory work for free (by the retainers) in the fortification of towns near the Turkish border (see 1555) is doubled.

1560s and 1570s: Conflicts in the frontier regions (esp. in Slovakia) continue. The Turks continue to undertake looting raids in central and eastern Slovakia, especially in the mining towns.

1569: The Confessio Scepusiana, a special moderate Evangelical Lutheran religious form, is published by the Brotherhood of 24 Parish Priest in Spiš (see 1271) according to the model of the Confessio Heptapolitana (1559). The aim is to prevent (Catholic) accusations of heresy. See also 1548, 1549, 1559.

1571: The central Slovak mining towns accept the amended compromise draft of the ”New Mining Code” issued by the emperor Maximilian specifically for central Slovak mining towns in 1570. See 1550-1571. But quarrels concerning the code will continue for some 200 years. As a result, the mining law in Slovakia is unified for the first time (until then the towns have used the mining law of the towns Banská � tiavnica and Kremnica). In 1723 – 1854 the code will be used in whole Historic Hungary. See also 1573.

1573 (February): The emperor Maximilian issues the Forest Code for the central Slovak mining towns and their properties in order to prevent waste of timber and ensure a sufficient amount of timber for these towns. The code is the first known code dealing specifically with forest management.

1573-1580 (October): Construction of a completely new town - the fortress (and today’s town) of Nové Zámky (Novum castrum). The fortress is specifically designed to resist Turkish attacks. An older anti-Turkish fortress (or rather a castle) bearing the same name had been established next to the town in 1545-1546 already.

1574: The Diet of Bratislava enables the nobles -despite heavy opposition by the towns- to do business and to trade freely.

1575: The 1568 peace agreement is prolonged by further 8 years in Istanbul.

1577: First permanent printing houses in Slovakia arise (in Banská Bystrica, Trnava and Bardejov).

1581: The first printed book in the Slovak language, Luther’s Cathechism, is printed in Bardejov.

1586: See 1562

1586 (December): During one of their looting campaigns outside the Turkish territory in Slovakia, the Turks based at Novohrad and Palánka penetrate up to Banská � tiavnica and abduct some people from a suburb. See also 1584, 1590.

1587-1588: The Hungarian Diet in Bratislava adopts the Gregorian calendar (introduced by the Pope in 1582), prohibits to grant properties to foreigners, and introduces the measure system used in Buda to whole Historic Hungary (i. e. Slovakia; see also 1655). In reality however, some Slovak counties will use the old Iulian calender up to the early 17^th century (1625). The territories under Turkish rule will use the old calender even longer and the Orthodox Church (in eastern Slovakia) uses it till today.

1588: The troops of Rudolf I of Habsburg, including many Slovaks, defeat the Turks in the important battle near Szikszó (in present-day Hungary near Slovak border).

late 1580s – 1593: A crisis in the Ottoman Empire in the late 1580s, caused by economic problems and the war with Persia (1578-1590), causes the Turks to increase the taxes, which, in early 1590s, leads to revolts of the retainers, who try to get rid of their servitude to the Ottoman empire. Soon the revolts turn into small frontier wars (especially in Croatia) and lead to the 15-years War (see below).

1590 (July): A big fire breaks out in Bratislava in consequence of an earthquake. 320 houses burn down.

1590 (November): The 1568 peace agreement is renewed in Istanbul.

1592(autumn): Negotiations with the Turks take place concerning a further prolongation of peace (see 1590 November) and the return of fortresses conquered by the Turks.

1592: See also below

1592 Prelude I to the war: The Habsburgs decide not to pay the 30000 ducats (see 1568), because the Turks have conquered the Bihac castle in Croatia and devastated the region.

1593(January) Prelude II to the war: Pasha Sinan becomes the new grand vizier at Istanbul after a military rebellion caused by the fact that after the end of a war with Persia in 1589, many of the soldiers became unemployed. This new vizier was one of the supporters of war in the Ottoman Empire

1593 (January 25): The Diet at Bratislava requests the emperor to send envoys abroad immediately in order to ask for help against the Turks.

1593(June) Prelude III to the war: The Turks are defeated near Sisak in Croatia and their pasha Hasan dies there. They take this as a pretext for a war.

1593(July): Sinan starts a campaign to Historic Hungary.

1593(October): The Turks conquer the towns of Veszprem and Palota (present-day Hungary).

thus freeing from Turkish invasions the central Slovak mining towns, but they fail to reconquer Esztergom and Hatvan. The Turkish grand vizier Sinan in turn conquers Györ and fails to conquer Komárno (in October).

1595(January): The Habsburgs (Rudolf I) enter into an alliance with the Transylvanian Prince Sigismund Bathory and with Princes of Moldavia and Walachia, thus completely changing the equilibrium of powers in the war.

1595 (September): Habsburg troops reconquer Esztergom (at Slovak border).

1596(January): The Diet at Bratislava adopts a law on a (unrepeated) military tax.

1596: In view of the desperate situation for the Turks, the Turkish sultan himself leads a campaign to Historic Hungary.

1596(October): The Habsburgs are defeated in a direct clash (the only one in this war) of the Habsburg and Turkish army near Mozökeresztes. 2 years of steering clear the Turks and lootings by the badly paid Habsburg hired soldiers will follow.

1598: Habsburg troops reconquer Györ, Tata, Papa and Veszprém (all in present-day Hungary). One of their leaders is Mikuláš Pálffy, the leader of the Bratislava county (d. 1600 in Bratislava).

1602: Turkish troops reconquer Székésfehérvár , which was conquered by the Habsburgs in 1601.

17^th century – 1711: The ethnic structure basically remains the same as in the previous century (see after 1541) with the following changes: The Turks leave southern Slovakia between 1593 – 1606, but they come again temporarily in 1663-1683. After 1683, these and other depopulated territories in Historic Hungary are populated by Slovaks (see also 1690). Some free royal towns become purely Slovak towns (without Germans) and Trnava, Banská Bystrica, Krupina and many other towns become predominantly Slovak towns. Guilds, crafts and mining activities are predominantly in Slovak (as opposed to German) hands, except for most royal and mining towns. Some Germans (professionals and clerks) come from Austrian mining regions, for the explicit purpose of saving the German nation in Slovak mining towns from extinction. They are however Slovakized after 2 or 3 generations. As for the Hungarians, the Magyarisation of Slovak gentry intensifies and Hungarians settle in towns in southwestern and southeastern Slovakia. National conflicts (already existing in the previous century) arise between the Germans, Hungarians and Slovaks in the towns: The Germans fear assimilation by the Slovaks, the Germans and the Slovaks are against Hunagrian nobles settling in the traditional German and Slovak towns (and not wanting to fulfill the duties of burghers), and the Slovaks and the Hungarians enter into alliances against the Germans in order to receive functions in the administration of towns. Ruthenians (previously in the mountains) settle in some towns in eastern Slovakia. Furthemore, the total population of Slovakia decreases in the late 17^th and early 18^th century (1663 – 1711), which is “finished” by the Plague Epidemic of 1710-1711. The last so-called “Wallachian” settlements arise in the 17^th century (see after 1541, 1337). After the battle at the White Mountain (1620), several hundred Czech Protestant families fleeing from the present-day Czech Republic settle in western Slovakia (they are assimilated gradually) and some further German Anabaptists (called habáni) come from Moravia (see after 1541). Around 1690, a new wave of Serbs (see after 1541) comes to Slovakia, more exactly to Bratislava and (once more) to Komárno. Serbian suburb colonies arise in both towns (see c. 1690), but they will be gradually assimilated. A relatively high amount of Jews starts to settle in western Slovakia (from Moravia) and in northeastern Slovakia (from Galicia) in the late 17^th century.

1606(November): A 20-year peace agreement signed near Hurbanovo between archprince Matthias of Habsburg and the Turks + Stephen Bocskay puts an end to the 15-years war (and the Bocskay Uprising). Under the agreement, southern Slovakia – except for the region above Esztergom – ceases to be direct part of the Ottoman Empire (see 1593, 1594), lootings in border regions are prohibited and the Habsburgs have to pay one times 200000 thalers to the Turks. King Rudolf I himself does not agree to the agreement, which will be used by his brother Matthias, who – supported by troops of Hungarian (Slovak), Austrian and Moravian nobles - will force Rudolf to give up the Hungarian and Austrian (but not the Czech) throne in 1608.

1606(December): Bocskay dies in Košice.

1607 (January): Representatives of the estates of Upper Hungary (i. e. basically eastern Slovakia) swear to be loyal to the king Rudolf I.

1607 (March): The Hungarian Diet, at its meeting in Košice, protests against the fact that Rudolf I does not accept the 1606 peace agreement.

1607: The Evangelic Lutheran Lyceum (Evanjelické lýceum), a kind of protestant grammar school and in the 19th century also a kind of university, is founded in Bratislava.

1608 (July): The miners of Banská � tiavnica rebel, because their wages are not paid to them.

1608(September – December): The Hungarian Diet at Bratislava ratifies the previous peace agreements with the Turks and Bocskay, elects Matthias king of Hungary (in November; coronation on November 19), manages to reach guarantees of religious freedom for everybody, i.e. also for the retainers (compare with 1606-June 23), and adopts the first law (amended in 1609) guaranteeing the linguistic equality in (free royal) towns under which all three main country languages (Slovak, Magyar and German) should have the same rights. Furthermore, it is decided that the royal crown of Historic Hungary will be placed in Bratislava. In addition, the Diet is divided in 2 chambers (“tables”): the Upper chamber for the magnates and the prelates , and the Lower chamber for the yeomen, lower clergy und representatives of privileged towns. Other laws increasing the power of the magnates are adopted too. The religious freedom will actually cease soon, because the counter-reformation process in Historic Hungary will be successful in the following years (see 1611, 1616, 1621, 1626), with the exception of the period of the Bethlen Uprising.

1608 (August): Another rebellion of the miners of Banská � tiavnica (see 1608 July), because they are paid in coins having a decreasing value and their wages are low.

1609 (December): The Diet at Bratislava amends the law on nationalities of 1608, and elects the Slovak Juraj Turzo (see also 1494-1495) the new palatine. Juraj Turzo was the last Protestant holding this important function and strong supporter of ethnic Slovaks and of Protestants.

1615(July): The peace with the Turks of November 1606 is prolonged by 20 years in Vienna. Another prolongation takes place in 1618.

1615: See below

1616: See below

1618: See 1615 July

1618 (March 4): The Diet at Bratislava elects King Matthias’ cousin Ferdinand the new king (coronated on July 1).

1618 (June): The Slovak physician and historian in Vienna and Prague Ján Jessenius (Jesenský), sent to the Diet of Bratislava by the Czech estates to get the support of the Diet, is arrested in Bratislava (temporarily). He will participate in negotiations with Gabriel Bethlen in Bratislava and Banská Bystrica and will be executed together with 26 Czech lords in Prague on June 21 1621.

1619 - 1626 (the Gabor_Bethlen (Gabriel Betlen) Uprising)

1615 Prelude I to the uprising: After months of fightings between the Habsburgs and Gabriel Bethlen (a Turkish ally, and the Prince of Transylvania since 1613 when his predecessor was killed because he wanted to cooperate with the Habsburgs) in Transylvania, Bethlen is recognized by the Habsburgs as the Prince of Transylvania (in the town of Trnava) and Bethlen promises in secret that he will help the Habsburgs against the Turks. But both sides will violate the agreement soon – the Habsburgs prolong the peace with the Turks (see 1615(July)) and enter into an alliance with George Druget (the captain (see 1563) of Upper Hungary) against Bethlen and Bethlen takes advantage of the Czech anti-Habsburg rebellion of 1618 to attack the Habsburgs in 1619.

1616 Prelude II to the uprising: First Bethlen’s attack of eastern Slovakia.

1619 (May): The Diet at Bratislava convened by the king Ferdinand refuses to provide the king with military support against Czech estates.

1619-1621:1^st Bethlen’s campaign to Slovakia:

1622: The Slovak Stanislav Turzo is elected palatine by the (Habsburg controlled) Diet at Sopron.

1623-1624: 2^nd Bethlen’s campaign to Slovakia:

1625(February): Within the Thirty Years' War, French, English, Dutch and Venetian envoys ask Bethlen in Istanbul to support them in their war against the Habsburgs (see 1626).

1625(May): The peace with the Turks of November 1606 is prolonged at Gyarmat.

1626: Within the Thirty Years' War, Bethlen enters into an alliance with France and German protestant princes.

1626: 3^rd Bethlen’s campaign to Slovakia:

1626 - 1629: Bethlen, not satisfied with the 1626 peace agreement, tries to form new anti-Habsburg alliances, but his efforts end with his death in 1629.

1627(February): Gunpowder for mining purposes is successfully used in Banská � tiavnica pits for the first time in the world.

1627(September): The peace with the Turks of November 1606 is prolonged by 25 years in Szönyi.

1629(November): Bethlen dies in Transylvania.

1630(February-May): The Diet at Bratislava decides that foreigners (i. e. not-inhabitants of Historic Hungary) can become nobles, and that all property grants performed by Bethlen are void.

1630: Fightings in Transylvania concerning Bethlen’s succession between Stephen Bethlen (Gabor Bethlen’s brother), George Rákóczi and Stephen Csáky arise and the Habsburgs fear that the Turks could intervene there (despite the 1627 peace prolongation) and prevent the Habsburgs from reintegrating the 7 counties (see 1621, 1626), owned by Gabor Bethlen till his death, into the Habsburg Hungary. Therefore they start a campaign to Transylvania (see 1631).

1630(end of ): Rákóczi wins the quarrels in Transylvania and becomes the Prince of Transylvania (December 1).

1631: The palatine Eszterházy leads a campaign against Rákóczi (see 1630) and is defeated in March near Rakamaz. The weakened Rákóczi finally signs a peace agreement with the Habsburgs at Košice (April 3), by which Rákóczi renounces to Gabor Bethlen’s conquests (the 7 counties) and the Habsburgs recognize him as the Prince of Transylvania.

1631 - 1632: The Peter Császár Insurrection (some 10000 people) in present-day northeastern Hungary and eastern Slovakia:

1633: Envoys of Ferdinand II and of the Transylvanian Prince George Rákóczi negotiate in Prešov about the settlement of their mutual relations.

1635 – 1777: The University of Trnava, a Jesuit university, center of anti-Reformation and of the early Slovak national movement (The dialect of the Trnava region will be taken as the basis for the 1^st codification of the Slovak language in 1787 by Anton Bernolák). This university and the University of Košice (see 1657) are the only universities in Hungary and Slovakia in the 17^th century (see also 1465).

1636: In Transylvania, Stephen Bethlen (see 1630), supported by Turkish troops and wanting to become the Prince of Transylvania, is defeated by George Rákóczi, and the Turks -fearing the creation of an alliance between Transylvania and the Habsburgs- change the sides and recognize Rákóczi as the Prince of Transylvania again. This will strengthen Rákóczi’s power position in the following years.

1637 and 1638 : (see 1627) at Diets in Bratislava, the Catholics protest against the construction of a Protestant church in Bratislava since 1636 and require that the Protestant emigrants in Historic Hungary be expelled , and the Protestants, quickly decreasing in number and losing influence in Historic Hungary, protest against the confiscation of Protestant churches by yeomen converted to the Catholic faith. The only influential still Protestant magnate in Slovakia and Hungary is George Rákóczi, who is also the leader of Protestant nobles at the diets. In addition the relations with the Turks and tax and customs issues are discussed at the Diet of 1637.

1638-1639: George Rákóczi, the (Protestant) Prince of Transylvania, enters with the French and the Swedes into an anti-Habsburg alliance (within the Thirty Years' War) and promises to attack Hungary, i.e. Slovakia, as soon possible – see 1643 (A similar alliance had already been created in 1632 with the Swedes, but Rákóczi’s invasion of Historic Hungary had been betrayed and, Gustavus Adolphus the Great, the king of Sweden had died, so that no attack took place). The alliance will be definitively confirmed in 1643.

1639-1642: King Ferdinand II of Habsburg ceases to convoke the Hungarian Diet in 1639, after the Swedes had invaded Bohemia within the Thirty Years' War. But after strong protests of Protestant magnates he renews the diet in 1642. This act will be another reason for the support of Rákóczi’s uprising (see 1643) by Protestant nobles in Hungary.

1642 (February): The peace with the Turks of November 1606 is prolonged by 20 years in Szönyi.

1644-1645 (the George Rákóczi (Juraj Rákoci) Uprising)

1644(February): Rákóczi invades eastern Slovakia, after the Swedes have invaded Moravia within the Thirty Years' War in 1643 and after Rákóczi has obtained permission to an attack of Historic Hungary by the Turks (Transylvania being a vassal state of the Turks). moreover, he declares himself the protector of the non-Catholics in Historic Hungary.

1644(March): Rákóczi conquers Košice, eastern and central Slovakia and tries to move to the west to join Swedish troops in Moravia, which however are defeated by Habsburg troops in the spring of 1644

1644(April): Rákóczi is stopped by Habsburg troops, led by the palatine Eszterházy, near Hlohovec (at the Slovak-Moravian border) and pushed back to eastern Slovakia.

1644(May): The Habsburgs fail to reconquer Košice. Rákóczi is defeated in southern Slovakia, retreats to Sárospatak (in present-day Hungary) and Habsburg troops reach eastern Slovakia and besiege Košice.

1644(July): Due to a plague epidemic in the Habsburg troops and a lack of food and after an attack of Rákóczi, the Habsburgs have to retreat, and Rákóczi’s troops reconquer eastern and central Slovakia.

1644(August): The Hungarian diet (of Habsburg supporters) at Trnava requires that fights with Rákóczi continue and the diet (of Rákóczi supporters) at Košice requires that peace is signed with the Habsburgs.

1644(end of August): The Habsburgs launch a new attack and they reach eastern Slovakia in October again.

1645(February): Rákóczi occupies central Slovakia and, because of quarrels within the Habsburg army, the Habsburgs agree to peace negotiations (in Trnava) leading to a preliminary peace agreement and to a retreat of Habsburg troops from Slovakia.

1645(June): After Swedish troops of General Torstensson have invaded Moravia in February 1645, Rákóczi breaks the preliminary peace and starts a new anti-Habsburg attack. He occupies Trnava and western Slovakia with the aim of joining the Torstensson troops in Moravia.

1645(July): The Ottoman Empire (the Turks) officially warns Rákóczi that they do not want him to fight against the Habsburgs. This is the result of intense negotiations between the Turks and the Habsburgs concerning Rákóczi since 1643.

1645(July - August): Rákóczi’s troops join the troops of the Swedish general Torstensson near the Moravian town of Brno in July, but the attack on Brno fails in August, because new Habsburg forces gather near Bratislava and because the Turks force Rákóczi to lay down arms (see 1645-July), unless he wants to lose Transylvania. A preliminary agreement between Rákóczi and the Habsburgs is reached on August 22.

1645(August 24 / December 16): A peace signed at Linz by Ferdinand II of Habsburg and George Rákóczi puts an end to the Rákóczi Uprising. Under the agreement, Rákóczi renounces to the conquered territories and receives 7 counties in Slovakia and northeastern present-day Hungary (till his death; see also 1621), meaning that the Transylvanian border temporarily passes through the middle of eastern Slovakia (till 1648, see also 1547, 1621). 2 of the counties (in present-day Hungary and Romania) however should belong to Transylvania even after Rákóczi’s death. Furthermore, religious freedom is guaranteed to Hungarian Protestants (especially in royal towns) and the Protestants should get back their churches confiscated by Catholic yeomen after 1608 (see 1637). The religious points will be ratified at the diet in Bratislava in 1646 (only after an intervention of king Ferdinand III himself against a strong opposition of Hungarian Catholics), but – as for the churches – only 90 of 400 confiscated churches will be returned.

1646-1647: The Diet meets at Bratislava. See 1645 (August 24). In addition, Ferdinand IV, the son of Ferdinand III, is elected king of Hungary on June 3 (coronated on June 16 1647). Ferdinand IV, however, will never become the de-facto ruler of Historic Hungary, because he will die in 1654, that is before the death of his father.

1646(April 24): The Uniat Church (later called Greek Catholic Church, in English also Byzantine Catholic) on territories to the south of Carpathians arises– 63 previously Orthodox priests from eastern Slovakia, north-eastern present-day Hungary and the Carpatho-Ukraine agree in the town of Uzhorod to redefer to Rome (the Holy See), but can keep using the Byzantine (Greek-Slavonic) ritus (the Orthodox church in the world had formally split off from Rome in 1054). More exactly Peter Rostoshinski, the then Bishop of Mukacheve, and George Yakusitch, Bishop of Eger in solemn council, with sixty three priests, abjured the schism and confessed themselves Greek clergy holding the Faith of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (see 863) in communion with Rome.

1648: The printing house of Trnava starts its work – it will be the most productive printing house in Historic Hungary in the 17^th century. In the same year, it publishes the Vocabularium Ungarico-Slavico-Latinum (the Hungarian-Slovak-Latin Dictionary).

1648(September): A (relatively small) Turkish attack is defeated in the town of Banská � tiavnica.

1648(October): George Rákóczi dies in Transylvania.

1648 – 1658/1660: The uprising of George II Rákóczi, the duke of Transylvania 1642-1658, against the Habsburgs and later also against the Turks takes place in Transylvania and Poland. He tries to create an anti-Habsburg coalition of England, Sweden and the Netherlands. Some of the important events were:

1649: A standing Habsburg (i. e. Imperial) army starts to arise from the troops used during the Thirty Years War. It definitively arises in 1702 – see 1714.

1649: At the Diet of Bratislava, Ferdinand III promises to pay money to the frontier castles and garrisons.

1650: The peace with the Turks of November 1606 is prolonged by 22 years in Istanbul.

1655: The Diet at Bratislava introduces the measure system used in Bratislava in whole Historic Hungary. See also 1587. In addition, Leopold is elected king (coronated on June 27 1655).

1657-1921: The Košice University:

1658: At a meeting in Trnava, the Catholic functionaries decide to intensify the counter-reformation.

around 1660: A sort of power vacuum arises in eastern Slovakia (more exactly in Upper Hungary – see 1563, 1567) with its center Košice, because the Habsburgs are not able to control this region due to many wars they have to fight, Transylvania is weak and the Turks have to fight against Venetia, Poland and Russia. This will be become particularly important in the Imre Thököly Uprising (see 1678, 1682) and Francis II Rákóczi Uprising (see 1703).

1659: The Diet at Bratislava decides on tax issues and that the ducats minted in Kremnica shall have the same quality as the ducats of Vienna.

1660: The imperial General Louis de Souchès comes to Bratislava to stop an expected Turkish attack.

1661: Preludes to the 1663 - 1664 war:

(1) The Habsburgs send troops to Transylvania to help Transylvanian nobles to fight against the Turks, who (in 1661) have made their devotee Michael Apafi the new duke of Transylvania, which displeases the Habsburgs.

(2) The Croatian ban Nikola Zrinski has the fortress of Zr�nyiújvár (i. e. Zrinski's New Town) constructed as a protection against the Turks.

(3) Frequent invasions from frontier royal castles to the Ottoman territory have taken place for years (esp. since 1648) in breach of the prolonged November 1606 peace, especially there is a successful imperial attack to the surroundings of Buda in the summer of 1661.

1662: The Diet at Bratislava is not able to agree on further steps concerning a further prolongation of the November 1606 peace agreement with the Turks, partly because Protestant deputies leave the Diet after their request - to deal with Protestant problems first - is rejected.

1663(March-July): A Turkish campaign to Historic Hungary: A huge Turkish army moves from Istanbul (in March), over Edirne to Buda (in June). In Buda, in July, the Turks decide to attack Nové Zámky (see 1573), because Vienna is protected too well. The Habsburgs initially make no special preparations, because they do not know where the troops plan to attack and because Vienna is well protected, but in June imperial troops are shifted from Transylvania to western Slovakia.

1663(August 16 - September): An army of 50.000 Turks besieges Nové Zámky on August 16 and devastates the surroundings and since September (together with the Tartars, Ukrainian Cossacks, Moldavians and Walachians) also large parts of western Slovakia, Moravia and Silesia in order to provide supplies for the soldiers.

1663(September 24): Nové Zámky capitulates after 39 days of attacks and will soon be declared the center of a new Turkish province in Slovakia. After September 24 Turkish lootings in western Slovakia intensify.

1663(October - November): Nitra capitulates to the Turks on October 13, Levice capitulates on November 2. Then the Turkish army (the part that is not stationed in Slovakia) leaves Slovakia to winter near Belgrade.

1663/1664(winter): The horrors of Turkish devastation in Slovakia and the conquest of the Nové Zámky fortress provoke fear and reactions all over Europe: The emperor Leopold I receives help from the domestic (imperial) estates, Spain, Italian principalities and from the Rhenish Confederation, and the Pope allows him to levy military taxes on properties of the church.

1664(January - July): Military action against the Turks starts in southern Historic Hungary under the leadership of the Croatian ban Nikola Zrinski. In June, the Turks send a part of their forces to southern Historic Hungary and completely destroy Zr�nyiújvár (see 1661) on June 29. Then these Turks move to the north, where they are defeated (see August 1).

1664(July 19): After the Moldavians and Walachians have left Turkish troops, the troops of L. De Souchès defeat and massacre the Turks in an important battle near Levice.

1664(August 1): Turkish forces from the south (see January.- July) moving to the north are defeated near Szentgotthárd (in present-day Hungary) by Habsburg troops led by general Montecuccoli.

1664(August 10): A 20-year peace is signed at Vasvár between the Turks and the Habsburgs. Leopold I will ratify it on September 27. Under this agreement, the Turks can keep what they have achieved since 1660, incl. Oradea (see 1660) and Nové Zámky (see 1663), and the Habsburgs have to withdraw their troops from Transylvania, but are allowed to construct a new fortress on the right bank of the Váh river (which is the present-day town of Leopoldov constructed in 1665). As a result, 750 towns and villages of southern western and southern central Slovakia will belong to the Ottoman Empire and the Turks intensify their lootings in the surrounding frontier regions. This disadvantageous peace agreement – concluded without the consent of the Hungarian diet at Bratislava- provokes a shock all over Hungary and leads – besides other reasons - to the Wesselenyi conspiracy (see below). The war of 1663-1664 has caused more than 100.000 dead and abducted - mostly Slovaks.

and later also:

The Zrinskis, the Frankopans and the Rákóczis were related through a triangle of family connections reaching from Croatia and southern Historic Hungary to eastern Slovakia (i.e. Upper Hungary). The conspirators were initially supported by France and they tried to get the support of the Turks, Poland, Venetia and others. Some of the events of this complicated conspiracy are:

1667-1711: The Protestant (Lutheran) College in the town of Prešov is the 1^st Protestant school of higher education in Slovakia and Hungary:

1671-1681: Culmination of the Recatholization (i.e. of violent counter-reformation) as a consequence of the Wesselenyi Conspiracy. Between 1659 and 1681 the Protestants have been deprived of 888 churches (in the towns of Trnava, Púchov, Banská � tiavnica, Banská Bystrica, Senica, Skalica, Turá Lúka, Bardejov and many others) and many of their congregations have been liquidated. Many Protestant ministers and teachers were sentenced to life and commuted to galley slavery (see 1673). The recatholization has often to be supported by imperial troops (e. g. in 1672 Jesuits, accompanied by soldiers, travel through the country forcibly converting the dissidents), which leads to various rebellions (see 1672 and later).

1671(March): Counties are ordered by the king to regularly provide food for the imperial troops stationed in their territory.

1672(May): Excise taxes, applicable to the nobles as well as the peasants, are introduced on the sale of liquor, meat, and grain in Slovakia and some other areas, which increases the general hate towards the king Leopold.

1672(July): The people of Turá Lúka attack the Catholic Bishop of Oradea when trying to occupy the Protestant church there. The bishop is killed. Twelwe participants of the rebellion are executed two weeks later. See also 1673 June.

1672(spring - November) 1^st kuruc—campaign:
The “kuruc” [Slovak: kuruci, Hungarian: kuruczok] of the late 17^th and the early 18^th century were simply bands of anti-Habsburg armed fighters from Slovakia (i.e. northern and eastern Hungary, see also 1536, 1541, 1563, 1567) . They were bands mostly composed of fugitive peasants , mainly Slovaks (but also Ukrainians and Hungarians), and soldiers cashiered from the frontier anti-Turkish fortresses), but also of some nobles (especially those having fled to Transylvania because of the 1671 Rotthal committee and court – see Wesselenyi Conspiracy above).

1672 – 1678: After the defeat of the 1^st kuruc campaign, a kind of guerilla war takes place between the kurucs and the imperial troops in Slovakia. Lootings undertaken by the kurucs totally devastate some regions of eastern Slovakia. The number of the kurucs is increasing steadily. They receive support from Transylvania (one of their leaders is even Michael Teleki, the chancellor of the Transylvanian Prince Michael Apafi and many of their attacks start from Transylvania) and from France with whom king Leopold I is at war since 1673. The kuruc are also trying to gain the support of Poland, but Leopold I enters into an agreement with Poland, under which Poland promises not to support the kurucs:

1673: As a result of the 1^st kuruc campaign to Slovakia,

(1) the Habsburgs establish an authoritarian form of government in entire Historic Hungary: a council headed by Johann Kaspar Ambringen (a Hungarian-born grandmaster of the Teutonic Order) consisting of 4 Hungarians and 4 Austrians and directly reporting to the Habsburgs becomes the new government. The council declares Hsitoric Hungary a Habsburg province, cancels the function of palatine (the traditional highest office in Historic Hungary), abrogates the Hungarian Constitution (after it has been suspended in 1671 already), so that the Hungarian diet does not work anymore. See also 1681;

(2) the taxes are decreased again (see 1672 –May);

(3) another wave of persecution of the Protestants arose (see e. g. 1673-September).

1673(June - July): In Senica, the Protestants attack the Catholics and kill several of them on June 1. After complaints of the Catholics with the king, two imperial regiments (on July the 14^th and on July the 18^th) are sent to the town. The second one devastates the town, kills many inhabitants and finally sets the town on fire.

1678- 1687 (the Imre Thököly (Imrich Tököli) Uprising (1678-1687/1688) and the Turkish War (1683-1699) till 1687)

1678(January): Imre Thököly becomes one of the leaders of the kuruc troops (see 1672, 1672-1678) . He is the son of a former eastern Slovak magnate (see 1670 April-December) and was born in Kežmarok.

1679: A guerilla war between the kuruc and imperial troops in eastern and central Slovakia up to the Váh river follows. Both side undertake looting raids and a plague epidemic breaks out. Thököly himself with his troops fails to reconquer the mining towns, retreats to eastern Slovakia and defeats there the imperial troops in November.

1679(February): France and Poland stop to support the kurucs, because king Leopold I concludes a peace agreement with France at Nijmegen. Their only supporters remain Transylvania and (until (see 1681 only indirectly through Transylvania) the Turks.

1680(January): The kurucs make Imre Thököly their chief commander.

1680: In the spring, the kurucs occupy entire Slovakia, except for fortresses and towns with strong garrisons (such as Bratislava) and in the summer, they even penetrate to present-day Moravia. Seeing Thököly’s success and that he gains support among the majority of Slovak population, the Habsburgs try to negotiate with him, but they are not able to accept his conditions. Furthermore, in eastern Slovakia and adjacent territories (see 1646) conquered by the kurucs, followers of the Orthodox church expell Greek Catholics, because they consider them “allies” of the Catholic Habsburgs (see also 1687).

1681(spring): The Turks declare Michael Apafi, the Prince of Transylvania, chief commander of the kuruc troops fighting against Historic Hungary, thus officially confirming their support for the kurucs.

1681(automn): Thököly offers to the Turks to create a separate principality in eastern Slovakia (Upper Hungary) that would be however dependent on the Ottoman Empire (the Turks). See 1682 September 16.

1682(January): The envoys of Imre Thököly receive the definite assurance of Turkish support.

1682(June): Thököly marries Helena Zrinska (Helen Zrinyi), daughter of Petar Zrinski and widow of Francis I Rákóczi (see Wesselenyi Conspiracy 1664-1671), whose dowry includes many properties and fortresses for Thököly.

1682(summer): The Turks refuse to prolong the peace of Vásvár (see 1664 August 10), which would expire in 1684. Negotiations will follow until (see) December 21.

1682(November): A truce is concluded by representatives of Leopold I of Habsburg and Imre Thököly in Vienna, under which Thököly can keep Upper Hungary only (i.e. eastern Slovakia), more exactly the territory east of the Hron river except for the central Slovak mining towns. Thököly is actually accepted by the Habsburgs as mediator to endeavor to bring about the prolongation of peace with the sultan (which of course will not work).

1683(January): Thököly has a Diet of Upper Hungary convened in Košice. Among other things, the estates express their fear that he might sacrifice the national independence to the Turkish alliance.

1683(beginning of): The Habsburgs enter into anti-Turkish alliances with German prince electors (e. g. Maximilian Emmanuel of Bavaria, Johann Georg of Saxony, Georg Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg) and receive money from many Christian states ( Pope Innocent XI, Savoy, Tuscany, Genoa, Spain, Portugal, Venice, the Holy Roman Empire).

1683(March 31): The Habsburgs enter into an anti-Turkish alliance with Poland (king John III Sobieski). However, the Polish troops will only arrive in August.

1683(March - June) [Turkish War]: The Turkish campaign begins : A huge Turkish army of some 150, 000 men leaves Edirne on March 21, moves over Belgrade in May, Osijek in June to Székesfehérvár in June. As the army advances, it receives recruits from the vassal provinces of the Ottoman Empire and, by the time it reaches Osijek, its numbers have swollen to over 250,000 men. At the end, the army includes also some kurucs of Thököly, Transylvanian troops and Tartar troops. The Turks and kurucs are supported by France, which started a new policy in the 1680s consisting in annexing some of Habsburg territories. The Habsburg (imperial) army is under the command of Duke Charles of Lorraine and is joined - among other volunteers - by the youthful Prince Eugene of Savoy and the Hungarian palatine Paul Eszterházy(Pavol Esterházi).

1683(May) [Turkish War]: The Turkish sultan stays in Belgrade and charges the grand vizier Kara Mustafa with the leadership of the army.

1683(June) [Turkish War]: For a moment Charles of Lorraine meditates attack as the best method of defense and attacks Nové Zámky, but than he quickly changes his mind (the risk of being cut off from the Austrian frontier was too great) and retreats to Vienna, where he leaves a garrison of 13,000 regular troops and takes most of the army to the northern shore of the Danube in order to harass the besiegers until the arrival of foreign aid should enable him to make a strenuous attempt to force the raising of the siege.

1683(June): Thököly visits the Turks when they are in Osijek to discuss further plans and cooperation.

1683(June 25) [Turkish War]: In Székesfehérvár , the Turks decide to attack Vienna (over Györ).

1683(July 7) [Turkish War]: The emperor Leopold I quitts Vienna.

1683(July): Thököly is joined by some of the Turkish troops near Levice, they conquer the town on July 21, and they move over Nitra and � intava to Trnava and Bratislava, thus conquering the remaining Slovakia. On July 25, Bratislava is the last town in Slovakia to surrender to Thököly’s troops (the royal crown is transferred to Austria shortly before). But Bratislava castle does not surrender. Four days later, Charles of Lorrain pushes the kuruc-Turkish-Tartar troops from the region of Bratislava back to the Vah river, but this is only temporary (see early August).

1683(early August): Charles of Lorrain has to leave Slovakia and to retreat behind the March (Morava) river (in the course of the Anti-Turkish war). The kurucs attack the Záhorie region (i.e. westernmost Slovakia), Moravia and then reconquer western Slovakia (?). The town of Trnava is almost completely destroyed by a huge fire that breaks out on August 7 after the town’s (re)conquest by the kurucs, and 4000 people die in the town.

1683(August) [Turkish War]: Turkish troops that are supposed to prevent the relieving forces from Germany and Poland to join the Habsburg army are defeated near Bisamberg in Austria (August 23). The Polish troops (John III Sobieski) join Habsburg troops (Charles of Lorraine) in Hollabrunn and they are accompanied to Tulln (August 31), where a bridge of boats had been carefully protected to secure the crossing of the Danube. To Tulln came the also Catholic Bavars and Lutheran Saxons with a number of other German volunteers, who had already assembled at Krems.

1683(September 12) [Turkish War]: 65, 000 allied forces defeat some 200,000 Turkish besiegers of Vienna. The Turks – on a headlong flight - retreat to present-day Hungary. This marks the beginning of the end of Turkish supremacy in Central Europe.

1683(end of September) [Turkish War]: The allied forces (Austria, Poland, Germany) cross the Danube in Bratislava by the bridge of boats which had been brought down from Tulln (see above August) and after a few days' rest continue their march along the north bank towards � túrovo and Esztergom.

1683(early October): Lithuanian forces, sent to help to protect Vienna, arrive in the Orava region, clash there with kuruc troops, start to demolish Thököly’s properties there and burn down 27 villages. As a result, Thököly interrupts peace negotiations which he has started with the Habburgs after the conquest of Vienna.

1683(October) [Turkish War]: The Poles, who are in advance, are defeated near � túrovo on October 7, but then the remaining allied forces arrive and totally defeat the Turks (led by pasha Kara Mehmed) 2 days later and they conquer Esztergom, an important Turkish base, on October 27. Common military action of the allies ends because of the coming winter and the troops start to leave Slovakia to winter (see below). The vizier Kara Mustafa (fleeing from Vienna), instead of attempting to relieve Esztergom, continues his retreat to Osijek and Belgrade.

1683(after October 27): Since the sultan is angry with Kara Mustafa for having lost Vienna and not having helped Esztergom, Kara Mustafa blames Imre Thököly for the defeat at � túrovo (see above), who had been within easy march of the battlefield but had rendered no assistance to his allies, the Turks. As a result, Thököly risks his safety by a personal visit to the sultan at Edirne, where his eloquence (strengthened by the support of Kara Mustafa's numerous enemies) prevails with the sultan , so that he is allowed to depart with renewed promises of aid and Kara Mustafa is removed and even executed on December 25 in Belgrade.

1683(November): On their departure from � túrovo/Esztergom (in order to winter, see October), Polish and imperial troops conquer several towns and castles in central and eastern Slovakia from the kurucs and the free royal towns and nobles in Slovakia start to negotiate with Leopold I (see 1684 January).

1684(January): In Bratislava, Leopold I amnesties those participants of the Thököly Uprising that lay down their arms and vow allegiance to Leopold. Subsequently, representatives of 17 counties, 12 towns and several magnates, which have supported Thököly until then, come to Bratislava to vow allegiance to Leopold.

1684(March 5) [Turkish War]: The Holy League is signed at Linz between Leopold I, king Jan Sobieski of Poland and the Doge of Venice. It is inspired and financed by the Pope who wants the war of 1683 to be carried on. The three powers pledge themselves to carry on war against the Turks to drive them from Europe and to conclude no separate peace with them.

1684(spring) [Turkish War]: The Turkish War and war against Thököly are resumed. from now on, the Turkish War will be a continuous war lasting till 1698/1699 (Peace of Karlowitz).

1684(July 10 -November) [Turkish War]: Imperial troops besiege Buda in July, but fail to conquer it and retreat in November.

1684(end of): Imperial troops defeat the kurucs near Prešov in September (but Prešov itself is not conquered) and subsequently conquer many towns and castles in eastern Slovakia and north-eastern present-day Hungary (e. g. Krásna Hôrka, Tokay, Ónod).

1685(July 7- August 19) [Turkish War]: Charles of Lorraine besieges Nové Zámky (still occupied by the Turks) on July 7, but then he finds out that a big Turkish army between the >Ipeľ and Hron rivers prepares to reconquer Esztergom and retreats to Esztergom, where he defeats the Turks on August 16. Then on August 19 Nové Zámky is also conquered and thus the last Turkish province on Slovak territory is destroyed (see also 1687-December). It is conquered by Aeneas Caprara, who had been left with a small force to maintain the siege till Charles’ return.

1703(end of August): Kuruc troops led by Ladislav Očkaj move to Slovakia and conquer southern and central Slovakia - they occupy Gemer and Novohrad and attack the central Slovak mining towns.

1703(September - October): The kurucs conquer the central Slovak mining towns Banská � tiavnica (on September 19) and several days later also Banská Bystrica and Kremnica. In addition they conquer e. g. the towns of Lučenec, Krupina and Levice.

1703(October – November): The conquest of the economically important mining towns induces king Leopold I (having to fight in the War of the Spanish Succession at the same time) to send more imperial soldiers (5000 men) to Slovakia. In October, these imperial troops led by general Leopold Schlick and commander � imon Forgáč (Forgách) defeat the kurucs near the town of Levice and in early November reoccupy the mining towns. However, on November 15, main kuruc troops led by Miklós Bercsényi appear near the town of Zvolen and totally defeat the imperial army, reconquer parts of central Slovakia up to the Váh river and (on November 28) conquer Levice and Topoľčany.

1703(December): Rákóczi’s kurucs conquer the towns of Hlohovec and Trnava (on Dec. 2 and Dec. 4, respectively) and in late December they control almost entire Slovakia (except for the towns Bratislava, Trenč�n, Nitra, Košice, Prešov, Bardejov, and the fortresses Leopoldov, Nové Zámky, and Komárno). They destroy the surroundings of the capital cities Vienna and Bratislava.

1704(January): Rákóczi’s kurucs conquer the well fortified Muráň castle. In addition, Rákóczi‘s manifesto ”Recrudescunt vulnera inclytae gentis Hungarian” (The Wounds of the Glorious Hungarian Kingdom) is printed in Trnava and contains a detailed list of 21 injuries that the Habsburgs in Vienna have committed against Hungary during the last decades in order to justify the uprising in the eyes of Europe.

1704: Očkaj leads an attack to Moravia.

1705(September-October): Rákóczi convenes the first Diet for nobles to Szecseny (Sečany) [at Slovak border in present-day Hungary], where he is elected ”Prince” of Historic Hungary (see also 1704 July 6, 1707 May 1- June 22), a 24 member advisory body is created for him, and freedom of religion is established. A total separation of Hungary from the Habsburg empire is not declared yet.

1707(May 1- June 22): Rákóczi convenes a second Diet to Ónod [in present-day Hungary near Miskolc ], where Rákóczi’s troops have their main military camp] for representatives of counties (nobles) and of free royal towns from Rákóczi’s territories. Initially, the representatives of some (ethnically Slovak) counties, esp. of the Turiec, Tekov and Nitra counties, openly show their discontent (see above 1707) and ignore the meetings. The upset Rákóczi has 2 representatives of Turiec killed (Melichar Rakovský, the author of the circular letter of January 7 1707, on June 6 and Krištof Okoličáni (Okolicsányi) on June 9), the remaining 56 ones arrested and the Turiec county – as the initiator of the opposition at the Diet and especially of the circular letter of January - is supposed to be dissolved (which however will be taken back later). This affair is considered to be the first ethnically conditioned conflict between Slovaks and Magyars (i. e. ethnic Hungarians). Afterwards, the representatives approve any proposals of Rákóczi: The Habsburgs are formally deposed as rulers of Historic Hungary on June 16, further taxes are approved and the property of nobles that would not join the rebels within 2 months is supposed to be confiscated. The problem of the person of a new king remained unsolved.

1708(July): Imperial troops defeat troops led by Ladislav Očkaj and Vavrinec Pekri (Pekry).

1708(August 3): Imperial troops defeat Rákóczi’s troops in the important battle at Trenč�n. From this defeat on, Rákóczi will not be able to regain his previous military power anymore and France will ignore Rákóczi. The battle started in the middle of July, when troops led by Rákóczi in person (16000 soldiers) besieged Trenč�n (see also 1703 December). At the end of July 2 imperial armies set out for Trenč�n - one led by general Heister from Bratislava (5000 soldiers) and the other one led by general Vird from Moravia (3000 soldiers). The fact that Rákóczi became unconscious after he had fallen from his horse, which gave cause to rumours about Rákóczis death among his soldiers, has contributed to the great defeat of Rákóczi’s troops – 3000 kuruc soldiers died, 500 were captured and the rest of them runs away.