Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory (7 page)

From her letter, there is also a suggestion that she felt tension to make certain everything was in perfect order for Ferenc’ arrival home and that the estate be well supplied with provisions. Lord Nádasdy’s homecomings were cause for great pomp and circumstance. Accompanied by his lieutenants and attending retinue, Hungary’s Chief Captain of the Army arrived amidst a flurry of trumpets, drums, banners and battle flags. In some cases, hundreds of his troops came along as well, pitching tents and setting up camp outside the castle on the estate property.

Ferenc brought with him the spoils of war, including captured horses and livestock, and wagon trains loaded down with anything that he and his men could carry off: tapestries, carpets, furniture, weapons, musical instruments, kitchenware, silks, jewels, and gold. The inner rooms of his castles were a cross between a museum and a storage room. When the plundered spoils overflowed, they were moved down into cellars and underground tunnels.

Dozens of pigs, chickens, sheep, and game were slaughtered for the feasting that followed. Often, neighboring nobility and family members would be invited to visit, many staying on for days. Reveling went on all night. After the presentation of various speeches, toasts, and entertainments, the Lord and his closest guests sat drinking and laughing in front of the fire long after the Lady and her retinue went to bed. For the staff, it was a grueling marathon of keeping cups filled, plates full, beds made, stables cleaned, garments washed, and halls cleared. Both Lord and Lady’s staff were on high alert until the last guest finally departed. After that, the long clean-up process began.

Before departing himself, Ferenc and Erzsébet sat together or with their administrators to discuss household business: taxes that needed to be paid, paperwork requiring signatures and seals, decisions regarding salaries and stipends, upkeep on property, and funds needed to run the estates during Lord Nádasdy’s coming sojourn. Directives were issued, and then the Lord and his men began loading up their wagons with provisions, buckling on swords, and saddling up their horses. The front was never far from Ferenc Nádasdy’s properties, and his military services were in constant demand from both King and Emperor. Likely, he didn’t mind; prior to and throughout the course of the Fifteen Years War, or so-called “Long War” (1593-1606), Ferenc was present at nearly every battle, fighting continuously even when in ill health until his death in 1604.

10

THE NÁDASDY CHILDREN

One matter still remained open, however: the issue of children and heirs to the family fortune. There is no record of a child until the birth of their daughter, Anna, around 1585, ten years after the couple wed. It is not completely clear why Erzsébet and Ferenc waited so long to have children: commentators have speculated the obvious, that Ferenc was away at war so often that it was a physical impossibility.

Others have speculated that Ferenc resented his deflowered bride for years after their wedding. It may also be that the two secretly hated each other, with even the possibility that both ultimately preferred the company of the same sex. Again, however, any hatred between them was either kept private or, at least, their servants remained discreet regarding the matter. Eyewitness testimony does not dwell on any obvious or open hostility between the couple.

This would be typical of the time, however. Since marriages amongst nobles were arranged for them as children and established primarily for business or political reasons, couples rarely married for love. Many kept lovers on the side. Legally, the marital arrangement demanded that the couple attend public functions together, have children, and exhibit polite courtesy to the other. Behind closed doors, however, it was quite a different story. The love expressed between Tamás and Orsolya Nádasdy was the rare exception; the typical aristocratic couple slept in separate bedrooms, maintained separate personal staff and, with rare exception, had little to do with the other.

      It may also be, however, that Erzsébet had fertility problems. At the time, much of the Hungarian nobility suffered from problems of sterility and infertility, including related problems of venereal disease; the birth rate, in general, was low. Some aristocratic couples turned to religious or magical sources for assistance: one could purchase a translation of the
Book of Magic
from a bookdealer in Venice, or perhaps try a Persian or Turkish potion disseminated from oral tradition out of Transylvania. Folk remedies included the licking of genitals in the manner of a cat; expensive alternatives included the purchase of a holy relic or a magical stone such as a green emerald or aquamarine talisman to enhance the marriage, protect the wearer from infidelity, and grant fertility.

We know that during this time, Erzsébet sought out the assistance of Countess Eva Poppel Lobkovitz, wife of family friend, Ferenc Batthyányi. Countess Eva was reputed to be an excellent herbalist and practitioner of folk medicine. In general, Countess Báthory preferred herbal and spa treatments throughout her life rather than the traditional medical treatments of the day. Likely, the orthodox methods of leeching, cutting, and barbering would have done her little good, anyway.

In any case, children were eventually born. By mid-1596, we know that the couple had three living children: daughters Anna, Orsolya (Orsika), and Katalin (Kata), and that Erzsébet was pregnant with son András. Anna was born roughly in the year 1585. We are not certain as to Orsika’s year of birth, although it was probably some time around 1590, and daughter Katalin followed in approximately 1594. It is likely that Anna and Orsolya were named after Erzsébet’s and Ferenc’ mothers, respectively, and Katalin perhaps after Erzsébet’s aunt on her mother’s side.

We find from her letters that Erzsébet Báthory was a good wife and mother. In May of 1596, for example, she mailed a letter to Ferenc on their three girls’ well-being:

Two months later, she also wrote:

      In the latter half of that same year, 1596, son András was born. Two years, later, son Pál arrived in 1598. András lived briefly until the age of seven, passing away in 1603, and daughter Orsika was also deceased by 1610. By the date of her Will in 1610, Countess Báthory would identify only three surviving children, to whom she left her entire estate: daughters Anna and Kata, and son, Pál. As the only surviving male heir, the primary estate at Sárvár would ultimately go to Pál.

      Some chronicles also indicate that the couple had another son, albeit a lesser-known child, named Miklós, although this cannot be confirmed at present. Records indicate that a certain Miklós Nádasdy de Nádasd et Fogarasföld married Countess Zsuzsanna Zrínyi. We are not certain of his birth year or date of death, unfortunately, although it appears that Miklós was within the same generation as Pál and the other Nádasdy children. We are not certain of his lineage, either, given the somewhat scanty genealogical records left to us today. He might have been a cousin.

      By the time of Pál’s birth, Erzsébet was already 38 years old, and her mothering days were nearing an end. Miklós bore the surname and title Nádasdy de Nádasd et Fogarasföld like the rest of her children. However, he did not appear to grow up at the family seat at Sárvár. It also appears that he was not placed under the guardianship of Imre Megyeri, like brother Pál. Nanny and wetnurse Ilona Jó testified to having raised the Nádasdy girls and Pál, but made no mention of Miklós (although she might simply have been too old by then to care for him). Finally, in her Will of 1610, the Countess references only three children—Anna, Kata, and Pál —making no mention of Miklós. This would suggest then that, as mentioned, he was either a cousin of the Nádasdy children or, although formally recognized by Ferenc Nádasdy in order to avoid scandal, the child was not his and, thus, raised quietly at one of the lesser estates with a surname but without any substantive birthright.

Typical of the time, noble mothers did not nurse or, for the most part, raise their own children. The Nádasdy children were entrusted to the care of a nurse, or
dajka.
In this case, her name was Ilona Jó, the wife of coachman István Nagy. Some say that she was also Erzsébet’s nurse, as well. Although she would ultimately assist in running the torture chambers of her Ladyship’s Castle at Csejthe (Cachtice), there is no record that she in any way mistreated the children of her Lord and Lady. And Countess Erzsébet, by all accounts, cared about her children and provided well for them. She made certain that her daughters received lavish wedding celebrations, partnering them with illustrious young men from the Drugeth de Homonnay and Zrínyi families, two of the few remaining dynasties of comparable importance. She also made certain that her son Pál received a fine education and that he acquired the family seat of her estate, despite later legal complications.

On April 17, 1605, Erzsébet’s eldest daughter, Anna Nádasdy, married Count Miklós Zrínyi at Csepreg, a town not far from Sárvár. A fragment of a letter from Anna to her mother survives, written December 22, 1605. Anna writes about life with her new husband, Count Zrínyi, at his castle in Csáktornya (Cakovec, now in Croatia). The letter is polite and even has a spontaenous postscript, rather rare in those times, indicating intimacy. She writes:

Before Ferenc’ death, Countess Erzsébet had been moving about the various castles and manor homes under her control to settle administrative matters, conduct inspections, and host social affairs. It appears that when not at war, Ferenc preferred coming back to his boyhood home at Sárvár, while Erzsébet spent increasingly more time in the countryside at the other castles and manor homes, particularly at Csejthe. Located in what is today Western Slovakia, Csejthe Castle was a 13
^th
-century fortification situated on a hill that came with a fiefdom of 17 villages. The Nádasdy family acquired the property in 1569 and, as mentioned, Ferenc received it as a wedding gift from his mother before giving it, in turn, to Erzsébet. He later redeemed the property in 1602 from the Emperor for 5,000 forints, thus securing permanent title for her. In time, it would become the site of her gruesome murders and, ultimately, the final prison of Lady Erzsébet.

It is likely that Erzsébet Báthory was never completely well-received, or well-liked, at Sárvár. Her son Pál was entrusted to a tutor and governor there, a squire named Imre Megyeri (or Megyery), nicknamed “Red.” Megyeri would later be appointed Pál’s legal guardian after his father’s death and during the Countess’ legal proceedings. Magyeri clearly disliked the Countess, ultimately filing formal charges against her with the king for her alleged torturing and murdering of servants. She certainly had no great affection for him either (according to witnesses, he appeared on the receiving end of her “evil spells” and even a plot to poison him). In addition, Erzsébet began to clash with the local clergy. It is clear that by the 1590’s, something very unusual was going on not only at Sárvár but also at the other Nádasdy estates that the Countess periodically visited, including Beckó (Beckov), Keresztúr, Csejthe, Kosztolány, and the manor in Vienna.

11

STRANGE GOINGS ON (1585-1604)

At first, no one seemed to notice anything unusual. A young servant girl died suddenly in the night in the women’s section of Castle Sárvár. Her body was placed in a casket, and the local pastor, István Magyari, was summoned. When he arrived, he was a little surprised to find that the girl had already been placed into the box with the lid sealed. Ordinarily, he would have expected to find her lying out on a bed. The Countess quietly took him aside.