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BETHLEN, GABRIEL (GABOR) (1580-1629)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 830 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also:

BETHLEN, See also:GABRIEL (GABOR) (1580-1629) , See also:prince of Transylvania, the most famous representative of the Iktari See also:branch of a very See also:ancient Hungarian See also:family, was See also:born at Illye, and educated at Szarhegy, at the See also:castle of his See also:uncle Andras See also:Lazar. Thence he was sent to the See also:court of Prince Zsigmond See also:Bathory, whom he accompanied on his famous Wallachian See also:campaign in 1600. Subsequently he assisted See also:Stephen See also:Bocskay to See also:mount the See also:throne of Transylvania (1605), and remained his See also:chief counsellor. Bethlen also supported Bocskay's successor Gabriel Bathory (1608-1613), but the prince became jealous of Bethlen's See also:superior abilities, and he was obliged to take See also:refuge with the See also:Turks. In 1613 he led a large See also:army against his persecutor, on whose See also:murder by two of his See also:officers that See also:year Bethlen was placed on the throne by the See also:Porte, in opposition to the wishes of the See also:emperor, who preferred a prince who would incline more towards See also:Vienna than towards See also:Constantinople. On the 13th of See also:October 1613, the See also:diet of Klausenburg confirmed the choice of the See also:sultan. In 1615 Gabor was also officially recognized by the emperor See also:Matthias. Bethlen no sooner See also:felt firmly seated on his throne than he seized the opportunity presented to him by the outbreak of the See also:Thirty Years' See also:War to take up arms in See also:defence of the liberties and the constitution of the extra-Transylvanian Hungarian provinces, with the view of more effectually assuring his own position. While See also:Ferdinand was occupied with the Bohemian rebels, Bethlen led his armies into See also:Hungary (1619), and soon won over the whole of the See also:northern counties, even securing See also:Pressburg and the See also:Holy See also:Crown. Nevertheless he was not averse to a See also:peace, nor to a preliminary suspension of hostilities, and negotiations were opened at Pressburg, Kassa and Beszterczebanya successively, but came to nothing because Bethlen insisted on including the Bohemians in the peace, whereupon (loth of See also:August 162o) the estates of See also:North Hungary elected him See also:king. Bethlen accepted the See also:title but refused to be crowned, and war was resumed, till the defeat of the Czechs at the See also:battle of the See also:White See also:Hill gave a new turn to affairs. In Bohemia, Ferdinand II. took a fearful revenge upon the vanquished; and Bethlen, regarding a continuation of the war as unprofitable, concluded the peace of See also:Nikolsburg (31st of See also:December 1621), renouncing the royal title on See also:condition that Ferdinand confirmed the peace of Vienna (which had granted full See also:liberty of See also:worship to the Protestants) and engaged to summon a See also:general diet within six months.

For himself Bethlen secured the title of prince of the See also:

Empire, the seven counties of the Upper See also:Theiss, and the fortresses of See also:Tokaj, See also:Munkacs and Ecsed. Subsequently Bethlen twice (1623 and 1626) took up arms against Ferdinand as the ally of the See also:anti-See also:Habsburg See also:Protestant See also:powers. The first war was concluded by the peace of Vienna, the second by the peace of Pressburg, both confirmatory of the peace of Nikolsburg. After the second of these insurrections, Bethlen attempted a rapprochement with the court of Vienna on the basis of an See also:alliance against the Turks and his own See also:marriage with one of the See also:Austrian archduchesses; but Ferdinand had no confidence in him and rejected his overtures. Bethlen was obliged to renounce his anti-See also:Turkish projects, which he had hitherto cherished as the See also:great aim and See also:object of his See also:life, and continue in the old beaten paths. Accordingly, on his return from Vienna he wedded See also:Catherine, the daughter of the elector of See also:Brandenburg, and still more closely allied himself with the Protestant powers, especially with Gustavus See also:Adolphus of See also:Sweden, who, he ,hoped, would assist him to obtain the See also:Polish crown. He died before he could accomplish any of his great designs (15th of See also:November 1629), having previously secured the See also:election of his wife Catherine as princess. His first wife, Susannah See also:Karolyi, died in 1622. Gabriel Bethlen was certainly one of the most striking and See also:original personages of his See also:century. A zealous Calvinist, whose boast it was that he had read the See also:Bible twenty-five times, he was nevertheless no persecutor, and even helped the Jesuit Kaldy to translate and See also:print his version of the Scriptures. He was in communication all his life with the leading contemporary statesmen, so that his See also:correspondence is one of the most interesting and important of See also:historical documents. He also composed See also:hymns.

The best See also:

editions of his correspondence are those by See also:Sandor Szilagyi, both published at Buda (1866 and 1899). The best life of him is that by the Bohemian historian Anton See also:Gindely, Acta et documenta historiam GabrielisBethleni illustrantia (See also:Budapest, 189o). This See also:work has been largely utilized by Ignae-Acsady in his excellent Gabriel Bethlen and his Court (Hung., Budapest, 189o). (R. N.

End of Article: BETHLEN, GABRIEL (GABOR) (1580-1629)

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