Christopher Báthory

Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Infobox nobility Christopher Báthory (Template:Langx; 1530 – 27 May 1581) was voivode of Transylvania from 1576 to 1581. He was a younger son of Stephen Báthory of Somlyó. Christopher's career began during the reign of Queen Isabella Jagiellon, who administered the eastern territories of the Kingdom of Hungary on behalf of her son, John Sigismund Zápolya, from 1556 to 1559. He was one of the commanders of John Sigismund's army in the early 1560s.

Christopher's brother, Stephen Báthory, who succeeded John Sigismund in 1571, made Christopher captain of Várad (now Oradea in Romania). After being elected King of Poland, Stephen Báthory adopted the title of Prince of Transylvania and made Christopher voivode in 1576. Christopher cooperated with Márton Berzeviczy, whom his brother appointed to supervise the administration of the Principality of Transylvania as the head of the Transylvanian chancellery at Kraków. Christopher ordered the imprisonment of Ferenc Dávid, a leading theologian of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, who started to condemn the adoration of Jesus. He supported his brother's efforts to settle the Jesuits in Transylvania.

Early life

Christopher was the third of the four sons of Stephen Báthory of Somlyó and Catherine Telegdi.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn His father was a supporter of John Zápolya, King of Hungary, who made him voivode of Transylvania in February 1530.Template:Sfn Christopher was born in Báthorys' castle at Szilágysomlyó (now Șimleu Silvaniei in Romania) in the same year.Template:Sfn His father died in 1534.Template:Sfn

His brother, Andrew, and their kinsman, Tamás Nádasdy, took charge of Christopher's education.Template:Sfn Christopher visited England, France, Italy, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire in his youth.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He also served as a page in Emperor Charles V's court.Template:Sfn

Career

Christopher entered the service of John Zápolya's widow, Isabella Jagiellon, in the late 1550s.Template:Sfn At the time, Isabella administered the eastern territories of the Kingdom of Hungary on behalf of her son, John Sigismund Zápolya.Template:Sfn She wanted to persuade Henry II of France to withdraw his troops from three fortresses that the Ottomans had captured in Banat, so she sent Christopher to France to start negotiations in 1557.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

John Sigismund took charge of the administration of his realm after his mother died on 15 November 1559.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He retained his mother's advisors, including Christopher who became one of his most influential officials.Template:Sfn After the rebellion of Melchior Balassa,Template:Sfn Christopher persuaded John Sigismund to fight for his realm instead of fleeing to Poland in 1562.Template:Sfn Christopher was one of the commanders of John Sigismund's troops during the ensuing war against the Habsburg rulers of the western territories of the Kingdom of Hungary, Ferdinand and Maximilian, who tried to reunite the kingdom under their rule.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Christopher defeated Maximilian's commander, Lazarus von Schwendi, forcing him to lift the siege of Huszt (now Khust in Ukraine) in 1565.Template:Sfn

After the death of John Sigismund, the Diet of Transylvania elected Christopher's younger brother, Stephen Báthory, voivode (or ruler) on 25 May 1571.Template:Sfn Stephen made Christopher captain of Várad (now Oradea in Romania).Template:Sfn The following year, the Ottoman Sultan, Selim II (who was the overlord of Transylvania), acknowledged the hereditary right of the Báthory family to rule the province.Template:Sfn

Reign

File:Partium1570.PNG

Principality of Transylvania in 1570

Stephen Báthory was elected King of Poland on 15 December 1575.Template:Sfn He adopted the title of Prince of Transylvania and made Christopher voivode on 14 January 1576.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn An Ottoman delegation confirmed Christopher's appointment at the Diet in Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia in Romania) in July.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The sultan's charter (or ahidnâme) sent to Christopher emphasized that he should keep the peace along the frontiers.Template:Sfn Stephen set up a separate chancellery in Kraków to keep an eye on the administration of Transylvania.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The head of the new chancellery, Márton Berzeviczy, and Christopher cooperated closely.Template:Sfn

Anti-Trinitarian preachers began to condemn the worshiping of Jesus in Partium and Székely Land in 1576, although the Diet had already forbade all doctrinal innovations.Template:Sfn Ferenc Dávid, the most influential leader of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, openly joined the dissenters in the autumn of 1578.Template:Sfn Christopher invited Fausto Sozzini, a leading Anti-Trinitarian theologian, to Transylvania to convince Dávid that the new teaching was erroneous.Template:Sfn Since Dávid refused to obey, Christopher held a Diet and the "Three Nations" (including the Unitarian delegates) ordered Dávid's imprisonment.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Christopher also supported his brother's attempts to strengthen the position of the Roman Catholic Church in Transylvania.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He granted estates to the Jesuits to promote the establishment of a college in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca in Romania) on 5 May 1579.Template:Sfn

Christopher fell seriously ill after his second wife, Elisabeth Bocskai, died in early 1581.Template:Sfn After a false rumor about Christopher's death reached Istanbul, Koca Sinan Pasha proposed Transylvania to Pál Márkházy whom Christopher had been forced into exile.Template:Sfn Although Christopher's only surviving son Sigismund was still a minor, the Diet elected him as voivode before Christopher's death, because they wanted to prevent the appointment of Márkházy.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Christopher died in Gyulafehérvár on 27 May 1581.Template:Sfn He was buried in the Jesuits' church in Gyulafehérvár, almost two years later, on 14 March 1583.Template:Sfn

Family

Christopher's first wife, Catherina Danicska, was a Polish noblewoman, but only the Hungarian form of her name is known.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Their eldest son, Balthasar Báthory, moved to Kraków shortly after Stephen Báthory was crowned King of Poland;Template:Sfn he drowned in the Vistula River in May 1577 at the age of 22.Template:Sfn Christopher's and Catherina's second son, Nicholas, was born in 1567 and died in 1576.Template:Sfn

Christopher's second wife, Elisabeth Bocskai, was a Calvinist noblewoman.Template:Sfn Their first child, Cristina (or Griselda), was born in 1569.Template:Sfn She was given in marriage to Jan Zamoyski, Chancellor of Poland, in 1583.Template:Sfn Christopher's youngest son, Sigismund, was born in 1573.Template:Sfn

Sources

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