Elizabeth Bathory Biography

Elizabeth Bathory was born in 1560 into one of the wealthiest families in Transylvania.

Her family was very influential, her cousin, Stephen Bathory was king of Poland between 1576 and 1586.

At the age of 15 she was married to Ferencz Nadasdy, an equally powerful and wealthy person but who came from a less notorious family at that time.

The couple resided between Sarvar and Cachtice.

Because her husband was a lot of time away studying in Vienna or fighting battles, she was in charge for defending the estates of the family, which wasn’t an easy task in those turbulent times.

In those times, women were not considered able to run estates, but Elizabeth proved to be capable of doing so.

She was a very powerful woman who in some instances auditioned herself prisoners of war.

In one of her letters, she wrote “You will find a man in me” pointing to her strong and decisive character.

She had 6 children, of whom 2 died.

Her husband died in 1604, leaving her to manage alone the family affairs.

In 1610, Hungarian king, Mathias II appointed Thurzo Gyorgy to investigate homicide accusations against Elizabeth Bathory.

Notaries collected testimonies from over 300 people and her supposed accomplices were executed while she was incarcerated in a corner of her own castle, where she finally died in 1614