International Conference in Sibiu (12-14 October 2023).
The third international conference on István/Stefan Báthory will be devoted especially to his governance in the various political and religious contexts in Transylvania, Hungary and Poland-Lithuania.
István Báthory possessed great economic and political independence due to his significant land holdings. His preference for a pro-Ottoman foreign policy secured his election as voivode of Transylvania, although as a Roman Catholic politician he had to govern a principality dominated by the “Protestant” estates.
Báthory’s actions as regent were equally concerned with the fields of action of culture, law and constitution, regional status policy, and bilateral and multilateral foreign policy. They interacted with the “denominational formation processes” in which a multitude of religious denominations were involved in his various domains in East-Central Europe.
Báthory’s ways of reacting to domestic and foreign policy tensions, his strategies, and the techniques of rule adapted to them will be examined in exemplary fashion at the conference. Special attention will be paid to the negotiation processes between the central institutions and the estates represented in the Diet and the elites that guided and represented different ethnic and religious milieus. These processes took place between the poles of de facto pluralization and intended homogenization.
The Transylvanian voivode Báthory was able to position himself as an ideal candidate for the Polish-Lithuanian throne. After his election, he acted in a framework of action that was essentially different from the Transylvanian conditions. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the options for action as well as domestic and foreign policy emphases shifted, but the basic constants of his approach remained recognizable. This context-bound governmental policy of Báthory, the mutual exchange processes between his dominions in the 1570s/80s, but also Báthory’s lasting influence on the principality of Transylvania even during the Polish regency will also be considered at the conference.
The conference aims to bring established researchers into discussion with young scholars and to advance Báthory research in an interdisciplinary and cross-border way towards innovative results. The publication of the contributions of all three conferences (Budapest, Warsaw, Sibiu) is planned in a comprehensive Báthory anthology in German and English.
Short paper submission has closed as per the 10th of April 2023. It it still possible to register for the conference without giving a paper.
Download here the program.
The organizers will make every effort to reimburse the presenters for travel and lodging expenses.
Academia Română (Sibiu/Hermannstadt), Arbeitskreis für Siebenbürgische Landeskunde Hermannstadt (Societatea de Studii Transilvane Sibiu), ELTE (Budapest), Institute of European History (Mainz), University of Warsaw, and REFORC.
For any questions, you may contact the director of Societatea de Studii Transilvane Sibiu, Corina Hopartean.
