Fact vs. Fiction
Michael Dalberg's interpretation of Erzsébet Báthory's story takes guidance and inspiration from the real history, but also intentionally departs from the facts. This page is intended to point out where the script departs from fact to help you dig into why these changes might have been made for our story.
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The Script
Character Description
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JÁNOS Újváry - Presumed to be a mute peasant from a nearby village. Of indiscriminate age. (Character Description).
The History
Character Description
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The real János was a young boy brought to castle (not by Pál) to serve Erzsébet. He may have been orphaned or given to Erzsébet to repay some kind of debt. He was known commonly as "Ficzko" which means "kid" in Hungarian. There is no evidence that he was mute.
Act 1: Scene 1
(p. 1) Count Ferenc Nádasdy dies on January 1, 1604, in a bedroom at ÄŒachtice Castle.
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(p. 2) ERZSÉBET: "I trusted you, and look what happened!"
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(p. 3) ERZSÉBET applies the tincture upon her lips, making them a distinctive red.
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(p. 4) ERZSÉBET: "Where is Pál?"​​​​​​​​​
Act 1: Scene 1
Count Ferenc Nádasdy died on January 4, 1604 of an illness from which he had feared he wouldn't recover in his bedroom at Sárvár castle. He was injured in the battlefield shortly before this illness.
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Here Erzsébet is referring to Darvulia keeping Ferenc sedated to prevent him from returning to battle while he recovered from his illness, but instead of keeping him safe, he died under Darvulia's care. There is no evidence that Darvulia or any other healer kept Ferenc sedated during this time. His health had been failing for two years prior to his death.
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Erzsébet was believed to have epilepsy or "the falling sickness" which was sometimes treated by applying the blood of a non-sufferer on the lips of the sufferer. There is no evidence that Erzsébet used this treatment, but it's not entirely unlikely.
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​The real Pál was 7 years old in 1604. Dalberg has aged everyone, including Pál, up 10 years, so the 17-year-old Pál's whereabouts during this time are entirely creative liberty. ​​​
​Act 1: Scene 2
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​(p. 8) ERZSÉBET: "The marshal, the carpenter, the blacksmith—while you’re at it, do you want to tell me about the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker?"
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(p. 8) DARVULIA: "Some of the ladies didn’t take Katarina’s return home as a sign of safety."
ERZSÉBET: "When is Ilona leaving?"
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(p. 9) DARVULIA: "Your people are nervous about the war, my lady."
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(p. 10) DARVULIA: "What of Count György Thurzó? He wrote to you."
ERZSÉBET: "He did."
DARVULIA: "Will you not reply to any of his letters?"
ERZSÉBET: "A reply would be an invitation."
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(p. 13) ERZSÉBET: "Not at all! It’s sensitive, because—well—Ferenc requested the ceremony be only for his immediate relations."
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(p. 17) ERZSÉBET: "And what did you discover? Why it’s called 'the clap?'"
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(p. 18) PÁL: "Want to know what they say about you? What they’ve dubbed you? 'The Blood—'"​
Act 1: Scene 2
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There are two versions of the Rub-a-Dub-Dub nursery rhyme that's referenced here. The one we are familiar with is from the 18th century, but the original version dates back to the 14th century and goes as follows: `Hey, rub-a-dub, ho, rub-a-dub, three maids in a tub. And who do you think were there? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, and all of them going to the fair.'
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Katarina and Ilona were both trusted servants of Erzsébet's. They were both named as accomplices in her trial. Ilona did not leave Erzsébet's service. Katarina did, but not until many years later. Katarina's separation from Erzsébet may have saved her life. She was not sentenced to death in the trial, but Ilona was.
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The war was a very real concern at this time in Hungary. The Turks were frequently raiding villages including those that Erzsébet ruled. These raids were brutal, including r*ping and pillaging. See Medieval Hungary for more detail on the political landscape.
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Erzsébet was a very responsible steward and carried out her duties of land management with great devotion. There is no evidence that she ever ignored letters from György or anyone else. In fact, she expressed great frustration with some other people ignoring correspondence from her.
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There is no information available about Ferenc Nadasdy's funeral. It may have been a large affair or it may have been conducted quietly.
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Yes, by the 1500s gonorrhea already bore the nickname "the clap." While linguists don't completely agree on an origin, it either came from the French word "clapier" meaning brothel or from an old English word "clappan" which means "to throb" or "to beat."
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There is no evidence that the legend of "The Blood Countess" began until closer to the trial. Some believe György and other leaders planted these ideas during the trial to turn the tide of public opinion against Erzsébet. The trial did not include any accusations of Erzsébet bathing in blood to stay young. Those rumors developed later down the road.​​​
​​Act 1: Scene 3
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(p. 25) ERZSÉBET: "You should all be thankful to Ilona for teaching your first lesson: to be family doesn’t mean to be friends. I will not tolerate the slightest hint of disrespect, disobedience, nor deception. When one of you fails me, all of you do."
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(p. 26) ERZSÉBET: "János, which fingernails do you least prefer? Let’s start with your right hand. The left feels too sinister a choice."
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(p. 27) ERZSÉBET: "The boy was placed inside the bull, his father doomed to look on as the beast was stitched shut. With the last knot tied, we all watched the writhing of its would-be womb."
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(p. 27) The sound of tinnitus hums in the air. It grows until it morphs into the cry of a baby.ERZSÉBET relinquishes JÁNOS, and looks off toward the sound.​​​​
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​​Act 1: Scene 3
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Erzsébet's treatment of the servant, Ilona, in this scene is very consistent with what we know of how she treated her servants. She was said to have a very short temper and a very high standard. If the fire died out or the mending was not to her liking, Erzsebet would react violently. In tales of her torture methods (which may be hearsay) she's said to have played with her victims, for example, she would stick needles under the nails of her victims and insisted they could pull out the needles if they hurt, but if a girl removed the needle, Erzsébet would cut off her finger.
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Erzsébet never used torture against János as far as we know. In fact, she was partial to the boy, giving him free reign of the castle and much more leeway than a servant would normally be afforded.
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Dalberg is taking some creative liberties with this story. The famous tale is that, as a child, Erzsébet witnessed a Romanian man sewn into the belly of a horse. The man was accused of selling a child to the Turks. It's unlikely that this gruesome punishment ever happened. Horses were very valuable, more valuable than most peasants, and a Transylvanian Count would never sacrifice the life of a horse for the punishment of a Romanian peasant. However, Transylvanians loved a punishment that fit the crime, so if someone was found guilty of something like stealing horse, it's possible some creative Count would have order an execution in this manner, but still unlikely. Dalberg changed this reference from a horse to a bull to reference the brazen bull, a mythical Ancient Greek and Roman torture device. This life-sized bronze bull was hollow inside, making room for a human being to be locked inside, and then the bull would be placed over a fire, roasting the unlucky soul inside alive. ​
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The baby cry that recurs throughout this play is a reference to the rumor that, shortly before their marriage, when Erzsébet was 13, she had an affair with a peasant boy, leading to a pregnancy. Her baby was taken from her and raised by a peasant woman in Wallachia, Romania. Ferenc, learning of the affair, had her lover castrated and eaten by dogs. It's highly unlikely that Erzsébet gave birth to an eligitimate child at this time. ​​​
Act 1: Scene 4
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​(p. 29) ERZSÉBET: "I heard… You think I was too harsh. Would you rather I resorted to one of Ferenc’s favored flairs, and cut his hamstrings? What did he call it? “Needling the knees!” To say nothing of how other families treat their people. No one laments how György—Come!"
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(p. 31) ERZSÉBET: "When I’m dead, everything passes to Pál, but the way he acts—he is a Nádasdy. Our fortune was built—kept—by a Báthory. How long until he acts like a Báthory?"
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(p. 31) DARVULIA: "Blood is powerful. Your old physician agreed, but not for the right reason. It’s not medicine, it’s… Do you know what I use to procure your treatment? Never anything else. And only when the moon is above."
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(p. 37) Pál expresses a desire to join in the war with the Habsburgs against the Ottomans.
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(p. 39) ERZSÉBET: "Darvulia hasn’t always been by my side. Several years ago, she… Her husband had been killed, and she evaded her captors, finding her way here."
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(p. 41) ERZSÉBET: "I am the dowager, and he’s the count. I have as much power as he gives me."
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(p. 42) ERZSÉBET observes her hand, which has a bit of blood on it. ERZSÉBET tries to find the cut, but cannot.​
Act 1: Scene 4
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​Ferenc was known by his Turkish enemies as "The Black Bey" because of this brutal killing methods. He apparently took a note from Vlad the Impaler as he liked to drive a stake through his enemies and slowly let them die. He was also rumored to have danced with the bodies of those he killed. He did not have a torture method that involved "needling the knees." Dalberg invented this method as a nod to methods for dressing animals after a hunt.
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It's true that Pál was Erzsébet's only male heir, and very true that the Báthory name held significantly more power than the Nádasdy name. To be a Báthory was no small thing. One creative liberty being taken here is around Erzsébet's obsession with continuing the Báthory legacy through Pál. She actually very intentionally left much her fortune to her two daughters. She very explicitly started in her will that certain landholdings should go to her daughters and not to their husbands.
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This is the first line that heavily alludes to Darvulia's witchcraft. It was widely rumored that Darvulia was a witch, though there is no evidence to confirm that she practiced witchcraft. This was a time in Hungary when witch hunts were widespread. Protestants, in particular, warned of witches who turned into cats, flew on broomsticks (this is where the image of witches on broomsticks comes from), and danced and fornicated with the devil. If Darvulia had truly been widely suspected of witchcraft during her lifetime, she likely would have been tried and executed.
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Pál would have been far too young to be involved in the war against the Turks at this time, but it's true that the Habsburgs were fighting a bitter battle with the Ottoman Empire. Erzsébet sent letters to the crown to ask for military protection for her villages that were being pillaged by Turks. ​
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Little is known about Anna Darvulia's journey to Erzsébet's household. There is no evidence to suggest she turned up at Erzsébet's door in the manner suggested here, but there's also no evidence proving she didn't arrive this way. ​
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In the real history, Pál would have been seven years old at this time and not old enough to carry out the duties of a count. He may have been the Count in title, but his mother, Erzsébet, would have held all the real power until he was old enough to take his title.
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The legend Dalberg is referencing here is almost certainly untrue, but it certainly makes for a great story. The legend goes that, in a fit of rage, Erzsébet beat a servant girl so severely that she drew blood (in some stories the blood only gets on her hand, and in other stories it sprays across her face). When she wiped the blood away, her skin is left looking more youthful than it had before, beginning her obsession with bathing in blood.
Act 1: Scene 5
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(p. 44) Servants enter, cleaning or adjusting the room. When the servants finish, DARVULIA inspects their work. Finding issues, she rearranges, or upturns things.​​​​​​
Act 1: Scene 5
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It's evident from Erzsébet's letter writing that she was very particular and had an attention to detail. Rumor has it that she would find the smallest excuses to brutally punish her servants if anything in her household was out of place. She was said to have held them to the highest possible standard.
Act 1: Scene 6
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(p. 49) ERZSÉBET: "'Bitch.' 'Demon.' 'Hysterical.' Those are what I’m called instead of 'hero.'
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(p. 49) ERZSÉBET: "You want to be Ferenc? Go to war. Perhaps you’ll find a shared joy for playing catch with the heads of those you kill."
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(p. 50) ERZSÉBET: "Rudolph, whose army is thinning almost as quickly as his treasury."
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(p. 53) THURZÓ: "Pál’s coming with me. Didn’t you know? It was all in the letter."
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(p. 56) THURZÓ: "Go ahead. What power do you think you have left at court?"
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(p. 57) THURZÓ: "Send all the letters you want. Each day you wait for reply is a day closer to your utter irrelevance."
Act 1: Scene 6
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In reality, the rumors about Erzsébet being a witch or even a murderer didn't start until toward the end of her reign of terror. If you believe she committed all these murders, the rumors might have started among the peasants already by this time. If you believe she's innocent of her crimes, the rumors wouldn't have started until the trial. There is no proof either way.
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It's true that Ferenc was rumored to have played catch with the heads of his enemies after a battle.
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Everything Erzsébet says about Hungarian politics and threats to her legacy in this scene are true. You can read more about it at the bottom of The Real Story.
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Pál was a child at this time and certainly did not go into battle with György Thurzó.
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Erzsébet was actually still in very high demand at court during this time. The Báthory name held a lot of weight both politically and socially. She was invited to several social engagements after Ferenc's death. These appearances apparently caused her a great deal of stress, and rumor has it that she beat her servants in the carriage on the way home, perhaps as​ a release of the tension she experienced in this setting.
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This nods to a real issue Erzsébet experienced. There were a few people who ignored her missives, inciting her wrath, but the only thing in her power to do was to write another letter asking more forcefully for a response.​
Act 1: Scene 7
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(p. 59) ERZSÉBET: "Not 'what.' Who. Miklós."
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Act 1: Scene 7
Dalberg is referencing a strange inconsistency in Erzsébet Báthory's letters. In her will she leaves her possessions to three children, Pál and two daughters, but there is a letter in which she references "my sons" plural. After her death, there was a man named Miklós who claimed to the be the son of Erzsébet Bathory. In the context of this story, Dalberg is creating the narrative that this mysterious Miklós is the child that Erzsébet gave birth to at thirteen. ​​
ACT II: Scene 1
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(p. 66) The lights rise on ERZSÉBET sharpening the ritual knife in the antechamber while JÁNOS attends her
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(p. 66) DARVULIA: "Welcome to Csejte Castle. This hallmark within the Snowy Mountains was a wedding present to Countess Báthory from the Nádasdy family. This estate has had many stewards, beginning with the Hont-Pázmánys, then Máté Csák, followed by the voivode of Stiboricz, to say nothing of how it came to the Nádasdys."
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(p. 66) ERZSÉBET: "The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice, but when in season as far as the eye can reach is a sea of green treetops."
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ACT II: Scene 2
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(p. 75) ERZSÉBET: "My apologies, I meant your second wife. What is her name, again? It’s something pretty."
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​​(p. 75) ERZSÉBET: "That’s a relief. Her letters gave me the impression she was lonely."
THURZÓ: "You exchanged letters?"
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(p. 75) ERZSÉBET: "Five years I’ve been alone, atoning for some purported offense you conjured. Having to write to those on the outskirts."
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(p. 76) ERZSÉBET: "How many have covered yours?"
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(p. 77) THURZÓ: "You’re drinking their blood!"
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ACT II: Scene 3
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(p. 80) ERZSÉBET: "You were so kind to write a dedication to Ferenc in your book: On the Causes of the Ruins in the Countries."
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(p. 85) ERZSÉBET forcibly pours wine into MAGYARI’s mouth. MAGYARI attempts to escape, but ERZSÉBET stops him.
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(p. 86) ERZSÉBET: "When tragedy strikes, do I not give them ample silver in exchange?"
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(p. 87) DARVULIA: "The heat was terrible that summer. Several fell ill standing guard. Some of the women were assigned to bandage the sick. I don’t know how many soldiers we treated. There had to be at least 35,000 who came to our gates when the siege began. Strange there were so many of them when there were so few of us. At night, our reprieve was slight, but it was shared. There were some Italians who joined the Hungarian ranks. A Prince had come. With him was a musician."
MAGYARI: "Monteverdi."
DARVULIA: "He would play a vesper. His prayer made the evening feel cooler, and the next day lighter on both sides of the gates."
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(p. 89) ERZSÉBET: "Tie him up outside."
MAGYARI: "What? No!"
ERZSÉBET: "And pour this water over him."
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ACT II: Scene 4
(p. 92) "Welcome to the Carpathians. I have been anxiously expecting you. I trust that your journey has been a happy one."
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ACT II: Scene 5
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(p. 94) The torture and murder of Imre Thurzó.
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ACT II: Scene 6
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(p. 101) György barges in on Erzsébet during dinner and demands the return of his son.
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​(p. 102) "I never drink wine."
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(p. 104) a servant enters with Anna Darvulia's head on a platter.
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(p. 105) ERZSÉBET: "Tell me, for how long did you carve Zsófia? Did it start on your wedding night? Was it each time you forced yourself upon her? Did you have a favorite position against one favorite wall, or were you indiscriminate? Does your second wife know what lies behind those tapestries you put up? It’s best you don’t visit home and merely send for servants on the road. I’d hate for you to reminisce and find yourself in need of a third wife."
ACT II: Scene 1
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There is no evidence that Erzsébet had any kind of ritualistic instruments of torture like a special knife.
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Darvulia is speaking the truth about the long history of ÄŒachtice (or Csejte) Castle. You can read more about the history of this place here.
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This is a direct quote from Bram Stoker's Dracula. It can be found in Chapter 2.
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ACT II: Scene 2
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György Thurzo's second wife was indeed named Erzsébet. Her married Erzsebet Czobor in 1592, following the death of his first wife, Zsófia in 1590. Erzsebet was a very common name so it's not that strange that his was shared a name with The Blood Countess.
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There is no evidence that Erzsébet Báthory ever wrote letters to or received letters from Erzsébet Thurzó. ​
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​Erzébet was not isolated in this period of her life. In fact, she was still very well respected in society. The amount of socializing she did do seemed to be distressing to her. She lamented having to attend weddings in society and was rumored to have lost her temper on servants during the carriage rides home.
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Erzsébet heavily implies in this scene that György was also murdering his servants en mass. There is no historical evidence to confirm this, however, harsh punishments of servants was normally and completely acceptable for a palatine like György. It's very possible he was punishing his servants by executive them for transgressions and no one objected.
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György states in this scene that he has heard rumors of Erzsébet in the villages that she has been drinking the blood of her servants. Rumors of Erzsébet bathing in and drinking blood didn't develop until over a hundred years after her trial. During her trials, not one of the hundreds of people who testified ever mentioned drinking in or bathing in blood.
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ACT II: Scene 3
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István Magyari did author a book by that title, but he did not dedicate it to Ferenc Nadasdy. The book criticized the social and political conditions of his time.
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In this scene, Erzsébet plies Magyari with wine, eventually forcing it into his mouth. There is a rumor that when György and another man went to investigate the rumors in Erzsébet's household, she poisoned them with biscuits made with dirty bathwater.
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There is no evidence to suggest Erzsébet gave any silver to the families of servants who died. In fact, she was land rich and cash poor. She often struggled to scrounge together currency to pay for the upkeep of her household.
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There is no proof that Monteverdi was present at the actual siege of Esztergom in 1595, though he did come to the city for the celebration feast after the siege. His early Baroque opera, Vespro, premiered at this feast. It's likely that the essence of the story Darvulia relates his true. When armies successfully took cities in this time, they would rape and pillage as they saw fit. However, Ferenc and Darvulia's presence at this siege is purely Dalberg's imagination.
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Erzsébet didn't kill Magyari in this manner, but this one of the methods of murder that she was rumored to enjoy. There are stories that she forced young girls to stand outside in the freezing cold as cold water was poured over their heads until they froze to death.
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ACT II: Scene 4
This is a direct quote from Bram Stoker's Dracula, Chapter 1.
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​ACT II: Scene 5
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This is entirely fabricated. Imre Thurzó was never invited to the Báthory household. He was certainly never tortured and he lived happily into adulthood, though he was the last of the Thurzó male line, never having a son himself.
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ACT II: Scene 6
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It's true that when György arrested Erzsébet for her alleged crimes he burst in on her during dinner. Of course, everything about his son Imre in this scene is creative license. She certainly did not feed his body or blood to his father. Though, rumor says that Erzsébet did torture her servants by making them eat pieces of their own cooked flesh.
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This is a direct quote from the 1931 film Dracula.
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Erzébet did not kill Anna Darvulia, though Darvulia did die before the trial. Some sources say she died of a stroke.
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There is no evidence that György killed or beat his first wife, though at this time it was perfectly acceptable, and even expected, for husbands to beat their wives into submission. It's not impossible that György beat his wife, but it's extremely unlikely he killed her.