Vindication for Elizabeth Bathory

I first learned about Elizabeth Bathory 40 years ago when I was researching the manifestations of sleep paralysis in literature and folklore.  She and her servants were accused of secretly murdering hundreds of young woman, an accusation that later morphed into bathing in the blood of the virgins.

This outstanding book meticulously examines and interprets the historical record - no small feat, considering that the primary source documents are in Hungarian, Latin, and Slovak, and because translating seventeenth century idioms and grammar requires specialized knowledge.

I have previously blogged one page from this book describing the general ambience of Hungary in the 1600s.  Elizabeth Bathory was a leading member of the most powerful famiily in Hungary, rivaling the Hapsburgs in wealth and prestige.  But this era was also characterized by extensive discord arising from invading Turkish armies. social unrest triggered by the rise of Lutheranism challenging the established church, and even climate-related crop crises from what is now referred to as a "Little Ice Age."

The wealth and power of the Bathory family constituted an existential threat to the Hapsburgs.  In 1605 Elizabeth controlled 17 castles and reinforced manor houses, and properties extending over about five hundred miles - but she lacked the protection of any male relative - father, husband, brother, or adult son - and thus was an attractive target.

Shelley Puhak's research for this book (25 pages of bibliography plus an additional 30+ pages of endnotes) convincingly documents that the charges against this lady were fabrications, and the "revelations" by the servants about murder and cannibalism were elicited after torture by authorities, all for the purpose of others securing control of her landholdings.

My assessment of the book is similar to what I expressed in my review of Island at the Edge of the World [the history of Rapa Nui].   Both books are scholarly works that correct longstanding myths and misunderstandings, but both are "too much information" for the casual reader.  As much as I loved the subject matter discussed here, I wound up having to skim through detailed explications of the politics of the 1600s.  But I'm glad I found it and I'm happy to share my thoughts with the few readers here who might also find it of interest.