Thread by @Arby_K

A kingdom divided by war falls into disarray.

A prince rises up and conquers a lost part.

Elected king, refuses the crown.

Story in the evening ...

Gábor Bethlen was born in 1580 to Frakas Bethlen de Iktár and Druzsina Lázár de Szárhegy. Originally from Iktár in the kingdom of Hungary, the Bethlens had moved to Marosillye in Transylvania after 1526, when the Ottomans gained control of central Hungary. 1/10

Transylvania also had strong ties with the Ottomans, as vassals of the Ottoman Empire. But unlike the remaining part of Hungary ruled by the Catholic Habsburgs, the Calvinist Bethlen family may have found Transylvania more receptive to their faith. 2/10

Transylvania was ruled at the time by István Báthori, who had been elected as voivode in 1571. After getting elected as king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania in 1576, along with Anna Jagiellon, Transylvania became a principality, with Báthori as its prince. 3/10

Despite being Ottoman vassals, Transylvania also helped Habsburgs fight the Ottomans. In the last decade of the 16th century, Transylvania and its neighbours Wallachia and Moldavia battled the Ottomans, allying with the Habsburgs. Bethlen would have likely taken part. 4/10

Despite initial successes, there was instability at the top in Transylvania, with the Habsburgs and different members of the Báthori family vying for power. In 1602, Bethlen ended up taking refuge in the Ottoman Empire, after fleeing from a defeat. 5/10

Bethlen returned with Ottoman support to seize power from the Habsburgs and put a prince friendlier to the Ottomans. Though his initial plan failed, he finally had success in 1605, with the election of Stefan Bocskai as prince. But Bocskai died a year later. 6/10

Next Bethlen backed Gábor Báthori, a grand nephew of István Báthori, as prince. Bethlen retained a prominent role in the new government, but soon had differences with the prince. Bethlen fled again and in 1613 returned with Ottomans and got himself installed as prince. 7/10

The Habsburgs retaliated but eventually they recognised Bethlen as prince in 1615. Four years later, he invaded Habsburg held Hungary, siding with the Protestants in Bohemia, who were at war with the Habsburgs. In 1619, he captured Pressburg and obtained the Hungarian crown. 8/10

Bethlen was elected king of Hungary in the Diet of Besztercebánya in 1620, but he refused to become king. Pressburg (Bratislava) was the capital of the Habsburg ruled Hungary. After the Habsburgs defeated the Bohemian Protestants (Hussites) in 1620, he sued for peace. 9/10

Bethlen returned the crown on guarantee of safety of Hungarian Protestants. The treaty was reaffimed in 1626. Bethlen later sought a Habsburg alliance against Ottomans. When refused, he attempted to ally with Protestant Prussia and Sweden, but died before it materialized. 10/10