Elizabeth Báthory’s Life
The Blood Countess is known all over the world for her nefarious exploits, and shocking blood crimes. However, other areas of her life are unexamined, although many details still exist regarding her marriage, political career, and younger life. Strangely enough, Elizabeth Bathory, or Erzsebet Bathory, in Hungarian, descended from a long line of Transylvanian nobility, tying her bloodline to perhaps that of the famous historical figures of Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler. She was born on August 7th, 1560; her mother lived to be only thirty-one years old before she died, in 1570. Elizabeth grew up witnessing many violent acts of torture committed by her father and perhaps her brothers, as they would punish peasants for crimes, according to speculation. According to other sources, even Elizabeth Bathory’s family members were out of their minds. Klara Bathory, Elizabeth’s aunt, was said to have had four husbands, and to have had killed the first two.Gabor Bathory, Elizabeth’s uncle, claimed to have once been possessed by the devil. Another uncle, also called Gabor, committed incest with his sister Anna, and was assassinated.
Elizabeth’s marriage was arranged basically when she was still a child, eleven years old, like many marriages that took place during that era. She was married to Ferenc Nádasdy four years after she had been engaged, and had already been living in his castle since engagement. The same year, she gave birth to her first child, at the age of fifteen. Her wedding gift from her new husband was his entire castle; thirty years afterwards, Ferenc purchased the castle and the lands and estates surrounding it from Rudolf II, Habsburg Rudolf, whereupon it became a private family estate. When Ferenc advanced later on in his military career, he went off to fight in the war against the Ottomans, leaving Elizabeth behind to manage the estate, and business affairs, providing food and medical care when needed to peasants living on their land.
Other facts about Elizabeth Bathory that many people fail to consider, was her extensive education and military expertise. Bathory was one of the very few educated women of the time; she could read and write in four different languages, and had education in science, and astronomy. When her husband went to fight in the “Long War” (so named because it lasted over a decade), Bathory was in charge of defending their lands from the threat of Ottoman invaders. In the height of the war, the danger was very high for all the locals and nobles. Elizabeth’s husband died when she was 44; the cause of death is still not entirely clear. He was either murdered by a prostitute, died of injuries in battle, or killed by the Count of Huszt, Giorgio Basta.