{2-150.} The Struggle for Illusory Power

The country was finally at peace again, but instead of turning to the urgent task of raising the higher tribute, the followers of Rákóczi and Barcsai engaged in a tug of war. Handicapped by their leader's absence, the former prince's adherents came out losers. On 30 March 1659, Rákóczi was compelled to abdicate.

His retreat was short-lived, for in late August he reasserted his claim to the principality, and the result was civil war. Most of the army was in Tartar captivity, the country was devastated, the grand vizier waited for his immense tribute, yet Transylvania's politicians found other preoccupations. The foreign enemy was gone, so they fought each other, Rákóczi and Barcsai, then János Kemény as well, the latter having returned from captivity in late September 1659.

At the beginning of October, Rákóczi capriciously joined up with Wallachia's voivode, Mihnea, to attack Moldavia. Then he asked for help from royal Hungary. Barcsai, in turn, invited help from the vizier of Buda, whose forces remained in Transylvania until December. Rákóczi drove Barcsai to seek shelter in Szeben, and laid siege to that prosperous town, then desisted. All this time, no once concerned himself with the tribute, despite the fact that, in April 1660, the Porte had set another army marching toward Transylvania.

The forces led by Pasha Ali were still on their way when Rákóczi was defeated by the vizier of Buda at Szászfenes. Wounded in battle, the former prince expired at Várad on 7 June 1660. Undeterred, Ali continue his advance and, in late June, he put Ákos Barcsai under arrest. This time, the demand for payment led to action. A message came from Prince Barcsai, who was held at military camp, that the money must be raised. The diet, meeting at Bonchida, reached a decision on August 25, but by then the Turks had laid siege to Várad, the country's most important fortress.

{2-151.} The town council cooperated with the military command in the defense of Várad. Although it was clear that they were not responsible for the troubles that befell them, all took an oath to stand fast. Those townspeople who had not fled took shelter in the fortress; the gates were then walled up, and when the Turks drew near, the town itself was set afire. On July 14, the Turks pitched camp on the banks of the Körös and in the vineyards and orchards surrounding the town. When the defenders rejected a summons to lay down their arms, the Turks proceeded to dig in and begin the siege. The defenders, who included ordinary citizens as well as students from the famous college, numbered less than a thousand, and were vastly outnumbered.

Facing insurmountable odds, Várad's defenders hoped for help from the outside. But Transylvania momentarily lacked any organized armed force, and the confined Barcsai could only send covert messages of encouragement. Pressed by Hungary's politicians, Leopold I gave a token of his good intentions by despatching troops to Upper Hungary, but their commander halted at Rakamaz and sent word to Pasha Ali that he had no intention of moving over the border. Thus Várad was left to fend for itself. Repelling several assaults, the defenders held out for 44 days. The enemy drained the moat, and munitions ran out. On August 17, Várad surrendered, but only conditionally. The Transylvanians stipulated that Turkish rule should not extend beyond the domains of Várad; that the garrison be allowed to depart in arms; that the townspeople be allowed to remain in place or, at their option, leave under escort; that Ali Pasha intercede at the Porte to reduce the tribute; and that the departing defenders could take along the college's equipment and the printing press. Presumably out of respect for the defenders' heroism, the Turkish commanders accepted their terms. The vast army of besiegers looked on in astonishment as barely three hundred men emerged from the fortress.