Stepping from Reality to Legend - The Story of Elizabeth Bathory

It would seem that the Near East, perhaps more steeped in superstition than the West, has given rise to numerous legends.  One of the best known, of course, is that of Vlad Drakul, or Dracula.  A less well-known one involves Elizabeth Bathory, "The Blood Countess."




Image of Original Painting of Elizabeth Bathory
 

The legend that grew up around this woman is, of course, dramatic and exciting.  Written versions did not appear until more than 100 years after Elizabeth's death.  She was said to be a cruel and incredibly beautiful woman who became involved in the occult.  She came to believe that the blood of young women would revitalize her youth and beauty, and, determined to keep them, she kidnapped and murdered young girls to bathe in their blood.  By the late Middle Ages, the number of deaths laid at her door numbered around 600.

Her dark deeds were brought to light when the bodies of some young noblewomen were found thrown from the castle towers, drained of blood.  The locals began to suspect the countess and went to authorities.  King Matthias II sent his delegation, who discovered rooms spattered with blood, and in some versions, virtually caught the countess red-handed in the midst of her beauty ritual of bathing in blood.  The countess' accomplices were executed, and the countess herself imprisoned in her castle until her death.

Elizabeth Bathory was an actual person.  She was born into a very prominent and wealthy Transylvanian family in 1560.  Her cousin, Stephen Bathory, was King of Poland between 1576 and 1586.

At age 15, Elizabeth was married to Ferencz Nadazdy, also of a powerful and influential family, and the couple lived in a castle near Cechtice.  Her husband was a soldier and an intellectual who was often away, either engaging in battles or studying in Vienna.  This left Elizabeth to manage the castle, properties and business affairs of her husband.

She proved herself more than capable, sometimes personally interrogating prisoners, which in those times often involved various degrees of torture.  There is some possibility that she and her family were Protestant adherents, which may have added to the ill-will between her family and the Hapsburgs.  As did all powerful people in those times, she had numerous political enemies.  When her husband died in 1604, it is extremely likely that her wealth and lands were eyed as glittering prize by her enemies. 

In 1610, the Hungarian King Matthias II, who owed significant sums to Nadazdy, sent his Viceroy to the Bathory castle to investigate rumors of murder.  Documents contemporary to the time state that her believed "accomplices" testified that they had seen her torture and kill between 30 and 35 people.  Some of these "accomplices" were later executed.  Elizabeth herself was never formally and publicly tried, but was exiled to a section of the Bathory castle, where she died in 1614.

Of course, the entire truth will never be known.  Elizabeth may very well have been a cruel and harsh taskmistress who tortured and murdered political prisoners, or who abused or even murdered servants who fell afoul of her.  It is also entirely possible that King Matthias found a strong-willed, wealthy, and influential woman to whom he owed a great deal of money to be inconvenient.  Whether her supposed accomplices were loyal servants who were questioned and then punished for their loyalty, or whether they were poor souls who were bribed to implicate the countess and then murdered so that they couldn't reveal the falsity of the charges will forever be open to speculation.