Elizabeth Báthory

Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed(Hungarian:Báthori Erzsébet,pronounced[ˈbaːtɔrɪˈɛrʒeːbɛt];Slovak:Alžbeta Bátoriová; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614)was aHungarian noblewomanand allegedserial killerfrom the powerfulHouse of Báthory, who owned land in theKingdom of Hungary(now Slovakia). Báthory and four of her servants were accused oftorturingand killing hundreds of girls and women from 1590 to 1610.She and her servants were put on trial and convicted. The servants were executed, whereas Báthory was imprisoned within theCastle of Csejte (Čachtice)until she died in her sleep in 1614.
The charges levelled against Báthory have been described by several historians as awitch-hunt.Other writers, such as Michael Farin in 1989, have said that the accusations against Báthory were supported by testimony from more than 300 individuals, some of whom described physical evidence and the presence ofmutilateddead, dying and imprisoned girls found at the time of her arrest.Recent sources claim that the accusations were a spectacle to destroy her family's influence in the region, which was considered a threat to the political interests of her neighbours, including theHabsburg empire.
Stories about Báthory quickly became part of nationalfolklore.Legends describing hervampirictendencies, such as the tale that she bathed in the blood of virgins to retain her youth, were based on rumours and only recorded as supposedly factual over a century after her death. Although these stories were repeated by at least three historians in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, they are considered unreliable by modern historians.Some insist that Elizabeth's story inspiredBram Stoker's novelDracula(1897),although Stoker's notes on the novel provided no direct evidence to support this hypothesis.Nicknames and literaryepithetsattributed to her includeBlood CountessandCountess Dracula.
Elizabeth was born in 1560 on a family estate inNyírbátor,Royal Hungary, and spent her childhood atEcsedCastle. Her father was Baron George VIBáthory(d. 1570), of the Ecsed branch of the family, brother of Andrew Bonaventura Báthory (d. 1566), who had been rulingVoivode of Transylvania. Her paternal great-grandparents wereKonrad the Red,Duke of MasoviaandWarsaw, who was a member of thePiast dynastyandAnna Radziwiłł, a member of the influential Polish-LithuanianHouse of Radziwiłł. Her mother was Baroness Anna Báthory of Somlyó (1537–1570), member of the other line of the Báthory family, daughter ofStephen Báthory of Somlyó, Palatine of Hungary. Through her mother, Elizabeth was the niece ofStephen Báthory(1533–1586),Prince of Transylvania, who became the ruler of thePolish-Lithuanian CommonwealthasKing of PolandandGrand Duke of Lithuania.She had several siblings; her older brotherStephen(1555–1605) served as aJudge Royalof Hungary.
Báthory was raised aCalvinistProtestant,and learnedLatin,German,Hungarian, andGreekas a young woman.Born into a privileged noble family, she was endowed with wealth, education, and a prominent social rank.A proposal made by some sourcesin order to explain Báthory's cruelty later in her life is that she was trained by her family to be cruel.
As a child, Báthory had multipleseizuresthat may have been caused byepilepsy.At the time, symptoms relating to epilepsy were diagnosed asfalling sicknessand treatments included rubbing blood of a non-sufferer on the lips of an epileptic or giving the epileptic a mix of a non-sufferer's blood and piece of skull as their episode ended.
At the age of 13, before her first marriage, Báthory allegedly gave birth to a child.The child, said to have been fathered by apeasantboy, was supposedly given away to a local woman who was trusted by the Báthory family.The woman was paid for her actions, and the child was taken toWallachia.Evidence of this pregnancy came up long after Elizabeth's death, through rumours spread by peasants; therefore, the validity of the rumour is often disputed.
In 1573,Báthory was engaged to CountFerenc Nádasdy, a member of theNadasdy family. It was apolitical arrangementwithin the circles of the aristocracy. Nádasdy was the son of BaronTamás Nádasdy de Nádasd et Fogarasföld(1498–1562) and his wife, Orsolya Kanizsai (1523–1571).
On 8 May 1575, Báthory and Nádasdy were married at the palace ofVarannó(today Vranov nad Topľou, Slovakia).The marriage resulted in combined land ownership in both Transylvania and the Kingdom of Hungary.
Nádasdy's wedding gift to Báthory was his household in theCastle of Csejte (Čachtice), situated in theLittle Carpathiansnear Vág-Ujhely and Trencsén (present-dayNové Mesto nad VáhomandTrenčín,Slovakia).At the time,King Maximilian IIowned the castle, but made Ferenc's mother, Orsolya Kanizsai, officialstewardin 1569. Nádasdy finally bought the castle in 1602 fromRudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, but during his constant military campaign, Elizabeth maintained the castle in his absence, along with the Csejte country house and seventeen adjacent villages.
After the wedding, the couple lived in Nadasdy's castle atSárvár.
In 1578, three years into their marriage, Nádasdy became the chief commander of Hungarian troops, leading them towar against the Ottomans.Báthory managed business affairs and the family's multiple estates during the war. This role usually included responsibility for the Hungarian andSlovakpeople, providing medical care during theLong War(1593–1606), and Báthory was charged with the defence of her husband's estates, which lay on the route toVienna. The threat of attack was significant, for the village of Csejte had previously been plundered by theOttomanswhileSárvár, located near the border that dividedRoyal HungaryandOttoman-occupied Hungary, was in even greater danger.
Báthory's daughter, Anna Nádasdy, was born in 1585 and was later to become the wife ofNikola VI Zrinski. Báthory's other known children include Orsolya (Orsika) Nádasdy (1590–unknown) who would later become the wife of István IIBenyó; Katalin (Kata or Katherina) Nádasdy (1594-unknown); András Nádasdy (1596–1603); and Pál (Paul) Nádasdy (1598–1650), father ofFranz III Nádasdy, who was one of the leaders of theMagnate conspiracyagainstHoly Roman EmperorLeopold I.Some chronicles also indicate that the couple had another son, named Miklós Nádasdy, who married ZsuzsannaZrinski. However, this cannot be confirmed, and it could be that he was simply a cousin or died young, as he is not named in Báthory'swillfrom 1610. György Nádasdy is also supposedly the name of one of the deceased Nádasdy infants, but this cannot be confirmed. All of Elizabeth's children were cared for bygovernesses, as Báthory herself had been.
Ferenc Nádasdy died on 4 January 1604 at the age of 48. Although the exact nature of the illness which led to his death is unknown, it seems to have started in 1601 and initially caused debilitating pain in his legs. From that time, he never fully recovered, and in 1603 became permanently disabled.He had been married to Báthory for 29 years. Before dying, Nádasdy entrusted his heirs and widow toGyörgy Thurzó, who would eventually lead the investigation into Báthory's crimes.
Between 1602 and 1604, after rumours of Báthory's atrocities had spread throughout the kingdom,Lutheranminister István Magyari made complaints against her, both publicly and at the court in Vienna.In 1610,Matthias IIassignedGyörgy Thurzó, thePalatine of Hungary, to investigate. Thurzó ordered twonotaries, András Keresztúry and MózesCziráky,to collect evidence in March 1610.By October 1610 they had collected 52 witness statements;by 1611, that number had risen to over 300.
Bathory is said to have tortured or killed peasants for years; their disappearances were not likely to provoke an investigation.The abuse of lower classes by nobles was frowned on but not actually prohibited by law.However, she eventually began killing daughters of the lessergentry, some of whom were sent to live with her hoping to learn from her and benefit from a connection to the high-ranking countess.
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.
Beginning in the 1980s, scholars have questioned the truthfulness of the claims against Bathory.Several authors, such as László Nagy and Irma Szádeczky-Kardoss, have argued that Elizabeth Báthory was a victim of aconspiracy.Nagy argued that the proceedings against Báthory were largely politically motivated, possibly due to her extensive wealth and ownership of large areas of land in Hungary, which increased after the death of her husband. At that time, Hungary was embroiled in religious and political conflicts, especially relating to the wars with the Ottoman Empire, the spread ofProtestantismand the extension ofHabsburgpower.The Habsburgs were Catholic and Báthory was a Protestant.Her nephew, Prince Gábor Báthory, ruled in Transylvania, which was influential in the movement for Hungarian independence from Habsburg rule, providing the Habsburgs a motivation to discredit the family.Prince Gábor also desired the throne of Hungary, presenting a threat to King Matthias.Elizabeth Báthory's vast land holdings included fortresses that could have aided the Transylvanian army if Gábor had sent it to challenge Matthias.Matthias, who had originally ordered the investigation into Báthory, owed her a large debt, which was cancelled after she was arrested.
The investigation into Báthory's crimes was sparked by complaints from a Lutheran minister, István Magyari,which does not align with the notion of a Catholic/Habsburg plot against the Protestant Báthory. However religious tension is still a possible source of conflict, as Báthory was a raised Calvinist rather than Lutheran.
Thurzó, the investigator into the accusations, had political state ambitions that would benefit from disgracing Báthory.An ally of King Matthias, he had been involved in an assassination attempt on Báthory's couzin Prince Gábor, and he had ambitions for his son to become Prince of Transylvania, in competition with Elizabeth Báthory's son.Thurzó alleged that he found numerous dead and dying girls when he entered the castle,but Szádeczky-Kardoss argues that the physical evidence was exaggerated and Thurzó misrepresented dead and wounded patients as victims of Báthory.Landowners like Báthory were responsible for medical care of tenants, so sick and injured subjects were brought to her castles.Female landowners were charged with care of female patients.
On 13 December 1612, Nikola VI Zrinski confirmed the agreement with Thurzó about the imprisonment of Báthory and distribution of the estate.On New Year's Eve 1612, Thurzó went to Csejte Castle and arrested Báthory along with four of her servants, who were accused of being heraccomplices: Dorotya Semtész, Ilona Jó, Katarína Benická and János Újváry ("Ibis" or Fickó). According to Thurzó's letter to his wife, his unannounced visit found one dead girl and another living "prey" girl in the castle,but there is no evidence that they asked her what had happened to her. She recovered but did not testify in the trials.Although it is commonly believed that Báthory was caught in the act of torture, she was having dinner.Initially, Thurzó made the declaration to Báthory's guests and villagers that he had caught her red-handed. However, she was arrested and detained prior to the discovery or presentation of the victims. It seems most likely that the claim of Thurzó's discovering Báthory covered in blood has been the embellishment of fictionalised accounts.
Thurzó debated further proceedings with Báthory's son Paul and two of her sons-in-law, Nikola VI Zrinski and GyörgyDrugeth.Her family, whichruled Transylvania, sought to avoid the loss of Báthory's property which was at risk of being seized by the crown following a public scandal.Thurzó, along with Paul and her two sons-in-law, originally planned for Báthory to be sent to anunnery, but as accounts of her actions spread, they decided to keep her under stricthouse arrest.
Two trials were held in the wake of Báthory's arrest: The first was held on 2 January 1611, and the second on 7 January 1611.In the first trial, seventeen witnesses testified, including the four servants who were also fellow suspects. These suspects had been tortured before the proceedings.They confessed, and stated that they were acting on Elizabeth's orders. After the trial, they were executed as her accomplices.Ilona Jó and Dorottya Szentes had their fingers torn out with a pair of red-hot pincers and were then burned alive. Due to his youth and the belief that he was less culpable, János Újváry was executed by a much less painful method: Beheading. Afterwards, his body was burned on the same pyre as Jó and Szentes. Another servant, Erzsi Majorova, initially escaped capture but was burned alive after being apprehended. Katarína Benická received a life sentence after evidence showed that she had been abused by the others.
The accusations of murder were based on rumours. There is no document to prove that anyone in the area complained about the Countess. During this period, letters of complaint were written whenever someone was harmed, even in a matter of a stolen chicken.Although 300 witnesses testified against Báthory, none were victims or eyewitnesses of the torture.
The highest number of victims cited during the trial of Báthory's accomplices was 650, but this number comes from the claim by a servant named Susannah that Jakab Szilvássy, Báthory's court official, had seen the figure in one of Báthory's private books. The book was never revealed and Szilvássy never mentioned it in his testimony.
On 25 January 1611, Thurzó wrote a letter to King Matthias describing that they had captured and confined Báthory to her castle. Thepalatinealso coordinated the steps of the investigation with the political struggle with the Prince of Transylvania.She was detained in the castle of Csejte for the remainder of her life, where she died at the age of 54. György Thurzó wrote that Báthory waslocked in a bricked room, but according to documents from the visit of priests in July 1614, she was able to move unhindered in the castle, more akin tohouse arrest.
She wrote a will in September 1610, in which she left all current and future inheritance possessions to her children.In the last month of 1610, she signed her arrangement, in which she distributed the estates, lands and possessions among her children.On the evening of 20 August 1614, Báthory complained to her bodyguard that her hands were cold, whereupon he replied "It's nothing, mistress. Just go lie down". She went to sleep and was found dead the following morning.She was buried in the church of Csejte on 25 November 1614,but according to some sources due to the villagers' uproar over having the Countess buried in their cemetery, her body was moved to her birth-home atEcsed, where it was intered at the Báthory family crypt.The location of her body today is unknown but believed to be buried deep in the church area of the castle. The Csejte church and the castle of Csejte do not bear any markings of her possible grave.
Báthory was the great-great-granddaughter ofBarbara AleksandrównaandBolesław IV of Warsaw, andMikalojus Radvila the Old; the 3rd great-granddaughter ofBolesław Januszowic; the 4th great-granddaughter ofVladimir Olgerdovich; and the 5th great-granddaughter ofAlgirdas.
The case of Elizabeth Báthory inspired numerous stories during the 18th and 19th centuries. The most commonmotifof these works was that of the countess bathing in her virgin victims' blood to retain beauty or youth. This legend appeared in print for the first time in 1729, in theJesuitscholar László Turóczi'sTragica Historia, the first written account of the Báthory case.The story came into question in 1817 when the witness accounts (which had surfaced in 1765) were published for the first time. They included no references to blood baths.In his bookHungary and Transylvania, published in 1850, John Paget describes the supposed origins of Báthory's blood-bathing, although his tale seems to be a fictionalised recitation of oral history from the area.It is difficult to know how accurate his account of events is.Sadisticpleasure is considered a far more plausible motive for Báthory's crimes.
Báthory has been labelled byGuinness World Recordsas the most prolific femalemurderer, though the number of her victims is debated.