Elizabeth Báthory was an unstable personality, but the claims of killing and torturing over 600 people was just a method of the Habsburgs to claim the Báthory-Nádasdy fortune she was bound to inherit after the death of her husband, Nádor Nádasdy. The first written source describing the events have been created a century after her death by Laszlo Thuroczy in 1729 labeled "Ungria suis cum Regibus compendio data". Thuroczy was a jesuit monk, Báthory was a calvinist reformat, so a catholic monk denuincing a reformat for parleying with the devil cannot be cited as a valid source at all. Furthermore it is nigh impossible to retroactively investigate Elizabeth's perspective as the archives of the Báthory family was destroyed along with their castle in Nyírbátor. Their heritage lies scattered in museums and archives in Hungary and partially in Transylvania.

To be perfectly honest Elizabeth was not of the soundest mind. Her husband was constantly away fighting the Ottomans, so she was left behind in the castle of Csejte (modern Cachticky hrad) managing the family lands. Even during his husband's life there were gossips about Elizabeth's weird practices, but no sources go into detail what exactly she was doing, only that it must have been something to do with occultism. But as stated above this can also mean she was practicing her calvinist faith, so nothing condemning in particular. Only one letter was sent by Mihaly Zvoranich to a another pastor where he warned his brother to stay clear of her. I have to add that the validity of this letter is a subject of debate til' this day.

After the death of her husband these gossips grew louder culminating in her arrest by György Thurzó in 1610. Some of her servants confessed and based on these confessions Elizabeth was sealed in the castle for the rest of her life. The doorway to her room was walled in, only a small opening remained so the servants could give her food and water. She has completely gone insane and died in 1613. Interestingly no judgement was made in her case until her death.

Now let's try to break it down to factualities. Elizabeth Báthory and Count Nádasdy's wedding was of political inspiration to unite the mass wealth of the Ecsedi-heritage and Somlyó-heritage. Since both their families had ties to the Drághffy-family they had a claim on that as well. Their marriage and unification of wealth made them the 3rd most powerful noble family in the Kingdom of Hungary.

Letter correspondence remained from the time period before becoming a widow. These letters detail that many children from other noble families were raised under her care. Only one funeral is mentioned, the one of Zsuzsanna Ungváry, but it was a "pre-determined death", most likely meaning it was some sort of terminal illness not murder. Elizabeth's servants were not afraid of her, being in her direct service was a great honor.

After the death of her husband and the death of her brother in 1605 she and her children were the sole heir of the Báthory-heritage. Her family was historically opposing the Habsburg family. Right after her husband dies the first gossips start to take flight. György Thurzó was an enemy for her family as her nephew Gábor Báthory became Prince of Transylvania, opposing Habsburg rule. Thurzó was loyal to Matthias the Second, so there was enough animosity between the two families that culminated in 1610. Not much detail can be found for the period between 1605 and 1610, only summaries that detail the bathing in blood, drinking the blood of virgins etc.

It all comes to 1610 when her sworn enemy comes knocking on her door, as she and her housemaids were arrested. She was walled off in her castle based on the confession of household staff. Who were all tortured. Secondary evidence were based on what the peasant folks were "hearing" from the castle or from each other.

So a historical analysis of the subject is hindered by the lack of written sources from Báthory's side, the only detailed source is the communication between Thurzó and Matthias the Second. Even here Matthias criticizes Thurzó for not executing the king's justice in a fair manner, which Thurzó swept under the rug.

My personal opinion is that these allegations were created so the Báthory estates can be divided up among the loyal vassals of the Habsburg monarchy in Hungary. What most modern sources of mine cite is the physical impossibility of bathing in blood. Blood dries very quickly in open air, making it impossible to bathe in. It would only be feasible if you had some kind of solution that prevents the blood from clotting up.

Sources: Jankovich Miklós: A nádasdi és fogarasföldi Nádasdy család története, kézirat OSZK, 1977- Miklos Jankovich: The history of the Nádasdy family from Nádasd and Fogarasföld Manuscript 1977

Payr Sándor: Magyari István és Báthory Erzsébet, Református Szemle, 1912, 58-203 oldal- Sandor Payr: Istvan Magyari and Erzsebet Bathori, Protestant Survey 1912 pgs 58 to 203.

Szabó Sarolta – C. Tóth Norbert: Az Ecsedi Báthoriak a XV.-XVII. században, Báthori István Múzeum,Nyírbátor, 2012 - Sarolta Szabo and Norbert Toth: The ecsedian Bathory family in the XV.-XVII. Century, Báthory Museum, Nyírbátor- 2012.