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The House of Betha or Bethe is an Austro-German noble family constituting a part of the Uradel. Noted in Prussian history since the early 14th century, the lineage has constituted various ecclesiastical and political roles, such as Crusader knights, clergy, and later minor political figures in the Herrenhaus.
The Crusader branch of the House of Saint-Omer, also known as Saint-Omér-Bethsan-Béthanie, often used the Latin family name Bethanius or de Bethsan to refer to their feudal holdings in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This branch of the family actively participated in the Sixth Crusade and Seventh Crusade under the leadership of the Capetian kings Louis IX and Charles of Anjou respectively."Lignages d'Outremer", written 1270. This likely explains the presence of three fleurs-de-lys on the family arms—an honor typically granted by royal warrant or reserved for those of royal birth.
After the Crusades, a nobleman called Jacques or James Bethe appears in France, whose daughter married into the House of Stuart during the Scottish Interregnum. John W. Clay, editor, The Visitation of Cambridge, (1575–1619) by Henry St. George, Richmond Herald, Harleian Society, London, 1897, pps: 7 - 11, whereas mentioned in Latin: "''Andreas Stuard filius capit in uxorem filiam Jacobi Bethe et a Johanne Francor'Rege militario ringulo condecoratus est"
Other historians cite Iberian origins, tracing the family to the lineage of Pelagius Bethanius, which had connections to the Asturian nobility and claimed Roman origin, arriving in Tyrol around 1080.Dizionario Storico-Blasonico delle Famiglie Nobili e Notabili Italiane Estinte e Fiorenti,
A second military captain named Antonius de Betta (in German Anton von Betha) led the army of Louis I of Brandenburg in 1350. This branch also served in the Teutonic Order as Lords of Lana. This Catholic branch of the family was confirmed as ancient nobility in 1556 by Emperor Ferdinand I, and later elevated to the title of Reichsfreiherr, or imperial barons in 1790.
In the Cambrésis, the Catholic French-speaking branch of the family lived as clergymen and local gentry, preferring to use the gallicised spelling de Bétha.
The cadet branch of the family remained in Austria-Hungary, losing their title and legal status after the First World War. Most remaining members in Central Europe descend from the Prussian and Austro-Hungarian cadet branches respectively, along with the senior branch residing in the United States.
During the Scramble for Africa, Lord Heinrich von Bethe was a German explorer initially known for searching the southernmost source of the Nile River during an expedition with Richard Kandt. The New Times, Rwanda: The legacy of Dr. Richard Kandt Bethe and Kandt, dated 1898. After the conquest of interlacustrine Africa, he controlled the Kingdom of Burundi from 1897 to 1899, then successfully established treaties with Yuhi V of Rwanda, Rwandan Basic Education Board: History of Colonial Rwanda incorporating the holdings into the German Empire and leaving descendants behind of both Prussian and Nyiginya ancestry.
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