László Báthory de Császár ( hu, Császári Bátori László) ( – 27 February 1456) was a Pauline monk and the first translator of the Bible into Hungarian.

Background

Báthory (also Báthori or Bátori) was born around 1420 in

Nyírcsászári Nyírcsászári is a village in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, ...

. Little is known of his early life. It is possible he belonged to the aristocratic

Báthory family The Báthory family ( pl, Batory) was a Hungarian noble family of the Gutkeled clan. The family rose to significant influence in Central Europe during the Late Middle Ages, holding high military, administrative and ecclesiastical positions in ...

. He completed his university studies in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. After returning to Hungary, he took part in

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (, , , ; 1406 – 11 August 1456) was a leading Hungarian military and political figure in Central and Southeastern Europe during the 15th century. According to most contemporary sources, he was the member of a noble family of ...

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

against the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. He grew disillusioned with the court of

Ladislaus V Ladislaus the Posthumous( hu, Utószülött László; hr, Ladislav Posmrtni; cs, Ladislav Pohrobek; german: link=no, Ladislaus Postumus; 22 February 144023 November 1457) was Duke of Austria and King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. He was the ...

and entered monastic life with the

Pauline order The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit ( lat, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Pauli Primi Eremitæ; abbreviated OSPPE), commonly called the Pauline Fathers, is a monastic order of the Roman Catholic Church founded in Hungary during the 13th century. Thi ...

. He then dedicated his life to the theology, translating the Bible into Hungarian, and writing

hagiographies A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

of the lives of many saints. Seeking solitude to focus on his work, he left the monastery and retreated to a small cave at the top of (Great Linden Hill). He lived as a hermit there from 1437 to 1457. During this time he translated the Bible from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. Eventually he returned to the

Monastery of St Lawrence at Buda A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

, where he died. His work was also found among the

Bibliotheca Corviniana Bibliotheca Corviniana was one of the most renowned libraries of the Renaissance world, established by Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, in Buda Castle between 1458 and 1490. The books were transferred to Istanbul after the Hungarian defeat by th ...

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...

, but was lost during the Ottoman rule of Hungary. He was still attending mass on the day of his death. He was buried in the church of the monastery, in front of the altar of St Stephen. Following the 1525 Chronicle of the Pauline Chief Sergeant by and the book published by

Péter Bod Péter Bod or Peter Bod (February 22, 1712 – 1768) was a Hungarian theologian and historian. Biography Bod was born Feb. 22, 1712, at Felső-Csernáton, in Transylvania. He studied at Nagy-Enyed, where he also was appointed librarian and pro ...

in 1766, it is assumed that one of the first Hungarian translations may have been written by László Báthory from 1456. The first versions of the Hungarian Bible translations were made during the 15th century, but no contemporary copies have survived. However, the 16th century is most likely a copy of Báthory's work in the 15th century. The 18th century portrait of Báthory, believed to have been painted by a Pauline monk from

Szentlőrinc Szentlőrinc () is a town in Baranya (county), Baranya county, Hungary. Sport The association football club Szentlőrinc SE, currently competing in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II, are based in the town. Twin towns Szentlőrinc is town twinning, twinn ...

in 1456, is preserved in the

Hungarian National Museum The Hungarian National Museum ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum) was founded in 1802 and is the national museum for the history, art, and archaeology of Hungary, including areas not within Hungary's modern borders, such as Transylvania; it is not to ...

Legacy

The cave he used as a hermitage was opened in 1911 as

Bathory Cave The Bathory Cave () is a cave located just below the top of (Great Linden Hill), on the northeast side of the mountain. It is located within the Danube-Ipoly National Park and the 2nd district of Budapest. The cave gets its name from Pauline m ...

. A black marble slab commemorating his work was placed outside the cave, a small wooden house was built in front of the entrance, and in 1931 a marble altar was designed by Imre Havran. Today, only the broken pieces of the marble slab remain. The cave is closed and can only be visited with an escort. Poet Sándor Reményik wrote a poem in front of the Bathory Cave. The László Báthory Scout team #442, in District XII of Budapest was named in his honor. In 1984, 14,500 copies of the

biblical manuscript A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures (see ''Tefillin'') to huge polyglot codices (multi-ling ...

s, copies of Báthory's translation of the Bible and kept in the library of the

Esztergom Basilica The Primatial Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Adalbert ( hu, Nagyboldogasszony és Szent Adalbert prímási főszékesegyház), also known as the Esztergom Basilica ( hu, Esztergomi bazilika), is an ecclesiastic basili ...

, were published as the It also contains the study made by of the Jordánszky Codex.

References

External links

Blessed Császáry (Báthori) László Pauline Bible translator, who was born in the village.

Bathory Cave
geocaching.hu {{DEFAULTSORT:Bathory, Laszlo Pauline monks Hungarian beatified people Laszlo Translators of the Bible into Hungarian 1420 births 1456 deaths 15th-century Hungarian people Hungarian hermits Hungarian translators

Background

Legacy

References

Further reading

External links