Just as Kyiv Rus' started to split up into rival principalities after the death of Prince Volodymyr the Great, the neighboring Hungarian King Istvan (a.k.a. Stephen I) took advantage of the situation, seizing lowland Transcarpathia (Zakarpattia). In 1031, he handed the possession over to his son Imre (Emeric), and a German chronicler called the latter Dux Ruissorum, a Ruthenian Prince.
King Laszlo I of Hungary, faced with frequent Polovetsian raids, ordered the construction of a fortress on top of Zamkova (Castle) Hill. Thus when the Polovetsians burst into Mukacheve in 1086 the populace hid in the castle. The nomads raged in the valley for five days but never took the fortress. In 1241-42, the Tatars entered the Ruthenian Gate and scattered over Hungary, and again the populace found refuge behind the castle's fortified walls.
Prince Fedir Koriatovych of Podillia breathed a new life in Mukacheve Castle. Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas wanted to do away with the independent Podillia principality. In 1393, he declared war on Koriatovych and the latter fled to his nephew, Hungarian King Sigismund (Zsigmond) who offered him his Mukacheve and Makovytsia dominions. Koriatovych proceeded to build up Mukacheve Castle, turning it into his residence.
Remembering the old Latin truth, si vis pacem, para bellum, if you wish to live in peace, prepare for war, Fedir Koriatovych rebuilt and further reinforced the castle, supplying it with 60 barrels of gunpowder and 164 cannons of various caliber. A moat was dug, surrounding Zamkova Hill towering 68 meters over the city, and the moat was fortified from within by an oak palisade behind which lived artisans and workers servicing the castle, who would take up arms in case of siege. Koriatovych allowed the foundation of an Eastern Orthodox monastery on the right bank of the river Latorytsia, which would have a library of 6,000 volumes.
The Prince had no heirs, and Sigismund took over the castle after his death.
For 150 years the fortress changed hands until seized by the Austrian army. Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II ordered renovation of the castle, for which purpose 49,076 serfs were recruited. Renovation was completed in 1569. Now the fortress had 220 cannons and some 600 firearms.
Strategically important, the fortress was sold, resold, and even mortgaged on more than one occasion, until bought in 1635 by George (Gyorgey) I Rakoczi, Prince of Transylvania, for 200,000 forints. Mukacheve turned into the center of a principality. After the Prince's death in 1648 his wife Susanna Lorantfi kept up his cause, finishing construction work on the castle. Now it was a typical medieval castle with tall keeps and sturdy bastions.
Now the castle was the Rakoczy estate inheritance. After George I it was owned by his son George II, then his son Francis (Ferenc) I who married Ilona, daughter of the Croatian ruler Peter Zrini. The son- and father-in-law dreamed of freeing their domains of Austrian influence and joined in a conspiracy against the Habsburg dynasty which proved abortive. Most conspirators were executed. Francis I bought himself out of trouble with 400,000 forints. He was pardoned but had to let Austrian garrisons into his domains. Mukacheve was the only exception. The Duke retired from politics but Austria remembered him and in the summer of 1676 he died, aged 31, leaving a young widow with 4-year-old daughter Juliana and 5-month-old son Ferenc.
Two years later, a young Count Imre Thokoly appeared in the locality, rallying around him the kuruzi Protestant rebels. They were poorly organized but fought the Habsburgs with religious zeal. Ilona Zrini's mother-in-law, Sophia Batory, was a devout supporter of the Habsburgs, so the rebels, following a peculiar logic of their own, decided to take revenge on her daughter-in-law.
Imre Thokoly married Ilona Zrini and their wedding party (June 15, 1682) went down in history (under the heading “How to Get Rich Quick”). The groom was 25 and the bride 39. The festivities lasted for days, during which time 10 bulls, 36 lambs, 20 pigs, 80 sheep, 8 centners of fish, 200 centners of flour, 50 centners of honey and sugar, 130 barrels of red and 150 barrels of white wine, 40 barrels of beer, and 25 small barrels of Polish vodka were procured and consumed.
Count Imre Thokoly kept a plush court: 313 persons as house help, but only 239 men as castle guard. While the young couple indulged in nuptial pleasures Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa and 230,000 officers and men under his command tried to take Vienna. Thokoly also took the field against Austrian Emperor Leopold I. The Turkish campaign proved a failure and Count Thokoly was taken prisoner of war by his former allies. Three years later, Mukacheve Castle was besieged by General Siegbert Geister's Austrian troops. The castle was defended by two or three thousand well armed warriors equipped with 52 cannons. The attacker got reinforcements. Now the siege was led by a new general who proposed that Ilona Zrini surrender. She refused and ordered red standards unfurled on top of every keep, meaning that those inside would fight to the last man. The woman was very courageous, showing up under enemy fire with her 9-year-old son Ferenc. Aided by her daughter, she tended the wounded.
The Austrian forces finally retreated. Meanwhile, Ilona managed to travel to Poland, change her family valuables for money, and return with enough to pay the garrison. The castle was besieged again. They resisted for seven months, but then signed an act of capitulation (January 17) to prevent further human losses.
Leopold I ordered the castle's sturdy walls torn down, along with the donjon (called Stara Vezha, the Old Tower) dating to the times of Prince Fedir Koriatovych. Now the castle was a low-profile stronghold with outstanding sharp-angled bastions and field fortifications. Its was renovated later, turning into the strongest fortress in the eastern Austrian Empire.
Ferenc II Rakoczy led a new rebellion against the Habsburgs, promising the kuruzi liberation from serfdom. He came from Poland at the head of 500 Verkhovyna [Carpathian highland] insurgents. These Ukrainians formed his personal Guard whom the Duke called gens fidelissima, the most loyal people.
Once again Mukacheve Castle turned into a venue of armed struggle against the authorities. Hostilities required heavy financing. Ferenc II dispatched inspectors to Solotvyn, instructing them to raise the output of salt to the maximum, as the product was in great demand on the Western European market. A large mint was set up, protected by Mukacheve walls and a kuruzi army of 75,000.
To find allies in his struggle against Austria, Ferenc II turned to France and the Russian Emperor Peter I. He also had Sweden and Turkey in mind. Peter I, warring against the latter two countries, gave an evasive answer and suggested that Ferenc II take the Polish crown. It was then Ferenc II asked the Hungarian lords for help. They held a counsel in Onod, announced the overthrow of the Habsburg dynasty, and elected Ferenc II Rakoczy the ruler of Hungary. The kuruzi, aware of having been taken in once again, made themselves scarce. The Duke tried to offer resistance. In vain. His gens fidelissima surrendered Mukacheve Castle to the Austrian forces in 1711.
Under the Peace Treaty of Satmar, Ferenc II Rakoczy was guaranteed full amnesty and title to his estates. The Duke announced that he could not put up with such peace terms. He ended his life in exile, first living in Russia, then in France, and finally in Turkey where he met his dying day in 1753.
Photos by the author:
VIEW OF THE SEMICIRCULAR BASTION OF THE UPPER CASTLE AND WATCHTOWER.
PRINCE FEDIR KORIYATOVYCH, WHO FORTIFIED THE MUKACHEVE CASTLE








