Francis II Rákóczi (, ; 27 March 1676 – 8 April 1735) was a Hungarian nobleman and leader of Rákóczi's War of Independence against the Habsburgs in 1703–11 as the prince () of the Estates Confederated for Liberty of the Kingdom of Hungary. He was also Prince of Transylvania, an Imperial Prince, and a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Today he is considered a national hero in Hungary. His full title was: Franciscus II. Dei Gratia Sacri Romani Imperii & Transylvaniae princeps Rakoczi. Particum Regni Hungariae Dominus & Siculorum Comes, Regni Hungariae Pro Libertate Confoederatorum Statuum necnon Munkacsiensis & Makoviczensis Dux, Perpetuus Comes de Saros; Dominus in Patak, Tokaj, Regécz, Ecsed, Somlyó, Lednicze, Szerencs, Onod. His name is historically also spelled Rákóczy, in Hungarian: II. Rákóczi Ferenc, in Slovak: František II. Rákoci, in German: Franz II. Rákóczi, in Croatian: Franjo II. Rákóczy (Rakoci, Rakoczy), in Romanian: Francisc Rákóczi al II-lea, in Serbian Ференц II Ракоци. Although the Hungarian parliament offered Rákóczi the royal crown, he refused it, choosing instead the temporary title of the "Ruling Prince of Hungary". Rákóczi intended to bear this military-sounding title only during the anti-Habsburg war of independence. By refusing the royal crown, he proclaimed to Hungary that it was not his personal ambition that drove the war of liberation against the Habsburg dynasty. Childhood He was the richest landlord in the Kingdom of Hungary and the count (comes perpetuus) of the Comitatus Sarossiensis (in Hungarian Sáros) from 1694 on. He was the third of three children born to Francis I Rákóczi, elected ruling prince of Transylvania, and Ilona Zrínyi, who was the daughter of Petar Zrinski, Ban of Croatia, and niece of Petar's older brother, Miklós Zrínyi. His paternal grandfather George Rákóczi II and great-grandfather George I Rákóczi were also Princes of Transylvania. He had a brother, George, who died as a baby before Francis was born, and a sister, Julianna Rákóczi, later Countess of Aspremont-Lynden, who was four years older than Francis. His father died when he was four months old. Upon Ferenc I's death, his widow requested guardianship of her children; however, the advisors of Emperor Leopold I insisted that he retain guardianship of both Ferenc and his sister, especially as Francis I had willed this before death. Despite further difficulties, Zrínyi was able to raise her children, while the Emperor retained legal guardianship. The family lived in the castle