UPPER HUNGARY 1610 Countess Elizabeth Bathory de Ecsed you are
charged that on or around 1585 and this year you did commit the following crimes.
That you did lure adolescent peasant girls to be your servants with the promise of lucrative
positions and then did treat them most shamefully.
That you did keep your servants so tightly chained at night their extremities spurted
blood.
That you did strip your servants naked and force them to stand outside in the freezing
cold until they died That you did beat your servants so badly that
the walls of your home were spattered with blood and that you once made so much noise
while doing it that your neighbours were sorely inconvenienced
That you regularly burned your servants with heated irons, keys and coins which you would
apply to the soles of their feet and to their nether parts.
That you would stab your servants with knives and needles and tear at their tender areas
with your own teeth.
That you did strangle a servant to death with a silk scarf in "The Turkish Way"
That you made servants sit and bathe in stinging nettles causing grave discomfort.
That you did starve your servants and only allow them to drink their own urine.
That you stitched your servant's lips together with twine.
That you cut from your servants their own flesh and forced them to eat it.
That you smeared a servant in honey and left her tied outside in summer to be attacked
by ants, wasps and flies.
In addition to these charges, you are also said to have..
Slept with two corpses beneath the floor of your bedroom, that for some reason you fed
as if they were alive.
Prepared magical potions with which to poison your enemies.
Invited young female daughters of minor nobles to your castle to learn "Etiquette" and manners
before torturing killing and burying them in unmarked graves.
Cast spells in order to create a magical cloud that would maliciously disgorge ninety cats.
Engaged in lewd acts with several men of the lower orders including the strongman known
as "Ironhead."
The defence has painted a picture of a woman whose wealth and power has made her the target
of jealousy and greed from noble men and her own family.
That her late husband the war hero Lord Ferenc Nadasdy - whom she married at 11 had a reputation
for strength she worked hard to maintain after his death is not in doubt.
Who can forget how he would play football with the severed herds of his Turkish prisoners
and then hilariously dance with their corpses - all good fun, but this is a more serious
matter.
A total of at least 150 bodies have been removed from your property - I have heard reports
that you have admitted to the death of 650 individuals although you have not confirmed
that to this court.
Your favoured servants and accomplices have already felt the full weight of the law.
Dorota Semtesz, and EELOWNA YOH had their fingers ripped from their hands with red hot
pokers before being burned at the stake.
The dwarf "Ficko" was shown leniency as it was clear she had been bullied and manipulated
into her crimes - she was humanely beheaded before being burned at the stake.
Had you kept your excessive discipline confined to those of the lower orders your wealth and
social position might have seen you relocated to a nunnery where you could have spent time
in sincere repentance.
However, your treatment of those of noble birth has forced this court to make an example
of you to show we take a dim view of mass murder - outside of warfare.
You are sentenced to be sealed brick by brick into a single room where you shall remain
for the rest of your life without contact with fresh air, sunlight or the kindness of
your fellow man.
I would like to remind this court that embellishing this tale to include accusations of blood
bathing, blood drinking and searching for eternal youth in order to create some kind
of gothic legend is strictly forbidden.