Laszlo Bátori

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. He completed his university studies in Italy and France. After returning to Hungary, he took part in John Hunyadi's campaign against the Ottomans. 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 of the lives of many saints.

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.

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 manuscripts, copies of Báthory's translation of the Bible and kept in the library of the Esztergom Basilica, were published as the It also contains the study made by of the Jordánszky Codex.