Elizabeth Báthory
Encyclopedia
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (Báthory Erzsébet in Hungarian
, Alžbeta Bátoriová in Slovak
; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a countess from the renowned Báthory
family of Hungarian nobility. Although in modern times she has been labelled the most prolific serial killer
in history, the number of murders has been debated. She is nevertheless remembered as the Blood Countess or Blood Queen.
She and four collaborators were accused of torturing
and killing hundreds of girls, with one witness attributing to them over 650 victims, though the number for which they were convicted was 80. Elizabeth was tried but she never showed up to the trial so she was never convicted. In 1610, however, she was imprisoned in the Csejte Castle, now in Slovakia
and known as Čachtice, where she remained bricked in a set of rooms until her death four years later.
Later writings about the case have led to legendary accounts of the Countess bathing in the blood of virgins in order to retain her youth and subsequently also to comparisons with Vlad III the Impaler
of Wallachia
, on whom the fictional Count Dracula
was once thought to be partly based, and to modern nicknames of the Blood Countess and Countess Dracula. Further research into Bram Stoker
's manuscript and drafts of Dracula have later proven that neither Bathroy or Vlad inspired the story of Count Dracula, aside from borrowing Dracula's nickname for the title.
, Hungary
on 7 August 1560, and spent her childhood at Ecsed
Castle. Her father was George Báthory of the Ecsed branch of the family, brother of Andrew Bonaventura Báthory, who had been Voivod of Transylvania, while her mother was Anna Báthory (1539–1570), daughter of Stephen Báthory of Somlyó, another Voivod of Transylvania
, was of the Somlyó branch. Through her mother, Elizabeth was the niece of the Hungarian noble Stefan Báthory, King of Poland
and Duke of Transylvania
.
As a young woman she learned Latin
, German
and Greek
.
. There were approximately 4,500 guests at the wedding. Elizabeth moved to Nádasdy Castle in Sárvár and spent much time on her own, while her husband was away at war with the Ottoman Empire. Ferenc was the son of Baron Tamás Nádasdy de Nádasd et Fogarasföld
and his wife, Orsolya Kanizsai.
Nádasdy’s wedding gift to Báthory was his home, Csejte Castle
, situated in the Little Carpathians
near Trencsén (now Trenčín), together with the Csejte country house and 17 adjacent villages. The castle itself was surrounded by a village and agricultural lands, bordered by outcrops of the Little Carpathians
. In 1602, Nádasdy finally bought the castle from Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
, so that it became a private property of the family. She also lived for some time at the Burg Lockenhaus
, now in eastern Austria.
In 1578, Nádasdy became the chief commander of Hungarian troops, leading them to war against the Ottomans. With her husband away at war, Elizabeth Báthory managed business affairs and the estates. That role usually included providing for the Hungarian and Slovak
peasants, even medical care.
During the height of the Long War
(1593–1606), she was charged with the defense of her husband's estates, which lay on the route to Vienna
. The threat was significant, for the village of Csejte had previously been plundered by the Ottomans while Sárvár, located near the border that divided Royal Hungary
and Ottoman occupied Hungary
, was in even greater danger.
She was an educated woman who could read and write in four languages. There were several instances where she intervened on behalf of destitute women, including a woman whose husband was captured by the Turks and a woman whose daughter was rape
d and impregnated.
In 1585, Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter, Anna. A second daughter, Ursula, and her first son, Thomas, both died at an early age. After this, Elizabeth had three more children, Katherine (born in 1594), Paul (born around 1597) and Nicholas. All of her children were cared for by governesses as Elizabeth had been.
Elizabeth's husband died in 1604 at the age of 47, reportedly due to an injury sustained in battle. The couple had been married for 29 years.
Her husband was often missing for weeks at battle. She began to develop an interest in the occult in his absence and surrounded herself with alchemists as advisers.
, after rumors had spread.
The Hungarian authorities took some time to respond to Magyari's complaints. Finally, in 1610, King Matthias
assigned György Thurzo, the Palatine of Hungary, to investigate. Thurzó
ordered two notaries to collect evidence in March 1610. Even before obtaining the results, Thurzó debated further proceedings with Elizabeth's son Paul and two of her sons-in-law. A trial and execution would have caused a public scandal and disgraced a noble and influential family (which at the time ruled Transylvania), and Elizabeth's considerable property would have been seized by the crown. Thurzó, along with Paul and her two sons-in-law, originally planned for Elizabeth to be spirited away to a nunnery, but as accounts of her murder of the daughters of lesser nobility spread, it was agreed that Elizabeth Báthory should be kept under strict house arrest, but that further punishment should be avoided. It was also determined that Matthias would not have to repay his large debt to her, for which he lacked sufficient funds.
and other personnel of Sárvár castle.
According to all this testimony, her initial victims were the adolescent daughters of local peasants, many of whom were lured to Csejte by offers of well-paid work as maidservants in the castle. Later, she is said to have begun to kill daughters of the lesser gentry
, who were sent to her gynaeceum
by their parents to learn courtly etiquette
. Abductions were said to have occurred as well.The atrocities described most consistently included:
The use of needles was also mentioned by the collaborators in court.
Some witnesses named relatives who died while at the gynaeceum. Others reported having seen traces of torture on dead bodies, some of which were buried in graveyards, and others in unmarked locations. However, two witnesses (court officials Benedikt Deseo and Jakob Szilvassy) actually saw the Countess herself torture and kill young servant girls . According to the testimony of the defendants, Elizabeth Báthory tortured and killed her victims not only at Csejte but also on her properties in Sárvár, Németkeresztúr
, Bratislava
, (then Pozsony, Pressburg), and Vienna
, and even between these locations. In addition to the defendants, several people were named for supplying Elizabeth Báthory with young women. The girls had been procured either by deception or by force. A little-known figure named Anna Darvulia was rumored to have influenced Báthory, but Darvulia was dead long before the trial.
The exact number of young women tortured and killed by Elizabeth Báthory is unknown, though it is often speculated to be as high as 650, between the years 1585 and 1610. The estimates differ greatly. During the trial and before their execution, Szentes and Ficko reported 36 and 37 respectively, during their periods of service. The other defendants estimated a number of 50 or higher. Many Sárvár castle personnel estimated the number of bodies removed from the castle at between 100 to 200. One witness who spoke at the trial mentioned a book in which a total of over 650 victims was supposed to have been listed by Báthory. This number became part of the legend surrounding Báthory. Reportedly, the location of the diaries is unknown but 32 letters written by Báthory are stored in the Hungarian state archives in Budapest
.
László Nagy
has argued that Elizabeth Báthory was a victim of a conspiracy
, a view opposed by others. Nagy argued that the proceedings were largely politically motivated. The conspiracy theory is consistent with Hungarian history at that time. There was great conflict between religions, including Protestant ones, and this was related to the extension of Habsburg power over Hungary. As a Transylvania
n Protestant aristocrat, Elizabeth belonged to a group generally opposed to the Habsburgs.
While the countess was put under house arrest
(and remained so from that point on), King Matthias
requested that Elizabeth be sentenced to death. However, Thurzó successfully convinced the King that such an act would negatively affect the nobility. Hence, a trial was postponed indefinitely. Thurzo's motivation for such an intervention is debated by scholars.
The countess' associates however were brought to court. A trial was held on 7 January 1611 at Bicse
, presided over by Royal Supreme Court judge Theodosious Syrmiensis de Szulo and 20 associate judges. Báthory did not appear at the trial.
The defendants at that trial were Dorota Semtész, Ilona Jó, Katarína Benická, and János Újváry ("Ibis" or Ficko).
Semtész, Jó and Ficko were found guilty and condemned to death, the sentence being carried out immediately. Before being burned at the stake, Semtész and Jó had their fingers ripped off their hands with hot pokers, while Ficko, who was deemed less culpable, was beheaded before being consigned to the flames. A red gallows was erected near the castle to show the public that justice had been done. Benická's fate remains unknown, and since no further charges were brought against her nor a sentence carried out likely she was quietly released after a period of time. .
King Matthias had urged Thurzó
to bring her to court and two notaries were sent to collect further evidence, but in the end no court proceedings against her were ever commenced, partially because she was an aristocrat. She was instead imprisoned for life in her castle. Stonemasons created a surrounding of brick walls to imprison her in with small slits so food could be given to her.
Countess Báthory died on 21 August 1614. Three days later on 25 August 1614, Thurzó's cousin Stanislav Thurzó wrote: "...The death of Mrs. Nadasdy may already be known to you and how she unexpectedly resigned from this life. In the evening, she said to her bodyguard "Look, how cold my hands are!" The bodyguard told her, "It's nothing, Mistress. Just go and lie down." She then went to sleep. She took the pillow that was under her head and put it under her feet. As such, she lied down, and in the same night, she died. They say, however, she prayed imploringly and praised God with beautiful singing. Regarding her funeral, we still have no information. I commend myself and my services, along with my wife, to Your Grace, your wife, and your beloved children. God grant Your Grace a long and healthy life. Postyen, 25 August, Anno Domini 1615." She was buried in the church of Csejte, but due to the villagers' uproar over having "The Tigress of Csejte" buried in their cemetery, her body was moved to her birth home at Ecsed
, where it is interred at the Báthory family crypt. After her death a paper of hers was found. It was a prayer to the devil to send 99 cats to kill King Matthias and the others who had brought her to justice. An interesting footnote is that a horribly scarred survivor named Anna, along with her mother, was given 56 guilders and 15 pounds of wheat along with a small farm in Cachtice as free property in recompense for her injuries..
This legend appeared in print for the first time in 1729, in the Jesuit scholar László Turóczi’s Tragica Historia, the first written account of the Báthory case.
At the beginning of the 19th century, this certainty was questioned, and sadistic pleasure was considered a far more plausible motive for Elizabeth Báthory's crimes. In 1817, the witness accounts (which had surfaced in 1765) were published for the first time, suggesting that the bloodbaths were legend.
The legend nonetheless persisted in the popular imagination
. Some versions of the story were told with the purpose of denouncing female vanity, while other versions aimed to entertain or thrill their audience. The ethnic divisions in Eastern Europe and financial incentives for tourism contribute to the problems with historical accuracy in understanding Elizabeth Báthory. During the twentieth and 21st centuries, Elizabeth Báthory has continued to appear as a character in music, film, plays, books, games and toys
and to serve as an inspiration for similar characters.
Some believe that Báthory partly inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula. Stoker seems to have read The Book of Werewolves (1865), which contains a reference to Báthory.
Rebecca Johns
' novel The Countess published in 2010 is based on Elizabeth Báthory's life and tells her side of the story.
Chuck Palaniuk's novel, Damned references the countess on page 192 in chapter XXIX.
Holly Luhning's novel, "Quiver," (2011), tells the story of a Bathory cult that recreates her legendary murders in modern-day Europe. It features a Bathory-like villain named Maria and a young psychologist who becomes increasingly obsessed with the legend.
In French:
In German:
In Hungarian:
In Slovak:
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, Alžbeta Bátoriová in Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a countess from the renowned Báthory
Báthory
The Báthory were a Hungarian noble family of the Gutkeled clan. The family rose to significant influence in Central Europe during the late Middle Ages, holding high military, administrative and ecclesiastical positions in the Kingdom of Hungary...
family of Hungarian nobility. Although in modern times she has been labelled the most prolific serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
in history, the number of murders has been debated. She is nevertheless remembered as the Blood Countess or Blood Queen.
She and four collaborators were accused of torturing
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and killing hundreds of girls, with one witness attributing to them over 650 victims, though the number for which they were convicted was 80. Elizabeth was tried but she never showed up to the trial so she was never convicted. In 1610, however, she was imprisoned in the Csejte Castle, now in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
and known as Čachtice, where she remained bricked in a set of rooms until her death four years later.
Later writings about the case have led to legendary accounts of the Countess bathing in the blood of virgins in order to retain her youth and subsequently also to comparisons with Vlad III the Impaler
Vlad III the Impaler
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia , also known by his patronymic Dracula , and posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler , was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the incipient Ottoman conquest of the Balkans...
of Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
, on whom the fictional Count Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
was once thought to be partly based, and to modern nicknames of the Blood Countess and Countess Dracula. Further research into Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
's manuscript and drafts of Dracula have later proven that neither Bathroy or Vlad inspired the story of Count Dracula, aside from borrowing Dracula's nickname for the title.
Early years
Elizabeth Báthory was born on a family estate in NyírbátorNyírbátor
Nyírbátor /ˈɲiːɾbaːtoɾ/ is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. With its historic atmosphere, this city is known for its 15th- and 16th-century ecclesiastic and secular built heritage and for the family of the former landowners, the Báthory...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
on 7 August 1560, and spent her childhood at Ecsed
Ecsed
Ecsed is a small village in Hungary. There is an old town of Ecsed in the eastern part of Hungary that has been renamed Nagyecsed, meaning "grand" or "great Ecsed"....
Castle. Her father was George Báthory of the Ecsed branch of the family, brother of Andrew Bonaventura Báthory, who had been Voivod of Transylvania, while her mother was Anna Báthory (1539–1570), daughter of Stephen Báthory of Somlyó, another Voivod of Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, was of the Somlyó branch. Through her mother, Elizabeth was the niece of the Hungarian noble Stefan Báthory, King of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Duke of Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
.
As a young woman she learned Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
.
Married life
Elizabeth was engaged to Ferenc Nádasdy at age 11, in what was probably a political arrangement within the circles of the aristocracy . The couple married on 8 May 1575, in the little palace of VarannóVranov nad Toplou
Vranov nad Topľou is a city of approximately 23,000 inhabitants in eastern Slovakia, situated near Košice and Prešov, and between the Topľa River and the Ondava River....
. There were approximately 4,500 guests at the wedding. Elizabeth moved to Nádasdy Castle in Sárvár and spent much time on her own, while her husband was away at war with the Ottoman Empire. Ferenc was the son of Baron Tamás Nádasdy de Nádasd et Fogarasföld
Tamas I Nadasdy
Baron Tamás Nádasdy de Nádasd et Fogarasföld , called the Great Palatine , Hungarian statesman, was the son of Ferenc I Nádasdy and was educated at Graz, Bologna and Rome....
and his wife, Orsolya Kanizsai.
Nádasdy’s wedding gift to Báthory was his home, Csejte Castle
Cachtice Castle
The Čachtice Castle is a castle ruin in Slovakia next to the village of Čachtice. It stands on a hill featuring rare plants, and has been declared a national nature reserve for this reason...
, situated in the Little Carpathians
Little Carpathians
The Little Carpathians are a low, about 100 km long, mountain range, part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountains are situated in Western Slovakia, covering the area from Bratislava to Nové Mesto nad Váhom, a very small part called Hundsheimer Berge is situated south of Devín Gate in...
near Trencsén (now Trenčín), together with the Csejte country house and 17 adjacent villages. The castle itself was surrounded by a village and agricultural lands, bordered by outcrops of the Little Carpathians
Little Carpathians
The Little Carpathians are a low, about 100 km long, mountain range, part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountains are situated in Western Slovakia, covering the area from Bratislava to Nové Mesto nad Váhom, a very small part called Hundsheimer Berge is situated south of Devín Gate in...
. In 1602, Nádasdy finally bought the castle from Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Hungary and Croatia , King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria...
, so that it became a private property of the family. She also lived for some time at the Burg Lockenhaus
Burg Lockenhaus
Burg Lockenhaus is a castle and medieval fortress located in the Güns Valley in the southeastern part of Lockenhaus, in Burgenland, eastern Austria. The castle was built in Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles around 1200, and was initially called "Leuca" or Léka...
, now in eastern Austria.
In 1578, Nádasdy became the chief commander of Hungarian troops, leading them to war against the Ottomans. With her husband away at war, Elizabeth Báthory managed business affairs and the estates. That role usually included providing for the Hungarian and Slovak
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
peasants, even medical care.
During the height of the Long War
Long War (Ottoman wars)
The Long War took place from 1591 or 1593 to 1604 or 1606 and was one of the numerous military conflicts between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire that developed after the Battle of Mohács.- History :The major participants of this war were the Habsburg Monarchy ,...
(1593–1606), she was charged with the defense of her husband's estates, which lay on the route to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The threat was significant, for the village of Csejte had previously been plundered by the Ottomans while Sárvár, located near the border that divided Royal Hungary
Royal Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary between 1538 and 1867 was part of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, while outside the Holy Roman Empire.After Battle of Mohács, the country was ruled by two crowned kings . They divided the kingdom in 1538...
and Ottoman occupied Hungary
Ottoman Hungary
History of Ottoman Hungary refers to the history of parts of the Ottoman Empire situated in what today is Hungary, in the period from 1541 to 1699.-History:...
, was in even greater danger.
She was an educated woman who could read and write in four languages. There were several instances where she intervened on behalf of destitute women, including a woman whose husband was captured by the Turks and a woman whose daughter was rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d and impregnated.
In 1585, Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter, Anna. A second daughter, Ursula, and her first son, Thomas, both died at an early age. After this, Elizabeth had three more children, Katherine (born in 1594), Paul (born around 1597) and Nicholas. All of her children were cared for by governesses as Elizabeth had been.
Elizabeth's husband died in 1604 at the age of 47, reportedly due to an injury sustained in battle. The couple had been married for 29 years.
Her husband was often missing for weeks at battle. She began to develop an interest in the occult in his absence and surrounded herself with alchemists as advisers.
Early investigation
Between 1602 and 1604, Lutheran minister István Magyari complained about atrocities both publicly and with the court in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, after rumors had spread.
The Hungarian authorities took some time to respond to Magyari's complaints. Finally, in 1610, King Matthias
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
Matthias of Austria was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611...
assigned György Thurzo, the Palatine of Hungary, to investigate. Thurzó
Thurzo
Thurzo or Turzo was a Hungarian noble family from the 15th century to the first half of the 17th century.The ancestors of the Thurzo family came to the Kingdom of Hungary from Lower Austria....
ordered two notaries to collect evidence in March 1610. Even before obtaining the results, Thurzó debated further proceedings with Elizabeth's son Paul and two of her sons-in-law. A trial and execution would have caused a public scandal and disgraced a noble and influential family (which at the time ruled Transylvania), and Elizabeth's considerable property would have been seized by the crown. Thurzó, along with Paul and her two sons-in-law, originally planned for Elizabeth to be spirited away to a nunnery, but as accounts of her murder of the daughters of lesser nobility spread, it was agreed that Elizabeth Báthory should be kept under strict house arrest, but that further punishment should be avoided. It was also determined that Matthias would not have to repay his large debt to her, for which he lacked sufficient funds.
Accusations
In 1610 and 1611, the notaries collected testimony from more than 300 witnesses. The trial records include the testimony of the four defendants, as well as thirteen witnesses. Priests, noblemen and commoners were questioned. Witnesses included the castellanCastellan
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...
and other personnel of Sárvár castle.
According to all this testimony, her initial victims were the adolescent daughters of local peasants, many of whom were lured to Csejte by offers of well-paid work as maidservants in the castle. Later, she is said to have begun to kill daughters of the lesser gentry
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....
, who were sent to her gynaeceum
Gynaeceum
A Gynaeceum or Gynaeconitis in Ancient Greece was a building or was the portion of a house reserved for women, generally the innermost apartment. In other words, a women's quarters, similar to the Persian zenana...
by their parents to learn courtly etiquette
Etiquette
Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...
. Abductions were said to have occurred as well.The atrocities described most consistently included:
- severe beatings over extended periods of time, often leading to death
- burning or mutilationMutilationMutilation or maiming is an act of physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of any living body, usually without causing death.- Usage :...
of hands, sometimes also of faces and genitalia - biting the flesh off the faces, arms and other bodily parts
- freezing to death
- surgery on victims, often fatal
- starving of victims
- sexual abuse
The use of needles was also mentioned by the collaborators in court.
Some witnesses named relatives who died while at the gynaeceum. Others reported having seen traces of torture on dead bodies, some of which were buried in graveyards, and others in unmarked locations. However, two witnesses (court officials Benedikt Deseo and Jakob Szilvassy) actually saw the Countess herself torture and kill young servant girls . According to the testimony of the defendants, Elizabeth Báthory tortured and killed her victims not only at Csejte but also on her properties in Sárvár, Németkeresztúr
Deutschkreutz
Deutschkreutz is an Austrian market town in the District of Oberpullendorf, Burgenland. Its Hungarian name is Sopronkeresztúr , in Hebrew it is called Zelem , .- Geography :...
, Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, (then Pozsony, Pressburg), and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and even between these locations. In addition to the defendants, several people were named for supplying Elizabeth Báthory with young women. The girls had been procured either by deception or by force. A little-known figure named Anna Darvulia was rumored to have influenced Báthory, but Darvulia was dead long before the trial.
The exact number of young women tortured and killed by Elizabeth Báthory is unknown, though it is often speculated to be as high as 650, between the years 1585 and 1610. The estimates differ greatly. During the trial and before their execution, Szentes and Ficko reported 36 and 37 respectively, during their periods of service. The other defendants estimated a number of 50 or higher. Many Sárvár castle personnel estimated the number of bodies removed from the castle at between 100 to 200. One witness who spoke at the trial mentioned a book in which a total of over 650 victims was supposed to have been listed by Báthory. This number became part of the legend surrounding Báthory. Reportedly, the location of the diaries is unknown but 32 letters written by Báthory are stored in the Hungarian state archives in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
.
László Nagy
László Nagy (Scouting)
László Nagy was the Secretary General of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from May 1, 1968 to October 31, 1988...
has argued that Elizabeth Báthory was a victim of a conspiracy
Conspiracy (political)
In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'état or through assassination....
, a view opposed by others. Nagy argued that the proceedings were largely politically motivated. The conspiracy theory is consistent with Hungarian history at that time. There was great conflict between religions, including Protestant ones, and this was related to the extension of Habsburg power over Hungary. As a Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
n Protestant aristocrat, Elizabeth belonged to a group generally opposed to the Habsburgs.
Arrest and trial
Thurzó went to Csejte Castle on 30 December 1610 and arrested Báthory and four of her servants, who were accused of being her accomplices. Thurzó's men reportedly found one girl dead and several dying. They reported that another woman was found wounded, others locked up.While the countess was put under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
(and remained so from that point on), King Matthias
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
Matthias of Austria was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611...
requested that Elizabeth be sentenced to death. However, Thurzó successfully convinced the King that such an act would negatively affect the nobility. Hence, a trial was postponed indefinitely. Thurzo's motivation for such an intervention is debated by scholars.
The countess' associates however were brought to court. A trial was held on 7 January 1611 at Bicse
Bytca
Bytča is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located at the Váh river near the cities of Žilina and Považská Bystrica. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism.-History:...
, presided over by Royal Supreme Court judge Theodosious Syrmiensis de Szulo and 20 associate judges. Báthory did not appear at the trial.
The defendants at that trial were Dorota Semtész, Ilona Jó, Katarína Benická, and János Újváry ("Ibis" or Ficko).
Semtész, Jó and Ficko were found guilty and condemned to death, the sentence being carried out immediately. Before being burned at the stake, Semtész and Jó had their fingers ripped off their hands with hot pokers, while Ficko, who was deemed less culpable, was beheaded before being consigned to the flames. A red gallows was erected near the castle to show the public that justice had been done. Benická's fate remains unknown, and since no further charges were brought against her nor a sentence carried out likely she was quietly released after a period of time. .
Last years and death
During the trial of her primary servants, Báthory had been placed under house arrest in a walled up set of rooms. She remained there for four years, until her death.King Matthias had urged Thurzó
Thurzo
Thurzo or Turzo was a Hungarian noble family from the 15th century to the first half of the 17th century.The ancestors of the Thurzo family came to the Kingdom of Hungary from Lower Austria....
to bring her to court and two notaries were sent to collect further evidence, but in the end no court proceedings against her were ever commenced, partially because she was an aristocrat. She was instead imprisoned for life in her castle. Stonemasons created a surrounding of brick walls to imprison her in with small slits so food could be given to her.
Countess Báthory died on 21 August 1614. Three days later on 25 August 1614, Thurzó's cousin Stanislav Thurzó wrote: "...The death of Mrs. Nadasdy may already be known to you and how she unexpectedly resigned from this life. In the evening, she said to her bodyguard "Look, how cold my hands are!" The bodyguard told her, "It's nothing, Mistress. Just go and lie down." She then went to sleep. She took the pillow that was under her head and put it under her feet. As such, she lied down, and in the same night, she died. They say, however, she prayed imploringly and praised God with beautiful singing. Regarding her funeral, we still have no information. I commend myself and my services, along with my wife, to Your Grace, your wife, and your beloved children. God grant Your Grace a long and healthy life. Postyen, 25 August, Anno Domini 1615." She was buried in the church of Csejte, but due to the villagers' uproar over having "The Tigress of Csejte" buried in their cemetery, her body was moved to her birth home at Ecsed
Nagyecsed
Nagyecsed is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary.-Geography:It covers an area of and has a population of 6706 people ....
, where it is interred at the Báthory family crypt. After her death a paper of hers was found. It was a prayer to the devil to send 99 cats to kill King Matthias and the others who had brought her to justice. An interesting footnote is that a horribly scarred survivor named Anna, along with her mother, was given 56 guilders and 15 pounds of wheat along with a small farm in Cachtice as free property in recompense for her injuries..
Legacy, folklore and popular culture
The case of Elizabeth Báthory inspired numerous stories during the 18th and 19th centuries. The most common motif of these works was that of the countess bathing in her victims' blood in order to retain beauty or youth.This legend appeared in print for the first time in 1729, in the Jesuit scholar László Turóczi’s Tragica Historia, the first written account of the Báthory case.
At the beginning of the 19th century, this certainty was questioned, and sadistic pleasure was considered a far more plausible motive for Elizabeth Báthory's crimes. In 1817, the witness accounts (which had surfaced in 1765) were published for the first time, suggesting that the bloodbaths were legend.
The legend nonetheless persisted in the popular imagination
Imagination
Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses...
. Some versions of the story were told with the purpose of denouncing female vanity, while other versions aimed to entertain or thrill their audience. The ethnic divisions in Eastern Europe and financial incentives for tourism contribute to the problems with historical accuracy in understanding Elizabeth Báthory. During the twentieth and 21st centuries, Elizabeth Báthory has continued to appear as a character in music, film, plays, books, games and toys
Elizabeth Báthory in popular culture
The influence of Elizabeth Báthory in popular culture has been notable from the 18th century to the present day. Since her death, various myths and legends surrounding her story have preserved her as a prominent figure in folklore, literature, music, film, games and toys.-In folklore and...
and to serve as an inspiration for similar characters.
Some believe that Báthory partly inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula. Stoker seems to have read The Book of Werewolves (1865), which contains a reference to Báthory.
Rebecca Johns
Rebecca Johns
Rebecca Johns is an author and educator. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri's School of Journalism and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She is the author of Icebergs and, coming in October 2010, The Countess...
' novel The Countess published in 2010 is based on Elizabeth Báthory's life and tells her side of the story.
Chuck Palaniuk's novel, Damned references the countess on page 192 in chapter XXIX.
Holly Luhning's novel, "Quiver," (2011), tells the story of a Bathory cult that recreates her legendary murders in modern-day Europe. It features a Bathory-like villain named Maria and a young psychologist who becomes increasingly obsessed with the legend.
See also
- Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova
- Delphine LaLaurieDelphine LaLaurieMarie Delphine LaLaurie , more commonly known as Madame LaLaurie, was a Louisiana-born socialite, known for her involvement in the torture of black slaves....
- Ilse KochIlse KochIlse Koch, née Köhler , was the wife of Karl-Otto Koch, commandant of the Nazi concentration camps Buchenwald from 1937 to 1941, and Majdanek from 1941 to 1943...
- Gilles de RaisGilles de RaisGilles de Montmorency-Laval , Baron de Rais, was a Breton knight, a leader in the French army and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known as a prolific serial killer of children...
- Hungarian nobility
- La QuintralaLa QuintralaCatalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer was an aristocratic 17th century Chilean landowner, nicknamed La Quintrala because of her flaming red hair. During Chile's colonial period, she was noted for her extreme cruelty to her inquils , accused and tried for over 40 murders, becoming an icon of colonial...
- Vlad Dracula
Further reading
In English:In French:
In German:
In Hungarian:
In Slovak:
External links
- Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erszebet Bathory
- Crime Library article on Erzsébet Báthory
- BBC piece on Erzsébet Báthory
- A genealogy of the Nádasdy family, including her descendants
- A genealogy of the Báthory family
- History and new research on Erzsébet Báthory
- A complete genealogy of all descendants Elizabeth Báthory XVII – XX century