Stephen Bocskai or Bocskay (Hungarian: Bocskai István, Slovak: Štefan Bočkaj; 1 January 1557 – 29 December 1606) was Prince of Transylvania and Hungary from 1605 to 1606. He was born to a Hungarian noble family. His father's estates were located in the eastern regions of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, which developed into the Principality of Transylvania in the 1570s. He spent his youth in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian, who was also the ruler of Royal Hungary (the western and northern regions of the medieval kingdom).
Bocskai's career started when his underage nephew, Sigismund Báthory, became the ruler of Transylvania in 1581. After the Diet of Transylvania declared Sigismund of age in 1588, Bocskai was one of the few members of Sigismund's council who supported his plan to join an anti-Ottoman coalition. Sigismund made Bocskai captain of Várad (now Oradea in Romania) in 1592. After the pro-Ottoman noblemen forced Sigismund to renounce his throne in 1594, Bocskai supported him in his bid to regain it, for which Sigismund rewarded him with estates confiscated from the leaders of the opposition. On Sigismund's behalf Bocskai signed a treaty concerning the membership of Transylvania in the Holy League in Prague on 28 January 1595. He led the Transylvanian army to Wallachia, which had been occupied by the Ottomans. The Christian troops liberated Wallachia and defeated the retreating Ottoman army in the Battle of Giurgiu on 29 September 1595.
After a series of Ottoman victories, Sigismund abdicated in early 1598. The commissioners of Maximilian II's successor, Rudolph, took possession of Transylvania and dismissed Bocskai. Bocskai then persuaded Sigismund to return, but Sigismund once again abdicated in March 1599. The new prince, Andrew Báthory, confiscated Bocskai's estates in Transylvania proper. Andrew Báthory was dethroned by Michael the Brave of Wallachia. During the following period of anarchy, Bocskai was forced to stay in Prague for several months because Rudolph's officials did not trust him. After his secret correspondence with the Grand Vizier, Lala Mehmed Pasha, was captured in October 1605, Bocskai openly rebelled against Rudolph.
Bocskai hired Hajdús (irregular soldiers) and defeated Rudolph's military commanders. He expanded his authority over the Partium, Transylvania proper, and nearby counties with the support of the local noblemen and burghers who had also been stirred up by Rudolph's tyrannical acts. Bocskai was elected prince of Transylvania on 21 February 1605, and prince of Hungary on 20 April. The Ottomans supported him, but his partisans thought that the Ottomans' intervention threatened the independence of Royal Hungary. To put an end to the civil war, Bocskai and Rudolph's representatives signed the Treaty of Vienna on 23 June 1606. Rudolph acknowledged Bocskai's hereditary right to rule the Principality of Transylvania and four counties in Royal Hungary. The treaty also confirmed the Protestant noblemen and burghers' right to freely practise their religion. In his last will, Bocskai emphasized that only the existence of the Principality of Transylvania could secure the special status of Royal Hungary within the Habsburg monarchy.
Stephen was the sixth or seventh child of György Bocskai and Krisztina Sulyok. His father was a Hungarian nobleman whose inherited estates were located in Bihar and Zemplén Counties. Stephen's mother was related to the influential Török and Héderváry families. One of her two sisters was the wife of István Dobó. Dobó was made Voivode of Transylvania by Ferdinand I, King of Hungary, in 1553, shortly after Isabella Jagiellon (who had administered the eastern part of the Kingdom of Hungary on behalf of her son, John Sigismund Zápolya) was forced to leave her realm. György Bocskai accompanied Dobó to Transylvania and received new estates in the province from Ferdinand.
Stephen was born in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca in Romania) on 1 January 1557. At that time, his father was being held in prison because Isabella Jagiellon had returned and ordered the imprisonment of Ferdinand's supporters. A few months after his son's birth, György Bocskai was released. He and his family settled in Kismarja, which was the center of his estates in Bihar County. He converted from Catholicism to Calvinism in the 1560s. He died in 1570 or 1571.
Stephen Báthory, who succeeded Zápolya in 1571, protected the interests of György Bocskai's orphaned children. At Báthory's request, Ferdinand I's successor, Maximilian, restored to them their father's former estates in Zemplén County. The teenager Stephen Bocskai may have already moved to Maximilian's court – it is known that a son of Krisztina Sulyok was reportedly living in Vienna in 1571 – but it is certain that he was living in the royal court when his elder brother, Jeromos, died in 1572, because he hurried back to Kismarja from Vienna to console his mother. Initially, he served as a page in the royal court. He received a salary from 1574. He again came back to Kismarja in the summer of 1575 to see his ailing mother and to administer his estates. About a year later, he returned to Vienna where he was made a steward.
After being elected King of Poland in late 1575, Stephen Báthory adopted the title of prince of Transylvania and charged his brother, Christopher Báthory, with the government of the principality. Christopher was the husband of Bocskai's sister, Elisabeth. Maximilian, who had a very tolerant attitude towards the ideas of the Reformation, died on 12 October 1576. His devout Catholic son, Rudolph, succeeded him. Before long, Bocskai left Prague and settled in the Principality of Transylvania. He was not appointed to higher offices during Christopher's rule. He was only made the commander of a troop of 32 horsemen and 20 foot soldiers in Várad.
The dying Christopher Báthory appointed Bocskai to the council that was set up to administer Transylvania during the minority of the son of Christopher Báthory and Elisabeth Bocskai, Sigismund, in the spring of 1581. As the youngest member of the regency council, Bocskai had little chance of influencing the government, then dominated by Sándor Kendi and Farkas Kovacsóczy. Bocskai and Dénes Csáky decided to go to Kraków to convince Stephen Báthory to make their ally, János Ghyczy, the sole regent for Sigismund. However, before their departure for Poland, Stephen Báthory set up a new regency council, confirming Kendi and Kovacsóczy's position. Bocskai was appointed head of Sigismund's court, but he renounced the office because his relationship with the regency council remained tense. He only retained his membership in the royal council.
Bocskai married a wealthy widow, Margit Hagymássy, in late 1583. Her dowry included the fortress of Nagykereki and the nearby villages. Stephen Báthory dissolved the regency council and appointed Ghyczy to administer Transylvania on Sigismund's behalf in May 1585. Bocskai retained his seat in the royal council. After Stephen Báthory died in December 1586, Bocskai went at least twice to Poland to negotiate the implementation of Báthory's last will. During his visits, he realized that most Polish noblemen did not want to continue Báthory's policy and Transylvania could no longer expect support from Poland.
Ghyczy fell ill in early 1588. The 16-year-old monarch's cousins, Balthasar Báthory and Stephen Báthory (the namesake of his late uncle), persuaded the Diet of Transylvania to declare the prince of age in December 1588. Bocskai again retained his membership in the royal council. Political rivalries gave rise to the spread of gossip about Balthasar's attempts to dethrone Sigismund. Some rumours also circulated about Bocskai, either describing him as Sigismund's most faithful councillor or accusing him of a conspiracy against the Báthory family. Bocskai established a strong relationship with the commanders of the army around that time.
Influenced by his Jesuit confessor, Alfonso Carillo, Sigismund Báthory decided to turn against the Ottoman Empire. His cousins sharply opposed his plan, which outraged Sigismund. He replaced Stephen Báthory with Bocskai, making the latter captain of Várad and ispán (or head) of Bihar County in May 1592. The captains of Várad were the commanders of the strongest army in the principality. Sigismund, who was a devout Catholic, ordered the Calvinist Bocskai to protect the Catholics in his new seat. Bocskai continued the reconstruction of the fortress, which protected the most important route between Transylvania and Royal Hungary.