Anna Mária Széchy of Rimaszécs (; circa 1610–1678), born Mária Széchy, was a 17th-century Hungarian noblewoman. She became one of the best-known and most influential Hungarian women of her time, famous for defending her property rights in the courts and participating in the disputes and fights between the pro-Habsburg and anti-Habsburg parties
Her main dispute was with her sisters and their husbands over Murány Castle, which they had inherited together. With the help of her third husband Ferenc Wesselényi, she secured the castle for herself. Széchy and Wesselényi took Murány for the Habsburg party: Széchy imprisoned the guards and let Wesselény's force in at night. As his wife, she became one of the most powerful women in Hungary, often representing her husband through letters or in person at the royal court and towards other nobles.
In the late 1660s, Széchy became involved in the anti-Habsburg magnate conspiracy headed by Wesselényi, but lost her leading position after her husband's 1667 death. She continued to aid the conspirators, but in 1668, she betrayed their plans to the imperial court. She was arrested in 1670 and imprisoned first in Murány, then in Pozsony and finally Vienna, while her estate was confiscated. She was only released in 1676; she spent the last two years of her life in Kőszeg.
A poem by István Gyöngyösi made her famous as the Venus of Murány (the murányi Venus). Her life became a matter of renewed interest in the 1840s, an age of Hungarian nationalism.
Ancestry and childhood The Széchys descended from the Balog lineage and were first noted as a noble family in the 13th century, going on to gather extensive lands in Transdanubia, Gömör County, and Upper Hungary. Members of the family filled various high political positions, such as palatine, judge royal, bans, and főispáns. Mária Széchy was born between 1609 and 1612, probably around 1610, in Vámosbalog (today Veľký Blh, Slovakia) to György Széchy of Rimaszécs (born probably around 1579, died 1625) and his wife, Mária Homonnay (or “Drugeth” of Homonna, born probably around 1589, d. 1643). György Széchy was the eldest son of Tamás III Széchy (born in the mid-16th century, d. 1618) and his first wife Borbála Perényi. At least from the time of Tamás III, the Széchy family were Lutherans. Mária Homonnay was the daughter of György II Homonnay, főispán of Ugocsa County and Fruzsina Dóczy, both dead by the time of their daughter's marriage. Her brother, György III Homonnay, would go on to become judge royal.
Mária Széchy's biographer, Ignác Acsády, characterises her father as a typical military man of the age: “bold” and “resilient” but also “selfish” and “cruel”. Thus, he succeeded in positioning himself well in an unstable period. His marriage to the rich Mária Homonnay was part of his successful navigation of the complex political situation. The marriage seems to have been happy and resulted in the birth of four sons (János, Péter, Sámuel, and György) and five daughters (Mária, Borbála, d. 1637; Magdolna, d. 1621; Kata, d. 1664; and Éva, d. 1665). All sons died and a daughter died in childhood, leaving four daughters: Mária herself, Borbála, Kata, and Éva. In 1617, György Széchy inherited Murány Castle (today in Muráň, Slovakia), an isolated and strategically unimportant stronghold. Széchy grew up in Murány and seems to have had a close relationship with her father. She and her sisters were educated by their mother, with an emphasis on religion. The children's education was aided by the Lutheran pastor of the family. The Széchys chose educated priests interested in the sciences and literature, mostly writers themselves. Growing up around writers and poets gave Széchy her lifelong interest in poetry and music. However, the most important people to teach the girls were their mother and the four or five öregasszony. Literally “old women”, these were widowed noblewomen who helped a castle's mistress run her household. Theoretical knowledge was less important than etiquette. Széchy also learnt to ride, hunt, and fish, pursuits which she would excel at and enjoy her whole life. The children grew up in a multilingual environment, surrounded by Tót (South Slavic) servants and German soldiers. Although her mother spoke Latin, it appears that Mária Széchy was only taught Hungarian, and perhaps learnt the Tót language, as her sister Kata was able to write letters in it. As an adult Széchy signed letters and documents in Latin, German, and Tót, but there is proof that these needed to be translated into Hungarian for her.
On 28 June 1621, the family were travelling from Murány to Besztercebánya (today Banská Bystrica, Slovakia) when they were caught in a sudden storm. Lightning killed six people, including Mária's sister Magdolna.
First marriage and life as Countess Bethlen György Széchy started planning his daughter's marriage in 1625. He looked for a bridegroom from the family of his ally Gabriel Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania. During the time of the marriage negotiations, on 31 August 1625, György Széchy spent a night sleeping in a barn, probably after a hunt. His armour-bearer Miklós Léthy and other servants shot him in the head. Nothing is known of their motivation or later fate.
The four living Széchy daughters' (Mária, Borbála, Kata, and Éva) vast inheritance was challenged by their uncle, Dénes Széchy, as well as their father's various creditors and enemies. Mária Homonnay spent the next years safeguarding their fortune, a difficult task as their lands were scattered across all three parts of the divided kingdom (occupied Ottoman Hungary, Habsburg-ruled Royal Hungary, and a semi-independent Ottoman vassal state, the Principality of Transylvania). As opposed to her opportunist husband, Homonnay was a staunch royalist and supporter of the Habsburgs. She pleaded the protection of Emperor-King Ferdinand II and on 2 May 1626, took a written oath not to cede Murány Castle to any “foreign prince”, and especially “not to the prince of Transylvania, nor to any person belonging to” him.
Nevertheless, she continued her husband's policy of marrying Mária into the Bethlen family that ruled Transylvania. In March 1626, the bridegroom, Count István Bethlen Jr. of Iktár (today Ictar-Budinț, Romania) visited Murány. By the end of his stay, the two had certainly been betrothed. Count Bethlen, the son of Count István Bethlen of Iktár Sr. and Krisztina Csáky, was a favourite nephew of the childless Prince Bethlen. The prince raised him from the age of two and sent him to study at Heidelberg University, then on a grand tour of Europe. In 1620, he was formally adopted by his uncle. Considered the heir to Transylvania, he was endowed with many lands and castles. In contemporary sources, he is described as “very modest, temperate, with a fine mind, knowledge, and valiant courage”. His age at the time of his marriage is uncertain; he may have been born as early as 1604, but more likely around 1608. The wedding was planned for 20 October 1626, but postponed because of the ongoing wars of Prince Bethlen and because Mária Homonnay tried to bargain on the dowry. Her husband had promised an exceptional sum because of the standing and wealth of the bridegroom, but Homonnay argued that his station had since diminished: he was no longer the heir to Transylvania, replaced by his uncle's second wife Catherine of Brandenburg. Prince Betlen refused to accept a lower dowry, and, with Homonnay acquiescing, the wedding was held on 30 May 1627.
Széchy's rich dowry contained jewellery and clothes from Bratislava and Vienna. Many of her jewels originated in Stephen Bocskay's collection. The seven counties of Transylvania all sent tributes to the wedding feast. Homonnay invited the Habsburg emperor-king, Ferdinand II and the palatine, Miklós Esterházy (who both sent envoys) as well as the aristocracy of Hungary and Transylvania and representatives of neighbouring counties and royal free cities. The wedding was celebrated in the chapel of the Széchys's Jolsva (today Jelšava, Slovakia) castle and followed by days of feasting in Murány Castle. A week later, the couple travelled to Transylvania accompanied by many of their guests; they were received with celebrations along the way.
Széchy arrived in her new home, Gyulafehérvár (today Alba Iulia, Romania), on 18 June 1627. She became a prominent lady in the princely court. Although the young couple spent most of their time on their countryside estates, they participated in the lively entertainments of Princess Catherine of Brandenburg, especially during the first winter of their marriage. Széchy's first marriage appears to have been happy; the spouses treated each other with love and care, and Count Bethlen often listened to his wife's advice. Count Bethlen struggled with drinking too much, but he was able to stay sober when in his wife's company. Mária Homonnay sent instructions to her daughter and son-in-law, who deferred to her and honoured her.
In 1628, Széchy gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Krisztina. They were both often sick with a fever over the next two years. Following the death of Prince Bethlen, Transylvania experienced political turmoil, so Széchy and her daughter stayed in the family seat of Nagyecsed for their protection. In the summer of 1631, Krisztina, not yet three, died of a childhood illness, and was buried with great ceremony. During 1632, Széchy probably had a second child who died in infancy. Around Christmas 1632, her husband also died. The cause was possibly a pubic lice infestation or another unknown illness, of which he might have been suffering since 1630.
Legal battles with the Bethlens and second marriage As soon as her husband died, Széchy's father-in-law, István Bethlen Sr. and her brother-in-law, Péter Bethlen, arrived at Nagyecsed. Citing the lack of surviving children, they deprived Széchy of inheritance she was lawfully due. Széchy's mother sent her chief lawyers and advisers, but they were helpless against the politically powerful men. The Bethlens hastened negotiations to prevent Széchy from finding supporters in the princely court. On 1 March 1633, Széchy unconditionally relinquished Nagyecsed and its surrounding estates, but kept Vajdahunyad, Déva, and Bábolna (today Hunedoara, Deva, and Bobâlna, Romania). Upon her remarriage, she would give Vajdahunyad and Bábolna back, too, and Déva was only hers for life (so her future children from other marriages could not inherit it). She only retained ownership of an estate in Tasnád and a house in Nagyvárad (today Tășnad and Oradea, Romania) which had been bought with money from her dowry. Széchy retired to Déva. On 14 March 1634, she went to the cathedral chapter of Gyulafehérvár to declare the contract null and invalid. She alleged that she had been coerced into an unfair agreement while being in distress following her husband's death and asked to keep Vajdahunyad and Bábolna even if she remarried. Her legal issues may have influenced her decision to find a second husband who could support her in court.
By November 1634, Széchy had married István Kun of Rozsály. The costs of the wedding were advanced by Széchy, by far the wealthier of the two. The Kun family were wealthy and prominent in Szatmár County, but not as politically eminent as the Bethlens. Acsády describes Kun as a “decent but very ordinary” person, whose intellectual abilities did not match those of Széchy. This marriage appears to have been unhappy from the start and the characters of the spouses were incompatible. Neither Széchy's ambitions nor her intellectual curiosity were satisfied. She complained to Prince George II Rákóczi and Princess Zsuzsanna Lorántffy, who unsuccessfully tried to mediate between the spouses.