Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory (2 page)

Of all the many tales told about the Countess over the years, we shall turn now to the original source material, much of it written over four hundred years ago in Hungarian, Slovak, Latin, and German. It is here that we attempt to recreate Countess Erzsébet’s life and the events leading up to her arrest and trial. Rather than indulge in legends, we will explore what she actually said and what was said about her by the people of her time: her accomplices, certainly, but also the testimony of her servants and other eye witnesses—estate managers, stewards, castle administrators, accountants, kitchen staff, huntsmen, clergy, doctors, nobles, and townspeople—306 people, in fact, were called to testify against her. Because her name was banned from polite Hungarian society, many of these words remained silent over the centuries. However, the fragmented and crumbling manuscripts have finally been exhumed, revealing a genuine human being rather than a mere legend: a complex figure, in fact, whose actual deeds are even more baffling than any legend or tale ever created about her.

2

THE BÁTHORY FAMILY

During the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, Erzsébet Báthory’s family rose to prominence and exerted a great deal of influence over Central Europe. Its members, including several princes, a cardinal, and even the king of Poland, held positions of high authority in the Kingdom of Hungary and surrounding areas. The Báthory (Bathori, in Latin) family belonged to a clan of Hungarian nobles called the
Gutkeled
which, according to history, formed when two German brothers, Gut and Keled, moved to Hungary
.
History traces the technical beginning of the family, however, to András of Rakoméz, patron of the monastery of Sárvár in the county of
Szatmár
. In 1279, King László rewarded András’ brother, Hados, as well as his sons György (d. 1307), Benedek (d. 1321) and
Briccius
(d. 1322) for their military service by granting them the estate located at
Bátor
in the county of
Szabolcs
. In 1310, Briccius took possession of Bátor. Soon after, he and his descendants referred to themselves as being
of Bátor
or Báthory.

      The Báthory family later divided into two major branches, both descended from Briccius’ sons. The elder branch of the family, the Báthory of Somlyó
,
descended from János, Count of
Szatmár
, Briccius’ first-born son, through his eldest, László (d. 1373). László, Count of
Szabolcs
, married Anna Meggyesi and received the Somlyó property as part of her dowry. The younger branch of the family, the Báthory of Ecsed, descended from Lukacs, the youngest son of Briccius. Lukacs possessed wide estates in
Szatmár
and was granted the lordship of Ecsed by the king. There, he built the castle called
Hrséy
(loyalty). Since they retained possession of Bátor, members of this branch were called either
of Bátor
(i.e., Báthory) or, as the younger branch,
Nyírbátor
(New Báthory).

      The Báthory family recounted its own legend that placed the family’s origin in the year 900, well before the brothers Gut and Keled came to Hungary. In this more romanticized version, a warrior named Vitus, of the first generation of the Gutkeled clan, went to fight a terrible dragon that lived in the swamps of Ecsed. Vitus killed the dragon with three lance thrusts and, as a reward, received both land and castle located there. He was also honored with the name
Báthory
, which means “good hero.” The word for “brave” in Hungarian is also
bátor
. In reference to this legend, the Báthory
coat of arms
, granted in 1325 to the sons of Briccius, featured three horizontal teeth surrounded by a dragon biting its own tail.

      The Ecsed branch rose to prominence when Lukacs’ great-grandson, István III, was appointed Palatine (prime minister) of Hungary (d. 1444). István’s sons also held high positions: László V (d. 1474) was Supreme Count of the counties
Szatmár
and Szarand; András III (d. 1495) held the estate at Buják; István V (d. 1493) was
Voivod (Prince) of Transylvania
, the first in a long line of Báthory rulers of that country; and the youngest son, Miklós III (d. 1506), was the bishop of
Syrmia
and
Vác
, serving also as counselor to King
Matthias Corvinus
.

      In the 16
^th
century, Hungary was divided over two competing claims to the throne: The Ecsed branch of the Báthory family sided with the Hapsburgs who organized the election of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria as King of Hungary. However, the Somlyó branch supported János
Szapolyai
, who had been elected king by the majority of Hungarian nobles. The two branches of the Báthory family were eventually united, politically, by Erzébet Báthory’s own parents, György and Anna, when György Báthory of the Ecsed branch changed allegiance from the Hapsburgs to Szapolyai.

      It is said that György renounced his allegiance to the Hapsburgs in order to marry his “Transylvanian cousin,” Anna, of the Somlyó branch, but his intention was probably more political than romantic. In any case, when the Hapsburg king commandeered his castle at Buják as punishment, György was eager to strengthen his alliance with Anna’s brother, István, who had been appointed Voidvod of Transylvania under Szapolyai. He accomplished this by marrying Anna and, in so doing, united the two branches of the Báthory clan.

      Anna Báthory was the widow of the last descendent of the Dragffy family, and György took over the Dragffy castles when they married. Unfortunately, the Habsburgs forced him to yield those castles to them, as well. György and Anna withdrew to Csitsva in the county of
Zemplén
and later to the Báthory family estate at Ecsed. Tension between the Hapsburgs and Báthorys would continue for generations, however, as the rival families vied for power in Central Europe. Born amidst this conflict was a daughter who shared blood from both sides of the family tree: Countess Erzsébet Báthory.

3

ERZSÉBET BÁTHORY’S EARLY YEARS (1560-1575)

Erzsébet Báthory was born August 7, 1560 at the Ecsed family estate in Nyírbátor (Nagyecsed), Hungary. Located today in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, Nyírbátor served as the Báthory family seat, an administrative center, and family burial site. In fact, the Báthory family owned the town from the time of its Gutkeled ancestors in the late 1200’s until the death of Gábor Báthory, Voivod of Transylvania, in 1613.

      As discussed, Erzsébet’s parents came from two separate branches of the Báthory clan—György (c. 1522-1570) from the Ecsed branch and Anna (1539- c. 1574) from the older Somlyó side of the family. With the separate Báthory clans merged by this powerful union, the little Countess was born into one of Central Europe’s most illustrious families. Her uncles on both sides of the family were Voivods (Princes) of Transylvania, as was her maternal grandfather. Her uncle, István (1533-1586), was also the king of Poland. Erzsébet’s cousins, András, Gábor, and Zsigmond, would someday become Transylvanian princes, as well, and, in 1595, Prince Zsigmond would enter into a grand marriage with the Habsburg Archduchess, Maria Christina, helping to resolve tensions between the Habsburg and Báthory families.

The young countess spent her childhood at the Báthory family estate in the countryside of Nyírbátor near the Romanian border. Erzsébet had an older brother, István (1555-1605), a brother Gábor (unfortunately, we have no dates of birth or death for him, or whether he was married or not—only his name, according to 19
^th
century genealogist, Alexander v. Simolin) and two younger sisters, Zsofiá and Klara. Despite the political and social unrest surrounding the Báthory children, the family seat was well protected and its countryside peaceful. Surrounded by pastureland, misty forests, marshes, swamps, and foggy moors, the land produced its share of legends from the days of dragons, heraldry and magic. For the most part, it still slumbered in the Middle Ages, and the Báthory family continued to rule its lands and peasantry as it had done for hundreds of years.

Meanwhile, Turkish invaders were pouring throughout Europe. During this time, Hungary was divided into three portions: northern Hungary and a large part of Transdanubia were under the control of Turkish satraps; western Hungary fell under Hapsburg control; and Transylvania remained largely independent, its rulers siding either with the Turks or the Hapsburgs as the situation warranted. In addition to tension between the three ruling powers governing Hungary, this nation, as well as most of Europe, was caught in the midst of the Protestant Reformation. Not only were Islamic Turks clashing with European Christians, Catholic and Protestant Europeans were also engaging in bloody, ideological battles with each other.

Protestantism was particularly popular in Transylvania, as well as with the common people and some of the Hungarian nobility, while the kings and other great lords of the region maintained allegiance to the Catholic Church and Holy Roman Emperor. Erzsébet’s parents chose Protestantism. No doubt, they still fostered hostility against the Catholic Hapsburgs who had commandeered their lands some years back. Like many nobles, they likely supported the Reformation since it also put limits on the power of both King and Roman Catholic Church. Erzsébet herself was raised a Calvinist by her mother. Anna Báthory belonged to the first group of high nobility who supported the Reformation in Hungary and was a generous benefactor, even founding a Protestant school in Erdöd.

However, Erzsébet’s uncle István, King of Poland, was a practicing Roman Catholic, and her uncle András was a Catholic cardinal who, on several occasions, served as an emissary to the Pope. The fact that a family could be divided in such a way was not unusual for the time, as Europe struggled to resolve its religious identity. No doubt, Erzsébet was quite familiar with the teachings of both Catholicism and Lutheranism, as well as Calvinism. This was typical of the nobility. We know that her future mother-in-law quoted Calvin at length in one of her letters, yet raised her son in the Lutheran faith, while her future father-in-law, though technically a Catholic, filled his court with Lutheran scholars. Everyone, including the common people, had an interest in the new doctrines being preached in those days, and allegiances shifted frequently in such turbulent times.

In 1566 when Erzsébet was six years old, Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566) died. His son, Selim (“the Sot”), temporarily turned his attention away from Hungary, creating a lull in the fighting for the next twelve years. During this time, Turks and Hungarians co-existed rather peacefully, even establishing some commerce. Raids still occurred, particularly near the tense border regions but, overall, travel and trade could be conducted again. Although not ideal, Erzsébet Báthory’s childhood and first few years of married life were spent during this relatively quiet period of Hungarian history. The lull was much needed: prior conflicts had laid waste to the land and its people. Food shortages and famines were common, and a large portion of the male population had died in the fighting.

And yet, this same time period saw the maturation of the Early Modern or Renaissance Era across Europe: the arts and sciences were flourishing along with new inventions. The world was only a century away from the Industrial Revolution and Age of Enlightenment. Explorers were now conquering the oceans and reaching the New World, and printing presses were operating. Telescopes peered into the heavens, cannons and rifles changed the nature of warfare, and some of the world’s greatest art and architecture came into being. This was the world of Galileo, Queen Elizabeth, Da Vinci, Luther, and Michelangelo. This was also the world—complex, dynamic, revolutionary, artistic, bloody, and brilliant—in which Erzsébet Báthory grew up. As a member of the high nobility, she would experience all of it.

Some commentators have speculated that Erzsébet suffered from insanity and exhibited sexual sadism later in life as a result of her formative years spent at the Báthory family estate. Some, in fact, described the place as if it were an insane asylum of dysfunctional, inbred lunatics. They claim her brother, István, for example, was a sadistic, lecherous sex fiend and drunkard who could be found running naked in marketplaces after a binge; her uncle, Gábor, dressed in armor and fought off invisible attackers while shouting in unknown languages and foaming at the mouth; her aunt, Klara, was a bisexual who practiced witchcraft, killed her husbands, and taught Erzsébet how to torture servants and make love to women; her father refused to leave a favorite chair, whether to sleep, eat or bathe; and, as a child, Erzsébet herself witnessed the bizarre execution of a peasant who, when accused of selling his child to the Turks, was sewn alive into the body of a horse.

The absolute validity of such stories is questionable. We know for a fact that this family rose to power and prestige both at court and on the battlefield not by means of patronage or luck but because of superior intelligence, cunning, and courage. While Erzsébet’s brother, István, might have been a sex fiend, it apparently did not result much in the way of offspring: he had no children with his wife, Fruzsina Drugeth, and, according to commentators, only one illegitimate child. And while he might have been a drunkard as an adult, it probably had little impact on Erzsébet. István was only five years her senior, and she had already moved out of the family estate by the age of eleven.