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Far from family, far from home: The tombs of the members of the Hungarian family of the Báthory

Publication at Faculty of Education |
2022

Abstract

The paper synoptically summarizes the issue of burial grounds of members of the Hungarian family Báthory of Somlyó. Members of the last generations of the Báthory family from Somlyó had their seats on the territory of Hungary, today's Romania, the Bohemian Kingdom and Poland, and they are also characterized by denominational diversity.

Inter alia, this results in the absence of a central ancestral burial ground of the early modern period and the graves of individuals are located variously throughout the mentioned area. The most expensive funeral monument can be described as the tombstone of the Polish king Stephen Báthory; the funerary memorial, located in Barczewo, Poland, commemorating the brothers Balthasar and Andrew Báthory, also remains unique.

In contrast to these, other funeral monuments are often neglected, of which, for example, the epitaph of Sigismund Báthory in Prague does not correspond to the position he held during his life. For other monitored persons, i.e., Griselda Báthory and Sophia Báthory, it was not even possible to find or determine the exact burial ground or any funeral monuments.

For the last people, i.e., Duke Gabriel Báthory and Duchess Maria Christierna of Austria, it is possible to determine the cemetery, but this is not characterised by an interesting monument. In the case of the former, this is due to the Calvinist faith, which does not prefer pomp, and to the fact that the person in question became a victim of political assassination and no one tended to commemorate him.

In the case of Maria Christierna, the reasons can be assumed in the Catholic religious ascetism to which she devoted herself at the end of her life. An interesting, albeit modest, monument is the epitaph of the Duke of Transylvania, Francis I of Rákoczi, the son of the last member of the Báthory family, Sophia.