BEL, MATTHIAS, was born in Hungary, and became a Lutheran minister at Preßburg, and historiographer to the emperor Charles VI. He wrote, among other works, a History of Hungary, which was so much admired, that the emperor sent him letters of nobility; and notwithstanding his being a Lutheran, the Pope, in 1736, sent him his picture, and many large gold medals. He was a member of the Royal Society of London, and of the academies of Berlin and Petersburg; and died in 1749, at 66 years of age.