Much in the way of hipe has been writen about Elizabeth Bathory. Yes certain things are undenieably true, yes she was tried and found guilty for the murder of countless people, and yes she was imprisoned in her own castle for those crimes.

However no story is as simple as it might seem and the years since her death has seen an awfull lot of embellishment of the stories. With the advent of Bram Stokers "Dracular" we have seen a explosion of myth about the exploits of Elizabeth. The story has clearly gone alot further than the initial truths. Well thats the nature of a good yarn its initial starting point like the proverbial snowball that gives rise to the avalanch that preceeds it.

It would be a great injustice to the Bathory familiy to not give a statement of fact about Elizabeth based on evidence and also on the back of her notoriety give some infomation about the familys true role in the history of Poland and Hungary and of course the province of Transilvania.

My own interest in this story stems from my Grandmother, yes another proverbial eastern European Grandmother, and her own testiment to my familys connection to the Bathorys however her own love for history lead her to research the links and she found documentary evidence to link her own decendants with the Bathory family. Via a missing link. My Grandmother Jolanda Pataki daughter of Maria Szaboslzki was born in NyrBator the resting place of the great Polish King Istvan Bathory.  More info comming soon....