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I really appreciate listener feedback. So please feel free to post reviews comments or questions there. Let us for a moment speed uptime not all the way up to our own postmodern worlds. What about one century after Countess battery met her end.
We find ourselves in the old stronghold of the Palatine tharzo, Bitcha Castle in Slovakia. In the old attic there with perhaps a gold wind the wind blowing hard outside a bright Jesuit priest named Lajlo to Rache was looking through very old manuscripts and documents. Among the dusty old papers, he found the sealed trial documents relating to the bathroom case. This was perfect material for his book called hungry, a dated compendium with its kings, along with stories he collected from locals living in the villages surrounding Castle.
In priests around the 1720s, tales of vampires were sweeping Europe in a proper vampire mania. The villagers near Edgesubat sold Castle Chetcher, gleefully shared their fascinating legends with the priest about the vampire Countess who had bated in the blood, the look beautiful. The priest's work and the priest's name was to Rache was then adapted by Matei Bell in his encyclopedia on Hungarian history and geography. Because Matei Bell was an academic and his work considered credible, the story of the vampire Countess went unchallenged.
The European fascination with vampires only increased as the years went by. And in 1796, German writer Michael Wagner continued to spread the blood bathing legend in his work called articles on philosophical anthropology. He was the one who gave me the story of how Edgesubat had once a young maiden girl so hard her blood had splattered on the Countess's face, thus creating an anti-aging treatment for the aging lady. Wagner's story was brought to the English speaking world in 1854 when Sabine Berringold wrote the book of werewolves being an account of a terrible superstition.
In chapter 9, natural causes of Lycanthropy, she credited Wagner for the tale in a section titled A Hungarian Bather in Belodum. Here she writes and I quote, Elizabeth was wanted to dress well in order to please her husband and she spent half the day at her toilet. On one occasion, a lady's maid saw something wrong with her headdress and as a recompense for observing it received such a severe box on the ears that the blood gushed from her nose and splirted on to a mystic's face. When the blood drops away washed off the face, her skin appeared much more beautiful, lighter and more transparent on the spots where the blood had been.
End quote. What follows has given rise to the blood-bading legends all the way up until our 21st century. Sabine writes, Elizabeth formed the resolution to bade her face and her whole body in human blood so as to enhance her beauty. Two older women and a certain fish go assisted her in the undertaking.
This monster used to kill the luckless victim and the older woman caught the blood in which Elizabeth was wanted to bade at our fore in the morning. After the bath, she appeared more beautiful than ever end quote. As the centuries rolled by, Hungarians themselves loved to embellish stories about the contest. At the time of her death, locals referred to Edgipad Bathreas as the infamous lady or notorious lady.
Two hundred years later, she had become the vampire lady. Does this case of local legends embellishing and creating vampire myths mean that content was perhaps innocent or simply misunderstood? No, far from it. The contemporary court documents that Jess would priest found was quite detailed in their record regarding Lady Bathreas crimes.
One of her servants who had participated in the torture and murder, explained to the court how Ersha Bets had beaten and murdered girls so brutally that it had drenched her clothes in blood. She often had to change her shirt after administering a beating. If her henchman, Dorkar Shences beat the girls, Ersha Bets to the long side, an older girls de-stripped, thrown to the ground and lashed, or beaten so hard that a person could scoop up their blood by the handful. Trial testimony does show one thing.
While the countenance did cause the girls to lose massive amounts of blood, she herself cared very little for the red stuff, other than making sure not working around covered in it. To be precise, if the purpose of killing those young girls was to deliberately collect enough blood so as to bathe in it, she would have had made sure to collect the blood in enough quantities to bathe in it. Given the keeping volume of a normal bathtub, this would have required all the blood of nearly 30 victims for one bath. According to the accomplice, Ilona Joe, however, as she bit through offer blood on clothing, led the blood wisely sobbing to beds and even ordered it wash off the stone pavements and floors.
This is hardly the actions of someone who is deliberately collecting precious virgin blood to bathe in. No contemporary witnesses describe anyone collecting the massive amounts of blood that had to be cleaned off edge of its castles stone floors. The vampire part of the legend does have a contemporary beginning though, witnesses did testify at her trial that edge of it in a red or aged bitter victims. Ilona Joe stated that the countenance beats out pieces of flesh from the girls, but she also attacked them with knives.
Doorker corroborates this story and added that bathry beats out pieces of flesh from the young girls' faces. This might indicate that although the countenance did not usually young girls belong to Tulluk Younga, she was perhaps very jealous of their youthful beauty and might have wanted to destroy it. Witnesses also testified as to how edge of that shoved needles under the girls' fingernails before cutting off the fingers of those girls who desperately tried to remove the needles. If you, dare listen up, have ever torn a nail when had a splinter lodged under your nail.
You know just how painful the smallest wound that the fingertips can cause. So imagine having several long needles purposefully forced under your nails and left there for several hours. The countenance was obviously sadistic and even showed psychopathic tendencies, but no witnesses at her time has given us any reason to think she was any sort of vampire. So, all that was returned to the 17th century and the fragile peace now reigning in the Holy Roman Empire.
The rumors and stories of edge of that bathry has reached more and more people and eventually the crown. At the long time her late husband, ferrenx, excellent reputation and finances serve as a shield against anyone who thought the challenger. But now that her finances were in dire straits, now that her husband was dead, she held no strings over the emperor, crown or church. Worse, her royal debtors knew that with her out of the way they would not have to repay their enormous loans to her.
Indeed, Erza began to refer to herself now as the Nodacity relic, but although the net was closing in all around her, she continued to play the part of the grand dam. She was herself with confidence, but inside she was suffering a mental breakdown. Once she was behind closed doors, she did not care what happened to her, and let her carnal desires completely take over. She indulged herself in any way she could, and if anyone annoyed her and stood up to her, she lashed out in murder's reach.
It is hard to comprehend, especially considering her extensive crimes, but the countenance's bathroom was a very religious person. She was well versed in Calvinism, Catholicism and Lutheranism, the latter being what her children were brought up as. She stuck to her childhood faith of Calvinism and took it to heart. Not everyone would go to heaven, even if they had followed the teachings of Christ.
Only they preordained elector chosen would pass through the gates of heaven, and no one out of prayer, fasting, good deeds, confession or otherwise could change that faith. It is thus entirely possible that Erza better come to a conclusion that she was not one of those elect few, and thus, why bother engaging in any further pretenses, if she was destined for hell, than she might as well do as she pleased in life. With the exception of winter months spent at Sabor, the countenance established her new permanent residence at Cheche, with her moving in a reign of terror thus began for the inhabitants of the nearby villages of Ujim. In addition to rumors of tortoise and murder, talk of witchcraft began to surface as well.
Cheche lies in the Carpathian mountains in what is today western Slovakia near Trencenia, Trencenia, Trencen. In those days our weather is part of Hungary. Cheche Castle was surrounded by a village and farmland boarded by the foothills of the Carpathian mountains, Ottoman Turks, plunder the village in 1599 and in 1605. As we talked about last time, and in 1606, a flood washed away bridges and homes.
But by 1609, the region was quiet once again. The court that Cheche was much smaller and less distinguished than that of Sabor. Approximately 24 people cared for the surrounding fields and vineyards, and according to records, the agriculture was organized and run exceptionally well. The countenance had brought with her only the best people from Sabor, and records gave us their names.
They are, court master Benedict de Seo, assistant manager Michael Horvath and Johnos Antashi. Stable master Daniel Vaz, provisor Michael Hervoits, silo master matches Sakath Yartou, and stood Jacob Shilvazim. His fun vagué also assisted the main staff as did Bathie's side of Poppy. The contents also maintained her own small personal retinue of accomplices.
Anadar Vola, Dorocia Centes, Ilona Joe, and Catalina Beneschi. Johnos Ujavari, a supervisor of the Canadian staff of the kitchen workers, seems to be made water women and female attendants. For the local families, raising their daughters to hold a decision, as the court seems to be made or have all the systems, was a great honor. Each applicant had to be personally recommended for her skill.
Sadly, most of those who were tortured and murdered at Cheche would be taken from this female staff. Sometimes in around 1609, Anadar Vola would suffer a blinding stroke that ultimately proved fatal. A year later, the remaining four would all be brought in in change the picture, to defend themselves on the criminal charges of torture and murder. As we started our tale a few weeks back, we know that the contents herself was left in Cheche in house-rest awaiting her own fate.
The justice system of Hungary in 1610 was usually not comparable to today's modern courtroom proceedings, with its constitutional rights principles of innocent until proven guilty and having to prove guilt beyond their reasonable doubt. And for the common folk, justice was usually swift and brutal, ending with a short dance hanging from a gallows. But for someone as powerful, noble and famous, as shebert Bathory, it was important for the ground to spare no express. The authorities took 306 depositions during the proceedings against the contents, but only eight people had access to actually witness her private torturing sessions.
These were the following. Anadar Fisco, Baroque Yalona Jai, Cataline, Ilona Zeds, Courtmaster Benedict, and Stuart Jacob. Among this gang of complicies, Benedict is particularly interesting. He is one of 11 men, witnessed and signed her will in 1610.
Janos Fishko claimed under oath that Benedict, in fact, knew the most of anyone regarding what went on behind closed doors, though he never spoke of it to anyone. Years later, because this trial would indeed take several years, Benedict was called to testify. On the witness stand, he admitted what he knew, and it likely shocked at the court. Before we end the tonight's episode, I would like to read to you with this statement.
It goes as follows. Having entered the Ladies' Private Chamber to report on Castle Business, I was somewhat startled to see the contents with one of the young maids in hand. I knew the girl, a child named Ilonga, who was the daughter of the local shoe maker. The child was crying, evidently terrified.
Somewhat embarrassed I immediately turned back to watch the door. When the contents called out to me, don't leave us by the deck, but I want you to watch this. I stopped and turned back around slowly. This girl, the contents said testily, needs a lesson in visiting.
The Ladies suddenly began tearing the clothing from the girl until she was stripped completely naked. Screaming now, the child huddled on her knees, begging and crying while the contents were breathed up dagger. She is so clumsy with her hands the contents went on. She can't do anything right at all.
The lady grabbed her as right hand of the girl and then stuck the blade into each of the fingers one at a time. She can't seem to use her fingers properly. As the girl continued screaming and crying, the contents grabbed her other hand and gained against stabbing each fingering turn. Maybe this will help loosen your fingers there.
The girl fell to the floor, clutching her bleeding hands as the contents slowly swirled around her. I found myself inching back towards the door. The contents were used. Maybe it's not your fingers after all, is it there?
Maybe it's your arms. She appeared to study the sobbing girl for a moment and then suddenly reached out and grabbed the child's right arm. She began plunging the knife repeatedly straight up the arm, blood pulled around each wound as the girl struggled to get away. The contents grabbed her hair, jerking her head back and then began niping her way up the other arm.
Huddled on the floor now, the girl struggled to rise on her bleeding hands. Maybe it's not your arms after all, the count hasn't used. Again, pretending to study her. She then went and secured a long crop.
She stood over the girl for a moment and suddenly began lashing her violently and repeatedly on the back. The main bit of problem is right to the hair, she screamed. On the back of the lazy, good for nothing little whore that you are. Each time the girl tried to crawl away, the terrible pain in her arms and hands caused her to stumble forward.
The contents grabbed her by the hair and began flashing her again. This time on her legs, thighs, belly and breasts, wherever the crop happened to land in the bloodier salt. She also leveled the blows directly into the wounds of the girl's arms and hands, causing her to scream until she lost her voice. Blood and chunks of flesh splattered the floor and walls.
Here the sheveled, eyes flashing white behind the black pupils. The contents went and retrieved a burning candle next. The girl was lying on the floor moaning now and on the verge of passing out. Don't give up the ghost yet, dare, she said, we are not done with you.
The contents pressed the flaming candle directly into the girl's hands, causing her to revive momentarily in a new wave of screams. When the child's eyes rolled back in her head, the contents held a flame to the hands again until they were burned black. I watched the torture and continuing this manner until the girl finally died. End quote.
The story of Eddershabat Bathory is going to run every week until its conclusion. I really hope you enjoyed it. It has taken quite a bit of research to find all the dates and names and details from this fascinating timing history. Next week we continue and then we will see how the justice system prosecuted the blood countess, as well as even further details into her madness and crimes.
So, as they say in the land of radio, stay tuned. I have been your host, Thomas Vibok Thun. Now this podcast would not be possible if it had not been for my dear patrons who pledged their hard-earned money every month. There aren't especially a few of those patrons I would like to thank in person.
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