Anna Friel starred as the Countess of Bathory in the 2008 film Bathory: Countess of Blood (Image: Getty)
The Countess of Bathory – a Hungarian noblewoman thought to have murdered more than 600 women and young girls during the early 17th century – may in fact be the victim of a monumental “stitch-up”, an academic has claimed.
From her castle perched on a rugged hilltop in what is now Cachtice, western Slovakia, Elizabeth Bathory reputedly tortured and killed up to 650, with lurid legends claiming that she even bathed in her victims’ blood, convinced it would preserve her youth.
Rumours of Bathory’s brutality swept across the Kingdom of Hungary more than four centuries ago, prompting a royal inquiry that led to the conviction and brutal execution of four of her servants.
Bathory herself was arrested and confined within the walls of her castle, where she remained until her death in 1614.
For centuries, the macabre tale has captivated imaginations and invited speculation, inspiring books, films, television series, and local lore. She is widely believed to be the most prolific female serial killer of all time.
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A portrait of Elizabeth Bathory (Image: Getty)
However, some scholars have questioned whether she truly committed the alleged atrocities, suggesting instead that, as a wealthy and influential woman in Renaissance Europe, she may have been the victim of a politically motivated scheme.
Annouchka Bayley, a British author and academic who recently published a novel about the countess, said: “Was Bathory really a serial killer who tormented and murdered 650 young women purely for her own pleasure?
“I’m convinced it was, as we say in England, a stitch-up job.”
Bayley, author of The Blood Countess and an associate professor of arts and creativities at Cambridge University, argues the image of Bathory as a monster relies on a “woman as monster” stereotype unsupported by substantial evidence.
Instead of a murderer, Bayley suggests, Bathory may in fact have been a subversive figure regarded as a threat to the established power structures. She may also have gone against norms by teaching young women to read and potentially owning a printing press – acts considered radical in her time.
Cachtice Castle, which is now in modern-day Slovakia (Image: Wikicommons)
Ms Bayley said: “We must remember these were the years of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, when heretical beliefs could lead to being burned at the stake.
“Printing presses were spreading information far and wide, and this was seen as highly dangerous.”
“There’s enough here to make me think, whoa, hold on a minute. Let’s pause and investigate.”
Bathory, born into an aristocratic family in 1560, married Hungarian nobleman Ferenc Nadasdy in 1575. Together, they commanded extensive wealth and lands across Hungary. Nadasdy, a prominent soldier, was instrumental in reclaiming Hungarian territories from Ottoman control.
But after his sudden death in 1604, Bathory inherited his lands and amassed what Bayley describes as a “Jeff Bezos-style fortune.” It is this vast wealth, Bayley and other scholars suggest, that may have led other powerful figures to conspire against her, coveting her wealth and influence.
Bathory’s refusal to remarry and her role in educating young women would have unsettled those in power, according to Bayley.
Doubts about Bathory’s guilt extend beyond academic circles. In Cachtice, the Slovakian village where her supposed atrocities took place, the question remains divisive.
Uncertainty over her burial site fuels further intrigue – she is thought to be entombed beneath the local church, but rumours persist that her remains were later moved. The church has not permitted any excavation.
In Cachtice, a museum dedicated to the countess and groups of tourists trekking to the castle above the village attest to her legend’s hold over the area. However, local farmer Ivan Pisca believes Bathory’s story is losing its grip as generations pass.
“There are chilling tales of Elizabeth Bathory, of the young girls she tortured and killed.
“Older people believe these stories, but younger generations seem less familiar with them.”
Bayley argues that popular culture has fixated on the most violent versions of history, often using these to stigmatise powerful women.
Through her “counter-narrative” of Bathory, Ms Bayley hopes to restore justice for Bathory and other women wronged by history.
Ms Bayley added: “She deserves better. We all deserve better.
“Is justice for Bathory, 500 years later, ‘She didn’t do it’? Or is it the complete dismantling of the monster tropefor women and for men alike?”
