Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory (31 page)

History.
Transcript of the Witness Interrogatories regarding the cruel deeds which Erzsébet Báthory, wife of Count Ferenc Nádasdy, is accused. 1611. (Decision No. 31)

The first witness, the honorable György Kubanovich, resident of Csejthe has acknowledged under oath: he was in attendance at Csejthe Castle when he saw the corpse of the last murdered girl, full of blue welts and burn marks and strangled execution-style, carried out in a trough, while the Lady Nádasdy was being taken into custody.

The second witness, Janós Valkó; the third, Martin Jankovich; the fourth, Martin Krsskó; the fifth, Andreas Ukrovich; all residents of Csejthe, have been sworn and testified the same as the first witness.

The sixth, Ladislas Centalovich, residing also in Csejthe, was also been sworn and testified like the others, with the addition: he had seen the girls when they were still alive, and had also seen the welts and burn marks on the shoulders of the same.

The seventh, Tamás Zima of Csejthe testified as the others, and also stated that two female servants of the Lady were buried in the cemetery at Csejthe, while the third was buried at Leszetice, specifically because the preacher at Csejthe challenged the murder.

The eighth, Johann Krappmann, church servant at Csejthe, testified as the previous sworn witnesses, and added that, regarding the girl martyred execution-style, he had spoken with one of the assistants while still alive and received this answer: the Lady herself had perpetrated such, with the aid of a certain woman in a green dress which, however, she did not identify.

The ninth, Andreas Butora of Csejthe, in general testified in all things the same as the rest.

The tenth, Susanna, a young girl, was sworn and testified that the executions, which the Widow Nádasdy perpetrated against her handmaidens, was horrifying, and that her execution henchmen were: Ilona, Dorottya, Anna with the surname Darvolya, and Janós Ficzkó, who was also sent out to steal girls and bring them back. Kata was milder and gentler, but while alive had thrashed the girls enough, but was so merciful that she brought food in secret to the martyred dead. She remembered also that she had heard that Jacob Szilvásy had found a list of the dead girls in a box of the imprisoned Lady, numbered at six hundred and fifty, which number the Widow Lady Nádasdy signed with her own hand.

The eleventh witness, Sara Baranyai, widow of Peter Mártiny, testified the same as the previous girl, Susanna, with the addition: she knew for certain that in the previous four years (namely, during her entire time of service), while she was with Lady Nádasdy, over eighty girls in the women’s quarters were killed, which is confirmed by the testimony of a certain Bichierdi, Warden of Sárvár, which agrees with the number, and that this is completely true, with her claiming conscientiously to repeat several times. Finally, it also strengthens the admissions of the defendants.

Twelfth, Ilona, Widow Kotsis, said under oath: she could comment on so many things over the past three years, namely during her time of service; over 30 girls were killed from multiple torture-executions by Lady Nádasdy and her assistants. The Lady Nádasdy was very knowledgeable in magic and the art of poisoning, of which there are many examples but, in particular that, through magic and poisoning, she wanted to take the lives of His Royal Majesty, and the Lord Palatine, and also Imre Megyeri and others, too, against whom she prayed a certain wishing formula/spell. In all ways, she confirmed the confessions of the defendants.

The last witness, Anna, widow of István Geonczy, recounted generally as the previous witnesses, regarding the butchery perpetrated by the Lady Nádasdy and her female helpers, and also confesses: among the number of slain victims, was also her ten-year-old daughter, cruelly tortured to death, whom she wanted to visit but, to her greatest pain, was not permitted in. The rest was the same as the previous.

After all that we have heard and considered, we have set forth the following recommendation.

As apparent from the defendants, and also the strong evidence before the present Tribunal, as well as repeated testimonies, but especially the confession of Dorottya, as the one guiltiest of so many cruelties against the innocent blood of the female sex, through her Lady and mistress clearly perpetrating crimes in which she and Ilona, as well as Janós Ficzkó, the secret helper, were not only knowledgable, but also participating in and hushing up such cruel deeds; because of such an obvious suspect and from the defendants themselves who made clear and apparent declarations on suspiscious matters, including the overall secret and cruel deeds shown, first and before all others this Dorottya, then Ilona, and finally Janós Ficzkó were taken in for interrogation. The interrogations here are unlike anything contained in the indictment, and the interrogated ones themselves previously acknowledged, including said witnesses who also claimed and strengthened, abbreviated and withdrawn, even more so in view of the ways of the often-named Widow Nádasdy through which was perpetrated terrible slaughter and maltreatment; thus, the following judgment is passed upon the defendants, through us, and publicly pronounced:

After the confessions of the defendants, which were given either voluntarily or after torture, as well as the revelations from the witness interrogations regarding the defendants’ crimes and, indeed, crimes which exceed all notions of inhumanity and cruelty consisting of multiple murders, butchery, and sophisticated execution-style torture –- such atrocities require horrible penalties: thus, first, Ilona and Dorottya, as primary participants in so many misdeeds and as tools of such serious, ongoing atrocities perpetrated against Christian blood, shall have the fingers of both hands torn out by the executioner, and shall then be executed and burned.

Regarding Janós Ficzkó, his age and fewer crimes somewhat lessen his punishment: he shall be beheaded, the corpse placed on the pyre, and burned together with the other two criminals. Regarding the last, Katalin, the statements of both of these two defendants, as well as some witnesses will be excused, and the statement of Janós Ficzkó alone cannot convict her: it seems to us that she should be returned to the dungeon and remain there for some time until perhaps other more clear evidence is given against her. - This is our verdict on the accused, publicly pronounced and soon thereafter to be duly completed.
Given in the aforementioned market town of Bitcá on the 7th of January in the year of the Lord 1611. Theodosius Szirmay, Georgius Lehotzky, Kaspar Ordody, Janós Záturetzky, Nikolaus Hrábovszky, Janós Borsitzky, judicial chair; Gábor Hlinitzky, Assessor; Michael Prusinszky, István Mársovszky, Benedikt Kozár, Nikolaus Mársovszky, István Akay and Janós Medveczky, Janós St. Mariay, István Akay, Janós Draskovszky, Georgius Záluszky, and Michael St. Mariay, also known as Hlinitzky.

MÁTYÁS’ LETTER TO THURZÓ

JANUARY 14, 1611

Mátyás II, by the grace of God King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, etc., designated King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Marquis of Moravia, Count of Tyrol.

Venerable and distinguished one, loyal subject sincerely devoted to us. What you tell us about the lofty and well-known Widow Nádasdy in writing, we have not heard without serious displeasure, paralyzing fear and internal shuddering; namely, that she has put behind any reverence for God and man, driven by animal crudity and diabolical influence, killing more than 300 innocent virgins and women, of both noble and lower levels, who served her as maids, and of whom no such action was deserved, without any involvement of the judiciary, in a most monstrous and cruel manner, their bodies mutilated, burned with hot irons, their flesh ripped out, roasted on the fire and this roasted flesh then allowed to be served. We would have certainly preferred that mortals never heard of such an atrocity of so many miserable virgins who perished, whose innocent blood and misery could not be held by the vastness of the heavens; but after this became so widely known and, as a result, the fear that if we do not render punishment the avenging wrath of God will come upon us, we are determined to bring justice and, by this example to cut off other such outrageous acts of sacrilege, that the woman known as Lady Erzsébet Báthory (after the others had already been caught in the act, convicted and arrested by you), 15 days from when this copy was created or the date on which your decision to the court against the notable Peter Zokoli falls, under the law and in accordance with the custom of the Kingdom and, finally, on the basis of the matter there being no grounds in which to delay a verdict for her outrageous sacrilege and deeds, and through our faithful one, the excellent Magister Joannes Kythonich of Kostanicza, the President of the Court Chamber (
director causarum nostrarum regalium
) of the Crown of the Holy Kingdom of Hungary, to our knowledge will do as follows: we instruct you earnestly and we give you the emergency order as soon as you receive this letter, that you immediately summon this woman Erzsébet Báthory 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 Csejteh with leave to discover and discuss her aforementioned immense and outrageous deeds and that the judgment 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 that 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. Given in our City of Vienna on the 14th day of the month of January in the year of the Lord, 1611.

Mátyás

P.S. We also wish to inform you, that we benevolently instructed the well-known notaries of record, Mózes Cziráky and András Keresztúr, to stay on – to collect testimonies from all of the Nádasdy places of residence on both sides of the Danube as soon as possible, so that at the time your court date is set our Court Legal President has all of the necessary and sufficient information at its disposal. We also benevolently urge you if you know something suitable regarding what the witnesses were asked and their answers, to share this with the notaries as soon as possible in writing. And the earlier testimony either already designated by the notaries or gathered by the torture of the old women should not be neglected, with a sufficient designation of the names and circumstances of the death of virgins, in which these crimes are involved, and to send authenticated information to the said Legal President.

ZRÍNYI’S LETTER TO THURZÓ

FEBRUARY 12, 1611

God bless you and all your family along with all your property! I have received and understood your sincere letter along with the copy of the letter from His Royal Majesty to you and the copy of your answer to it. And although with sad heart and suffering I heard the news of the shameful and miserable situation of my wife's mother, Mrs. Nádasdy - in view of her immense, shameful deeds, I must confess that, regarding a penalty, you have chosen the lesser of two evils. The judgment 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, including punishment by horrible, judicial torture, we, her relatives, felt that we must all die of shame and disgrace. But Your Grace, as our benign, truly beloved cousin and Lord, has prevented our shame, having imposed the best kind of punishment in
perpetuo carceri inclusa delineatur
and not public punishment, which would shame all of us, including her children and the memory of her pious, blessed and good, knightly husband. We want to thank Your Grace for the rest of our lives and repay you with all our available strength; we wish to offer you a humble token of our mortal existence. We ask that you, therefore, implore His Majesty to reconsider his decision so that it is in accord with your previous verdict and to be content with your judgment and not to litigate against her in public. This would, as you can imagine, cause much shame and harm to us. By God have we placed our hope in you that you and His Majesty will decide this case in our favor, as we trust you will govern. For a more detailed discussion of this matter, I send my devout servant, Mr. András Milley, to you. I ask you as my benevolent, beloved Lord and brother, to believe his words and allow him to return to me with the desired answer. Lifelong will I repay you. May God grant Your Grace long life.

Csákvár, February 12, 1611

Illustrissimae Dominationis vestrae servitor addictissimus

Nicolaus de Zrínyi (m.p.)

NÁDASDY’S LETTER TO THURZÓ

FEBRUARY 23, 1611

I wish Your Grace and my Lady, as well as your beloved children, all the best from God, as you yourself desire. I took from your letter what His Majesty has ordered you to do to my miserable mother. I have your response to His Majesty, and realize how often you are well disposed toward me and my sisters. God grant that we, I and my sisters and brothers-in-law, can reward your kindness by obedience from a pure heart throughout our entire lives. It is true, as you wrote to His Majesty, that the
Citatio
(court summons) should have been issued sooner and that it is now inappropriate, because Your Grace, as the country's Chief Justice, has already done enough
extentio
. It is no longer necessary to continue, since the present punishment of my poor mother is worse than death, and not necessary to proceed according to the command of His Majesty since a judgment on her life has already been made. Turning now to her property, there is no need to fear, because before her arrest, she turned it all over to the three of us. Nevertheless, we, the relatives and humble subjects of His Majesty, wish to ask that your use of legal force against my mother not impose eternal shame on our family. However, we do not want to act without the knowledge and advice of Your Grace; it is not fitting. I therefore implore you, please, write us your opinion on how my sisters and I should proceed with our intercession to His Majesty so as not to cause Your Grace any grief; indeed, as we learned from your letter, which we have kept secret. I await a favorable response from you, as my beloved father and Lord. God grant you many years in good health. Castle Keresztúr, February 23, 1611.