He was appointed Knight of the Golden Spur after the coronation of Ferdinand II.

Pál fought in the Thirty Years' War, against the Bohemian uprising.

In 1626, he defended the fortress of Nógrád and also participated in other battles against the Ottoman Empire.

He acquired the lordships of Zólyom (today: Zvolen, Slovakia) and Dobrovina from his brother Miklós, the Palatine.

[3] Baron Pál Esterházy married to Zsuzsanna Károlyi de Nagykároly at first in 1614.