Countess Elizabeth Bathory
by Was she mad or bad, deluded or demonic? Was she a vampire? Did she bathe in virgins’ blood? Did she murder over 600 young women during her lifetime? Elizabeth Bathory gained notoriety as one of the most infamous and prolific female serial killers in history.
The above picture shows an attractive and serene lady who was born in the Elizabethan period but her appearance belies her true character. Beyond that façade lies an extremely cruel and heartless woman.
Elizabeth’s Early Years
Erzebet Bathory who is known more commonly in Western Europe as Elizabeth Bathory, was born in 1650 in Hungary. She was the daughter of Baron George Bathory and Baroness Anna Bathory. Elizabeth’s parents bore the same surname prior to their marriage and were in fact related, George being from the Ecsed side of the family, and Anna from the Somlyo side. At the time in Eastern Europe it was considered vital for aristocracy to inter-marry in order to preserve the noble family line and keep it untainted.
At the time, the Bathorys were one of the most influential and powerful families in Hungary. One of Elizabeth’s forebears, Stephan Bathory, it is said fought alongside Vlad Dracula; and one of Elizabeth’s cousins became Prince of Transylvania in 1571, eventually being crowned as King of Poland, so it’s little wonder that Elizabeth has throughout history been depicted as a vampire.
Elizabeth wasn’t unintelligent, particularly for the time. She was fluent in Hungarian, German, Latin and Greek. She was considered to be quite a catch, being of such noble birth, and was betrothed at the age of 11 to Count Ferenc Nadasdy, a warrior, who was considerably older than her.
Elizabeth Bathory-Nadasdy
Being very much a ‘wild child’, in 1574 Elizabeth fell pregnant by a peasant. In order to preserve her family’s notability in the community, Elizabeth was very quietly and discreetly tucked away until the child was born – a daughter, who was given to peasant foster parents to raise. It was then thought prudent that Elizabeth should quickly be married off to Ferenc, and the wedding, due to the family’s status in Hungary, was a real knees up to which Emperor Maximillian II himself was invited, although he declined the invitation but did send a lavish gift as well as his sincere apologies via a delegate. Following this lavish affair Elizabeth maintained her maiden name as the Bathorys held sway over the Nadasdys in the ’snob stakes’ and then added Ferenc’s surname of Nadasdy basically as an afterthought. In tennis terms, Bathory would probably have been seeded 2 or 3 and the Nadasdys about 10!
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Post CommentGeorge W Whitehead
On May 18, 2009 at 3:00 pm
What a wonderful article, Jackie. You have found the secret of making history fun! A much better way of learning than when I attended school. I had to learn under threat of the cane. Possibly my teacher was a descendant of Ms Bathory although I don’t recall him speaking with an Hungarian accent or giving anyone six goulashes of the cane!
Alina Beck
On May 19, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Excellent article! I had never heard of this woman before – feel thoroughly enlightened
Gary Wallace
On May 21, 2009 at 3:39 am
Another fascinating article Jackie. Elizabeth Bathory was unknown to me until you published this so thank you for sharing this account of her life and deeds.
swatilohani
On May 25, 2009 at 5:18 am
great article
postpunkpixie
On June 15, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Ah the bloody Countess! Poor Erzsebet, I find her fascinating myself. The legends about her crimes are unbeleivable… though I always thought it tells you more about how people thought at the time than it does about her with the stories about her bathing in blood to be beautiful. Good work.
Auron Renius
On September 6, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Interesting article.