RAKOCZI, FERENC, I

born Feb. 24, 1645 died July 8, 1676, Makovica, Hung. scion of a noble Magyar family, and in 1670 a leader of an unsuccessful HungarianCroatian revolt against the Habsburgs. Rkczi, the son of Gyrgy Rkczi II, had been designated (1652) to become prince of Transylvania, but never did reign after his father's death (1660). Ferenc's mother, disregarding Gyrgy's last wishes, in 1662 induced Ferenc to become a Roman Catholic (as she had been before she turned Calvinist on her marriage to Gyrgy). In March 1666 Rkczi married Ilona, daughter of Pter Zrnyi (Zrinski), bn (governor) of Croatia, and four years later he joined Zrnyi in a conspiracy aimed at ending Habsburg rule in Hungary and Croatia. The insurrection was put down, and Zrnyi was beheaded in 1671. Rkczi was spared on payment of a ransom, however, through his mother's influence with the Jesuits.