Peace of Zsitvatorok

The Peace of Zsitvatorok ( _hu. Zsitvatoroki béke; _sk. Žitavský mier; _tr. Zitvatorok Anlaşması) was a peace treaty which ended the Fifteen Years' War between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy on November 11 1606. The treaty was part of a system of peace treaties which put an end to the anti-Habsburg uprising of Stephen Bocskay (1604-1606).

The treaty was signed at the former mouth of the Žitava River (Hungarian: "Zsitva"), which flows into the Danube in Royal Hungary (today's Slovakia). This location would later become the small settlement Žitavská Tôňa (Hungarian: "Zsitvatorok"), a part of the village Radvaň nad Dunajom (Hungarian: "Dunaradvány").

The peace was signed for 20 years and has been interpreted in different ways by diplomatic historians. One point it has debated much is whether in the language of the treaty the Ottomans recognized the Habsburg ruler as diplomatic equal to the Ottoman sultan. Differences between the Ottoman and the Hungarian texts of the treaty encouraged different interpretations, as the Hungarians offered 200,000 florins as one-and-for-all tribute (instead of the annual tributes of 30,000 guldens given before the war), whereas the Ottoman text foresaw that the payment was to be repeated after three years. The treaty prohibited Ottoman looting campaigns to the territory of Royal Hungary, and stipulated that Hungarian settlements under Ottoman rule could collect taxes themselves by means of village judges. The Ottomans also acknowledged the tax-free privilege of nobles. The Ottomans never really complied with these later terms, however.

The treaty was signed by Sultan Ahmed I and Archduke Matthias of Austria, despite strong opposition on the part of Emperor Rudolf II, Matthias's brother. The Ottomans' inability to penetrate further into Habsburg territory (Royal Hungary) during the Long War was one of their first geopolitical defeats. However, the Treaty stabilized conditions on the Habsburg-Ottoman frontier for half a century for the benefit of both parties. The Habsburgs would face serious domestic opposition the following years and the Ottomans, apart internal rebellion, had open conflicts in other parts of their frontiers (Poland and Iran).

ee also

*List of treaties