Providence and Contingency in the Autobiography of Miklós Bethlen

Abstract The distinction between the necessary and the accidental, between events that serve a purpose and those that are meaningless, can be found in the semantics developed by a wide variety of cultures to interpret the world. In the religiously dominated culture of the Middle Ages and the early modern period, the question of contingency was thematized primarily in relation to the concept of providence, and its most typical manifestation was the ancient-rooted notion of fortuna. However, the fortune concept lost its explanatory power during the 17 th century, in connection with scientific, economic and social changes. There are many signs that, at the same time, ideas about divine providence were transformed. Although there are signs of this already in the 16 th century (such as in the popular Fortunatus ), especially from the end of the 17 th century onwards there is a noticeable erosion of the traditional metaphysics based on the centrality of the providential God. Literary studies can also contribute to the study of changing ideas about providence, since it is often in genres that provide a more flexible framework than theological or philosophical discourse that the first signs of change appear. Miklós Bethlen’s autobiography, written in the early 18 th century is a good example of this. The overall framework of the self-interpretation of the autobiography is a belief in providence, yet there are also elements that are in tension with it. These have so far only been referred to in a few scattered references in the literature, but have not been comprehensively examined and interpreted. An examination of the literary conceptualisation of providence and chance can show how traditional conceptual frameworks become problematic in the face of new experiences, while their meaning is also modified.