brought out and burned alive for sorcery. The farmerâs wife was rushed to her death without being questioned, without being required to undergo the ordeal by water or the oath purgatory, which would have proved or disproved her guilt.
We might, as most historians of the last century did, accept the evidence presented here as being trustworthy, and take this as the whole of the story. But the trials of the servants at Byt Ä a, the condemnation
in absentia
of their mistress and the burning of her witch was neither the beginning nor the end of the official investigation into the alleged massacre of virgins. Nor is it possible for us to judge Elisabeth Báthory finally for ourselves until we have considered her life and her age in more detail, and examined the remainder of the documents that have been left for us by her accusers and by the Lady herself.
Chapter Three
The Pastorâs Denunciation
Compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses
Hebrews xii: 1
The secret interrogations of 1610 ~ hearings at Vág Ãjhely ~ the March testimonies ~ visions of purgatory ~ Pastor Ponikenusâ denunciation ~ cannibal feasts ~ some rituals, portents and omens ~ vampires and other supernatural beings
All the indications are that Elisabeth Báthory was taken by surprise when the authorities arrested her, but the process which culminated in the raid at the end of December 1610 had been set in motion nearly a year before, almost as soon as George Thurzó, her neighbour turned adversary, had been confirmed in his post as Palatine of Hungary. Some historians have written that after hearing rumours of atrocities committed in his own city King Matthias had ordered the inquiry into Elisabethâs activities from Vienna; others, starting with the eighteenth-century Jesuit Father Túróczi, suggested that the parents of missing girls must have lobbied Count Thurzó until he was forced to take action. 1
But there is absolutely no hard evidence for either of these theories.Imagination, of course, also abhors a vacuum, so a more romantic rationale emerged. Paget introduced the tale to English readers:
At last, however, Elisabeth called into play against her two passions stronger even than vanity or cunning â love and revenge became interested in the discovery of the mystery. Among the victims of Csejta was a beautiful maiden who was beloved by and betrothed to a young man of the neighbourhood. In despair at the loss of his mistress, he followed her traces with such perseverance, that, in spite of the hitherto successful caution of the murderess, he penetrated the bloody secrets of the castle, and burning for revenge, flew to Pressburg [Bratislava], boldly accused Elisabeth Báthori of murder before the Palatine, in open court, and demanded judgement against her. 2
It was normal to assemble a great volume of evidence before starting a trial against a high-ranking defendant, and the sequence of preliminary hearings, the actual trial and the post-trial deliberations would frequently take years. A lord or lady could expect to be formally summonsed to appear well before being taken into custody or having to present themselves before the court, and it was at that point that many defendants simply left the country and waited for the political climate to change, or petitioned for a pardon on the ground of their rank. In the matter of the rumoured crimes of Elisabeth Báthory the officials appointed to supervise the investigation made their first moves at the end of February 1610 when the Countess was staying at her usual winter residence at Sárvár.
The first letter of interrogation was issued on 5 March 1610. Andrew Keresztúry, a notary of the royal chamber, received this evidence recorded in Latin to be used later in a formal trial if needed. The thirty-four witnesses, all from the environs of Ä achtice in Nitra county in Upper Hungary, were brought together in secret at the market town of Vág
We might, as most historians of the last century did, accept the evidence presented here as being trustworthy, and take this as the whole of the story. But the trials of the servants at Byt Ä a, the condemnation
in absentia
of their mistress and the burning of her witch was neither the beginning nor the end of the official investigation into the alleged massacre of virgins. Nor is it possible for us to judge Elisabeth Báthory finally for ourselves until we have considered her life and her age in more detail, and examined the remainder of the documents that have been left for us by her accusers and by the Lady herself.
Chapter Three
The Pastorâs Denunciation
Compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses
Hebrews xii: 1
The secret interrogations of 1610 ~ hearings at Vág Ãjhely ~ the March testimonies ~ visions of purgatory ~ Pastor Ponikenusâ denunciation ~ cannibal feasts ~ some rituals, portents and omens ~ vampires and other supernatural beings
All the indications are that Elisabeth Báthory was taken by surprise when the authorities arrested her, but the process which culminated in the raid at the end of December 1610 had been set in motion nearly a year before, almost as soon as George Thurzó, her neighbour turned adversary, had been confirmed in his post as Palatine of Hungary. Some historians have written that after hearing rumours of atrocities committed in his own city King Matthias had ordered the inquiry into Elisabethâs activities from Vienna; others, starting with the eighteenth-century Jesuit Father Túróczi, suggested that the parents of missing girls must have lobbied Count Thurzó until he was forced to take action. 1
But there is absolutely no hard evidence for either of these theories.Imagination, of course, also abhors a vacuum, so a more romantic rationale emerged. Paget introduced the tale to English readers:
At last, however, Elisabeth called into play against her two passions stronger even than vanity or cunning â love and revenge became interested in the discovery of the mystery. Among the victims of Csejta was a beautiful maiden who was beloved by and betrothed to a young man of the neighbourhood. In despair at the loss of his mistress, he followed her traces with such perseverance, that, in spite of the hitherto successful caution of the murderess, he penetrated the bloody secrets of the castle, and burning for revenge, flew to Pressburg [Bratislava], boldly accused Elisabeth Báthori of murder before the Palatine, in open court, and demanded judgement against her. 2
It was normal to assemble a great volume of evidence before starting a trial against a high-ranking defendant, and the sequence of preliminary hearings, the actual trial and the post-trial deliberations would frequently take years. A lord or lady could expect to be formally summonsed to appear well before being taken into custody or having to present themselves before the court, and it was at that point that many defendants simply left the country and waited for the political climate to change, or petitioned for a pardon on the ground of their rank. In the matter of the rumoured crimes of Elisabeth Báthory the officials appointed to supervise the investigation made their first moves at the end of February 1610 when the Countess was staying at her usual winter residence at Sárvár.
The first letter of interrogation was issued on 5 March 1610. Andrew Keresztúry, a notary of the royal chamber, received this evidence recorded in Latin to be used later in a formal trial if needed. The thirty-four witnesses, all from the environs of Ä achtice in Nitra county in Upper Hungary, were brought together in secret at the market town of Vág
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