Born just a few years before the conclusion of the disastrous Thirty-Years War, Bethlen witnessed its lasting effects and was left with a distaste for belligerent divisions among those who had the same basic beliefs. Two examples, in his view, were the aggressive arguments about predestination and the Lord’s Supper.

Sitting in prison, “as one to whom the gate of eternity stands open,”[1] Miklòs Bethlen began to write the story of his life. It was a fascinating story of one of the most influential men in the history of Transylvania. Today, the book is still considered a classic of the Hungarian literature and a valuable source of historical information.

Written with charming candor, it includes interesting (albeit lengthy) discussions on philosophical and practical issues, such as the interaction of body and soul, man’s motivation in life, and the division among Protestants. Most of all, it sheds light on his struggle for the independence of his small, Protestant nation against the Roman Catholic Habsburg monarchy.

A Leader in Training

At the time of Miklòs’s birth in 1642, his father Janos was an esteemed leader in his country. Janos had been brought up in the Reformed Church at the court of Ferenc Mackasi, who had taken him in after the death of his parents. In his political capacities (which later included the title of Chancellor of Transylvania), he promoted the building of Reformed churches and colleges.

Miklòs received an excellent education, first under a local pastor, then under well-regarded professors. These included Pal Kereszturi, a follower of Comenius, a Hussite polymath who revolutionized the philosophy of education. On one occasion, Kereszturi rescued Miklòs from one of the harsh teaching methods of his time (the withdrawal of any form of drink until the pupil could say a new Latin word).

In the meantime, Miklòs was introduced the political world by attending with his father some sessions of Parliament and the High Court.

In his Autobiography, Miklòs recalls drinking as one growing vice in his youth. Because of their status, Miklòs’s family often received large gifts of excellent wine, which he drank freely by the time he was 18. He credited his mother and one of his tutors for teaching him restraint.

His mother died in 1661, the same year when Miklòs began his academic peregrinations throughout Europe, pursuing studies at the universities of Heidelberg, Utrecht and Leiden. He also visited Britain, France and Italy.

Soldier, Husband, and Father

He returned home in 1664, when the country had resumed hostilities against the Ottoman forces. This dire situation prompted him to join the court of the military leader Nikola VII Zrínyi on November 13, five days before Zrínyi’s death while hunting – an accident which Miklòs witnessed first-hand and remained imprinted in his memory.

He later performed military assignments for Mihály Apafi, Prince of Transylvania. Bethlen describes some of the intrigues at court and the difficult personalities of the prince, his chancellor Mihaly Teleki, and his wife Anna Bornemisza.

In 1668, after a rush proposal (since she had another contender), he married Ilona Kùn, daughter of István Kún of Osdola, Lord Lieutenant of Küküllő county. The marriage was happy, until she died of a prolonged illness. At her request, he remarried, this time with Júlia Rhédei.

Of all the children born to both marriages, only three – Júlia, Klára, and Jószef – survived him. As it was common at that time, many died in childhood. One of the most tragic deaths was that of her daughter Mariska, who died from a poisonous ointment prescribed by their physician to cure her of worms.

In and Out of Prison

Bethlen ascribes his imprisonment in Fogaras Castle in 1676-1677 to the prince’s improper trust in gossip. At that time, the jealousy of some bitter relatives almost cost him his life.

Released from prison, he became Privy Chancellor in 1689. By then, the Habsburgs had defeated the Ottomans, and Apafi had reluctantly concluded a treaty with the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I. This act of submission to the emperor cast Apafi into a deep depression, which he survived by retreating into his private estates, among his books and his impressive collection of clocks.

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