George I Rákóczi (8 June 1593, Szerencs - 11 October 1648) was Prince of Transylvania from 1630 until his death in 1648. He was the eldest son of Baron Sigismund Rákóczi and his second wife, Anna Gerendi.Sigismund, who was a successful military commander in Royal Hungary, was the first member of the Rákóczi family to rise to prominence. During the reign of George I Rákóczi, as during the reign of the princes Gabriel Bethlen or George II Rákóczi, the Principality of Transylvania, under Ottoman suzerainty, experienced an epoch of economic blossoming and political and cultural affirmation, reinforcing the central power.
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