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35-735: 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. In 1279, King Ladislaus IV rewarded Andrew's brother Hodos and Andrew's sons George (d. 1307), Benedict (d. 1321) and Briccius (d. 1322) for their military services by granting them Bátor in

70-424: A dragon, which lurked 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 Báthory , meaning "good hero", and animus magnanimus . In Hungarian the word bátor means "brave". The Báthory coat of arms , granted in 1325 to

105-548: A show trial of murdering hundreds of young peasant girls over the course of twenty years. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in one of the Báthory castles. According to the opinions of a majority of historians, legends such as her bathing in the blood of the young women were based on later rumors; the charges themselves were most likely false, trumped up in order to steal her lands from her. Some scholars have suggested that she served as one of Bram Stoker 's influences for writing

140-780: Is assumed to be a corruption of Stauf , meaning either castle Stauf in Staufen im Breisgau or the Hohenstaufen castle in Württemberg . The king mentioned is Péter Orseolo , placing the arrival of the Gutkeleds to Hungary sometime around the 1040s. Some of the Hungarian noble families descending from the Gutkeleds are: Prince of Transylvania The Prince of Transylvania ( Hungarian : erdélyi fejedelem , German : Fürst von Siebenbürgen , Latin : princeps Transsylvaniae , Romanian : principele Transilvaniei )

175-453: The Battle of Varna as flag-bearer of Władysław, 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 Zaránd, 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

210-629: The " Three Nations of Transylvania " was confirmed in 1459, aimed primarily against Michael Szilágyi , the regent-governor of the Kingdom of Hungary. During the rebellion of peasants led by György Dózsa in 1514, Voivode John Zápolya convoked the assembly of the Three Nations. In 1526, in the Battle of Mohács , the Ottoman Empire defeated the royal army of Hungary and killed King Louis II . The Ottomans then withdrew. The throne

245-501: The Regent Bishop Martinuzzi called on Suleiman to protect his vassal. Suleiman drove out Ferdinand, then put central Hungary under direct Turkish rule. He allocated Transylvania and eastern Royal Hungary to John II Sigismund. In 1551, Bishop Martinuzzi arranged for John II Sigismund to abdicate his royal title in favor of Ferdinand, in return for being recognized as vassal lord of the "East Hungarian" lands. All

280-669: The Russian government confirmed the legitimacy of their claims. Gutkeled Gutkeled (spelling variants: Gut-Keled, Guthkeled, Guth-Keled) was the name of a gens ( Latin for "clan"; nemzetség in Hungarian ) in the Kingdom of Hungary , to which a number of Hungarian noble families belong. The primary source of their origins is the Gesta Hungarorum of Simon of Kéza, in which the author writes: The castle "Stof"

315-549: The arrival and settlement of colonists of diverse origin, including the Hungarian -speaking Székelys and the Ethnic Germans . The territory of Transylvania was divided for administrative reasons within territorial units known as " counties " and " seats ". The seven Transylvanian counties ( Doboka , Fehér , Hunyad , Kolozs , Küküllő , Szolnok , and Torda County ) were institutions primarily run by local noblemen . However, their heads or ispáns were subject to

350-432: The authority of a higher official, the voivode who was appointed by the kings of Hungary . The Voivode of Transylvania had a number of administrative, military and judicial responsibilities. For instance, joint general assemblies of the seven counties were convoked and headed by the voivode or his deputy , customarily at Torda (today Turda). These assemblies primarily functioned as courts-of-justice, but judges for

385-545: The battle, fled with Louis' widow to Pozsony (now Bratislava ), where he organized 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,

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420-610: The branches. Anna Báthory was the widow of the last descendant of the Dragfi family and George now seized the castles of the Dragfi. Since the Dragfi estates were legally due to the crown, the Habsburgs forced George to yield the castles and withdrew to Csitsva in Zemplén County . George and Anna Báthory produced the most infamous member of the family, Elizabeth , a widow Countess who was eventually tried and found guilty in

455-539: The castle called Hűség (loyalty). This branch, since they retained the possession of Bátor, are sometimes called of Bátor or, as the younger branch, Nyírbátor (New Bathory). A legendary account, placing the Báthorys' origin in the year 900 (preceding the advent of the Gutkeled clan), relates how a god-fearing warrior called Vitus (a namesake of a member of the first generation of the Gutkeled clan) set out to fight

490-569: The counties were also elected by them. Instead of counties, the Transylvanian Saxon community was primarily organized into seats and districts. They were independent of the authority of the voivodes. In 1469, King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary authorized all Saxons' seats to elect their own heads. Seven years later, the same monarch set up the " Saxon University " unifying all Saxon seats and districts in Transylvania, which

525-502: 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. In 1310, Bátor came into the sole possession of Briccius when he reached an agreement with his nephew Michael and his cousin Vid to divide the joint possessions. After this, Briccius and his descendants named themselves Báthory , i.e. "of Bátor". The family divided into two major branches, which descended from

560-480: The grace of God, Prince of Transylvania, Lord of parts of Hungary, and Count of the Székelys ". In addition, Sigismund Báthory adopted the title of " Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia " in 1595. From 1570 to 1699, the princes of Transylvania were not recognized as independent monarchs. At times they acknowledged Ottoman suzerainty , and at other times accepted the rule of the Kingdom of Hungary. According to

595-648: 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

630-671: The interest of the Zápolyas were represented at the Habsburg court by the Voivode'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 Zápolya, for which the Habsburg king deprived him of his castle Bujak. George strengthened his alliance to Stephen by marrying his sister Anna, uniting

665-496: The nobility, the Székelys and the Saxons were established through the voivode" from the early 14th century. For instance, the representatives of the Saxons and the Székelys were often present at the general assemblies of the noblemen headed by the voivodes. Furthermore, voivodes were also appointed Count of the Székelys by the monarch from the middle of the 15th century, thus the two offices were united by custom. In contrast with

700-462: The novel Dracula , but the evidence to support this is slim. 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

735-553: The opposition of the nobility. In 1526, he fought in the disastrous Battle of Mohács against the Ottomans , in which King Louis II fell. After the harsh and fierce 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

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770-477: The representatives of the noblemen, the Saxons and the Székelys, Romanian cneazes were only twice (in 1291 and in 1355) invited to the general assemblies. The leaders of the noblemen from the seven counties, the Saxons, and the Székelys formed an alliance against "all internal and external threat to the province" in the days of the Budai Nagy Antal Revolt in 1437. This formal alliance of

805-707: The right of the Transylvanian estates to elect their princes freely, "guaranteed the territorial integrity of the principality", and promised military assistance to the Prince in case of invasion by his enemies. On the other hand, the princes were obliged to pay a yearly tribute and to assist the Ottomans in their military operations. After the Rákóczi's War of Independence the princes were effectively replaced with governors . The last prince Francis II Rákóczi spent

840-519: The sons and grandsons 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. Ladislaus' younger brother George II is the ancestor of the Simolin family, later called Báthory of Simolin (see below ). A further division occurred under

875-614: The sons of Briccius, was styled in reference to this legend: three horizontally placed teeth surrounded by a dragon biting its own tail, the surrounding dragon being the emblem of the Order of the Dragon . 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

910-458: The style Prince when he was elected King of Poland in 1576. Upon his death in 1586, his princely title was inherited by his nephew, Sigismund Báthory . The new style of the rulers of Transylvania and the Partium was also confirmed by King Maximilian I's successor, Emperor Rudolph II on January 28, 1595. Transylvanian monarchs used the following style and titles: "His Excellency, by

945-569: The teachings of the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence , Transylvania was part of the "House of Agreement" ( Dâr al ahd' ) , that is a territory with a transitory status between the lands fully integrated in the Ottoman Empire and independent states. Accordingly, when ascending the throne each prince received an official document from the sultan which described the prince's rights and obligations. These documents or ahidnâmes confirmed

980-685: The territories of the Kingdom of Hungary which had remained free of direct Ottoman occupation were thus reunited under Ferdinand's rule in 1551. But Ottoman attacks continued, and Ferdinand could not protect "Eastern Hungary". In 1556, the Diet invited "King John's son" (that is, John II Sigismund) and his mother to resume the government of the territories east of the Tisza . John II Sigismund continued to style himself "elected king" of Hungary until 1570. In 1570, John II Sigismund again abdicated as King in favor of Ferdinand's successor, Emperor Maximilian II . This

1015-554: 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

1050-556: The western parts, while John became King, holding the eastern parts, including Transylvania (called by historians the " Eastern Hungarian Kingdom "). Thus from being a fully sovereign kingdom, Hungary had become either a possession of the House of Habsburg or an Ottoman vassal state. In 1538, John named Ferdinand his successor as King. But he had a son, John Sigismund Zápolya , just before he died in 1540. The Hungarian Diet elected him King as John II Sigismund, and when Ferdinand invaded,

1085-500: Was claimed by Louis' brother-in-law Archduke Ferdinand of Austria , and by John Zápolya, both backed by factions of Hungarian magnates . Ferdinand drove John out of Hungary, whereupon John offered allegiance to Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in return for support. Suleiman invaded Austria while John regained his throne. Suleiman was repulsed from Austria, and by a treaty in 1538, Ferdinand became King of Hungary, holding

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1120-401: Was expressed in the treaty of Speyer . John II Sigismund adopted the new style "Prince of Transylvania and Lord of parts of Hungary". John Sigismund's successor, Stephen Báthory , however, adopted the title the one-time royal governors of Transylvania used and styled himself voivode . Furthermore, he secretly swore allegiance to King Maximilian I of Hungary. Stephen Báthory only adopted

1155-402: Was headed by the elected major of Nagyszeben (German: Hermannstadt, Romanian: Sibiu). Initially, the Székelys were likewise independent of the authority of the voivodes, since they were led by their own count , an official appointed by the sovereign. Although the Saxons and the Székelys endeavoured to preserve their direct connection to the monarchs, "the first institutional contacts between

1190-415: Was made Voivode 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 renaissance scholar and served as counselor to King Matthias Corvinus . Stephen VII first proved himself as Count of Temesvár and in 1519 was elected Palatine of Hungary , as which he had to contend with

1225-466: Was the head of state of the Principality of Transylvania from the late-16th century until the mid-18th century. John Sigismund Zápolya was the first to adopt the title in 1570, but its use only became stable from 1576. The integration of Transylvania into the newly established Kingdom of Hungary began around 1003. The province became subject to intensive colonization, leading to

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