Stephen V Báthory

Stephen Báthory of Ecsed (, ; ; 1430–1493) was a Hungarian commander, 'dapiferorum regalium magister' (1458–?), judge royal (1471–1493), and voivode of Transylvania (1479–1493). He rose to power under King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and after the king's death sided with Vladislav Jagiellon of Bohemia and later together with Pál Kinizsi defeated Prince John Corvin in the Battle of Csonthegy. As a result of his cruelty in Transylvania, especially against the Székelys, he was deposed by the King in 1493 and died shortly afterwards.

Family history

The Báthory family was a powerful and influential Hungarian noble family from the 14th to 17th century. The two branches of the family produced many voivodes, Transylvanian princes and a king, (Stephen Báthory of Poland). Báthory belonged to the powerful family of Gutkeled, of the Ecsed branch. The name Báthory and the family coat-of-arms were granted in 1325.

Career

In 1467, he took part in Matthias' bitter defeat against Moldavia at the Battle of Baia. In 1476, Corvinus decided to support Vlad III Dracula in reclaiming his Wallachian throne from Basarab Laiotă. He therefore made Báthory supreme commander over an army of 8,000 infantry and 13,000 cavalry, The new campaign would involve Hungarian, Moldavian, and Wallachian troops, with the assistance of a small Serbian contingent. On 18 August, the two armies merged and helped Stephen get rid of the Turks in Moldavia. Dracula's offensive began in early November 1476 and defeated Laiotă's 18,000 strong army at Rucăr, at the Wallachian-Transylvanian border. The Turks moved very quickly through the land while pillaging it, giving Báthory little time to gather his militia at Sibiu. Báthory ordered his army to prepare for battle: his 3,000 Transylvanian Saxons, supported by a second line of Transylvanian Wallachians, comprised the right flank on the river Mureș, while the Hungarians comprised the left flank; he and his heavy cavalry were placed in the middle. The Ottoman leaders were in disagreement and had their preparations for the battle delayed; after "three hours of idle waiting, Báthory, confident that Pál Kinizsi would arrive any minute, gave the order to attack." Ali, who spoke Romanian put on some peasant clothes and fled to Wallachia. Some 30,000 Turks died in the battle, whereas Báthory lost 8,000 Hungarians and some 2,000 Transylvanian Saxons and Transylvanian Wallachians. He died shortly afterwards. His family would return to rule as Voivodes and then Princes of Transylvania.

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