Gáspár Bekes
Hungarian noble, politician (1520-1579)
Gáspár Bekes de Kornyát (also Gáspár de Corniath Bekes, Kornyáti Bekes Gáspár, or Kaspar Bekes, Caspar Bekesh; 1520 – 7 November 1579) was a Hungarian nobleman who fought Stephen Báthory for the throne of Transylvania after the death of John II Sigismund Zápolya in 1571. Allied with Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Székelys, Bekes organized two rebellions against Báthory, but was defeated. After Báthory became King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1576, Bekes reconciled with Báthory, becoming his close adviser. Bekes also fought in the Danzig rebellion and the Livonian War.
Rivalry with Báthory
Bekes was treasurer for John II Sigismund Zápolya, King of Hungary (died 1571), and gained considerable power and favor with him. In his testament, Zápolya, who had no legal heir, designated Bekes as Voivode of Transylvania. However, the Hungarian nobles did not honor the will and elected Stephen Báthory as their voivode while Bekes was away on a diplomatic mission in the court of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. Supported by Maximilian, who opposed Báthory for the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Bekes gathered his army and organized a rebellion against Báthory, but was defeated. Bekes lost all of his possessions and was forced to seek asylum with Maximilian in Vienna. When Poland–Lithuania elected Henry of Valois as its monarch, Maximilian and Báthory ceased hostilities.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q792146. VIAF identifies the subject as 316737998. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1520, 1579, 1571 and 1576.
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This entry incorporates text from “Gáspár Bekes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.