Religion
Hungary, as well as most of Europe, was caught in the midst of the Protestant Reformation. Not only were Islanmic Turks clashing with European Christians, Catholic and Protestant Europeans were also battling each other. Protestantism was particularly popular in Transylvania and among the common people, while some of the Hungarian nobility maintained allegiance to the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Emperor. Erzsébet’s parents chose Protestantism, but her mother raised Erzsébet as a Calvinist. That said, Catholicism and Lutheranism were also present in the Báthory family, so Erzsébet would have been quite familiar with the teachings of all three.
Erzsébet and Ferenc regulary attended church even as the clergy grew suspicious of goings on at her castles. Witnesses said the countess was very religious, even mystical perhaps, and she likely took its theology to heart. Calvinists believed only the “elect” would go to heaven. She might have believed she was destined for hell anyway, so she might as well do as she pleased in life.
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The five tenants of Calvinism can be remember with the acronym TULIP: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints
Witchcraft
The most popular religion in Hungary, Protestantism, was a big believer in demonology, and started Hungary off on a long chapter of witch-hunts beginning in 1527 and continuing into the 1800s. The prosecution of witches intensified during the 1580s, coming to a head in 1614 when the Transylvanian Diet issued a decree punishing sorcerers and witches. While prosecution of witches in the 16th century focused more on Black magic, in the 17th century witchcraft began to encompass White magic as well which included herbal medicine. Women practicing herbology were considered witches, even though previous to this period, they were the physicians of their homes and villages.
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Did Erzsébet practice witchcraft?
Istvan Vagy, a member of Erzsébet's staff at Csejthe and Sarvar, testified that she “possessed a cake of gray color, braided like a pretzel, which she was obsessed with.” She allegedly would take it out, place a communion wafer in the center of the cake, and speak to the wafer either speaking a curse or a blessing. That said, he was one of very few who accused her of witchcraft. Considering Hungary was entering into an infamous period of witch hunting, it's actually surprising she wasn't accused at a greater volume. It's likely she was entirely innocent of practicing Black magic, even if she was murdering her servants en masse.
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White magic is a different story. Erzsébet almost certainly did practice herbal medicine as many women responsible for households of people did at the time. Anna Darvulia was known to be an herbalist and likely treated members of Erzsébet's household with herbal remedies.
Folklore
Before Christianity came to Hungary in 1000 A.D., it was a pagan country with its own set of beliefs in witches, fairies, and monstrous creatures. Christianity drove these beliefs into whispered corners but certainly didn’t get rid of them completely. In 16th and 17th century Hungary, many people, especially peasants, still sincerely believed in these legends and even merged them with Christian beliefs.
There was a lot of folklore around nature. The sun was believed to be a dwelling place of the Virgin Mary and kept demons away. The moon predicted changes in weather, prompting farmers to build their planting schedules around the waning and waxing moon. Farmers preferred to perform most of their agricultural work during the new moon. Lighting was thought to be a weapon from God, striking places on earth where there was a witch.
Folklore did more than just explain the mysteries of nature. It also created its own monsters. You may have heard of Babayaga, fairies, and changelings, but these were just a few of the creatures in slavic folklore. I've highlighted just a few below.
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Babayaga
Perhaps the most famous slavic folklore figure. Babayaga, before christianity, was a positive figure who took in orphans. When Christinity came along, Babayaga became a demonized character. She became an old humpbacked witch with bony legs who eats orphans. She flies inside of a mortar and pushes herself along with a pestle. She lives in a shack in the forest that stands on chicken legs.
Dziwożona
Dziwożona (meaning Wild Woman) was a demon in slavic mythology said to inhabit wetlands or forests. Dziwożona was said to kidnap human babies just after they were born and replace them with her own children (changelings). A changeling could be recognized by its uncommon appearance – disproportionate body, often with some kind of disability – as well as its wickedness.
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The White Lady
The fair lady, white lady or fancy lady was a fairy so taboo and considered so formidable that people did not dare to mention their name. They are young, long-haired ladies of alluring beauty, often dressed in white, generally roaming in groups, mainly at abandoned places, along creeks, next to bridges or in the depth of forests. Sometimes synonymous with witches. They are rumored to cause people to dance to their deaths.
Kikimora
A mischievous spirit of the house that likes to bother children in their sleep and tangle women’s yarn. She torments people in the house until they leave.
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Koshchei Bessmertny
AKA Koshchei the Deathless. A tall and bone thin old king wearing metal armor. He is usually the main antagonist to the hero. He usually steals the heroes girl. The quest for the hero is to find Koshchei’s death, because his death is hidding. His death is on the tip of a needle the needle is inside an egg that egg is in a duck the duck is inside a hare the hare is inside a chest. The chest is atop a tree, etc. He was also capable of transfiguration, and he would turn himself into a raven. He is Babayaga’s male counterpart.
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Lidérc
A chicken ghost that hatches out of an accidentally found egg, fulfils his master’s desires but remains invisible to others. It was a widely believed that the master of a chicken ghost was a friend of the devil. This word is also used to describe a “march flame” from when Hungarians saw unexplained lights appear in bogs.
Zmey Gorynych
A three-headed dragon.
Vampires
The Slavic myth of vampires began as far back as 4th century AD, when the vampire or upiór was basically the ghost of a dead person, or even the living dead (a corpse animated by its ghost). It was believed that vampires drank the blood (from veins or heart), ate the flesh of, or stifled their victims, usually family members. There were many ways to become an upiór or vampire after death. One of the most popular folk beliefs held that a future strzygoÅ„ was born with two souls. Signs of a strzygoÅ„ were being born with two hearts, two rows of teeth, or a unibrow. Another popular belief was that those who died suddenly or committed suicide could become vampires. But the underlying concept behind much of these myths seems to be a deep belief, shared by Slavic peoples, that an evil person would remain an evil person in the afterlife. Vampires were thought to bring hardship and distress to a community, so vampire hunts were more likely in times of distress, particularly during outbreaks of disease.
The Legend of Dracula
Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, the iconic tale of a vampire from Transylvania​, in 1897.
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Vlad III Dracur (or Vlad the Impaler) is the most famous inspiration for Dracula, though evidence suggests that Bram Stoker was also influenced by the legend of Erzsebet Bathory.
Dracula in Wallachian language means devil. Wallachians were accustomed to give it as a surname to any person who rendered himself conspicuous either by courage, cruel actions, or cunning. Vlad III Dracur certainly earned his moniker. Vlad was born in Transylvania, Erzsébet's home country, in 1431, 129 years before Erzsébet. She certainly would have heard of his infamous acts. Vlad was known for impaling his enemies. Impaling is a particularly gruesome form of torture and death: A wood or metal pole is inserted through the body either front to back, or vertically, through the rectum or vagina. The exit wound could be near the victim's neck, shoulders or mouth. In some cases, the pole was rounded, not sharp, to avoid damaging internal organs and prolonging the victim's suffering.
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Though Vlad the Impaler was a ruthless, sadistic leader, he didn't have a lust for blood specifically. Some theorize that Bram Stoker drew from the legend of Erzsébet Báthory, which by Stoker's time had taken on its bloodlust folklore, to create the monster of Dracula. Of course, he was also pulling from Slovakian folklore that predated Erzsébet altogether.