Elizabeth was born on a family estate in Ny\u00edrb\u00e1tor, Hungary on August 7, 1560, and spent her childhood at Ecsed Castle.<\/p>\n
Her father was George B\u00e1thory of the Ecsed branch of the family, brother of Andrew Bonaventura B\u00e1thory, who had been Voivod of Transylvania.<\/p>\n
Her mother was Anna B\u00e1thory, daughter of Stephen B\u00e1thory of Somly\u00f3, another Voivod of Transylvania, was of the Somly\u00f3 branch.Through her mother, Elizabeth was the niece of the Hungarian noble Stefan B\u00e1thory, King of Poland and Duke of Transylvania.
\nShe was fluent in \u00a0Latin, German and Greek at a time when men would have been more\u00a0scholarly\u00a0then the females of the era.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth as a child also suffered from\u00a0seizures accompanied by intense rage and uncontrollable behavior. This was said to be the result of inbreeding. It was not uncommon for the nobility of the era to marry within the family in order to keep the bloodline pure.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth was aware of the\u00a0cruelty\u00a0of the family at that time.\u00a0Torcher\u00a0and death were not uncommon punishments for those found to wrong the nobles of the family. Some punishments more gruesome than others , were common place at the time.<\/p>\n
At the age of eleven she was engaged to\u00a0Ferenc N\u00e1dasdy sixteen, also of Hungry. This was an\u00a0arranged\u00a0marriage by Ferenc’s mother\u00a0Orsolya N\u00e1dasdy. Elizabeth then moved into\u00a0N\u00e1dasdy Castle with her\u00a0betrothed.<\/p>\n
Two years after the arrangement of the marriage Elizabeth became\u00a0pregnant\u00a0by a\u00a0servant\u00a0of the house named\u00a0L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Bende. Ferenc\u00a0immediately\u00a0had him castrated and soon after thrown to a pack of wild dogs. Elizabeth was taken to another castle and in 1574 gave birth to a daughter named\u00a0Anastasia Bathory. Ferenc made sure that the infant was not associated with the family shortly after the birth.<\/p>\n
On May 8, 1575, Ferenc and Elizabeth married at Castle Varann\u00f3 in Vrano.\u00a0Elizabeth\u00a0was 14 years old. Ferenc took his new wife’s name of Bathroy. At this time the Bathroy name was more honorable in the area than that of his own\u00a0Nadasdy.<\/p>\n
The couple then went to live at\u00a0Csejte Castle.\u00a0Csejte Castle,built in thirteenth century, on top of a hill, at the foot of which stood the village of Csejte, which lends its name to the castle, was a wedding gift to the couple, as well as 17\u00a0surrounding\u00a0villages.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Elizabeth was born on a family estate in Ny\u00edrb\u00e1tor, Hungary on August 7, 1560, and spent her childhood at Ecsed Castle. Her father was George B\u00e1thory of the Ecsed branch of the family, brother of Andrew Bonaventura B\u00e1thory, who had … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lizbathroy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/EcsedCastle.jpg\" "\\"Csejte")
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lizbathroy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Hrad_Cachtice.jpg\" "\\"Hrad_Cachtice\\"")
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