Background
Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, was born on March 20, 1572, in Várad (now Oradea in Romania). He was the son of Christopher, prince of Transylvania, and Elizabeth Bocskay, he was a nephew of the great Stephen Bathory.
Sigismund Báthory
Sigismund Báthory
Sigismund Báthory
Sigismund Báthory
Sigismund Báthory
Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, was born on March 20, 1572, in Várad (now Oradea in Romania). He was the son of Christopher, prince of Transylvania, and Elizabeth Bocskay, he was a nephew of the great Stephen Bathory.
Sigismund Báthory was educated by János Leleszi and Gergely Vásárhelyi, who were the Jesuit tutors, confirmed by his uncle Stephen Báthory.
Sigismund succeeded his father in 1581 and actually assumed control of government affairs in 1588. Acting on the advice of his foreign counselor Alfonso Carrillo, Báthory reversed the traditional policy of Transylvania (i.e., to play off the Ottoman sultan against the Holy Roman emperor and thereby preserve Transylvanian de facto independence) and adopted an anti-Turk position. Although this policy shift provoked a rebellion, which was not suppressed until 1595, he nevertheless joined the princes Aaron of Moldavia and Michael the Brave of Walachia in an alliance against the Turks in 1594 and conquered Walachia for Michael after defeating an Ottoman army at Giurgiu (in present-day Romania).
Báthory, a Roman Catholic, became increasingly active in the Counter-Reformation, to the dismay of the leading Transylvanian nationalists, most of whom were Protestant. In 1599 he decided to take holy orders; he separated from his wife, the archduchess Christina of Austria, and gave up his throne, offering it to the Habsburg emperor Rudolf II (also king of Hungary) in exchange for the Silesian duchy of Oppeln (Opole). Rudolf, however, supported Michael the Brave, who defeated Báthory’s son Andreas and declared himself Prince of Transylvania. Báthory tried to recover his throne in 1600 and again in 1601, but on both occasions, he was driven out by Michael, and he died in obscurity.
Sigismund Báthory's mother was a Calvinist, but his father was a Roman Catholic. Sigismund was raised as a devoted Catholic.
Báthory's indisputable genius must have been warped by a strain of madness. His incalculableness, his savage cruelty (like most of the princes of his house he was a fanatical Catholic and persecutor), and his perpetual restlessness point plainly enough to a disordered mind.
Sigmund Bathory married Maria Christina, Princess of Transylvania on 6 August 1595. But this marriage was never consummated. Sigmund accused the mother of his executed cousin of witchcraft, which caused his impotence. Some historians notes, that Sigmund Bathory was possibly a homosexual.
Prince of Transylvania