Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory (38 page)

Our aforementioned surgeon Thomas said the following: regarding the individual points raised in the letters which were sent to us, which he, in turn, was asked: who this girl was, he answered: from the village of Dubmicza, which is in the vicinity of Trencsén. Whose daughter was she; to which he said that she was the daughter of a certain Barbara, Widow of Dubmicza; what her name was; to which he said that she had the name Anna. About her social standing and her origin, he said she was not noble, rather of the lower class, namely, a peasant girl. When asked about her age, he replied that she had reached 18 years. However, as to whether she was healed yet, he replied, one of her hands appeared to be cut into pieces, which was also confirmed by the girl herself. On her back, pieces had been cut out on both sides of her shoulders. On her buttocks, it seemed as well that flesh had been cut out on both sides, such that for the past two months, she was very badly ill at home, so ill that she could not even get out of bed once. Because of this treatment, she received 56 guilders and 15 pounds of wheat, guaranteed by the Üjhely measure, from the Administrator of Csejthe by command of the illustrious Lord Palatine. After her recovery she was given, along with her mother, a small farm in Csejthe as free property. Nothing further. Given at Újhely on the Riverway on the 9th day of January in 1612.

THURZÓ’S CERTIFICATION OF COURT DOCUMENTS: BÁTHORY CASE

FEBRUARY 5, 1613

Under the intent of the gracious order and will of the said sacred, imperial and royal Majesty, our noble Lord, having performed sufficiently and submissively, provide all the above interviews, witness interrogations, and confessions of the above-mentioned persons, after they were first sworn to us faithfully, and to report it, recorded and collected in the form of a little book and written authentically, under our Palatinal seal and handwritten signature, to protect all those involved. Given at our Castle Bitcá, the 5
^th
 day of the month of February, the year of the Lord 1613, Count György Thurzó.

ADDENDUM TO BÁTHORY WILL

JULY 31, 1614

We, the Cathedral Capital of Eszertgom, commemorate the following: that we, on the amiable request of the noble lady, Countess Erzsébet Báthory, the widow of the former illustrious and noble gentleman, Count Nádasdy, who, because of her captivity is not personally able to come to us, sent two of our Venerables, namely Messrs. Andreas Kerpelich and Emericus Agiens, our brothers and fellow clerics, who took the following confession that the lady gave to us; this, in turn, made it appropriate for them to serve witness to what this finally reported, after they were returned to us, under oath, as set forth in a general decree:

That in the current year of the Lord, 1614, on the 31
^st
 day of July in the castle called Csejthe, having been built in County Nitra, where the aforementioned Lady Countess Erzsébet Báthory, in the personal presence of our brothers voluntarily and on her own initiative stated the following and in this way expressed: that she bequeathed the City of Keresztúr in the County of Abauj to her daughter Katalin Nádasdy, the wife of the illustrious and venerable György Drugeth of Homonnay; and that this bequest had already been transferred and assigned during her captivity but in such a way that, up to this point, merely released it and that they were not yet in their full and permanent possession. Also, she bequeathed nothing more to Lord György Homonnay; rather, after they put her in prison, she made her assignments only to her heirs and passed along nothing further.

Therefore, if she desired, and even if she still wanted to exclude someone from her property, nor could she have so wished in the least; her intention therefore continues to be that the entire property will be divided among them (her heirs). Finally, had she established in documents of the aforementioned Lord György Homonnay, in the journal of 1610, what property she had assigned, which is why we have kept for ourselves these writings on these dispositions aforementioned by Lady Erzsébet Báthory to the knowledge of our trusted brothers, in writing referred to under the seal of our chapter and entrusted to them. Given on Sunday after the Feast of St. Peter in Chains (
in vinculi
), in 1614.

STANISLAS THURZÓ’S LETTER TO GYÖRGY THURZÓ

AUGUST 25, 1614

Servitiorum meorum paratissimam commendationem
. God give Your Grace, your wife, and your beloved children good health and a happy, long life. I received melons from my garden in Sempte and, with this coach, I send you some. I beg you, take it with my great pleasure. With God's blessing should you, your wife and your children eat in good health. If Your Grace knows of any news, I request, as my Lord and benevolent patron, that you please share it with me, as well. With us, there is no news of which I should notify you. The death of Mrs. Nádasdy may already be known to you and how she unexpectedly resigned from this life. In the evening, said she to her bodyguard: “Look, how cold my hands are!” The bodyguard told her: “It’s nothing, Mistress. Just go and lie down.” She then went to sleep. She took the pillow that was under her head and put it under her feet. As such, she lied down and, in the same night, she died. In the morning, she was found dead. They say, however, she prayed imploringly and praised God with beautiful singing. Regarding her funeral, we still have no information.

I commend myself and my services, along with my wife, to Your Grace, your wife, and your beloved children. God grant Your Grace a long and healthy life. Pöstyén (Piastány), 25 August, Anno Domini 1615.

Illustrissime Domi(natio)nis vestre servitor et Frater addictissimus

Count Stanislas Thurzó

By his own hand (manu propria)

Some memorable events, which in this (17th) century have taken place in the dominion of Csejthe (
Chronicle of Castle Csejthe
)

April 25, 1603: Ferenc Nádasdy I assumes possession of Csejthe and died in January 1604.

April 17, 1608: The Hungarians went to Prague to get to the crown.

June 27: The emperor gave Hungary the crown.

July 10: The Hungarians have returned from Prague.

July 29, 1606: The flooding of the brook in Csejthe tore bridge, houses and scarecrows in the field.

January 6, 1610: Mr. George Homonnay has married: he took Kata Nádasdy as his wife.

December 29: Mrs. Erzsébet Báthory was captured during dinner and next day brought into the castle.

January 7, 1611: There were two women and Ficzkó, and then also on 24 January, Mistress of Miava, burned because they were accomplices of Mrs. Báthory, in the torturing of girls.

Oct. 8: The Dominium of Csejthe was divided in half between Pál Nádasdy and Mr. Zrínyi. Mátyás Töttösi was steward/manager of Mr. Zrínyi’s estate.

October 18, 1613: Gábor Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, was murdered.

August 18, 1614: Mr. Nádasdy gives Mr. Homonnay one third of the dominion of Csejthe and Beckov.

August 21: Erzsébet Báthory died at Csejthe Castle at two after midnight.

November 25: She was buried in the church of Csejthe.

January 29, 1615: Pál Nádasdy releases Brezova to Mihaly Nagy.

August 13: Mrs. Zrínyi died.

In December, Palatine Thurzó died. On February 19, he was buried.

March 9, 1616: The goods of Csejthe and Beckov were divided between Homonnay and Pál Nádasdy.

August 3, 1620: His Grace Pál Nádasdy was betrothed to his wife, Judith Revay.

December 15, 1621: My mistress, Mrs. Pál Nádasdy, bore a son, György Nádasdy.

January 14, 1623: She has a second son, Ferenc.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF LITERARY WORKS ON THE COUNTESS

1729: Lászlo Turoczi writes 
Ungaria suis cum regibus com pendia data
.

1744: Lászlo Turoczi writes 
Báthory Erzsébet
.

1796: Michael Wegener writes 
Beiträge zur Philosophischen Anthropologie.

1839: John Paget publishes an account of his European travels, devoting a chapter to the history of Countess Báthory.

1894: Ferdinand von Strobl Ravelsberg, under the pseudonym of R.A. von Elsberg, writes the essay, 
Die Blütgrafin (Erzsébet Báthory): Ein Sitten und Charakterbild.

1932: Slovak writer Jožo 
Niž
ňanský
 publishes 
Cachtická Pani
 (Lady of Csejthe), a gothic novel written in a series of episodes.

1962: Valentine Penrose publishes 
La Comtesse Sanglante
, a historical novel that celebrates the exploits of the Count ess.

1975: French writer Maurice Périsset publishes, 
Comtesse de Sang
.

1983: Raymond T. McNally writes, 
Dracula was a Woman: In Search of the Blood Countess of Transylvania.

1996: Andrei Codrescu writes, 
The Blood Countess.

EXCERPT FROM LÁSZLÓ TURÓCZI’S BOOK,
 
Ungaria suis cum regibus compendio
 
data,
 
THAT RE-INTRODUCED THE COUNTESS TO EUROPE:

“(Thurzó, along with…) the sons in-law of the mistress, Niklas Zrínyi and György Drugeth, and their appointed servant, then the guardian of the orphaned Pál Nádasdy - Imre Megyery - , along with numerous soldiers and servants, went to the castle in the village of Csejthe. Immediately upon entering, he (Thurzó) was convinced of what the witnesses confessed. A girl named Doricza was found dead as a result of beatings and torture, as well as another girl who was already dying. Here was the sight of such a horrible and bestial madness and cruelty, of which so deeply shocked him that he declared Mrs. Nádasdy to be a bloodthirsty and blood-sucking godless woman, to have been caught red-handed, and sentenced to perpetual imprisonment in the castle Csejthe, her helpers, arrested.”

 
Portrait of Countess Erzsébet Báthory

Portrait of Countess Erzsébet Báthory