lasted until they reached a consensus, or the Diet acknowledged that the prince was unwilling to accept their proposal. The delegates started to discuss the royal propositions only after the debate about their memorandum was finished. Hungarian was the language of the discussions. Each delegate could take the floor, but they were required to stay concise. After closing the debate, the speaker summarized its main points and ordered the delegates to take their votes on the issue under discussion. The decisions passed at the Diets were sanctioned by the monarch. The execution of the laws was also a royal prerogative. Functions The princes were elected at the Diets, according to the fundamental laws of the principality. The negotiations preceding a prince's election enabled the Three Nations to secure the issue of a specific charter in which the future monarch pledged to respect their liberties. However, few monarchs were actually freely elected. For instance, Gabriel Báthory seized the throne with the support of the irregular Hajdú troops in 1608; the delegates elected Gabriel Bethlen "freely in their fear" of Ottoman intervention in 1613, according to the contemporaneous Ferenc Nagy Szabó's sarcastic remark. The Diets performed legislative, administrative and judicial functions. The Diet could authorize the monarch or the royal council to perform its functions. For instance, Christopher Báthory was authorized to take actions against radical Protestants in 1578. Almost 5,000 decrees were passed in the 16th and 17th centuries. Their analysis evidence that the monarchs dominated the political life of the principality. The delegates almost always accepted the royal propositions concerning taxation and made only one attempt to regulate the spending of tax revenues in 1593. They also regularly authorized the monarch to mobilize the general levy. They enacted the state monopolies without significant resistance, although, during the reign of George I Rákóczi, only after lengthy negotiations with the prince. On the other hand, the Diets passed hundreds of decrees about issues of local interest, including the regulation of the quest for runaway serfs or of the boundaries of noble estates. The Diets also functioned as a high court of justice, especially in politically motivated cases. Gabriel Bethlen was found guilty of high treason at the Diet in November 1612, but this decision was cancelled at the first Diet of his rule in October 1613. The Diet sentenced Kata Iffjú, the widow of János Imreffy (who had been Gabriel Báthory's chancellor)