Criminal Acts

Accomplices, Torture Techniques and Myths

During the 17th century Hungary, the value for human life was not highly regarded as the country was a battleground for the wars between the Habsburg Empire and the Ottoman Turks. Enemies were often mutilated if captured during battle. At the time, peasants could be tortured and killed with impunity by those above them, particularly Elizabeth Bathory who had enormous power of life and death above commoners (Arun, 2012). She also seeked to indulge herself in any possible way by ‘lashing out with murderous rage’ whilst she was worried about her finance or imposed upon and questioned by outsiders (Craft, 2011).

Arun, A, 2012 Countess Dracula – Elizabeth Bathory (Part 1), online video, 24 June, viewed 28 August 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmWRX1AZeE4

Accomplices

Like any serial killer, Elizabeth Bathory also had a modus operandi, or a distinct way of going about her crimes (Oddly Historical, 2010). She would always target peasant girls - some had ran away from their homes - between the age of ten and fifteen as they were easy targets, not to be missed by parents or society. She would lure them into her castle with the promise of good pay and a ‘luxurious’ home, much grander than their previous house. But she did not steal children from their homes and commit heinous crimes all by herself. She had many accomplices which consisted an unusual mixture of servants. These were:

A disfigured boy named János Újváry (commonly referred to as Ficzkó)

Ilona Jó Nagy, and elderly nurse who took place as the children’s wet-nurse.

Dorottya Szentes, an elderly friend of Ilona Jó

Elderly washerwoman, Katalin Beneczky

Anna Darvolya (Darvulia) (Craft, 2011)

Portrait of Elizabeth Bathory. Attributed to Benjamin von Block, c.1656.

Crimes and Torture Techniques

Elizabeth Bathory and her accomplices brutally tortured servant girls for either pure pleasure or for the most meniscal of disobediences. “It’s quite likely that Elizabeth and her husband were very strict disciplinarians.” (Tony Thorne, 2012)

Her techniques included:

Sticking pins underneath the victims’ fingernails, armpits and genitals. If they attempted to pull the pins out; their digits were swiftly cut-off.
On cold winter days, she would undress her servants and instruct them to lay in the snow. She would then pour cold water over these girls until they froze to death, turning them into human icy poles.
In spring months, she would tie them up in the meadows and lather them in honey to be eaten alive by both bees and other insects.
She is assumed to have sewn the mouths of the servant girls shut if they were to scream too loudly during their torture.
Her accomplices, particularly Ficzkó, would make the servants crouch in small cages fitted with spikes. These cages were too small to stand up in and they were unable to sit in the bottom of the cage as it was fitted with spikes. If they were to fall asleep, they would be risking their lives. One account of this crime saw Ficzkó swinging the cage in order to impale the girls with the spikes.
She would beat the children with cudgel (thin sticks) and barbed lash until she was satisfied, or they died from blood loss.
Sexually assaults her victims and performed genital mutilation on them with a hot poker.
Her husband taught her the art of star-kicking. This torture technique consisted of tying the servant girl up and placing paper – which had been soaked in oil – between their toes. These pieces of paper were set of fire, making the servant kick and scream.
When she was extremely ill and bedridden, she apparently settled to bite off chucks of the victim’s flesh from their faces or shoulders. This action gave Elizabeth Bathory the name, Count Dracula.
She applied intense heat to iron, brass and copper instruments and pressed them into the flesh of victims. This particular technique of torture was not used to harm the victims, rather, it was used to heal them as she would press them into the servant’s wounds (VampyrianTempleUVUP, 2013). Here mental illnesse

Whilst Nadasdy participated in his wife’s cruelties, he may have also restrained her monstrous impulses as, when he died, her sadistic nature became much worse (History.com Staff, 2009).

Myth of Blood Bathing

Perhaps the most well-known crime of Elizabeth Bathory is her fetish to bathe in the blood of virgin girls in order to make her appear more youthful. She would do this by hanging her victims whilst they were still alive, and slitting their throats with a razor, allowing their blood to pour into the bathtub. This, however, is a myth made up about Elizabeth Bathory centuries later and would have been impossible due to coagulation – the action or process of blood, changing into a solid or semi-solid state (Oddly Historical, 2010). It was nearly a century before the stories of cosmetic blood-bathing surfaced, though they may have been the subject of local gossip until then. They were first published by Catholic propagandists’ eager to discredit noble Protestants such as Báthory. She soon became an icon of evil in European folklore, as reviled and renowned as Vlad Dracula of Romania.

Model, Pelin Batu portraying the Countess - Date Unknown

Whilst history has embroidered portions of the Countess’ infamy, she did still torture and kill many of her servant girls as confirmed by her accomplice servants. These tales seem to be about fanciful accusations against the countess, nevertheless, they show that sadistic cruelty was not the sole dominion of Elizabeth’s crimes.

Background Information