Moses Székely
On 8 May 1603, Székely claimed the title of a Prince of Transylvania, but his rule proved unstable, as his Tartarian mercenaries outdid Basta's troops in cruelty and Radu Șerban, the new Voivode of Wallachia attacked as an ally of the Habsburgs.
[1][2] John Sigismund Zápolya, who ruled the eastern territories of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary as vassal of the Ottoman Empire, made János Literáti the ispán (or head) of the chamber of salt in 1568.
[7] He swam over the Maros River at Radnót (now Iernut in Romania) with a sword in his mouth and killed one of Bekes's warriors in a duel.
[9] Moses Székely was the first to lead an attack against Bekes's army in the decisive Battle of Kerelőszentpál, which ended with Báthory's triumph on 8 July.
[18] Historian Lukács Sándor Szekeres says that his wife is unknown,[18] but Judit Balogh associates her with Elisabeth Bodoni, a daughter of the captain of Udvarhelyszék.
[20] The Serbs who lived in the Temeşvar Eyalet rose up against the Ottomans and sought assistance from Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania.
[24] Before long, he joined György Borbély, Ban of Karánsebes, who launched an invasion against the Ottoman Empire in late summer.
[26] He wanted to prevent the commoners of Bikafalva (now Tăureni in Romania) from turning their pigs loose in his forests to fill and fatten themselves on acorn, but the Court of Udvarhelyszék made a judgement against him in October 1569.
[28] Moses Székely started negotiations with one of the commissioners, Bartholomeus Pezzen, in Brassó (now Brașov in Romania) in June, urging the emperor to send an army to Transylvania before the Ottomans invade the principality.
[29] After accepting the suzerainty of Rudolph II, Michael the Brave, Voivode of Wallachia, asked the emperor to send Moses Székely to him to take charge of the command of the Wallachian army.
[30] Báthory sent Moses Székely and István Csáky at the head of an army against Várad (now Oradea in Romania), because its captain refused to do homage to him.
[37] After Michael appointed him the supreme commander of the Transylvanian army, Moses Székely joined him in Gyulafehérvár, but he had left his wife in Marosvásárhely (now Târgu Mureș in Romania) in the custody of her father.
[38] Before long, Michael the Brave granted Teke and Mezőszilvás (now Teaca and Silivașu de Câmpie in Romania), and other estates in Kolozs County to Moses and his son.
[43] Moses Székely returned to Transylvania in late summer 1600 to meet Gáspár Sibrik, György Makó and other Transylvanian noblemen in Burzenland.
[44] Michael the Brave summoned them to the Diet to Gyulafehérvár in late August, but Moses and his allies fled to Poland to convince Sigismund Báthory to again lay claim to Transylvania.
