H. Kolba Judit szerk.: Historical Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum Guide 2 - From the Foundation of the State until the Expulsion of the Ottomans - The history of Hungary in the 11th to 17th centuries (Budapest, 2005)

ROOM 7 - Transylvania and Royal Hungary (second half of the 16th century-17th century) (Judit H. Kolba)

58. Embroidered "mente " (short coat) of Gábor Bethlen, Transylvania, c. 1620 prince of Transylvania, ascended the throne of Transylvania in 1613. Bethlen led Transylvania into the mainstream of European politics: he took part in three campaigns in the Thirty Years War (1618-48) against the Habsburgs, with the result that for a while he acquired the western part of Royal Hungary. He based his successes on a modern economic policy, on a developing industry, and on his establishment of a standing army. Bethlen's successor was György Rákóczi I (1630-1648), who, in alliance with the Swedes, also took part in the Thirty Years' War. Like Bethlen, he was a great patron of the Calvinists, and founded printing offices, supported preachers and professors, and endowed Calvinist churches; his Sárospatak castle was the centre of Protestant culture and art. His son, György Rákóczi II (1648-60) sealed the fate of his country with his dis-