Introdution
“The rarest thing in the world is a woman who is pleased with paintings of herself,”said Elizabeth Bathory, a woman who would stop at nothing to stay young forever. She is known as Countess Dracula, the first vampire of our time.
Childhood
Elizabeth Bathory had a very amiable childhood and was born into the second wealthiest family in Hungary at the time. Elizabeth Bathory was born into the name of Erzebet Bathory, on August 7, 1561. Her name in English translates to Elizabeth. Her father’s name was Gyorgy Bathory of Ecsed. Her mother’s name was Anne Bathory. She had three siblings, one brother and two sisters. Her brother’s name was Stephan Bathory. He was the Prince of Transylvania, as well as her two cousins Andreas and Zsigmond. Zsigmond later married Princess Maria Christina of Habsburg in 1595. She lived with her family in Nagy, Ecsed near the Roman border. Later she was sent to live with her mother-in-law. However, when her mother-in-law died the next year, she was sent back to her parents. She remained there for the rest of her childhood. Over the course of her youth, she learned four languages: Hungarian (her native language), Greek, Latin, and German. Elizabeth Bathory lived a very productive and happy childhood, unfortunately it was followed by the ruins of the rest of her life.
Becoming a Countess
Elizabeth Bathory’s life, before she got married, may have been what sent her off the edge. She became pregnant in 1574 by a peasant boy one year before she was married. A couple of months later she gave birth to a petite baby girl. At Elizabeth’s own birth, she had been promised to a young prince, Ferenc Nadasdy. Elizabeth’s mother knew that it could never reach the public that Elizabeth had become pregnant or the wedding would be compromised. Therefore, Elizabeth lived in hiding during her pregnancy and the baby was given away after birth. On May 8, 1575, at the age of fifteen, Elizabeth wedded Count Ferenc Nadasdy. The wedding was attended by 4,500 people, celebrations took place for weeks after. She then became known as the Countess of Hungary, which came with ten castles. Her husband had been trained in the imperial court in Vienna. Ferenc was usually gone on military campaigns against the Turks. So Elizabeth lived mostly by herself with her trusted servants in her favorite castle that was given to her as a wedding gift, Castle Csejthe. This castle is located atop of barren mountain in the Carpathians. She kept herself occupied while her husband was away by flirting with young men and experimenting with herbal brews, potions, powders and drugs. She bleached her hair and developed a terrible temper. Later, historians believed that these tempers were due to epilepsy and migraines. This part of her adulthood was very joyful compared to what comes next.
Evil Reign
In her later adulthood, Elizabeth Bathory became a despicable countess and tortured many of her female servants. It all started one day when the Countess had a rage of anger and slapped a servant so hard that blood flew from her face and onto Eilzabeth’s arm. She thought the blood made her look younger. That is where she got the idea that blood was the key to eternal youth. Therefore, she had a special garlic press-like contraption installed in a private room in the dungeon of her home in Vienna. This contraption was used to stab out the blood of the young virgin girls. She sewed girls' mouths together for talking too much, and if servants were accused of stealing money, she would burn them using hot coins. She had four trusted servants who helped her commit these crimes. Historians believe that she got a lot of these ideas from the time she lived with her Aunt Klara when she was younger. When Elizabeth’s husband returned from one of his military campaigns, the servants told him about her torturous ways and he demanded that she stop immediately. However, The Count started having leg problems, which caused him to become very ill and he perished on January 4, 1604. At this time, Elizabeth sent her three children to live with an entrusted relative, and she returned to her evil ways. One year later her brother also died which made her even more thirsty for blood. The punishments she inflicted on her servants were cruel.
How the Legend Began
The story of Elizabeth Bathory inspired many folktales, such as the story of Count Dracula. The legends claim that she bit off chunks of flesh and bathed in her young maidens’ blood which is one of the contributing factors that created Dracula’s story. In addition, Elizabeth has been referred as Countess Dracula, as though she were a female version of him. Both murderers are unable to marry their true loves, adding tragedy to each person’s tale. The setting for Dracula, Transylvania, is where some of Elizabeth’s family members lived. Thus, tragic films such as Twilight, Interview with a Vampire and Lost Boys are all more contemporary versions of the myth that Elizabeth Bathory’s life created.
Her Death
In 1610, Elizabeth and friends returned from a trip. Little did they know that Elizabeth’s death was awaiting her arrival. While she was away on this trip to visit her children, some servants leaked information and investigators inspected her castles. What they found was inconceivable. They discovered a diary that contained a list of all her victims and descriptions of how she tortured them. Investigators found the corpuses of many of her victims lying around the castle, in the basement, and the courtyard. Several victims were found still alive but tied up. They figured out that she had killed over two hundred girls but tortured over 650. On December 10, when she returned home, Elizabeth and her accomplices were arrested by Count Thurzo, her cousin by marriage. She was brought to court but not allowed to speak on her own behalf. Over 300 people testified, some saying she was guilty while others believed she was innocent. The court found her and her four trusted servants guilty on eighty counts of torturing and killing innocent young maids. The two main female accomplices were strangled to death. Her young male accomplice was a mute and could not speak, so they didn’t think it was fair to give him the same punishment and instead beheaded him. The last accomplice was a younger girl who the court felt had been bullied by the others to participate, so she was given the same punishment as Elizabeth Bathory. The Countess was bricked into her own home, so that she was contained into a only a few rooms. The guards made a few small cracks in-between several bricklayers in the wall to allow a little bit of fresh air. They also installed a small slot along the floor and the wall, so that her guards could slide food to the Countess. The reason they did not kill her is because she was part of the royal family and one of the more powerful widows. If they killed her, that would give the peasants an excuse to over-throw the King. Finally, on August 21, 1614, after four years of living locked in the tower at Csejthe, a guard found her lying on the floor with plates of uneaten food around her. And thus, Elizabeth Bathory was dead.
istorians claim that King Matthais owed a large debt to Elizabeth’s husband for the wars won on the king’s behalf. Therefore, the King needed a reason to not repay his debt to the Count’s widow. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s cousin-in-law, Count Thurzo wanted Elizabeth’s great fortune and tried to marry her, but Elizabeth had refused. Historians believe that the King and the Count may have teamed up to frame Elizabeth to claim her fortune. After Elizabeth’s sentencing, the King’s debt to her was cleared and Count Thurzo became legal guardian of her children, which allowed him to take control of her estate.
istorians claim that King Matthais owed a large debt to Elizabeth’s husband for the wars won on the king’s behalf. Therefore, the King needed a reason to not repay his debt to the Count’s widow. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s cousin-in-law, Count Thurzo wanted Elizabeth’s great fortune and tried to marry her, but Elizabeth had refused. Historians believe that the King and the Count may have teamed up to frame Elizabeth to claim her fortune. After Elizabeth’s sentencing, the King’s debt to her was cleared and Count Thurzo became legal guardian of her children, which allowed him to take control of her estate.
Conclusion
Overall, Elizabeth Bathory had many stories and was very influential whether she made her mark on the world for better or for worse. Her life created a legacy of mythical ideas we may never have known. She is the creator of a dark world of entertainment, the world of vampires.