Ego-network of István Bocskai in the Light of His Correspondence (1576–1598)

Abstract

István Bocskai (1557–1606) was an outstanding person of the Hungarian history at the turn of the 16th and 17th century, who is one of the greatest letter-writer in the early modern age. The total exchange of letters (about 500 pieces) has been scattered over 30 various source-publications and source-books, while the unpublished letters can be found in different Hungarian and foreign archives. In my paper I focus on the social network of István Bocskai in two less-known periods, using a special approach (ego-network). My research is based on the correspondence of István Bocskai, that is one group of ego documents. My aim is to present, by 134 records (letters and testimonies) clean-cut, main tendencies. * The research related to this paper was supported by the Ministry of Human Capacities (Emberi Erőforrások Minisztériuma) through the grant (code no. 20391-3/2018/FEKUSTRAT). This paper is written as a contribution of the Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence, the Department of Medieval and Early Modern Hungarian History (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences) (University of Szeged) and the MTA–SZTE Research Group of the Ottoman Age.