The 'Báthory' () were a
Hungarian noble family of the
Gutkeled clan. The family rose to significant influence in
Central Europe during the late
middle ages, holding high military, adminstrative and ecclesiastical positions in the Kingdom of Hungary. In the early modern period, the family brought forth several
Princes of Transylvania and one
King of Poland.
Origins
The Báthory family belonged to the ''
Gutkeled'', a clan of
Hungarian nobles, which traced its descent to the
Swabian brothers ''Gut'' and ''Kelad'', who immigrated into Hungary from the castle ''Stof'' (probably
Staufen im Breisgau or
Hohenstaufen in
Württemberg) during the reign of
King Peter (reigned 1038-1046), who himself was partly of
Venetian descent.
[1]
The actual Báthory family began in the
13th century with Andrew of Rakoméz, surnamed the Bald, son of Nikolaus. Andrew is mentioned in 1250 as a patron of the monastery of Sárvár in the county of
Szatmár.
In
1279, King
Ladislaus IV rewarded Andrew's brother Hados
[2]
and Andrew's sons George (d. 1307), Benedict (d. 1321) and
Briccius (d. 1322) for their military services by granting them
Bátor in the county of
Szabolcs. Bátor had been the estate of Vajda son of Lángos, who had married a relative of Andrew but died without issue.
[3]
In
1310, Bátor came into the sole possession of Briccius when he reached and agreement with his nephew Michael and his cousin Vid to divide the joint possessions. After this, Briccius and his descendants named themselves "of Bátor" or Báthory.
Branches
The family divided into two major branches, which descended from the sons and grand-sons of
Briccius:
The elder branch of the family, the 'Báthory of Somlyó' were descended from John, Count of
Szatmár, the first-born son of Briccius, through his eldest son Ladislaus (died 1373). Ladislaus, Count of
Szabolcs, married Anna Meggyesi and received Somlyó as dowry.
[4] Ladislaus' younger brother George II is the ancestor of the 'Simolin' family, later called 'Báthory of Simolin' (see
below).
A further division occurred under the great-grandsons of Ladislaus (latter half of the 15th century): John and Stephen dropped the name Báthory and founded the 'Szaniszlófi' family, while Nikolaus continued the Somlyó branch.
The younger branch of the family, the 'Báthory of Ecsed', were descended from Luke, the youngest son of Briccius. Luke possessed wide estates in
Szatmár and was granted by King
Charles Robert the lordship of
Ecsed, where he built the castle called ''Hrséy'' (loyalty).
This branch, since they retained the possession of Bátor, are sometimes called ''of Bátor'' or, as the younger branch, ''Nyírbátor'' (New Bathory).
Legend and coats of arms
A legendary account, placing the Báthorys' origin in the year 900 (preceding the advent of the Gutkeled clan), related how a god-fearing warrior called Vitus (a namesake of a member of the first generation of the Gutkeled clan) to set out to fight a dragon, which loomed in the swamps next to the castle of
Ecsed (actually built only in the 14th century) and harassed the countryside. Vitus killed it with three thrusts of his lance and as a reward received the castle. The grateful people honoured him with the names ''Bathory'', meaning good hero, and "animus magnanimus".
The Báthory
coat of arms, granted in
1325 to the sons of Briccius, was styled in reference to this legend: three horizontally placed teeth surrounded by a dragon biting its own tail.
[6]
Further history
The Ecsed branch first rises to prominence with the sons of Luke's grandson John V. His eldest son Bartholomew I fell in 1432 fighting against the
Hussites. The second son,
Stephen III rose to become
Palatine of Hungary and in
1444 fell in the
Battle of Varna as flag-bearer of
Wladyslaw, King of Poland and Hungary. He had also received the castle Bujak from King
Albert of Habsburg.
Of Stephen's six sons
Ladislaus V (d.
1474) was supreme count of the counties
Szatmár and
Szarand, the second
Andrew III (d.
1495) was confirmed in his possession of Bujak. The third son,
Stephen V (d.
1493) excelled as a military commander and was made
Voivod of Transylvania, the first of a long line of Báthory rulers of that country.
The youngest son,
Nicolaus III (d.
1506), bishop first of
Syrmia and after 1474 of
Vác, excelled as a
rennaisance scholar and served as counselor to King
Matthias Corvinus.
...
Stephen VII first proved himself as Count of Temesvár and in
1519 was elected
Palatin of Hungary, as which he had to contend with the opposition of the nobility. In
1526, He fought in the disastrous
battle of Mohacs against the
Ottomans, in which
King Louis II fell.
After the battle, Hungary was torn apart by the conflict between the rival royal claims. The two branches of the family positioned themselves on the opposing sides of the conflict. The Ecsed branch commonly sided with the Habsburgs: Stephen VII, who had escaped the battle, fled with the Louis' widow to
Preßburg, where he organized the the election of
Ferdinand of Austria as King of Hungary. In the
1550s, when Ferdinand briefly gained control of Transylvania in
1551, he installed Stephen's nephew
Bonaventura as his lieutenant to govern the country.
The Somlyó branch, on the other hand, supported
John Zápolya, whom the greater part of the Hungarian nobility had elected King. Zápolya appointed Stephen VIII
Voivode of Transylvania, which he governed until his death in
1534. Later, the interest of the Zápolyas were represented at the Habsburg court by the Voivod's son
Stephen IX, who would go on to become
Prince of Transylvania and
King of Poland.
Impressed by Stephen,
George VI Báthory, of the Ecsed branch, was persuaded to change his allegiance from the Habsburgs to Stephen, for which he was deprived of his castle Bujak. George strengthened his alliance to Stephen by marrying his sister Anna in a marriage uniting the branches and producing the most infamous member of the family,
Elizabeth. Anna Báthory was the widow of the last descendent of the Dragfi family and George now seized the castles of the Dragfi. But since the Dragfi estates legally were due to the crown, the Habsburgs forced George to yield the castles and withdrew to Csitsva in the county of
Zemplén.
Notable members of the Somlyó branch
★ '
Stephen VIII Báthory' (
1477-
1534), Voivod of Transylvania.
★ '
Stephen IX Báthory' (
1533-
1586), youngest son of Stephen VIII,
Voivod (and later Prince) of Transylvania and
King of Poland.
★ '
Christopher Báthory' (
1530-
1581), son of Stephen Báthory of Somlyó and elder brother of the King of Poland, administered Transylvania as voivod during the absence of his brother.
★ '
Sigismund Báthory' (
1572-
1613), son of Christopher, Prince of Transylvania.
★ '
Andrew Cardinal Báthory', cousin of Sigismund, Prince of Transylvania, Grand Master of the
Order of the Dragon.
★ '
Gabriel I Báthory' (
1589-
1613), nephew of Andrew, Prince of Transylvania.
★ '
Sophia Báthory' (d.
1680), niece of Gabriel Báthory, married to
George II Rákóczi uniting the families of the Báthory and the
Rákóczi, promoted
Roman Catholicism within her domain.
Notable members of the Ecsed branch
★ '
Stephen III Báthory' (d.
1444),
Palatine of Hungary
★ '
Stephen V Báthory' (d.
1493),
Voivod of Transylvania
★ '
Barbara Báthory', daughter of Andrew III, married Palatin Emericus de Perén
★ '
George V Báthory', son of Andrew III, Agazonum regalium magister, supreme count of Sümegh
★ '
Stephen VII Báthory' (d.
1530), son of Andrew III, Hungarian commander,
Palatin of Hungary
★ '
Andrew IV Báthory', son of Andrew III, Ban of Belgrad, supreme count of
Szatmár, married Catherine of Rozgon, which brought him the castles of Csitsva, Cserép, Rozgon and Thora.
★ '
Bonaventura Báthory' (also called Andrew by his soldiers) (d. 1566), first-born son of Andrew IV, supreme count of
Szatmár and
Szabolcs, later ''tabernicorum regalium magister'' and royal judge. He married twice without having issue.
★ '
Nicolaus VI Báthory' (d.
1585), son of Andrew IV, a royal judge, he is described as "a man of rare honesty, powerful in possessions and influence east of the river Theiss", he died after falling from a chariot.
★ '
George VI Báthory', son of Andrew IV, turned on the Habsburgs. Father of Elizabeth Báthory.
★ '
Stephen XII Báthory' (d.
1605), son of George VI, royal judge in the counties Sümegh and Szatmár and supreme count of Szabolcs, opened the doors of his castle Ecsed to
Stephen Bocskay in his rebellion against the Habsburg, dies shortly aftwards.
★ Gabriel Báthory, the younger brother of Stephen XII, was the last male member of the Ecsed line. It is unclear whether he died before or after his sisters Elizabeth and Sophia.
★ '
Elizabeth Báthory' (d.
1614), daughter of George VI and through her mother niece of the Polish King Stephen Báthory, infamous as the "Blood Countess". Descendant of both the Esced and Somlyo branchs of the Bathory family.
Báthory of Simolin
Another branch of the family are the 'Báthory of Simolin' family, which was named after their estate ''Simony'' (or ''Simolin''). They descended from George II, the younger son of John I, through the George's grandson Michael. In the 15th century, Michael's brothers George and Ladislaus, who both died without issue, had sold their heritage to the then-head of the Somlyó branch, Nicolaus. The Simolin family possessed large estates in Prussia and
Courland and members served the Russian Empresses
Elizabeth and
Catherine as diplomats. In the 19th century, long after the demise of the other branches, the family claimed name and title of ''Counts Báthory'', since their ancestor Michael had never consented to the sale conducted by his brothers, and in 1852 the Russian government confirmed the legitimacy of their claims.
[7][8]
Notes
1. Simon Kezai, Lázló Veszprémy, Frank Schaer (ed.), ''Gesta Hungarorum: The Deeds of the Hungarians'' (Central European Medieval Texts). Central European University Press, 1999. ISBN 963-9116-31-9
2. Hados was the ancestor of the Szokolvi family, see http://genealogy.euweb.cz/hung/szakoly.html. He is sometimes reckoned among the sons of Andrew.
3. Moritz Wertner, "Urgeschlechter in Siebenbürgen.", in ''Archiv des Vereins für siebenbürgische Landeskunde''. Neue Folge, Bd. 29, Heft 1 (1899), Hermannstadt 1899, pp. 156-235 - also excerpted in Farin, ''Heroine des Grauens'', p. 356-358.
4. A genealogy of the Somlyó branch
5. A genealogy of the Ecsed branch
6. Christian von Stramberg, ''Das Haus Báthory in seinen Verzweigungen bis auf den heutigen Tag'', Berlin: Manuscript für Freunde des Hauses, 1853 - quoted in Farin, ''Heroine des Grauens'', p. 354-356, 359-362.
7. Stammtafel nach Alexander von Simolin - printed in Farin, ''Heroine des Grauens'', p. 357, 361.
8. Meyers Konversationslexikon: Simolin
External links
★
A genealogy of the founders of the Báthory family
★
A genealogy of the Somlyó branch
★
A genealogy of the Ecsed branch
★
Heraldique Europeenne: Transylvania, including the coats-of-arms of several members of the Báthory family.
Literature
★ Farin, Michael, ''Heroine des Grauens. Elisabeth Báthory''. Munich: P. Kirchheim, 2003. ISBN 3-87410-038-3.
★ Wertner, Moritz, "Urgeschlechter in Siebenbürgen.", in ''Archiv des Vereins für siebenbürgische Landeskunde''. Neue Folge, Bd. 29, Heft 1 (1899), Hermannstadt 1899, pp. 156-235.
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