The long 17th century, extending from the Peace of Vienna in 1606 to the Treaty of Szatmár in 1711, occupies a special place within the history of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its interpretation has been determined by successive historiographies since the 19th century, with regarded the 17th century, first as the most decisive period of the Hungarian struggles for independence, and then as the time of attempts launched from the Principality of Transylvania at the unification of the Hungarian Kingdom. On the basis of several years of archival research, and following in the footsteps of such historians as Robert J.W. Evans from Oxford, Thomas Winkelbauer from Vienna and Jean Bérenger from Paris, the author of the present study rather examines the history of the Hungarian Kingdom in the 17th century as part of a relationship between the Central European Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of Hungary, the Habsburg court of Vienna and the Hungarian political elite. Within such a framework,  the history of Hungary between 1606 and 1711 can be regarded as the century of ruptures and compromises, which guaranteed the privileges and liberties of the Hungarian estates, and secured for the Hungarian political elite a decisive role in shaping the domestic politics, local administration and judicial system of Hungary.