Alexander Károlyi

Alexander Károly
Native name Sandor Károly or Sándor Károlyi de Nagykároly
Born (1668-03-20)March 20, 1668
Nagy-Károly
Died September 8, 1743(1743-09-08) (aged 75)
Allegiance Imperial Austria, until 1703
Hungary 1703–1743
Other work Peace of Szatmar (1711)
High Sheriff, Szatmar County

Alexander Károly(i) also Alexander Károly von Nagy-Károly, Count, Imperial Feldmarschall, Statesman. He was born in Nagy-Károly in Hungary (present-day Romania), 20 March 1668– 8 September 1743, a son of Ladislaus Karoly and his second wife, Elisabeth Sennyey. The Károly family is one of the oldest, richest, and most famous noble families of Hungary. The Károly castle with market towns and parishes is located in Upper Hungary beyond the Tisza, in the Szathmarer County.[1] Baron, and later Count, he was one of the generals of Francis II Rákóczi during the War of Independence. Later he negotiated the Treaty of Szatmár, which guaranteed autonomy to the Hungarian nobles.

War with the Turks and Hungarian uprising

After the Battle of Vienna (1681), and the subsequent (and eventual) ejection of the Ottoman armies from Transylvania in the Battle of Mohács (1687), the disintegration of the Ottoman army while it crossed the Tisza river at the Battle of Zenta, allowed Imperial Habsburg armies to conquer large areas, including most of present-day Slavonia and Transylvania came under Imperial rule. On 9 December 1687 there was organized a Diet of Pressburg and Archduke Joseph was crowned as the first hereditary king of Hungary; future Habsburgs were declared to be the anointed kings of Hungary.[2]

In 1691 Louis, Margrave of Baden-Baden, also called TürkenLouis, was returning from his Transylvanian victories and Karolyi rode to meet him, to pay his respects. Together they inspected a fortress at Szathmar in which the Margrave found fault with the fortifications. Its commander, General Loeffelholz, claimed that the fortifications were in disrepair because Karolyi had not furnished the requisite quota of labor. Karolyi told the Margrave that his county had redeemed its obligation in payment of hard cash. His speech was interpreted as signs of disrespect and rebelliousness, traits the Habsburg notables deplored in with Hungarian nobles.[3]

Uprising

Karolyi traveled to Vienna to negotiate with Imperial ministers over what he and other nobles deemed excessive taxation, conscription, and extraction of war contributions; his wife remained at the family estate. Imperial commanders threatened her with county-wide devastation unless she provided war contributions; she refused, and the Habsburg garrison of the family's primary fortress surrendered without consulting her or their Hungarian commanders. Karolyi's wife and daughter (Clara) were evicted from their home. On his return trip to his home, town after town controlled by Imperial War office refused him lodging. After a series of attempts to recover his property, locate his family, and complete negotiations for fairer extractions, he was pushed into rebellion with several other Hungarian nobles, notably Sigismund Rákóczi (acknowledge prince of Hungary) and Gabriel Báthory.[4]

The Habsburg forces, fully engaged in the lengthy War of Spanish Succession, did not have the additional military power to engage the nobles, but the Hungarian leadership had neither the financial resources nor the military ones, to defeat the Habsburg forces in Hungary. Throughout 1703–1706, the former Habsburg general wrought havoc in Moravia and Bohemia.[5] The ongoing insurrection, in which Alexander Károly played a significant part, led to the deposition of the Habsburg king in Hungary in 1707. However, after victories at Blenheim and Turin, the Habsburgs were able to devote more resources against recalcitrant Hungarians.[6] The uprising took a dramatic turn at the Battle of Trencsén, on 4 August 1708. Rákozci was knocked off his horse; his troops thought he had been killed, and fled. Rákozci fled to Poland.[4]

Diplomacy

On 30 April 1711, with the Peace of Szatmar, a group of Hungarian nobles led by Karolyi deserted their leaders Rákóczi and Gabriel Báthory and recognized Habsburg rule. In turn, the Habsburgs recognized the traditional constitution and privileges of Hungary. Although the Hungarian claim over Transylvania was not confirmed, at least not positively, Vienna recognized the rights of Protestants, Hungarian autonomy (especially with regard to the taxation of landholders), and the Hungarian Diet was considered sacrosanct.[6] The compromise was confirmed in the Pragmatic Sanction,[2] although the rights of Protestants continued to be a contested issue well through the remainder of the century.[7]

Karolyi castle

Later work

In 1719, he suppressed anti-Habsburg riots in the lands beyond the Tisz river. In 1741, the Hungarian nobility instigated unrest in the same region, and the Empress Maria Theresia appointed him as Field Marshal. He successfully quelled the unrest there.[1]

Family

The Károlyi family dates from the thirteenth century, with roots in the old families of Becsky, Komahidy, Bagossy and Kaplyon. Michel (III) (1585–1626) and Elisabeth Perenyi had several surviving children: Peter and Bertalan, who died young, and Michael (IV) (1585–1626) and Susanna) (died 1629). Susanna married Paul Esterhazy. Michael 's son, Ladislaus (died 28 February 1689) married first Judith Csapy, and second Elisabeth Sennyey. He was one of twenty siblings, of which he was the only male survivor. He and his wife, Christine, Countess Barkoczy, had three children, Franz (1705–1758), who was a general of cavalry, Clara, and Ladislaus, who died in 1702.[1]

His son Franz (his only male survivor) commanded the Karolyi Hussar regiment on the Rhine in 1741.[1]

Additional descendants through Franz include:[1]

  • Ludwig Károlyi (15 Sept 1799–1863) jurist.
  • Ladislaus Károlyi (24 February 1824–23 June 1852) KuK Marine officer
  • Alexander (8 August 1831–2 December 1889), diplomat
  • Georg Karoly (28 March 1802–) economist and politician
  • Julius (4 July 1837–23 November 1890) Hungarian politician
  • Victor (19 Februarr 1839–1 April 1888). Hungarian politician
  • Gabriel
  • Tibor Károlyi, (26 September 1843–5 April 1904), Hungarian politician
  • Stephan Károlyi (1797–?)
  • Eduard Károlyi (1821–), Hungarian soldier and politician
  • Georgina

See also

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Constant Wurzbach, Károly, die Grafen, BLKÖ, v11, pp. 1–2
  2. 1 2 A.J.P. Taylor, The Habsburg Monarchy 1809–1918, niversity of Chicago Press, 1976, pp. 12–15.
  3. ↑ Freiher Ladislaus Hengelmueller von Iengevar, Hungary's Fight for National Existence, MacMillan 1913, pp. 108-110.
  4. 1 2 Hengelmueller, p. 110.
  5. ↑ Prinz Eugen von Savoyen 1663–1736, CUP Archive, 1963, p. 149.
  6. 1 2 J. S. Bromley, The New Cambridge Modern History CUP Archive, 1976, Volume 6: The Rise of Great Britain and Russia, 1688–1715/25, pp. 585–585.
  7. ↑ Henry Marczali, Hungary in the Eighteenth Century, Cambridge University Press, 2015 [1910], pp. 257–259.
  8. ↑ Richard Remme, Karolyi, Count Michael of, 19 Sep 2015 version. Accessed 1 October 2015.

Sources

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