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.
Stephen Bathory, King of Poland
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.
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