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László Báthory de Császár () ( – 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. Little is known of his early life. It is possible he belonged to the aristocratic
Báthory family The House of Báthory () was an old and powerful Hungarian nobility, 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 ...
. He completed his university studies in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. After returning to Hungary, he took part in
John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (; ; ; ; ; – 11 August 1456) was a leading Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian military and political figure during the 15th century, who served as Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526), Kingdom of Hungary ...
's campaign against the
Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...
. He grew disillusioned with the court of Ladislaus V and entered monastic life with the Pauline order. 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 preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...
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 languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
. Eventually he returned to the
Monastery of St Lawrence at Buda The Monastery of St Lawrence at Buda, also known as the Pauline Monastery of Budaszentlőrinc (), is a former monastery belonging to the Pauline Order. Destroyed by the Ottomans, the remains of the monastery grounds are in an area called Szépj ...
, where he died. His work was also found among the
Bibliotheca Corviniana Bibliotheca Corviniana or Corvina Library was one of the most renowned libraries of the Renaissance world in Buda Castle, established by Matthias Corvinus, King of the Kingdom of Hungary (1458–1490). The books were taken to Istanbul after the Hun ...
of
Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...
, 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 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 in 1456, is preserved in the
Hungarian National Museum The Hungarian National Museum (, ) 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 separate to the collection of int ...
.


Legacy

The cave he used as a hermitage was opened in 1911 as Bathory Cave. 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- ...
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 (), also known as the Basilica of Esztergom (), is an ecclesiastic basilica in Esztergom, Hungary, the mother church of the Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest, a ...
, were published as the It also contains the study made by of the Jordánszky Codex.


References


Further reading

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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 writers Hungarian hermits Hungarian translators