Sigismund Báthory

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For other nobles of the same name, please see Sigismund.

Sigismund Báthory (1572 - March 27, 1613) (Báthory Zsigmond in Hungarian) was Prince of Transylvania.

Contents 1 Biography 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Hailing from the Báthory family's Somlyo branch, he was the son of Christopher Báthory, Voivod of Transylvania, and nephew of Stephen Báthory, King of Poland. He was elected prince in his father's lifetime, but being quite young at his fathers death, the government was entrusted to a regency.

In 1588 he attained his majority, and joined the league of Christian princes against the Turk. The obvious danger of such a course caused no small anxiety in the principality, and the diet of Turda even went so far as to demand a fresh coronation oath from Sigismund. Upon his refusal to render it, the members threatened him with deposition. Ultimately Bathory got the better of his opponents, and executed all whom he got into his hands (1595).

In 1595, at Alba Iulia, Sigismund Bathory signed a treaty with Michael the Brave, the Voivod of Wallachia, in which Wallachia came under sovereignty of Transylvania, requiring to Sigismund to send aid to Michael the Brave for fighting the Ottomans.

On August 13, 1595 at the Battle of Călugăreni near the Neajlov river, Michael defeated a Turkish army led by Sinan Pasha. Despite the victory Michael, having too few troops to mount a full scale battle, retreated toward Transylvania. Joining Sigismund Bathory's 40,000-strong army led by István Bocskay, they liberated Târgovişte (October 8, 1595), Bucharest (October 12, 1595) and Brăila. Wallachia was liberated temporarily on October 29, 1595.

The turning-point of his career was his separation from his wife, the archduchess Christina of Austria {daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria}, in 1599, an event followed by his own abdication the same year, in order that he might take orders. It was on this occasion that he offered the throne of Transylvania to the Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary, in exchange for the duchy of Opole in Silesia. As Duke of Opole he also was a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

In April 1598 Sigismund resigned as Prince of Transylvania in favor of Emperor Rudolf, reversed his decision in October 1598, and then resigned again in favor of Cardinal Andrew Báthory, his cousin. This allowed Transylvania to fall under the influence of the King of Poland. Michael the Brave reestablished an alliance with Emperor Rudolf. Michael began a campagain against Transylvania on October 5, 1599, while the Habsburg general Giorgio Basta entered Transylvania from the west at the same time.

In 1600, however, Sigismund at the head of an army of Poles and Cossacks, he attempted to recover his throne, but was routed by Michael, voivode of Moldavia and Wallachia, at Suceava. In February 1601 the diet of Cluj (Klausenburg) reinstated him, but again he was driven out by Michael the Brave and general Giorgio Basta, never to return. He died at Prague in 1613.

[edit] See also

• Moldavian Magnate Wars

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition article "Sigismund Bathory", a publication now in the public domain.

[edit] External links

• Portrait of Sigismund Bathory

Sigismund Báthory House of Báthory Died: 1613 27 March
Regnal titles
Preceded by Christopher	Prince of Transylvania 1581 – 1598	Succeeded by Rudolph II
Preceded by Rudolph II	Prince of Transylvania 1599	Succeeded by Andrew
Preceded by Rudolph II	Prince of Transylvania 1601	Succeeded by Rudolph II
Notes and references
1. Regnal Chronologies