Accusations
Between 1602 and 1604, after rumours of Báthory's atrocities had spread throughout the kingdom, Lutheran minister István Magyari made complaints against her, both publicly and at the court in Vienna. In 1610, Matthias II assigned György Thurzó, the devoutly Lutheran Palatine of Hungary, to investigate. Thurzó ordered two notaries, András Keresztúry and Mózes Cziráky, to collect evidence in March 1610. By October 1610 they had collected 52 witness statements; by 1611, that number had risen to over 300.
Tamás Nyereghjárto was 35 years old, when he was sworn in and interrogated in the town of Beckov. He stated that he saw a girl in Újhely who was being medically treated because the flesh on her right hand between the fingers and the arm was torn out and the tendon was destroyed. Janós Kun was the Provisor of Franciscus Magochy in Beckov, and was 50 years old; his wife Katalin, who was 36 years old, testified that she had also seen this girl in Újhely, and testified similarly to Tamás, but added that the flesh had also been cut out between the victim's shoulders, and that the right hand of this girl was "completely destroyed". Then, Martinus Zamechnyk, who was 50 years old, testified that he had asked this girl from Újhely "Who did that to your hand?", the girl had replied that, "The Lady Widow Nadasdy had done it", referring to Báthory. This testimony was taken by András of Keresztúr, and was published on 28 July 1611, on the orders of King Matthias II.
According to one of her accomplices (Dorrthea Szentes), Báthory would stick needles into the fingers of some of her victims. After she did this, Báthory would comment: "If it hurts the whore, then she can pull it out". However, Szentes added that if the girl removed the needle, Báthory would then cut off the finger with a knife.
During the trial, many atrocities were said to have occurred in many of Báthory's castles. These atrocities usually included: severe beatings with cudgels, needles inserted into lips, arms, shoulders, and fingernails, flesh cut out from the buttocks and from between the shoulders, and then roasted. Many victims were locked in the Castle's dungeons and starved for weeks. Red hot pokers and irons were used to scorch the arms and abdomen of the victims, knives plunged into arms and feet, fingers cut off with scissors and shears, and girls made to stand naked in the winter cold and then doused with water till they froze to death.
Critically, there were a handful of individuals who provided first-hand accounts of Báthory's crimes at the trial. Three of these individuals included Jakab Szivassy, Gergely Paztory, and Benedek Deseo. Deseo was the head of "The Lord's staff" at Castle Cjesthe and was responsible for operations at the castle. Since Deseo and Szivassy were around Báthory the most, they gave the most detailed confessions of what they witnessed at their time of service at Castle Cjesthe. These three men were not tortured into confessions, unlike Báthory's accomplices (Llona, Janos, Dorrthea, etc.). After Deseo was sworn in, he testified that Báthory "took a shoemaker's daughter named 'Illonka', stripped her naked and began to cruelly torment her by taking a knife, and beginning with the fingers, shoved the knife into both arms up the arms, then flogging her over again, then took a burning candle to her and burned her skin, and continued to torment her until she put an end to her life". He also testified that Báthory would "stick a sewing needle in her victims arms and use it to cut her way up the arm of a girl who could not sew." Deseo also testified that Báthory would withhold food and water from her victims until they became very thirsty.
Gergely Paztory was a court judge at Castle Sarvar for Elizabeth Báthory and was forty years old when he was sworn in and testified. He testified that a "young woman from Bratislava named Modl accompanied Báthory and Paztory on a trip to Fuzer". He continued, "The Lady Báthory forced her to dress up and act like a young girl, Modl pleaded for forgiveness as she could not act like a young girl since she is already married and has a child". Following this, in Jakab Szivassy's testimony, Jakab added that the "young woman called Modl, since she did not want to be a girl, Báthory had cut out her flesh and roasted it". After this incident, she continued to torment Modl until she was killed at Sarvar. These testimonies were collected by Mozes Cziraky and was published on 14 December 1611, in his report on the orders of King Matthias II.
Nobleman Martinus Chanady who lived in the town of Beckov was 48 years old when he was sworn in and interrogated. He testified that himself and Janós Belanczky had visited the Lady Widow Nadasdy in Beckov so that Janós could get his sister back from Báthory. Bathory had refused to give Janós' sister back when they asked. Janós then demanded that he at least see her, after waiting for nearly an hour, Janós sister finally appeared but was severely weakened because of the great pain from torture and torment, so much so that she could barely hold out her hands and was bitterly crying and whining. After this it was said that Janós' sister died and was buried in Beckov. Martinus also claimed that he knew Báthory had killed the daughters of a nobleman named Georgius Tukynzky and another nobleman named Benedictus Barbel. Martinus also claimed that he heard how Báthory had torn the flesh of virgins, grounded it into minced meat and allowed to be served before them. This testimony was collected by András of Keresztúr and was published on 28 July 1611, on the orders of King Matthias II.
Báthory is said to have tortured or killed peasants for years; their disappearances were not likely to provoke an investigation. However, she eventually began killing daughters of the lesser gentry, some of whom were sent to live with her hoping to learn from her and benefit from a connection to the high-ranking countess.
Some witnesses named relatives who died while at the gynaeceum. Others reported having seen traces of torture on dead bodies, some of which were buried in graveyards, and others in unmarked locations.
Beginning in the 1980s, scholars have questioned the truthfulness of the claims against Báthory. Several authors, such as László Nagy and Irma Szádeczky-Kardoss, have argued that Elizabeth Báthory was a victim of a politically motivated frameup. Nagy argued that the proceedings against Báthory were largely politically motivated, possibly due to her extensive wealth and ownership of large areas of land in Hungary, which increased after the death of her husband. At that time, Hungary was embroiled in religious and political conflicts, especially relating to the wars with the Ottoman Empire, the spread of Protestantism and the extension of Habsburg power and political centralization at the expense of the military and political power of Austria and Hungary's noble houses. The Habsburgs were Catholic and Báthory was a Calvinist. Her nephew, Prince Gábor Báthory, ruled in Transylvania, which was influential in the movement for Ottoman-backed Hungarian independence from Habsburg rule, providing the Imperial Court in Vienna a further motivation to discredit the Báthory family. Prince Gábor also desired the throne of Hungary, presenting a threat to King Matthias. Elizabeth Báthory's vast land holdings included fortresses that could have aided the Transylvanian army if Gábor had sent it to challenge Matthias. Matthias, who had originally ordered the investigation into Báthory, owed her a large financial debt, which was cancelled after she was arrested.
The legalities of the trial were complicated. King Matthias believed that if Erzsébet received the death penalty, her property would cede to the Crown and his debts would be cancelled. By January 1611 he was angered that the death penalty was not being discussed against Báthory, based on the proceedings brought by his two notaries to gather testimonies, Mózes Cziráky and András of Keresztúr. On 14 January 1611, King Matthias wrote a letter to Count György Thurzó expressing his dissatisfaction with the movement of the case, and the need for justice to be brought to Báthory, and for her to be interrogated at Castle Cjesthe. The letter said:We instruct you earnestly and we give you the emergency order as soon as your receive this letter, that you immediately summon this woman Erzsébet Bathory on the said date or through dates of letters to your bondsmen and by warrant of the honorable Chapter of the Metropolitan Church of Esztergom to appear at Castle Cjesthe with leave to discover and discuss her aforementioned immense and outrageous deeds and that the judgement proceed and be carried out in fulfillment of the law, whether she appears personally or sends someone or not, and warn at the front where you set the date and place she personally or by legal representation appear before you. Your handling of the matter, however, given the insistence of the parties involved, has to be done in accordance with the law. Anything else shall not proceed.This letter explains how King Matthias and Thurzó were not on the same page, regarding how to proceed with Báthory after her arrest.
On the Contrary, Báthory's son-in-law Miklós Zrínyi had thanked Thurzó in a letter that he wrote to Thurzó, dated 12 February 1611, regarding how Thurzó was treating his mother-in-law post arrest. An excerpt from this letter states:I heard the news of the shameful and miserable situation of my wife's mother, Mrs. Nádasdy [Elizabeth Báthory] in view of her immense, shameful deeds, I must confess that, regarding a penalty, you have chosen the lesser of two evils. The judgement of your Grace served us for the better, because it has preserved our honor and shielded us from too great a shame. When, in your letters, you made known to us the will of His Royal Majesty (King Matthias), including punishment by horrible, judicial torture, we, her relatives, felt that we must all die of shame and disgrace.This letter demonstrates that Thurzó did not want to disgrace the Báthory name, and wanted to keep her crimes as far away from the public eye as possible.
The investigation into Báthory's crimes, however, was sparked by insistent complaints from a Lutheran minister, István Magyari and Thurzó was also a Lutheran, which does not align with the notion of a Catholic/Habsburg plot against the Protestant Báthory family. However, religious tension was still a possible source of conflict, as the Báthorys were Calvinists rather than Lutherans.
Thurzó, the investigator into the accusations, had political state ambitions that would benefit from disgracing Báthory. An ally of King Matthias, he had been involved in an assassination attempt on Báthory's cousin Prince Gábor, and he had ambitions for his son to become Prince of Transylvania, in competition with Elizabeth Báthory's son. Thurzó alleged that he found numerous dead and dying girls when he entered the castle, but Szádeczky-Kardoss argues that the physical evidence was exaggerated and Thurzó misrepresented dead and wounded patients as victims of Báthory. Landowners like Báthory were responsible for medical care of tenants, so sick and injured subjects were brought to her castles. Female landowners were charged with care of female patients.
Despite this, there were a handful of people who provided first hand accounts of Báthory's crimes at the trial. One of these people was Janós Deseö, who was warden (castellan) of Castle Keresztúr. He testified that his niece, named Kata Berényi, had been accepted to work at the Countess' court; however it was alleged, through rumors, that his niece was being mistreated by Báthory. He wanted to see if these rumors were true, so after learning that his niece, Kata, would accompany Báthory on an extended trip to Castle Cjesthe, he planned to intercept the party to see his niece before they left. After Deseö intercepted the entourage, he asked Báthory "Might I please see my niece before you take your leave?" "I hear you are going to take her along to Cjesthe and no one knows when I am going to see her again, I also want to give her some money." After spotting his niece, Kata, he realized that she was dejected, crying, and freezing cold and this brought Deseö to tears as well. Deseö then said to Báthory: "Merciful Lady, please do not take my niece with you! I implore you in the name of God, not by me but by all my relatives". He continued: "We indeed see that she does not know how to serve the will of Your Grace." At this point, Báthory then said: "I certainly will not give her back, because she has already escaped from me three times, All the more I will kill her." After this incident, Deseö stated that: "Báthory indeed took her away and never brought her back, tormenting her so much that she died."
Another witness was Lady Barbara Bixi, who was residing at Castle Keresztúr and was twenty five years old when she was sworn in and interrogated. She stated that she was an attendant of the mistress, (Báthory), and had been travelling with her the last four months, (from which she was being interrogated). She testified that Lady Báthory had tormented numerous girls at Bitcá, and that she had seen these girls with her own eyes. She added that Báthory had: "Beaten and thrashed them, cut their bodies, stabbed the unfortunates with needles, put stinging nettles into the girls wounds or covered them with nettles, as to torment them". She testified that "she does not know the names of all the girls, because, in general, the girls were grabbed from anywhere and brought there." Janos Ujvaly (Ficzko) corroborated this sentiment by stating that typically they would lure or outright kidnap girls from different places and bring them to the many different castles. Both Lady Barbara's and Janós Deseö's statements were collected by Mozes Cziraky and were published on 14 December 1611, on the orders of King Matthias II. These confessions were not done under torture.
