Imre Thököly of Késmárk (September 25, 1657. Késmárk- September 13, 1705. Nikodemia in Turkey)

Between 1682 and 1685 he was the prince of the Turkish satellite state in the Upper Hungarian region. As the leader of refugees fleeing into Transylvania and to the eastern side of the river Tisza from 1678 onwards, he became one of the significant politicians and commanders of the country. His ideas however, did not all come to realisation. After the Turks were defeated in 1683 in Vienna, Thököly was increasingly left without supporters. In fact he even became a burden to the Turks, who therefore captured him in 1685 in Várad. This however still failed to encourage the peace agreement with the Habsburgs, so he was set free in 1688. This event contributed to the fact that Thököly could not regain his previous influence in Hungary. He was pushed to the margins of Hungarian politics since in the war of re-occupation he continued to fight on the side of the Turks. This resulted in his exile to the Ottoman Empire, and this was declared in the peace agreement of Karlóca. He died there in the autumn of 1705 in Nikodemia. His ashes were brought back to Hungary as late as 1906 and they were laid to eternal rest in the Evangelical Church of Késmárk (today Kemarok in Slovakia).

PG