CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2007
| Author | Bobory, Dora |
|---|---|
| Title | BOLDIZSAR BATTHYANY (C.1542-1590) ERUDITION, NATURAL SCIENCES, PATRONAGE AND FRIENDSHIP IN THE LIFE OF A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY HUNGARIAN NOBLEMAN |
| Summary | This dissertation is about Boldizsár Batthyány, an aristocrat, a public figure, a warlord, head of a family, owner of a large estate, a patron and, above all, a man full of intellectual curiosity from the sixteenth century. This work is a study of his manifold interests, a biography in which I tried to touch upon all aspects of his life, and particularly those elements which permitted me to place him within the context of contemporary scientific trends and tendencies. Boldizsár Batthyány, the son of Kristóf Batthyány and Erzsébet Svetkovics, was born around 1542. His uncle, Ferenc Batthyány was an able and fortunate man, one among the few who survived the Battle of Mohács in 1526, and who managed to establish one of the largest estates in Western Hungary afterwards. Boldizsár Batthyány was brought up mostly by his Uncle Ferenc and his wife, Aunt Katalin Svetkovics. Thanks to their influence and good connections in high places, after years of private study, Boldizsár Batthyány had the chance to spend more than two years at the court of King Francis II and Mary Stuart in France. Once he returned to Hungary, he put down the foundations of one of the greatest book collections in Hungary of his time. Batthyány had a passion for plants as well as a deep interest in the “secrets of nature,” and alchemical experimentation remained a hobby which accompanied him throughout his entire life. I attempted to develop a parallel story of an individual and the age he lived in. While writing the biography of Boldizsár Batthyány, I approached the question of what the main trends in science in the sixteenth century and the Count’s personal involvement were in scientific activities. |
| Supervisor | Szende, Katalin |
| Department | Medieval Studies PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2007/mphbod01.pdf |
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