Elizabeth Báthory

Biography

Early life and education

Elizabeth was born in 1560 on a family estate in Nyírbátor, Royal Hungary, and spent her childhood at Ecsed Castle. Her father was Baron George VI Báthory (d. 1570), of the Ecsed branch of the family, brother of Andrew Bonaventura Báthory (d. 1566), who had been ruling Voivode of Transylvania. Her paternal great-grandparents were Anna Radziwiłł, a member of the influential Polish-Lithuanian Radziwiłł family, and Konrad the Red, Duke of Masovia and Warsaw, who was a member of the Piast dynasty. Her mother was Baroness Anna Báthory of Somlyó (1537–1570), member of the other line of the Báthory family, daughter of Stephen Báthory of Somlyó, Palatine of Hungary. Through her mother, Elizabeth was the niece of Stephen Báthory (1533–1586), Prince of Transylvania, who became the ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. She had several siblings; her older brother Stephen (1555–1605) served as a Judge Royal of Hungary.

Báthory was raised a Calvinist Protestant, and learned Latin, German, Hungarian, and Greek as 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 sources in 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 multiple seizures that may have been caused by epilepsy. At the time, symptoms relating to epilepsy were diagnosed as falling sickness and 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 a peasant boy, 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 to Wallachia. 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.

Marriage and land ownership

In 1574, Báthory was engaged to Count Ferenc Nádasdy, a member of the Nadasdy family. It was a political arrangement within the circles of the aristocracy. Nádasdy was the son of Baron Tamás 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 of Varannó (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 the Castle of Csejte (Čachtice), situated in the Little Carpathians near Vág-Ujhely and Trencsén (present-day Nové Mesto nad Váhom and Trenčín, Slovakia). At the time, King Maximilian II owned the castle, but made Ferenc's mother, Orsolya Kanizsai, official steward in 1569. Nádasdy finally bought the castle in 1602 from Rudolf 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 at Sárvár.

In 1578, three years into their marriage, Nádasdy became the chief commander of Hungarian troops, leading them to war against the Ottomans. Báthory managed business affairs and the family's multiple estates during the war. This role usually included responsibility for the Hungarian and Slovak people, providing medical care during the Long War (1593–1606), and Báthory was charged with the defence of her husband's estates, which lay on the route to Vienna. The threat of attack 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.

Báthory's daughter, Anna Nádasdy, was born in 1585 and was later to become the wife of Nikola VI Zrinski. Báthory's other known children include Orsolya (Orsika) Nádasdy (1590–unknown) who would later become the wife of István II Benyó; Katalin (Kata or Katherina) Nádasdy (1594–unknown); András Nádasdy (1596–1603); and Pál (Paul) Nádasdy (1598–1650), father of Franz III Nádasdy, who was one of the leaders of the Magnate conspiracy against Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. Some chronicles also indicate that the couple had another son, named Miklós Nádasdy, who married Zsuzsanna Zrinski. 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's will from 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 by governesses, as Báthory herself had been.

Accusations

Between 1602 and 1604, after rumours of Báthory's atrocities had spread throughout the kingdom, Lutheran minister István Magyari made complaints against her, both publicly and at the court in Vienna. In 1610, Matthias II assigned György Thurzó, the devoutly Lutheran Palatine of Hungary, to investigate. Thurzó ordered two notaries, András Keresztúry and Mózes Cziráky, to collect evidence in March 1610. By October 1610 they had collected 52 witness statements; by 1611, that number had risen to over 300.

Tamás Nyereghjárto was 35 years old, when he was sworn in and interrogated in the town of Beckov. He stated that he saw a girl in Újhely who was being medically treated because the flesh on her right hand between the fingers and the arm was torn out and the tendon was destroyed. Janós Kun was the Provisor of Franciscus Magochy in Beckov, and was 50 years old; his wife Katalin, who was 36 years old, testified that she had also seen this girl in Újhely, and testified similarly to Tamás, but added that the flesh had also been cut out between the victim's shoulders, and that the right hand of this girl was "completely destroyed". Then, Martinus Zamechnyk, who was 50 years old, testified that he had asked this girl from Újhely "Who did that to your hand?", the girl had replied that, "The Lady Widow Nadasdy had done it", referring to Báthory. This testimony was taken by András of Keresztúr, and was published on 28 July 1611, on the orders of King Matthias II.

According to one of her accomplices (Dorrthea Szentes), Báthory would stick needles into the fingers of some of her victims. After she did this, Báthory would comment: "If it hurts the whore, then she can pull it out". However, Szentes added that if the girl removed the needle, Báthory would then cut off the finger with a knife.

During the trial, many atrocities were said to have occurred in many of Báthory's castles. These atrocities usually included: severe beatings with cudgels, needles inserted into lips, arms, shoulders, and fingernails, flesh cut out from the buttocks and from between the shoulders, and then roasted. Many victims were locked in the Castle's dungeons and starved for weeks. Red hot pokers and irons were used to scorch the arms and abdomen of the victims, knives plunged into arms and feet, fingers cut off with scissors and shears, and girls made to stand naked in the winter cold and then doused with water till they froze to death.

Critically, there were a handful of individuals who provided first-hand accounts of Báthory's crimes at the trial. Three of these individuals included Jakab Szivassy, Gergely Paztory, and Benedek Deseo. Deseo was the head of "The Lord's staff" at Castle Cjesthe and was responsible for operations at the castle. Since Deseo and Szivassy were around Báthory the most, they gave the most detailed confessions of what they witnessed at their time of service at Castle Cjesthe. These three men were not tortured into confessions, unlike Báthory's accomplices (Llona, Janos, Dorrthea, etc.). After Deseo was sworn in, he testified that Báthory "took a shoemaker's daughter named 'Illonka', stripped her naked and began to cruelly torment her by taking a knife, and beginning with the fingers, shoved the knife into both arms up the arms, then flogging her over again, then took a burning candle to her and burned her skin, and continued to torment her until she put an end to her life". He also testified that Báthory would "stick a sewing needle in her victims arms and use it to cut her way up the arm of a girl who could not sew." Deseo also testified that Báthory would withhold food and water from her victims until they became very thirsty.

Arrest

On 13 December 1610, Nikola VI Zrinski confirmed the agreement with Thurzó about the imprisonment of Báthory and distribution of the estate. On New Year's Eve 1610, Thurzó went to Csejte Castle and arrested Báthory along with four of her servants, who were accused of being her accomplices: Dorottya Szentés, Ilona Jó, Katarína Benická and János Újváry ("Ibis" or Ficzkó). 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.

On the night of the raid, Elizabeth Báthory was taken into custody along with her four accomplices. Elizabeth had accused two reverends and one pastor for the reason of her arrest, after a long conversation where Báthory attempted to blame her accomplices for the dead bodies being found. She added this statement after Pastor Barosius had asked her why she did not stop her accomplices from committing the tortures and murders. She said, "I did it ... Because even I myself was afraid of them". This statement was confessed by Báthory herself and was not extracted under torture.

Thurzó debated further proceedings with Báthory's son Paul and two of her sons-in-law, Nikola VI Zrinski and György Drugeth. Her family, which ruled 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 a nunnery, but as accounts of her actions spread, they decided to keep her under strict house 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.

Confinement and death

On 25 January 1611, Thurzó wrote a letter to King Matthias describing that they had captured and confined Báthory to her castle. The palatine also 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 was locked 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 to house 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 at Ecsed, where it was interred 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.

The Gynaecaeum

In the Winter of 1609, Báthory had opened a Gynaecaeum, which is similar to a finishing school, and it was opened for high born young women. The Gynaeceum brought in much needed funding and provided a new type of victim for Báthory to kill after many peasant families in the local villages surrounding her castles declined to let their daughters work at the castles after the reputation of Báthory had spread throughout the Kingdom. On the contrary, many noble families were eager to send their daughters to her court, so their social status would increase and they could learn courtly etiquette. However, once their daughters did not come back home, they eventually appealed to King Matthias for answers.

Noblewoman Anna Zelesthey who resided in the town of Milhalifalva, was 54 years old when she was sworn in and interrogated. Zelesthey testified that her own daughter named Zsuzska was accepted to attend Lady Báthory's court. However, she testified that she could say with certainty and also from what others had told her, that her daughter was tortured, tormented, and beaten so badly that she was killed in the Gynaecaeum. She also testified that it was Lady Báthory who beat, tortured, and tormented her daughter to death based on what she was told by others. This testimony was collected by Mózes Cziráky and was published on 14 December 1611, on the orders of King Matthias.

A Noblewoman named Anna Köszeghy, was 32 years old when she was sworn in and interrogated. She testified that she would make numerous trips to Báthory's Gynaecaeum and saw many of the victims in a tortured state. She testified that their fingers were broken and hands were scorched. She testified that when she asked these girls about their hands being burned, they told her that Báthory had burned them with red hot irons. Another Noblewoman named Dorottya Jezernyczky was 45 years old when she was sworn in and interrogated. She testified that she sent her own daughter named Erzsébet to this Gynaecaeum, and that she was killed in the Gynaecaeum. These testimonies were published on 28 July 1611, by András of Keresztúr on the orders of King Matthias.

The Castellan of Castle of Csejte (Čachtice), was a man named Michael Horvath and he stated that he knew of at least seven girls who had died at the Gynaecaeum. He stated that these seven bodies had been buried in a little garden behind the courtyard in Castle Csejte, but they had not been buried deep enough, so dogs had dug up the corpses and were carrying around body parts in their mouths.

Letters about Erzśebet and the Trial proceedings

There are many letters that were sent between Thurzó, The King, Báthory's own children, and the two notaries before and after Elizabeth was arrested. These letters describe the trial proceedings and the findings through testimonies. Some of these include:

Thurzó's letter to Mozes Cziráky, dated 5 March 1610.

"To the honorable Master, Mózes Cziráky, our Deputy Notary, with gracious greetings. You know how, both in the past and the present time, several serious complaints have come to us regarding the noble and glorious Lady Erzsébet Báthory, the widow of the late, noble and glorious Lord Ferenc Nádasdy, etc.; namely, that this same Lady Erzsébet Báthory, through some sort of evil spirit, has set aside her reverence for God and man, and has killed in cruel and various ways many girls and virgins and other women who lived in her Gynaecaeum; also that we, both by the will of said Royal Majesty and by virtue of the laws and regulations of the Kingdom of Hungary, said Palatine of the same Kingdom of Hungary shall be responsible in fulfilling our duties and we are entitled under Palatinal authority, in accordance with the customs of the Kingdom, to punish said unbearable and serious crimes which have been committed. Thus, we can legitimately and duly proceed in the aforementioned matter; and, thus, regarding said Lady Erzsébet Báthory, once a proper verdict – if it should be necessary – is spoken and can be achieved, we begin by ordering you in this matter to collect and make inquiries of witnesses, as the law of the Kingdom requires. Therefore, we exhort you earnestly and instruct and authorize you, by virtue of our Palatinal authority that, as soon as you receive this letter, to question every member of both the ecclesiastical state as well as the nobility and other honorable people of all classes and of both sexes in the counties of Györ, Sopron, Vas, Zala and Veszprém, concerning the above-mentioned killings of girls and women by the said Lady Erzsébet Báthory; by members of the spiritual state, may they answer in the purity of their conscience; by the upper and lower nobility, and those of other classes of both sexes, out of respectable secular ethos in their God, and with due reverence and loyalty to the said Royal Majesty and the sacred Crown; the whole, pure truth is to be fully explored, and you should bring your experience to the inquiry (we add our Palatinal authority by virtue of the seriousness of the matter and strictly impose a penalty of 16 marks – such as this is available in a general decree – a heavy weight imposed immediately thereafter upon those whom it affects, as we are adamant that only the pure truth be given on the issue points without having the slightest sacrifice of the oath). After implementation of these interviews and witness interrogations, you are obliged to faithfully report and to make announcements to us. This matter calls for justice. Anything else shall not proceed. Given at Bratislava, on the 5th day of the month of March, the year of the Lord 1610."

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 virgin victims' blood 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. 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 book Hungary 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. Sadistic pleasure is considered a far more plausible motive for Báthory's crimes.