In 1602 a Lutheran minister named Istv\u00e1n Magyari complained about atrocities both publicly and with the court in Vienna, after rumors had spread.\u00a0Hungarian authorities stalled to respond to Magyari’s complaints. In 1610, King Matthias II assigned Gy\u00f6rgy Thurz\u00f3, the Palatine of Hungary, to investigate the accusations.\u00a0Thurz\u00f3 assigned two investigators to collect evidence and question the castle servants and commoners around the area. This went on for one year and in 1611 they had collected the\u00a0testimony\u00a0of over 300 people including the four\u00a0accomplices,Helena Jo the\u00a0childrens\u00a0wet nurse, Dorotya Semt\u00e9sz, aka Dorka, a witch,\u00a0Kata\u00ednka Benick\u00e1 a house\u00a0servant and ,\u00a0J\u00e1nos \u00dajv\u00e1ry aka Ficko a crippled dwarf like man, as well as other castle employees and person’s of\u00a0interest.<\/p>\n
The trial of the four\u00a0accomplices\u00a0was swift and ended with\u00a0Helena Jo and\u00a0\u00a0Dorotya Semt\u00e9sz having their fingers ripped from their hands with hot pokers and then burned at the stake. Ficko, who was\u00a0deemed\u00a0not strong enough for the\u00a0torcher\u00a0was beheaded and then his body burned with the other\u00a0women\u00a0at the stake.\u00a0Kata\u00ednka Benick\u00e1 was found to have been bullied by the other women and was\u00a0sentenced\u00a0to life in prison. Other accounts say that she was set free as she was newly employed at the castle and did not participate in the crimes.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth herself was never tried nor convicted of any crimes. During the trial of the others a diary containing the accounts of 650 or more women were supposedly documented by Elizabeth’s own hand. This diary was never found. Some letters rumored to have been sent in\u00a0correspondence\u00a0between\u00a0Elizabeth and Dorka and are kept in the Hungarian state archives in Budapest. This is also not proven.<\/p>\n
At the time of the trials King Matthias II owed a great debt to Elizabeth’s husband Ferenc for a loan that was given for the wars that he could not pay back. Elizabeth had sold one of her castles to prevent\u00a0bankruptcy\u00a0and pressure was on the King for the repayment of the loans. By finding her guilty of these crimes, the king would absolve the loans and also take Elizabeth’s land and other holdings. It was in his best\u00a0interests\u00a0that Bathroy be guilty of the crimes weather they were actual or false\u00a0allegations\u00a0on the Countess.<\/p>\n
However, to save face the Bathroy family stepped in and averted the humiliation against the family. Her son Paul and her two sons in law\u00a0wanted\u00a0to take her\u00a0immediately\u00a0to a\u00a0nunnery\u00a0but were prevented from doing this by the crown. It was at the request of the investigator\u00a0Gy\u00f6rgy Thurz\u00f3 that the king did not publicly try the Countess,\u00a0although\u00a0it is not known why.<\/p>\n
In 1611 Elizabeth Bathroy was\u00a0sentenced, without trial, to house arrest and walled up in her castle room with only slits for air and food. The king could not\u00a0execute\u00a0any member of nobility and doing so to a Bathroy would cause civil unrest\u00a0among\u00a0the other nobility and the Bathroy family.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth lived for four more years before being discovered by a castle\u00a0servant\u00a0face down on the floor dead. Her death is\u00a0recorded\u00a0on\u00a0August\u00a021, 1614. This is also debated as there were some plates of food found in the room untouched. She was\u00a0buried\u00a0at\u00a0Csejte on church grounds and later moved, due to villager’s uproar,\u00a0 to her childhood home in Ecsed, where she is interred at the B\u00e1thory family crypt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In 1602 a Lutheran minister named Istv\u00e1n Magyari complained about atrocities both publicly and with the court in Vienna, after rumors had spread.\u00a0Hungarian authorities stalled to respond to Magyari’s complaints. In 1610, King Matthias II assigned Gy\u00f6rgy Thurz\u00f3, the Palatine … Continue reading