1636–1706 Besieged by Hungarians, never by TurksObliehali ho Uhri, nikdy nie Turci

The inheritance fight after the Thurzós was won, eventually, by Štefan Csáky: he seized the castle by force, was pressured into handing it back in 1636, and got it from Ferdinand III three years later through the palatine's good offices and a payment — which is why you will see 1636, 1638 and 1639 all given as the year the Csákys arrived. They rebuilt hard until 1663: arcades around the upper courtyard, an armoury in the old Romanesque palace, an entrance remodelled for cannon. Then came the anti-Habsburg uprisings, and here the usual local story is simply wrong: no Ottoman army ever took Spiš. Thököly's kuruc sat under the walls from August to mid-November 1683 and failed; in December 1703 Rákóczi's troops took it at Christmas and held it three years, and imperial soldiers broke openings through the upper walls so their guns could cover the road from the Branisko pass to Levoča.Dedičský spor po Turzovcoch nakoniec vyhral Štefan Čáki: hradu sa najprv násilne zmocnil, v roku 1636 ho pod nátlakom musel vydať a o tri roky ho od Ferdinanda III. na príhovor palatína a za úplatu dostal späť — preto sa ako rok príchodu Čákiovcov uvádza raz 1636, inokedy 1638 či 1639. Prestavovali dôkladne až do roku 1663: arkády okolo horného nádvoria, zbrojnica v starom románskom paláci, vstup upravený na delovú obranu. Potom prišli protihabsburské povstania — a tu sa bežná miestna verzia jednoducho mýli: Spišský hrad nikdy nedobyli Turci. Tököliho kuruci pod ním sedeli od augusta do polovice novembra 1683 a neuspeli; v decembri 1703 ho na Vianoce dobyli vojská Františka II. Rákociho a držali tri roky, a cisárski vojaci prelomili múry horného hradu, aby ich delá dosiahli na cestu od Branisku k Levoči.