Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory (34 page)

The 73
^rd
witness was the noble Balthasar Zelessy, living in the city of Verbo, about 50 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said, regarding the questions he was asked, that he had seen nothing with his own eyes, rather had only heard from others.

The 74
^th
witness was the noble Chrisophorus Zelessy, 20 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said the same as the previous witness.

The 75
^th
witness was the noble Georgius Rathkay, living here in the city of Verbo, 43 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said, regarding the girls who were forced to bath in the brook in winter, the same as the pastor and the judge of the city of Kosztolány.

The 76
^th
witness was the noble Daniel Rathkay, living here in Verbo, 28 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said that he knew nothing.

The 77
^th
witness was the noblewoman Anna Welykey, former wife of Nicolaus Kardos, and now the wife of Georgius Hodossy, about 45 years old, sworn and interrogated; she said, regarding the questions asked, that she had seen nothing with her own eyes, but, regarding the Lady Widow Nádasdy she knew the following: When she asked this Lady Widow if she would bring her girls and let them be introduced, (the Lady) said: “Ah, how could I trust or introduce you girls, after so many bad and terrible things are told far and wide about you”; then (the Lady) said to this witness: “These whores lie”; this witness added that she herself had often seen tortured virgins with swollen and bluish colored faces; nothing further.

The 78
^th
witness was the noble Mátyás Sakathyartho, Verbo city official, 28 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said he knew nothing regarding the questions posed, other than, while for the past 7 years he served as cellar master at the court in Csejthe, a maiden named Lady Sittkey died and was brought to the town of Csejthe and buried there.

The 79
^th
witness was the honorable Stephanus Puskas, residing in the town of Verbo, about 45 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said he knew nothing at all regarding the questions posed.

The 80
^th
witness was the honorable Mátyás Gabansky, residing in the same Verbo, about 45 years old, sworn and interrogated; he indicated that he knew nothing.

The 81
^st
witness was the venerable Nicolaus Barosius, pastor in the town of Verbo, sworn in by the purity of his conscience; he said he had heard much regarding the tremendous cruelty of said Lady Widow Nádasdy; regarding the questions posed, he cannot state anything further except, he himself came to the Lady Widow at her court at Csejthe, six days before she was put in prison, together with other pastors because of her terrible deeds, which, as we know, have been committed by her, and to exhort her to pray for her salvation, and later, there he himself saw a virgin at the time of her incarceration, found as if dead, but still alive yet very weak and frail; he also saw other virgins in similar condition; he, in turn, after this Lady Widow had been brought to the prison (dungeon), they urged her to consider how much suffering she accomplished and what terrible deeds she had committed, and counted all of them that are included in the points in question and what they heard from the witnesses. Next, she retorted to the witness and the other pastors with him: "You," she said, "you nefarious and wicked priests are the cause of my captivity, but have you not yet heard of the Hajdukes at the Theiss? I gave my brother Gabor Báthory a message, and you'll soon have realized that you and your children will regret my fate." A little later, however, as the witness and the others present with him called this Lady Widow not to despair, but rather to repentance and to partake of Holy Communion, she said: "How could I do this when all of you are my enemies." As the witness then recounted to her what outrages were already discovered and those of which she had already been convicted and how much and what terribleness were confessed under torture by her old women and the servant Ficzkó, she replied that she would not admit to anything, whether she was tortured by fire or otherwise; and the witness asked her whether she had also considered and still stood by her statement; she replied that she stood firmly by it and nothing else; the witness also said, he asked her why she allowed her old women to do such things; whereupon she replied that she let them do it because even she herself was also afraid of them.

The 82
^nd
witness was the noble Janós Zluha, residing in the town of Verbo, 29 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said the same as the previous witness and added that he would be sent from Csejthe, and from the Official of the town of Verbo, letters would be sent; upon a response, he would be instructed to travel to Tirnau to the local pharmacy to obtain antimony which would be sealed for the return trip; letter in hand, the witness went to Doctor Martinus and showed him the letter with the instructions to obtain this drug; after he had read this, Doctor Martinus asked for what purpose he wished to have this drug, which the witness answered, he knew not how it was to be used; thereupon Doctor Martinus told the witness, because many people can be killed with this drug, it would be delivered once by the pharmacy and then issued to the administrator of Csejthe.

The 83
^rd
witness was the noble Janós Felon, 52 years old, encountered in the town of Csejthe, sworn and interrogated; he said he saw a maiden whose hands were maimed, wounded, and dismembered through excessive beatings and torment, and as if by cutting, and had been rendered useless; he had seen three dead girls who were brought to Leszetice to be buried there; also, he knew and had seen the two virgins who had died at the time of the wedding celebration of György Homonnay, and afterwards had been brought to Leszetice in order to be buried there; the witness added that a few years ago, he took a virgin from Tirnau with him, who remained with him for a few years and was regarded as a talented embroiderer; as this girl was twelve years old, the Lady Judith Pogan, wife of John Lyptay, tempted this girl to come to her with flatteries and then handed her over to the said Lady Widow Nádasdy; she was then killed, to the knowledge of the witness, in her court or
Gynaecaeum
; he knew also, and has also seen that the Lady Judith Pogan brought over a bourgeois girl from the upper parts of the country who, afterwards, was introduced to the Lady Widow Nádasdy by those old whores who were burned in Bicsa; and the witness had heard that this girl had been killed after about a week in Varanno; this witness also reports that, at the time when he was in the service of the former Ferenc Nádasdy, the son of the former Janós Trombitás, named Vitus, was also employed by the former Ferenc Nádasdy, and that he had heard, Lady Widow Nádasdy had an adulterous relationship with this Vitus Trombitás, who was later killed while serving as a soldier of the said Ferenc Nádasdy.

The 84
^th
witness was the noble Valentinus Jelon, encountered here in Csejthe, about 90 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said, with my own eyes I have seen nothing and, regarding the specific questions, he also knew nothing except what he had heard from many others.

The 85
^th
witness was the noble Johannes Bula, encountered here in Csejthe, 35 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said that same as the previous witness, Valentinus Jelon.

The 86
^th
witness was the noble Nicolaus Bula, 28 years old, encountered here in Csejthe, sworn and interrogated; he said he knew nothing else regarding the specific questions, except that he had seen a maiden at the doctor in the town of Újhely, who said that the Lady Widow Nádasdy had inflicted cruel torture and torment on her.

The 87
^th
witness was the noble Martinus Waychko (Vychko), residing in Zolnafalva, about 50 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said that, when the Lady Widow Nádasdy was taken to the dungeon, he himself was present at the court in Csejthe and saw how before the eyes of the Lady Widow, a dead girl lying in a box, who had been killed by cruel blows, was put into a cart; he had also seen another girl who had been tormented by similar cruel torture; the witness had himself seen wounds between the shoulders where the flesh had been cut out, and also that the hands were torn apart, especially the right, and that the flesh between the fingers and the muscles on the upper arm and forearm, along with the tendons, were cut such that no hope seemed to exist that the healing and renewal of the former power of this hand could ever be restored. He asked this girl who had cut her flesh; she responded, the woman named Katarina had cut her with pliers, ripping out the black and blue marks and festering flesh; however, the Lady Widow Nádasdy hit and beat me with her hand.

The 88
^th
witness was the noble Gasparus Ztubyczay, 20 years old, sworn and interrogated in the town of Csejthe; regarding the questions posed, he knew only from hearsay; he knew only that one of his sisters named Anna was killed at the court or
Gynaecaeum
of said Lady Widow Nádasdy.

The 89
^th
witness was the noble Martinus Lofaak, 30 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said the same as Valentinus Jelon, the 84
^th
witness.

The 90
^th
witness was the noble András Pryderowyth, about 30 years old, sworn and interrogated in the town of Csejthe; he said that he himself was in attendance at the court at Csejthe when the Lady Widow Nádasdy was led into the dungeon, and he had seen a dead girl lying in a box who, before the eyes of the Widow Lady Nádasdy, was placed on a cart; he had also heard from those who were standing closer that her body had been cut over and over and that injuries such as traces of shackles could be found around the neck, as confirmed by the doctor regarding the other surviving girls, as well as Martinus Vychko, the 87th Witnesses; he had also seen a woman who, after she was freed from having her feet bound together, recounted that she had been so tied because she had refused to hand over her daughter to the Lady Widow Nádasdy; he had also seen another virgin upon whose body he discovered, after looking closer, wounds so deep from the flesh being cut out that one could easily stick a fist through them.

The 91
^st
witness was the noble Stephanus Pryderowyth, about 28 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said that he knew nothing more except that he had seen a girl being treated by a doctor in Újhely, and said the same as Martinus Vychko, adding that he saw that her right hand was scarred over.

The 92
^nd
witness was the noble Gasparus Arokhathy, 32 years old, sworn and interrogated in the town of Csejthe; he said that he knew nothing more, except that he had seen a girl at the doctor’s in Újhely who could not move her right hand.

The 93
^rd
witness was the noble Janós Andachy, Castellan of Castle Csejthe, about 50 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said that he knew two girls died at the time of the wedding celebration of György Homonnay and that they were brought to Újhely and buried there, but he did not know how they died; he also saw a girl, treated by the doctor in Újhely, and he recounted the same as Martinus Vychko, the 87
^th
witness, regarding the mutilation of her hand.

The 94
^th
witness was the noble Michael Horwath, Castellan at the court of Csejthe, about 45 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said that he knew seven girls died at the
Gynaecaeum
of the Lady Widow, and that they were not buried deep enough in the little garden behind the courtyard at Csejthe such that the dogs dug up the bodies. He had also seen the girl taken out at the same time when the Lady Widow was brought to the dungeon, whose face was overall destroyed, appearing blue in color; regarding the girl who was treated in Ujhely, he said the same as Andreas Pryderowyth, the 90th witness, adding that her right hand was severely injured and rendered unusable.

The 95
^th
witness was the noble Stephanus Bobochay, about 40 years old, living in the town of Zolnafalva, sworn and interrogated; he said that he had been present at the court in Csejthe when the Lady Widow Nádasdy was led into the prison, and he had seen a dead girl laid in a box that, before the eyes of the Widow Lady, was taken out on a wagon; after the Lady Widow had been taken away, the witness himself and others there present undertook a detailed examination, and they saw wounds and injuries from blows to the face, thighs, the buttocks and other body parts; the hands were also broken, blue colored and swollen; regarding the other girl treated in Újhely, the witness said the same as Martinus Vychko and added that her hand had been destroyed and rendered completely useless.

The 96
^th
witness was the noble Janós Mlynar, residing in the town of Csejthe, about 30 years old, sworn and interrogated; he said the same as the previous witness, except that, regarding the girl treated in Újhely, he had not seen her.

The 97
^th
witness was the venerable Janós Abrahamides Ponikenos (Ponikenusz), Pastor in Csejthe, about 38 years old, sworn in by the purity of his conscience. He said that he had been in Csejthe for eight years and had heard about the many vices and terrible deeds of the Lady Widow Nádasdy. His predecessor had told him about this woman, that the Lady Widow buried dead girls in her
Gynaecaeum
and, in secret, even several times in the church cemetery in Csejthe; after the witness had assumed the pastorship here in Csejthe, he had forbidden the Lady Widow these clandestine burials, both in Csejthe as well as for the other areas of his parish diocese; but then he had heard that she had buried someone in Leszetice, and he, therefore, scolded the parish priest of Leszetice, who then sent him this reply, that he informed the old women of the Widow Lady that the funeral in Leszetice could not take place since there is a burial place in Csejthe; to which they responded, you must permit the burial, both in Csejthe and in Leszetice alike, because both places are in our possession. Regarding the virgins, particularly the ones found in her Gynaecaeum at the time when the Lady Widow was taken to the dungeon, the witness said the same as Martinus Vychko; regarding the threat of the Hajdukes, the reminder to exercise restraint, remorse, and to take Holy Communion, he said the same as the pastor from Verbo; he had also heard from Martinus Gablyowych, once the servant of the Lady Widow, who told him how once in one of the buildings of Castle Csejthe, the old women undressed some girls and put burning candles around them and since one could observe through the cracks of the door - because the blades/blinds were closed - he saw that the burning candles were placed on the girls’ abdomen and that something happened, but what they did, he could not exactly make out.