There were many minor fights in the area, the “small war” was raging, and the Diet of 1602 declared it officially a Borderland castle and ordered its renovation. The peasants of Abaúj and Zemplén counties had to offer their free labor to carry out the constructions, according to the Diet’s decision. In the first part of the 17th century, Ónod was purchased by Rákóczi Zsigmond. As the castle was in a very neglected condition, it is no wonder that the Ottoman troops of Szolnok and Eger could take it by a surprise attack on 10 October 1639. They destroyed the palisade, freed the Turk captives, and put the castle on fire.

It was Captain Keglovich Miklós who had the stronghold repaired, Lady Lórántffy Zsuzsanna gave him 20,000 Forints to do so. The construction was completed in 1655, and a so-called “Hussar castle” was added to it. It was a large outer castle that the cavalrymen could use easily for their constant raids and patrols. It was said that “a castle can be defended on the field” at that time. The palisade was also rebuilt and there were 500 cavalrymen and 400 infantrymen in it, a considerable garrison in the age.

The soldiers of Prince Rákóczi Ferenc I took Ónod castle in 1670 but the Imperial mercenaries of General Spandau managed to gain it a year later. Then the rebel “kuruc” soldiers burned the castle in 1672.   Prince Thököly Imre, allied with the Ottomans, seized the castle in August 1682. He ordered the renovation of the ruined walls. The Imperial troops entered Ónod in 1685 but Thököly, with Turk’s help, chased them away in April 1688. This time, as the castle was so heavily ruined that it was not worth rebuilding, he put the fort on fire.

During the War of Independence of Prince Rákóczi Ferenc II, a Diet was summoned at Ónod in May 1707. Due to the flood of the Sajó River, the meeting was organized not in the castle but on the field of the village called Köröm, though. Not much later, the military importance of Ónod castle ceased to exist and the still-intact buildings were converted into granary. The floods of the Sjó destroyed the northern wall in 1845, while ten years later the middle section was washed away.

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