Genetic identification of members of the prominent Báthory aristocratic family

Alexandra Gînguță; Bence Kovács; Oszkár Schütz; Balázs Tihanyi; Emil Nyerki; Kitti Maár; Zoltán Maróti; Gergely I B Varga; Dan Băcueț-Crișan; Timea Keresztes; Tibor Török; Endre Neparáczki

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107911

Genetic identification of members of the prominent Báthory aristocratic family

iScience. 2023 Sep 14;26(10):107911. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107911. eCollection 2023 Oct 20.

Authors

Alexandra Gînguță¹, Bence Kovács^{1

2}, Oszkár Schütz^{1

2}, Balázs Tihanyi^{1

3}, Emil Nyerki^{1

4}, Kitti Maár^{1

2}, Zoltán Maróti^{1

4}, Gergely I B Varga¹, Dan Băcueț-Crișan⁵, Timea Keresztes⁵, Tibor Török^{1

2

6}, Endre Neparáczki^{1

2

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Archaeogenetics, Institute of Hungarian Research, Budapest, Hungary.
² Department of Genetics, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
³ Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Health Center, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
⁵ Department of Archaeology, History and Art Museum Zalău, Zalău, Romania.
⁶ Ancient and Modern Human Genomics Competence Center, Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation of the University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.

Abstract

The Báthory family was one of the most powerful noble families in the medieval Hungarian Kingdom. Their influence peaked during the Ottoman occupation of Hungary, when the only partially autonomous region of the country was Transylvania, under Turkish protectorate. Several members of the family became Princes of Transylvania, and one of them, István Báthory, was also the elected King of Poland. We hereby present the first genetic data about this extinct family. Archaeological excavations in Pericei, a settlement now part of Romania, revealed the former family chapel of the Báthory family. Through this work, two Báthory family members were successfully identified among the 13 skeletons found at the site. The presence of Y chromosome haplogroup R-S498 fits the historical account describing the family's German (Swabian) origins. Their genomic composition also indicates a family of Germanic origin that intermixed with medieval Hungarians.

Keywords: Genomics; Human Genetics; Paleogenetics; Phylogenetics.