Leopold I's soldiers suppressed all resistance in Royal Hungary. Hundreds of noblemen were dispossessed of their estates; foreign mercenaries replaced the Hungarian troops in the fortresses and started plundering the nearby towns and villages. Leopold I did not respect the fundamental laws of the kingdom and appointed a Directorium to administer Hungary in 1673. The new government pursued a violent anti-Protestant policy and dozens of Protestant pastors were sentenced to slavery. The persecuted Hungariansexpelled noblemen, ousted soldiers and fugitive serfssought refuge in Ottoman Hungary and the Partium. The refugees, who were called "kuruc", made frequent raids against the borderlands of Royal Hungary.