Francis I Rákóczi

Who was Francis I Rákóczi?

Francis I Rákóczi was a Hungarian aristocrat, elected prince of Transylvania and father of Hungarian national hero Francis II Rákóczi.

Francis I Rákóczi was the son of George II Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania, and Zsófia Báthori. He was elected prince by the Transylvanian Diet in 1652, during his father's life. However, because of the disastrous Polish campaign of 1657 and its consequences, the Ottoman Porte removed his father from the throne in 1660, and prohibited any Rákóczi to ascend the Transylvanian throne. This left Francis unable to come by his father's legacy; he therefore withdrew to his estates in Royal Hungary.

Notably, the Rákóczi family was Calvinist, and they were staunch supporters of the Calvinist cause. However, Francis' mother, Zsófia Báthori came from a Catholic family, and converted to Calvinism merely for the sake of her marriage, only to leave Calvinism, re-convert to Catholicism and become a bulwark of Hungarian Counter-Reformation after his husband's death. Francis Rákóczi also became a catholic with her, thus acquiring favour with the Catholic Habsburg Court. He was made a count in 1664.