János Bethlen de Bethlen (1613 – 13 February 1678)Markó 2006, p. 102. was a Hungarian noble in the Principality of Transylvania, who served as

Chancellor of Transylvania The following is the list of chancellors of Transylvania during the Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711) and the (Grand) Principality of Transylvania (1711–1867). List of chancellors Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Principali ...

from 1659 to 1678.

Life

János was the only son of Farkas Bethlen,

Ispán The ispánRady 2000, p. 19.''Stephen Werbőczy: The Customary Law of the Renowned Kingdom of Hungary in Three Parts (1517)'', p. 450. or countEngel 2001, p. 40.Curta 2006, p. 355. (, , and ),Kirschbaum 2007, p. 315. deriving from title of župan, ...

(Count; ''comes'') of

Küküllő County Küküllő County (; ; ) was a Counties of the Kingdom of Hungary, county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Located in the Transylvania region between the rivers Mureș (river), Maros (''Mureș'') and Târnava Mare, Nagy-Küküllő (''Târnava Mare''), i ...

and Anna Kemény de Magyargyerőmonostor, sister of John Kemény,

Prince of Transylvania The Prince of Transylvania (, , , Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77.) was the head of state of the Principality of Transylvania from the late-16th century until the mid-18th century. John Sigismund Zápolya was the first to adopt the title in 1 ...

. He had three sisters. His parents died during his youth, he grew up in the court of Ferenc Macskási. Under the influence of his stepfather, he converted to

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

from

Unitarianism Unitarianism () is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian sect of Christianity. Unitarian Christians affirm the wikt:unitary, unitary God in Christianity, nature of God as the singular and unique Creator deity, creator of the universe, believe that ...

. His educator was Pál Keresztúri. He studied for several years in the University of Frankfurt until September 1630 when returned to home. He married Borbála Várady (d. 1661) in 1637, they had two sons, including

Miklós Miklós (, ) is a given name or surname, the Hungarian form of the Greek (English ''Nicholas''), and may refer to: In Hungarian politics * Miklós Bánffy, Hungarian nobleman, politician, and novelist * Miklós Horthy, Regent of the Kingdom of H ...

, future Chancellor of Transylvania, and two daughters. His second wife was Klára Fekete de Frics (since 1662), they had a son.

Political career

Bethlen was a member of the Royal Court of Justice from March 1648 to 1658. He served as Ispán of

Torda County Torda County (,Fallenbüchl 1994, p. 153. , ) was a county in Transylvania between the 11th century and 1876. History Kingdom of Hungary Counties (districts formed around royal fortresses) were the basic units of royal administration in the Kingd ...

(1651–1656), Küküllő County (1656–1662; alongside Ferenc Pekry between 1658 and 1659) and

Fehér County Alba County () is a county ( județ) of Romania located in the historic region of Transylvania. Its capital is Alba Iulia, a city with a population of 63,536. Name "Alba", meaning "white" in Latin and Romanian, is derived from the name of t ...

from September 1662 until his death. He functioned as envoy of

George II Rákóczi George II Rákóczi (30 January 1621 – 7 June 1660), was a Hungarian nobleman, Prince of Transylvania (1648-1660), the eldest son of George I and Zsuzsanna Lorántffy. Early life He was elected Prince of Transylvania during his father' ...

to the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

in 1653. He participated in the failure campaign of Rákóczi against Poland in 1657. He was the military commander of the occupied

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. He was a member of the Royal Countil since 1658 until his death. The new prince

Ákos Barcsay Ákos Barcsay (Achatius) ( July 1661) was Prince of Transylvania from September 14, 1658 to December 31, 1660. Barcsay's reign of a little over two years was a period of considerable domestic and international turmoil. It occurred during the en ...

appointed Bethlen as Chancellor in 1659. He had a significant role in the election of John Kemény in 1660. However he became a supporter of

Michael I Apafi Michael Apafi (; 3 November 1632 – 15 April 1690) was Prince of Transylvania from 1661 to his death. Background The Principality of Transylvania emerged after the disintegration of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary in the second half of the 1 ...

after the Battle of Nagyszőlős (1662). He served as Captain General of

Udvarhelyszék Udvarhelyszék (; formerly called ''Telegdiszék'') was one of the Székely seats in the historical Székely Land. Situated on the western part of the Székely Land, it was the main seat (, , ''sedes capitalis'') for a significant period, being ...

between June 1660 and 1667 (except the short period of Kemény's rule). He founded the Calvinist College in

Székelyudvarhely Odorheiu Secuiesc (; , ; ) is the second largest municipiu, municipality in Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania. In its short form, it is also known as ''Odorhei'' in Romanian and ''Udvarhely'' in Hungarian. The Hungarian name of the town "Udva ...

(today: ''Odorheiu Secuiesc, Romania''). He reinstated the

Gabriel Bethlen Gabriel Bethlen (; 1580 – 15 November 1629) was Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of the whole kingdom. Bethlen, sup ...

College from

Kolozsvár Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

(today: ''Cluj-Napoca, Romania'') to Nagyenyed (today: ''Aiud, Romania''). In 1676, he accused of having participated in the conspiracy of Pál Béldi, as a result he was deprived from his positions. The Chancellor rights were exercised by his distant relative

Farkas Bethlen Farkas Bethlen de Bethlen (1639 – 30 December 1679)Markó 2006, p. 100. was a Hungarian noble and chronicler in the Principality of Transylvania, who served as Chancellor of Transylvania from 1678 to 1679. Life Farkas was the son of Fer ...

until the next year when János regained his office. However he completely lost his political influence.

Works

* ''Rerum Transylvanicarum libri quator'' (Nagyszeben, 1663) and (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, 1664). Translated into German by Johannes Tröster. The work confirmed the Turkish-friendly policy of Transylvania.

References

Sources

* Markó, László: A magyar állam főméltóságai Szent Istvántól napjainkig – Életrajzi Lexikon ''p. 102.'' ''(The High Officers of the Hungarian State from Saint Stephen to the Present Days – A Biographical Encyclopedia)'' (2nd edition); Helikon Kiadó Kft., 2006, Budapest; . * Trócsányi, Zsolt: Erdély központi kormányzata 1540–1690. Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1980. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bethlen, Janos 1613 births 1678 deaths People from Mureș County Hungarian politicians Hungarian nobility 17th-century Hungarian historians Chancellors of Transylvania Hungarian Unitarians Converts to Calvinism European University Viadrina alumni Janos