enough to turn the tide of the battle. Realizing the futility of continuing the battle, Michael took his horse and swam across the Maros. The Wallachian casualties were high, with more than 5,000 men killed in action and many more prisoners, especially Szeklers, later executed by the vindictive Hungarian nobility. Basta's army lost approximately 1,000 men in the battle. The defeat of Michael put an end to his rule in Transylvania. After being soon expelled from Wallachia by the Polish troops led by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Michael went to Prague to win Rudolf's favour once again. After succeeding to do so, he was sent back to Transylvania by Rudolf in 1601. Basta and Michael defeated together Prince Sigismund Báthory at Goroszló, however, Basta had him assassinated on August 9, 1601. As he was already the prince of Wallachia and Moldavia, his election as prince of Transylvania is regarded by Romanian historiography as a very important moment of Romanian history, being the first occasion that all three territories which had a Romanian population came under a single ruler. Romanian historiography asserts that it was Michael's goal to unite the three provinces inhabited by Romanians. Hungarian historiography regards his election as prince of Transylvania as an episode in the anarchic years of the Long War fought by the Habsburg Empire and the Ottoman Empire which did not have national character in the modern sense of the term. In Transylvania, these years were characterized by fierce political struggle and intrigues between different factions of Hungarian nobility, ethnic Hungarian Szeklers, and Saxons forming the Union of Three Nations. This struggle was combined with the military and political interference in Transylvanian affairs by the rivaling Habsburg and Ottoman Empires supporting from time to time one faction or another. The years of the Long War had a devastating effect on Transylvania which only ended by the rule of Prince István Bocskay in 1604. References 1600 in Europe Conflicts in 1600 Miriszlo 1600 Mirăslău 1600 Mirăslău 1600 Military history of Romania History of Alba County Mirăslău