Dark Angel, I heard similar things when I was researching her. She was never formally tried for any crimes; the trials she chose not to attend were those of her "accomplices". Despite her absence and lack of a trial, she was convicted on 80 counts.
I heard that her religious choices, and the debt owed to the Bathory, all played a part. Also, there's some small evidence suggesting she was epileptic, and in those days seizures were seen as possession by evil spirits. It is believed she was bisexual (I've seen no hard evidence of this, only heresay), and homosexuality was seen as corrupt and evil back then. She stood up for various women in poverty and various widows, which wouldn't earn her any respect.
Is it likely she beat a servant that misbehaved? Certainly. Is it likely she bathed in blood, chewed on faces and performed witchcraft? Not so much.
People also forget the judicial system back then involved torturing witnesses before asking them any questions, as it was believed the poor and common were inherent liars, through no fault but birth, so had to be beaten to extract the truth.
Also, at the onset of the trial there had supposedly been three deaths. Roughly halfway it climbed to 50, and one woman (only one!) claimed Bathory kept a diary with all her victims names in it, totalling 650 victims.
There are other inconsistencies as well -- claims her lover was a forest witch with grotesque features, which seems unusual given she was supposedly obsessed with looks. Overall, I do strongly believe it was all a conspiracy, and that the legend grew and became more and more exaggerated as time drew on. It also doesn't help that somewhere she's meant to be related to the infamous Vlad Tepes.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't make for a very interesting movie. When people think of Bathory they think of the gruesome serial killer, not a woman who was outspoken and far more intelligent than most others of her time (she knew four languages! Four! In a time when even /men/, who recieved /better/ educations were highly illiterate -- even within her own upper class!), and also reportedly a very doting mother (again, odd given she supposedly mutilated hundreds of young women, even a twelve year old girl in one instance).
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orinvee
14 years ago
Well, let's see:
Elizabeth Bathory (anglicized name) was a Protestant in a sea of Catholics.
King Matthias was a family member of the Habsburgs (and Holy Roman Emperor) entrusted to deal with the Protestant rebels in Hungary. To be honest, he was much more tolerant of the Protestants than his hard-line Catholic brother Archduke Maximilian and the Habsburgs (and Ferdinand II).
A more relevant fact is the huge debt that Matthias was 'forgiven' by the incarceration of Elizabeth.
As far as the witnesses' accounts against Elizabeth, one need only to remember the techniques used to extract confessions from peasants (and the peasants' extreme fear of authorities) and the general superstitious nature of humans (stigmata, weeping and bleeding statues, chupacabras, yeti, Bigfoot, etc., etc.).
If God is real, how truthful is humanity (or how deceived)?
If God isn't real, how truthful is humanity (or how deceived)?
Either way, the message is clear: truth is never as close as it appears to be.
Ask your doctor if thinking is right for you
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