BETHLEN-GABOR, betilen ga'136r, or GA BRIEL BETHLEN, or Brrtmenest (1580-1629). Prince of Transylvania. 1613-29. Ile was a mem ber of a prominent Protestant family of Tipper Hungary, which possessed, also, important estates in Transylvania. In 1613, with the assistance of the Sultan, and in defiance of the Emperor, he was made ruler of Transylvania. In 1619 he took advantage of the Bohemian struggle, and openly took up arms against Austria. He overran Hun gary, took Presburg, and spread devastation and terror to the gates of Vienna. The enthu siastic Hungarians elected him King (1620). his allies. the Protestants of Germany, having been crushed in the battle of Prague, Bethlen GAbor concluded peace with the Emperor Ferdi nand 11., receiving the town of Kasehau. with seven Hungarian comities adjoining Transyl vania, the principalities of Oppcln and Ratihor in Silesia, and the dignity of Prince of the Empire. This treaty, however, was soon bra ken by the Emperor, and Bethlen-Gabor, rais ing an army of 60.000 men, invaded .:\loravia, and obtained the solemn renewal of the for mer treaty. His marriage with Catharine of Brandenburg in 1625 involved him once more in the Thirty Years' \Var; but he finally retired from the contest in the following year, and thenceforth devoted himself exclusively to the internal affairs of Transylvania. He died in
1629. after a lingering and painful illness. He was known as one of the 'three great Magyars' of his age. Bethlen-Gabor was an able adminis trator as well as a brilliant general, and his reign was as beneficial to Transylvania on the side of internal progress as it was glorious for its military exploits. He encouraged the sci ences and letters and promoted education. His brother STEPHEN succeeded him, but was soon compelled to resign the throne. To the same family of Bethlen belong JOHN and WOLFGANG, both chancellors of Transylvania, the former of whom is celebrated for his work, Rerun Tran ,sylvanicaruni Libri IV. (Hermannstadt, 1683), which gives the history of the principality from 1629 to 1663, and the latter of whom wrote a history in 16 books, the AIS. of which, from long neglect, had been much damaged, but which was afterwards restored and completed and published (6 vols.) at Hermannstadt in 1792, under the title of Wolfgangi de Bethlen Historia de Rebus Transylvanieis,