Countess Elizabeth Bathory - Nadasdy

1. CountessElizabeth Bathory-Nadasdy Created by:Rozaliq Georgieva,10 a class

2. Birth and Childhood of Elizabeth Bathory Erzsabeth Bathory, known in the West with the English name Elizabeth, was born in 1560.Daughter of Baron George Bathory and Baroness Anna Bathory. Bathory’ s family was one of the most powerful Protestant families in Hungary and many are known as politicians and officials. Elizabeth was well - educated for this time – she learned Hungarian, Latin and Greek. But she was sick. Elizabeth’s geneticsadistic behavior was considered for insane since her childhood. Someone said that the young Elizabeth suffered from apoplectic attacks, accompanied by loss of control and bursts of rage that could be caused by epilepsy and suffocation. In 1575 Elizabeth has married to Ferenc, and celebrated the wedding with a gala festival to which the Roman Emperor- Maximilian II, was invited.

3. After the wedding, Elizabeth was declared for mistress of the estate around Castle Sarvar. Here Nadasdi family enjoyed the reputation of harsh masters. While the brutality of Elizabeth fought the nature of her character, Ferenk offered to show his favourite ways to punish the servants. Many of the stories says that the conduct of Ferenk was nothing, compared to the perversion of his wife.

4. Elizabeth Bathory’s crime In one of the cases, when her husband was away, it was heard that Elizabeth tortures young girls for hеr own pleasure. Her members at this time were the woman who cared for her children - Helena Yo, Dorothea Stsentes, who was often accused of witchcraft. Among the conduct of Elizabeth in this period were the beats of her maids withwhip, heavy stick and cord. Also she trailed the young girls in the snow and watering them with cold water until they freeze and die.

5. In January 1604, Elizabeth’s husband died. At this time she worked her most cruel acts. Elizabeth was found the elixir for eternal youth while one of the maids combed her hair and plucked her accidentally.Then Elizabeth punished the maid by cruelblow. Her face was splashed with blood and she found that her wrinkles seems like invisible. The legend tells how Elizabeth was bathing in the blood of young girls. In spite of many horrified witnesses, nobody gave a detailed description of these baths. In 1609, however,Darvula died and Elizabeth decided to hire a new helper. She caught ona widow and under her authority, Elizabeth powered out all the cruelty on the girls from families with noble blood. More than 650 brutal killings of young girls, who were victims of the Bloody Countess,were recorded in the history.

6. Torture in the castle Deadly cell - the deadly cell was built of blades and metal, decorated with daggers, and it can keep a human bodywhile it rises in the air. With red-hot pokers, Dorka and the others maids pressed the inmates to the bars, which left deep wounds behind. Classic torture - some girls between age of 12 and 18, were chosen by the maids. They stripped the girls, pulling them by the hair in the room of torture, tied their hands on the back and lash them until their skin started to come off. But if their cries bored the countess, she sewing the lips of the girls.

7. Elizabeth Bathory’s Fall In January 1611, were filed two cases, in which accomplices of Elizabeth were accused of torture. During the second trial, one of the servants – Susanna, provided proof of their guilt, but it was so unfair, that the accused did not come to Contessa, but only her servants. After that, Contessa Bathory was justified. Several years later, she died in the castle, but her legacy was divided between her children.

8. “Crime does not create beauty, it only has a unique charm”- Jean Paul Sartre THE END