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Gabriel Bethlen attacks the Habsburgs
In 1619 Prince of Transylvania Gabriel Bethlen, exploiting Habsburg entanglement in the Bohemian revolt, invaded Royal Hungary and seized vast territ…
Timeline
- 1619Transylvania · TransylvaniaAs Calvinist Prince of Transylvania, Gabriel Bethlen took advantage of the Bohemian revolt and Ferdinand II's not-yet-secured imperial authority to lead Transylvanian and Ottoman-supported troops into the Kingdom of Hungary. He established contacts with the Bohemian Protestant Union, claiming to defend Hungarian constitutional liberties and religious freedom against Habsburg absolutism.
- 1619Pressburg (Bratislava) · HungaryBethlen's forces quickly captured key positions such as Pest and Pressburg, controlling most of Hungary. In October 1619 his vanguard approached Vienna, alarming the Habsburg court. Ferdinand II was forced to divide his forces between Bohemia and Hungary, and some Protestant factions among the Hungarian nobility cooperated with Bethlen, creating a serious crisis on the empire's eastern front.
Sources
- Gabriel Bethlen — Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gabriel-Bethlen
- Thirty Years' War — Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/event/Thirty-Years-War