Jan Zamoyski, Chancellor of Poland, Sigismund sent envoys to Elizabeth I of England, asking her to intervene on his behalf at the Sublime Porte. She ordered her ambassador at Istanbul, Edward Barton, to support Sigismund. Pope Clement VIII wanted to persuade Sigismund to join the Holy League that the pope had organized against the Ottoman Empire. After Rudolph's troops defeated the Ottomans in a series of battles in the autumn of 1593, Sigismund decided to join the Holy League, provided that Rudolph acknowledged the independence of Transylvania from the Hungarian Crown. However, the delegates of the Three Nations refused to declare war against the Ottoman Empire at three consecutive Diets between May and July. Sigismund abdicated, tasking Balthasar Báthory with the government in late July. Balthasar wanted to seize the throne, but Kovacsóczy, Kendi, and the other leading officials decided to set up an aristocratic council to administer Transylvania. The commanders of the army (including Stephen Bocskai), and Friar Carillo jointly convinced Sigismund to return on 8August. They also persuaded him to order the arrest of Kovacsóczy, Kendi, Balthasar Báthory, and twelve other noblemen who had opposed the war against the Ottomans on 28August, accusing them of plotting. Sándor and Gábor Kendi were beheaded along with two other members of the royal council; Balthasar Báthory, Kovacsóczy, and Ferenc Kendi were strangled in prison. All but one murdered noblemen were Protestants, mostly Unitarians. Many of their relatives converted to Catholicism to prevent the confiscation of their estates. Holy League Sigismund decided to join the Holy League together with Aaron the Tyrant, voivode of Moldavia, and Michael the Brave, voivode of Wallachia, on 5October 1594. The two voivodes had started direct negotiations with the Holy See, but Sigismund, who claimed suzerainty over them, prevented them from conducting further direct negotiations. Sigismund's envoy, Stephen Bocskai, signed the document that confirmed the membership of Transylvania in the Holy League in Prague on 28January 1595. According to the treaty, RudolphII recognized Sigismund's hereditary right to rule Transylvania and Partium and to use the title of prince, but he also stipulated that the principality was to be re-united with the Hungarian Crown if Sigismund's family died out. The Diet of Transylvania confirmed the treaty on 16April. The Diet also prohibited religious innovations, which gave rise to the persecution of Szekler Sabbatarians in Udvarhelyszék. The Wallachian boyars and prelates recognized Sigismund's suzerainty over Wallachia on behalf of