Ravenwolf Lady of Blood: Countess Bathory BY Katherine Ramsland share Comments Clandestine Entry During the Christmas season in 1609 (or 1610), King Mathias II of Hungary�sent a party of men to the massive Castle Csejthe. He had heard rumors that several young women from the area were being held in the castle against their will, if not actually killed. In haste, he sent the team to investigate. Valentine Penrose described what happened in Erzs�bet B�thory, La Comtesse Sanglante, translated in English as The Bloody Countess, and a fictionalized account can be found in The Blood Countess,�by Andrei Codrescu, which provides a good sense of the setting. Yet the earliest accounts derive from an 18th Century history of Hungary, by Father Laslo Tur�czi with a monograph published in 1744, and a 1796 German publication, which is translated and quoted in Sabine Baring-Goulds 1865 account of werewolf legends around the world. These men knew they had to be careful. The beautiful mistress of the manor, known for her lustrous black hair and pale skin, was of royal blood and was especially well connected. Once married to a warrior count known as Hungarys Black Hero for his bravery in battles with the Turks, she was related to princes and kings, bishops and cardinals, and she was the cousin of Prime Minister Thurzoa member of the very party that approached her imposing domain that night with such stealth and trepidation. If she recognized his colors, she would let him in, but their preference was to arrive unannounced. The womans uncle, Stephen B�thory, had been king of Poland. If the persistent rumors proved to be unfounded, she could be a dangerous political enemy. On the other hand, if they were true, then something had to be done to stop her. It was cold and the men had difficulty finding their way, even with a few torches. The talk around town was that the woman they sought would be having one of her late-night clandestine gatheringsa sight to behold if they managed to get that close, and probably incriminatingfor witchcraft, at the very least. They hoped to catch her in a deviant illegal act. People down the hill in the village often claimed to have heard screams emanating from within this place, and they spoke of disappearing girls and of murder, but no one had dared approach the regal, 50-something countess until now. Word had come to the king that she had kidnapped or killed nine girls from good families. The men who came together for this raid had heard that the mistress was a practitioner of the Dark Arts and they did not dare let her servants spot them. A spell must be avoided at all cost. Thats why they crept close to the castle without announcing their presence. All told, the party consisted of the prime minister, a priest who had lodged the complaint, the local governor (who was also a relative of this woman), and several soldiers. Climbing the imposing hill on which the stone castle stood, they stopped to catch their breath and to ensure they had not been detected. Most of the windows were dark, but the castle was a large stronghold and those inside could be almost anywhere. So far, there had been no cry of alarm and no evidence of a guard at the door. They moved on toward the castle, preparing to break in. The Castle inside battlements To their surprise, the massive wooden door stood partly ajar, as if inviting them in, so they pushed it open and entered. To their right, a cat jumped out, startling them. They had heard that the Countess used these animals as her wicked emissaries, sending them out to attack her enemies. Two more cats emerged from the shadows. The priest quickly crossed himself. He counted six cats in all and would later have reason to remember them. At that moment they saw, quite unexpectedly, the first evidence of what they had come for. On the cold stone floor of the great hall lay a pale, partially clothed young girl. She failed to move. They wondered if she might simply be asleep or drunk, so several men went toward her. Still, she made no effort to rouse herself. One man reached down to touch her and shook his head. He told the others she was dead. They turned her over and saw how pale she looked. She appeared to have been drained of bloodexactly as the rumors went. Then they heard a moan. Just a few paces away was another girl, sprawled face up but still alive. The men discovered that her body had been pierced in many places. She was also pale, as if from severe blood depletion. It was clear to them that she would not last longnot even long enough for them to take her to the village. Reluctantly, they left her there and moved deeper into the castle. They could smell the foul odors of decomposition. Against a pillar, the party found another female corpse chained to a post. She bore marks of beatings and burns, as well as cuts from a whip. She, too, had lost most of her blood. Clearly, whatever was happening to these girls was related to some kind of blood ceremony, such as those practiced by devil worshippers. Anxious now about their trespass into this domain, the men moved down the stone stairs to the lower floors to locate the dungeons. Thurzo had seen this area years earlier, as a child, so he remembered the way. As they made their way by touching the cold stone walls, their hearts beat hard at the prospect of discovery. Then they heard movement in the darkness and plaintive cries not far away. Rushing to the sounds, they discovered prison cells full of women and children, most of whom bore the scars of repeated bleedings. Those who were still healthy begged for help, and it was clear that they were to be sacrificed. They had learned that no one left the castle in the same state of health as they had come, so on this night these women had been lucky. They were rescued. The men freed the captives and led them out of the castle before venturing to the higher floors to find the woman responsible for these carnal atrocities. To their surprise, (some sources say) inside a large torch-lit room they discovered evidence of a drunken holiday orgy, complete with torture. The lady they came for had already fled, but they knew where she had gone and it was not difficult to find her. Its not easy distinguishing truth from legend in a case more than three centuries old. What follows is gleaned from several accounts, with contradictions on significant issues noted.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:01:42 +0000
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