Bocskai had already in the spring of 1606 stated that his feet felt heavy, suggesting that he suffered from edema.
On 13 December, he convoked the Diet to Kassa, but four days later he made his last will.
He urged his successors to preserve the independence of Transylvania as long as the Habsburgs reigned in Royal Hungary.
He named Bálint Drugeth as his successor before he died in Kassa on 29 December.

Bocskai's sudden death gave rise to rumours.
The Hajdús accused his chancellor, Mihály Káthay, of having poisoned him.
They also claimed that Káthay had falsified Bocskai's testament to prevent the young Gábor Báthory from seizing the throne.
The Hajdús attacked Káthay on the main square of Kassa and cut him into pieces on 12 January 1607.

The funeral procession taking Bocskai's corpse to Gyulafehérvár departed from Kassa on 3 February.
Drugeth led the procession, but the Diet of Transylvania did not want to elect him their ruler.
Instead, they proclaimed the elderly Sigismund Rákóczi prince in Kolozsvár on 11 February.
Bocskai was buried in the St Michael's Cathedral in Gyulafehérvár on 22 February.

As long as the Hungarian Crown is with a nation mightier than us, with the German, and the Hungarian Kingdom is also dependent of the Germans, it will be necessary and expedient to have a Hungarian prince in Transylvania, for he shall provide protection and be of use to them.
If, may God grant, the Hungarian Crown were at Hungarian hands in a Hungary under a crowned king, we urge the Transylvanians neither to secede from it, nor to resist to it, but rather to make efforts, according to their abilities and with united will, to subject themselves to that Crown in the ancient way.

— Excerpt from Bocskai's last will
Bocskai had already in the spring of 1606 stated that his feet felt heavy, suggesting that he suffered from edema. On 13 December, he convoked the Diet to Kassa, but four days later he made his last will. He urged his successors to preserve the independence of Transylvania as long as the Habsburgs reigned in Royal Hungary. He named Bálint Drugeth as his successor before he died in Kassa on 29 December.
Bocskai's sudden death gave rise to rumours. The Hajdús accused his chancellor, Mihály Káthay, of having poisoned him. They also claimed that Káthay had falsified Bocskai's testament to prevent the young Gábor Báthory from seizing the throne. The Hajdús attacked Káthay on the main square of Kassa and cut him into pieces on 12 January 1607.
The funeral procession taking Bocskai's corpse to Gyulafehérvár departed from Kassa on 3 February. Drugeth led the procession, but the Diet of Transylvania did not want to elect him their ruler. Instead, they proclaimed the elderly Sigismund Rákóczi prince in Kolozsvár on 11 February. Bocskai was buried in the St Michael's Cathedral in Gyulafehérvár on 22 February.
As long as the Hungarian Crown is with a nation mightier than us, with the German, and the Hungarian Kingdom is also dependent of the Germans, it will be necessary and expedient to have a Hungarian prince in Transylvania, for he shall provide protection and be of use to them. If, may God grant, the Hungarian Crown were at Hungarian hands in a Hungary under a crowned king, we urge the Transylvanians neither to secede from it, nor to resist to it, but rather to make efforts, according to their abilities and with united will, to subject themselves to that Crown in the ancient way.
— Excerpt from Bocskai's last will
Stephen Bocskai