Transylvanian diplomacy and its presence in Ottoman empire from John Zápolya to Gabriel Bethlen

Abstract

The Battle of Mohács, which took place in 1526, resulted in the collapse of the Hungarian Kingdom and divided the country into three parts. In this way, the independent Hungarian diplomacy has also come to an end. The Medieval Hungarian system of foreign affairs was not taken as a basis in the Principality of Transylvania, which was founded under the vassalage of the Ottoman, in addition to being unable to establish a tradition of foreign services. Yet, in the 17th century, the international organizations, which was formed against the existence of Habsburg, cleared the path for the transformation in the foreign services of the Principality of Transylvania, within the context of the practices of the Ottoman Empire, and provided a certain level of flexibility to this field. Thus, despite the institutionalization of diplomacy in European countries after the Hungarian Kingdom's losing their historical continuity, this reconstruction in Transylvania could take place during the time of Gábor Bethlen, after a delay of nearly a century, on the basis of Italian style, as most of the states also followed the same path. Afterwards, the jurisdiction areas, the duties and the salaries of the diplomats of Transylvania were identified, and they were asked to report on the issues such as the political expectations of the country that they work in, their economic and military status, and their relations with other European countries. In this framework, in the study, considering the basic qualifications of the Transylvanian foreign affairs, we aim to discuss the reflection of the diplomatic habits of this Principality, which was dependent to the Ottoman Empire with the examination of the background of the political relation established with the Bab-i Âli (Sublime Porte of Ottoman Empire), and show how their periodical area of movement in Europe was used during the time of Gábor Bethlen, in particular at the time of The Thirty Years' War. In addition, the main context of the study was laid on examining how or to which extent Transylvania, regarded as an Ottoman land according to the ahdnâmes (treaties) maintained these characteristics. © 2018 Hacettepe University 1. All rights reserved.