Századok – 2011
KÖZLEMÉNYEK BETHLEN GÁBORRÓL - Horn Ildikó: A fejedelmi tanács Bethlen Gábor korában IV/997
A FEJEDELMI TANÁCS BETHLEN GÁBOR KORÁBAN 1027 THE PRINCELY COUNCIL IN THE AGE OF GÁBOR BETHLEN by Ildikó Horn (Summary) The princely council of Transylvania was an advisory body of twelve members with no authority to decide. After the accession of Gábor Bethlen (1613-1629) with Ottoman support, the Transylvanian estates tried to limit his authority by enlarging the powers enjoyed by the council: in matters of great political and diplomatic importance, of appointment to the chief offices, and the granting of major estates the prince could only decide in cooperation with the council. The first part of the present study analyses the methods by which the prince gradually altered the council in accordance with his own interests, mainly by increasing and changing its personnel. The second part examines the characteristics of the council in terms of the origins, social position, religion, age, qualifications and functions of its members. The Transylvanian political elite was fairly open throughout the 16th and 17th century, and especially so during the reign of Bethlen, mainly because of the loss in human lives caused by the wars and internal conflicts between 1598 and 1612. A great number among the councillors came from the Kingdom of Hungary, from the lower strata of local society, and likewise well represented are those who managed to restart their career after a previous political fall. Because of the losses which afflicted the elite in the preceding period, the average age of the councillors had fallen by twelve years by 1629 with regard to the situation in 1613. The accumulation of office remained a constant feature, but at the same time there emerged persons who owed their joining the council to their specific legal, fiscal or military expertise. Thanks to the princely religious policies pursued in the past forty years, the council was religiously heterogeneous, with a Catholic dominance and a strong Unitarian presence.
