Editing Báthory family (section)

==Legend and coats of arms==
A legendary account, placing the Báthorys' origin in the year 900 (preceding the advent of the Gutkeled clan), relates how a god-fearing warrior called Vitus (a namesake of a member of the first generation of the Gutkeled clan) set out to fight a dragon, which lurked in the swamps next to the castle of [[Ecsed]] (actually built only in the 14th century) and harassed the countryside. Vitus killed it with three thrusts of his lance and as a reward received the castle. The grateful people honoured him with the names ''Báthory'', meaning "good hero", and ''animus magnanimus''. In [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] the word ''bátor'' means "brave".

[[File:PB Zeby CoA.png|thumb|130px|right|A simplified version of the Báthory coat of arms, based on those of [[Stephen Báthory]], King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (reigned 1576–1586)]]

The Báthory [[coat of arms]], granted in 1325 to the sons of Briccius, was styled in reference to this legend: three horizontally placed teeth surrounded by a dragon biting its own tail,<ref name="Stramberg">
Christian von Stramberg, ''Das Haus Báthory in seinen Verzweigungen bis auf den heutigen Tag'', Berlin: Manuscript für Freunde des Hauses, 1853 - quoted in Farin, ''Heroine des Grauens'', p. 354-356, 359-362.
</ref>
the surrounding dragon being the emblem of the [[Order of the Dragon]].