Elizabeth Báthory: Countess Dracula?

Everyone knows bits of this story. Báthory was born on August 7, 1560 into Hungarian nobility. Through her mother, Báthory was the niece of the Hungarian noble Stephen Báthory. He was noted as the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was also Prince of Transylvania.

From her youth, Elizabeth suffered epileptic seizures. The most popular theory of what caused that diagnosis is the possible inbreeding of her parents. During this period of history, treatments for epilepsy can only be described as archaic. This treatment included rubbing blood of a non-sufferer on the lips of an epileptic or giving the epileptic a mix of a non-sufferer’s blood and piece of skull as the seizure ended. It is speculated that this would influence her later life activities. However, there is no substantiated evidence to support this belief.

At the tender age of 10, she entered into an engagement agreement with political implications. Her betrothed was Count Ferenc Nádasdy. She refused to change her last name as her social standing was higher than her husband. His wedding gift to his wife was Čachtice Castle. She was 15 and he was 19.

Čachtice would go on to be the epicenter of supposed death in Elizabeth’s reign of terror. Aged 48, Ferenc Nádasdy died on 4 January 1604. Before dying, Nádasdy entrusted his heirs and Elizabeth to György Thurzó. He was also the Palatine of Hungary. It was he who would eventually lead the charge against Elizabeth.

In the years after her husband’s death, the investigation into her alleged crimes increased. In 1610, King Matthias II assigned Thurzó to investigate the claims. Thurzó ordered two notaries, András Keresztúry and Mózes Cziráky to collect evidence in March 1610. They collected 52 witness statements by October of the same year. That number had risen to over 300 by the following year. But, the question is: What was legitimate and what was false?

There is no doubt that she was guilty of abuse. Elizabeth was known to be a brute to the girls who were entrusted to her. However, there were never any bodies found on the grounds of her castle. How is it possible to kill nearly 700 young girls and only recover 2 bodies and/or skeletons? Was Elizabeth a victim of a political conspiracy?