Transylvania went through a chaotic period during Gabriel's rule. Historian Katalin Péter states that Gabriel "was not the man to tolerate inaction for long" and "ruled with extravagance and capricious irresponsibility". Gabriel, according to Péter, was unable to keep a balance among the different groups of the Transylvanian nobility, which gave rise to new tensions between Calvinists and Catholics, natives and newcomers, pro-Habsburg and pro-Ottoman politicians. Neither could he realize that the Ottoman Empire had recovered after the Long Turkish War by the time he ascended the throne and his expansionist ambitions were not tolerated by the Sultan. Historian László Nagy's evaluation of Báthory's rule is different. He says that Báthory's bad fame can be traced back to the works of historians who worked in the court of Gabriel Bethlen who made conscious efforts to denigrate his predecessor. Nagy also emphasizes that 17th-century popular literary works show that many commoners was mourning Báthory's death. The 20th-century Hungarian novelist Zsigmond Móricz characterizes Gabriel Báthory as a "true fairy prince", adding that "fairies are unfit for this world".