About book Countess Dracula: The Life And Times Of Elisabeth Bathory, The Blood Countess (1998)
When I began reading this book, and realised that Thorne doesn’t take Báthory’s guilt for granted, I wanted so much not to be convinced by his arguments. The case against her seems so overwhelming, how could it not be true?Nevertheless, could Thorne be right? Is it possible that the charges of which Báthory still stands accused were trumped up for reasons of political expediency? It seems incredible, but so do the crimes of which Báthory was accused.Thorne makes the point that, “Unquestionably part of Elisabeth Báthory’s offence in the eyes of her peers was that she had too much property…and too much power”.There is little contemporary documentary evidence extant, apart from the evidence given by witnesses at the trial. These, though, were obtained under torture (rather ironically, given the nature of the crimes allegedly committed by Báthory), and are therefore of questionable accuracy.Surviving letters written by Báthory suggest that she was an intelligent woman. The tone of her letters is measured, formal, even chilly – though this would not have been unusual for the time. It has to be said that in the letters at least she does not come across as a deranged, hysterical woman.It is important to see Báthory in the context of her times. She was born in 1560, in a part of the world subject to constant threats of war and political upheavals. Thorne points out that “a culture of cruelty – not violence, but deliberate cruelty – was endemic in the era that has come to be known as the early modern”. In 1514, “a legal code known as the Tripartum…enshrined and confirmed the privileges of the nobility and decreed perpetual serfdom for the peasant populace”. In other words, all the power rested in the hands of a few noble families. The peasant population existed, according to the mores of the time, purely to serve their masters (and mistresses). Their lives were not worth very much. Indeed, “the mere murder of a commoner was not enough to start off legal proceedings…Homicide was viewed as a relatively minor abuse of power or privilege.” In many cases, relatives who complained when a member of their family was murdered were content to accept a payoff.Am I convinced by Thorne’s arguments? Not entirely, no, although I’m far less certain of Báthory’s guilt than I was before I read this book. As Thorne says in the penultimate chapter, many women were burned as witches for all manner of lurid and, in most cases, fictitious offences against man and God.It is entirely possible that Báthory’s greatest crime was to be an extraordinarily wealthy and powerful widow. Nevertheless, Thorne does not discount the possibility that she did participate in meting out punishments to her servants that would strike the 21st century reader as barbaric. Ultimately we can never know exactly what Elisabeth Báthory did or didn’t do, but the myth of the countess who bathed in blood is as enduring as the myth of the vampire itself.[June 2008]
First of all, this book is very poorly titled. Thorne states in one of the first chapters that calling Elisabeth Bathory "The Blood Countess" or "Countess Dracula" is completely sensationalist, and this is really a sober and well-researched account of her life, so the title doesn't fit at all. I'm guessing Thorne picked the title to draw attention to the book, or he got it forced on him by the publisher, but whatev. On to the book itself.This book is a fairly well written and extremely well researched account of Elisabeth Bathory's life and times. Thorne discusses the Bathory myths and legends, then delves deep into the archives of eastern Europe to find and translate firsthand accounts, letters, and reports from the trials. Thorne presents all the possibilities: was Bathory a sadistic murderess as accused? Or was she simply a woman with a lot of power and money and some big political enemies who wanted her out of the way? Thorne doesn't draw any definite conclusions, but he looks at evidence from all sides. He also presents research onto the lifestyle of Hungarian aristocrats in Bathory's day, giving us a window into what her life may have been like and providing some reasons and explanations for her "crimes". This is definitely more of a scholarly account than a mass-market page turner--the book is extensively end-noted* and includes a substantial bibliography, and the language is much more scholarly than not. Still, though, if you're interested in the subject matter, this is a pretty darn definitive survey. Recommended.*(My one major complaint with the book was in the design--whoever chose the running headers didn't coordinate with the person who set up the Notes section, because the running heads gave a description of the chapter content ["A Notorious Dynasty":] while the Notes were organized by chapter number only ["Chapter Ten":], which was irritating. I'm not reading the whole damn book in one sitting, I'm flipping back and forth on the train here, and I don't always remember which chapter I'm in the middle of!)
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Countess Dracula is a book detailing the twisted crimes of Countess Elisabeth Bathory & several people in her employ. It's a very detailed & unbiased look into the charges, torture & trial of the countesses servants, their subsequent punishment, and the fate of the countess herself. It is extremely factual, although can grow rather tedious as we review the responses from each witness as they collaborate previous testimony. I found it an interesting read because I was under the incorrect impression that all serial killers were male. This is obviously not true as Countess Bathory is said to be responsible for the deaths of 650 young virgin girls. As the details are exposed, it gives credence to the argument that the original Dracula by Bram Stoker was based more on the private life of Elizabeth Bathory than Vlad the Impaler. Creepy reading.
—Michelle Brandstetter
Definitely a believer in Bathory's innocence--at least as to the worst charges (since he thinks that elites were often cruel and that could lead to unintentional death). I thought he should have spent more time on the other side to give the story balance. I think the title should have been different since, in his quest to prove his point, he focused a lot of time on background and on the stories of similarly accused women and not that much on Bathory herself. Sometimes I felt his reasoning was a stretch but without more of the side of the accusers, it was hard to judge.
—Lauren Albert
