Not only alchemists who were looking for the elixir of immortality wanted to live forever, but also simple ignorant mortals! All means were good in the pursuit of immortality. Some turned to black magic, trying to connect with the devil in order to bargain for themselves a century or two. Other people followed a more terrible and cruel path …
Erzsebet Bathory (Elizaveta Bathory) belonged to, so to speak, the cream of Hungarian society in the 17th century. She came from an ancient aristocratic family, which had a rather bad reputation. It was rumored that members of this family practiced black magic and were in touch with devilish powers. In her younger years, Erzsebet Bathory was surprisingly beautiful. She early married a Hungarian aristocrat, and then relatively early became a widow.
Although, male attention was of little concern to the young widow. According to unverified, but very similar to the truth, information, Erzsebet was a lesbian. At that time it was believed that a woman is the more beautiful, the whiter her skin and hair; calf blood was used as a bleaching agent. The calf blood baths that young Erzsebet took, apparently, prompted her later to think about human blood.
However, all this is still ahead. Erzhebet Bathory's husband was often away, took part in many wars. And the young wife, in the company of a friend, indulged in cruel entertainment: at first she was content to go hunting, where she enjoyed watching the suffering and death of animals, and then moved on to torturing people.
Usually, she alone or with the help of a devoted servant lured girls from poor families, inviting them to go into the service of the castle. Moreover, she chose the most beautiful of them. Having agreed to the promises of Countess Bathory, the girls immediately ended up in a torture chamber, where they were tortured in various ways for many days. As a result, when the beautiful bodies turned into bloody pieces of meat, the unfortunate ones were killed and buried in the vicinity of the castle.
But this sadistic entertainment did not end there. Legend says that one day Elizabeth Bathory, riding on horseback, met an ugly old woman on the road and began to mock her. The old woman, not being afraid of the haughty aristocrat, replied: "Wait, soon you will be the same as me." Since that time, fear of old age has settled in the countess's soul. She wanted to preserve youth and beauty at any cost.
It was then that she seriously thought about baths of human blood. It is not known how often Erzhebet took them and how many people she killed. They talk about a grand feast, after which Countess Bathory killed 60 young girls and then took a bath from their still warm blood. However, aging did not pass her by.
Then she decided that the blood of commoners was not "pure" enough; as a result, she began to lure girls from poor noble families into the castle, promising to provide them with dowries for a short service. Of course, none of the unfortunate ones survived to see the promised reward: a terrible death awaited them all. Here is a description of one of the ceremonies performed by the Countess with the help of her faithful servant Dorko:
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The blacksmith, well paid and intimidated by terrible threats, under cover of night forged an incredible, almost unbearable metal device, which was a cylindrical cage of metal blades held together by iron hoops. It could be assumed that it was intended for some kind of giant bird. But inside it was studded with sharp thorns.
By order of Erzsebet Bathory, at night, this creepy device, suspended under the arches of the basement of a Viennese house, was lowered to the floor with the help of levers.
Dorko appeared, dragging a naked maid by her loose hair down the basement steps. She pushed the unfortunate woman into an eerie cage and locked her there. Then the device was lifted up. By this time Erzsebet Bathory appeared. Dressed in white linen, she slowly entered and sat on a chair under the cage.
Dorko, taking a sharp iron pin or a red-hot poker, tried to poke the prisoner, who, leaning back, bumped into the thorns of the cage. With each blow, the flow of blood intensified and flowed down to the countess who was sitting indifferently below, half-consciously staring into the void with unblinking eyes.
When it was all over, the girl in the cage would fall unconscious and slowly die. Catalina Benyosy came, whose duty it was to wash off the blood to the last drop. Afterwards, a funeral party of servants with an old coffin descended into the basement. In Vienna, where the victims of Erzsebet were not as numerous as in Cheyte, they were buried at night in the cemetery under the pretext that an epidemic had broken out in the house. Or Dorko and Catalina carried the mutilated bodies the next evening to a nearby field.
The countess's bloody entertainment soon became known. They called her a "monster" and "bloody creature", but no one dared to raise their voice - the Bathory clan was too ancient and powerful. Even the priests were silent, fearing terrible punishments from the countess.
And yet the hunt for young aristocrats became Erzhebet's fatal mistake. While she was killing ordinary peasant women, she got away with it, but the murders of girls from noble families should sooner or later attract the attention of the authorities. Ultimately, the royal viceroy with armed soldiers arrived at Cheyte Castle, where he discovered clear signs of the murder of many girls. Taken by surprise, the Countess did not deny her involvement in the crimes. Moreover, she claimed that her position gave her the right to torture and kill anyone she saw fit.
The verdict of the royal viceroy was short:
Erzsebet, you are a wild animal. Your days are numbered because you are unworthy to breathe earthly air and live under the light of God. You are no longer human. You must disappear from the face of the Earth. Shadows will surround you for the rest of your life, forcing you to repent of your atrocities. Maybe God will forgive you. I sentence you to eternal imprisonment in your own castle.
A lengthy trial, which took place soon after, confirmed the original verdict. It was testified by the closest servants and servants of Erzhebet Bathory, who helped torture her victims. Here is the testimony of one of them:
- How long did you live in the Countess's castle?
- 16 years old, from 1594; I was forcibly brought in by Martin Cheite.
- How many women have you killed?
- I don’t remember how many in total, I killed 37 girls, Mistress buried five of them in a pit when the Count Palatine was in Pressburg, two - in a small garden, in a cave, two - in a church in Podol; two more were brought from the castle of Cheite, and they were killed by Dorko.
- Whom did you kill? Where did the girls come from?
- I do not know.
- Who brought them?
“Dorko and another woman went looking for them. They assured their parents that the girls would be in the service of the countess and would be treated well. We waited for a whole month for the last girl from a remote village, and she was killed immediately. Women from different villages agreed to supply girls. I myself went out six times in search with Dorko.
There was a woman who did not kill, but only buried. A woman named Yana Barsovny also hired servants from the Taplanafal area; also a Croatian woman from Sarvar and Matiash's wife, who lives opposite the Zhalai house. One woman, Tsabo, brought the girls, even her daughter, knowing she would be killed. Yo Ilona also brought them. Kata did not bring anyone, but she buried the girls killed by Dorko.
- What kind of torture did you use?
- They tied their hands tightly and beat them to death until their whole body turned black as coal. One girl was able to endure more than two hundred blows before she expired. Dorko cut off their fingers one by one, and then cut their veins.
- Who took part in the torture?
- Bila Dorko. Yo Ilona heated the poker red-hot and burned her face with it, stuffed a red-hot iron into her mouth. When the seamstresses did their job poorly, they were taken to the torture chamber for punishment. Once the lady herself put one fingers in her mouth and tore it apart. A woman named Ilona Kochishka also tortured girls. The mistress pricked them with needles, she killed the girl from Sitka for stealing a pear.
In Kereztur, a young noble girl from Vienna was killed; the old woman hid the corpses and then buried them; I helped them bury one in Podoli, two in Keretztur and one in Sharvar.
The mistress always rewarded old women after they successfully tortured girls. The lady herself tore the bodies of the girls with forceps and cut the skin between her fingers. She took them out, naked, outside in winter and dipped them in ice-cold water. Even here in Beach, when the mistress was about to leave, she made one servant stand up to her neck in the icy water; she tried to escape and was killed for that.
Even if the mistress did not torture them herself, the old women did it. Sometimes the girls were left without food or drink for a whole week; we were forbidden to bring them anything. For some kind of offense, the seamstresses had to do the work naked in front of men.
- Where were the bodies buried and how many were there?
- There was an old woman who buried. I buried four myself. They were buried in several castles: Leztitz, Kereztura, Sharvar and Becko. These girls were frozen alive after being doused with water and exposed to frost. One of the girls ran away but was caught.
- Did the Countess take part in the torture herself?
- Sometimes, but more often, she forced others to do it.
- Where did it all take place?
- In Bechko - in the closet, in Sarvar - in a deserted part of the castle, in Cheyte - in the laundry and in the basement closets, in Kereztur - in a small dressing room. In the carriage, while traveling, the mistress pricked them with needles.
- Who saw it or knew about it?
- Majordomo Dejko Benedek, servants, Ezorlavi Yontek, nicknamed the Iron Head, who fled to Lower Hungary and knew a lot, as he was having fun with the Countess. He buried many girls, but no one knows where.
- How long did the Countess engage in torture?
“It all started when her husband was still alive, but then she did not kill anyone. The count knew about everything, but did not pay much attention. But with the advent of Darvuli, the torture became more brutal. The mistress had a small box with a mirror, looking into which she cast spells all night long.
The sorceress Mayorova from Mayava prepared a special potion, which she brought to the decanter, and bathed it one night in water, which she later used to make the dough. Then she carried the remaining water into the river. After bathing it a second time in the remaining water, she kneaded the dough in this trough for the pie, which was intended for the king, the palatine and the Majeri. Those who ate it got sick.
As punishment, the Bloody Countess was walled up in her own castle in the room where she tortured her victims. For communication with the outside world, a small window was made, through which she was given food. Erzhebet Bathory lived here for another 5 years.
How many girls she killed is unknown. In her notebooks, 610 victims were mentioned. Apparently, the list is not limited to this.
Erzhebet Bathory had followers. In fact, the belief that it is possible to extend one's life by borrowing the life force of another person lives on in our time and is motivated by many maniac killers. Nevertheless, fortunately, none of them managed to really prolong their life, and some also reduced it with the help of an electric chair …
E. Cash