the principal's council

Gábor Bethlen in the Company of His Scholars
It was board of advisors near Transylvanian principals, they were the successor of the medieval Hungarian royal council. Members were appointed by the principal, usually from among loyal Transylvanian noblemen. The council was not an administrational or executive body, it had the right to express an opinion only. Although the principal was not obliged to act according to the opinion of the members of the council in issues forwarded to them. The laws of the Transylvanian parliament regulated the functioning of the council in general, there were no concrete rights defined.

OT