Antonio von Caraffa (1646 – 6 March 1693) was a General Commissary (Generalkriegskommissär) of the Imperial-Habsburg Army—the highest rank in the Austrian military hierarchy at the time. He also held various other high-ranking offices, including military governor of

Upper Hungary Upper Hungary (, "Upland"), is the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia. The region has also been called ''Felső-Magyarország'' ( literally: "Upper Hungary"; ). During the ...

and later royal commissioner of

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. He was born in the Neapolitan

House of Carafa Carafa or Caraffa is the name of an old and influential Naples, Neapolitan aristocratic family of Italian nobles, clergy, and men of arts, known from the 12th century. Divided into numerous branches, the main and most important of which are the ...

. He was introduced at the Imperial Court (''Kaiserhof'') in Vienna in 1655 by his cousin Cardinal Carlo Carafa della Spina. Later he entered the Imperial Army, and became a Colonel in 1672, when he participated in the War against the Turks in Hungary. During the

Siege of Vienna (1683) The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Lit ...

, he was sent by

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; ; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, List of Croatian monarchs, Croatia, and List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Rom ...

to Warsaw, to urge Polish King

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

to come to the help of the city. In 1685, he took

Prešov Prešov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region () and Šariš. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city i ...

from the Turks. After the conquest of

, he was appointed its military governor. He set up the Executive Court of Prešov, by which he ruthlessly persecuted followers of

Imre Thököly Imre () is a Hungarian masculine first name, which is also in Estonian use, where the corresponding name day is 10 April. It has been suggested that it relates to the name Emeric, Emmerich or Heinrich. Its English equivalents are Emery and He ...

; the Court, whose proceedings remained secret, made widespread use of torture and executed seventeen supposed conspirators. For this event, Caraffa developed a reputation for cruelty among Hungarians. The Hungarian nobility complained to the Emperor and Caraffa was given another position as General Commissary of the army. He remained in Imperial service and conquered

Palanok Castle The Palanok Castle or Mukachevo Castle (; or ; ) is a historic castle in the city of Mukacheve in the western Ukrainian oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belaru ...

Mukachevo Mukachevo (, ; , ; see name section) is a city in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated in the valley of the Latorica River and serves as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion. The city is a rail terminus and highway junct ...

, defended by

Ilona Zrínyi Countess Ilona Zrínyi (Croatian language, Croatian: ''Jelena Zrinska'', Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Zrínyi Ilona'') (1643, Ozalj – 18 February 1703, Izmit) was a noblewoman and heroine. She was one of the last surviving members of th ...

after a siege of three years. In this way, he was appointed royal commissioner of

, and managed to persuade

Mihály Teleki Mihály Teleki (Oradea, Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Principality of Transylvania, 1634 - Zărnești, 21 August 1690), was Chancellor of Transylvania and adviser to Prince Michael I Apafi. Biography Michael Teleki (Hungarian: Tel ...

and an important part of the nobility to switch to the Austrian side. He also conquered Lipova and

Lugoj Lugoj (; ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities and towns in Romania, city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș, Timiș River divides the city into two halves: the "Romanian Lugoj" that spreads on the right bank, and the "German Lugoj" on the left bank. Th ...

. His administration of Transylvania was also remembered as heavy-handed, for he extracted more taxes than the Ottomans had collected tribute. He played a very important role in the conquest of Belgrade in 1688, and was for this rewarded with the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

and lands in

Voćin Voćin is a village and municipality in western Slavonia, Croatia, located southwest of Slatina and east of Daruvar. The population of the municipality is 1,911, with 956 people living in Voćin itself (census 2021). Geography Voćin, a pilgrima ...

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

. In 1691, he commanded the Austrian troops in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

in Italy. His deeds were chronicled by

Giambattista Vico Giambattista Vico (born Giovan Battista Vico ; ; 23 June 1668 – 23 January 1744) was an Italian philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist during the Italian Enlightenment. He criticized the expansion and development of modern rationali ...

in ''De rebus gestis Antonj Caraphaei'', first published in 1716 at the commission of Adriano Antonio Carafa (1696–1765).

References

Further reading