Friday, December 28, 2012
The Bloody Countess; The Atrocities of Erzebet Bathory; a book
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Merry Christmas
Please read below, and note that Erzebet's legal problems began at the end of the Christmas Season as celebrated in her time.
Merry Christmas and God Bless us Everyone this year of turmoil and controversy. I spent the evening with friends, and old teacher or two, their families and friends with a wonderful, traditional dinner, the first I've had this season. i\I met a wonderful young girl who was also a talented chef and who brought the most amazing rum balls, born of her own self-descrbed disaster with black/white cookies and the wrong oven. I haven't cooked much, not ye3t, but I love to talk and invent recipes. Kianna, the chef, has wonderful adaptations of dim sun, and waffles with chicken , and pate and duck comfit gravy, her version of biscuits and gravy.
As far as some tidbits go, I am happy to see that Hallmark gift bags are over 40% recyclable materials. I wrote many cards, and will this year start a tradition of sending new year cards, a new/old tradition that the Victorians and others used and sent for many years, and New Years was an occasion for sending cards bnad giving gifts before then. Etrennes were New Year's gifts, specialites at French dept. stores like the Lourvre in Paris. "Friends" featured a poster advertising these etrennes on their set.
I gave to charities, and we had toys for tots at school. We also sent gifts to the Sun Valley Indian School, our "kids" in AZ. I made some gifts, and sent them early, but met with many financial difficulties and other issues this year. The Sandy Hook tragedy changed Xmas for everyone, and it happened on a night filled with wonderful memories, like my first giymnastics meet at 15, Spanish Club Xmas Parties with my mom and her Spanish Club, these were sometimes at restaurants like Chichis, Tortilla Flats, Chimis, and sometimes in the high ceilinged biology classroom at her school, with pinants, and candy. We spent all year traveeling and finidng miniatures to use.
This season, I live with the ghosts of Xmas past. Our family home, once full of Xmas cheer, is now silent. My dad never liked the holidys, and now he has a reason not to celebrate. We eat together, but nothing festive, even if I offer to cook. There are no trees or lights, just a small pewter tree shaped candleholder decorated with symbols of the twelve days of Xmas, and a matching pewter santa, both under one foot tall. These I sneak into my old bedroom; they stay in my hope chest which is still there the rest of the year. Presents are few and far inbetween, but I still send them to family around the country, even the world. These are my mom's traditions, and I carry them on.
A rotator cuff injury and my bad hand keep from writing more, but Bless all who read my blogs, and all who write, and who inspireme. A blessed 2013 to all!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Doll Museum: More Renaissance and 17th Century Dolls
Doll Museum: More Renaissance and 17th Century Dolls: Here are a photo of Bartholmew Fair, a Baby, and a page from a cookbook about the Fair. Also, some contemporary images, and the Bart. Family...
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Bathory 2008, Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Longitude
On this first of December, anniversary of my grandmother Ellen’s death 11 years ago, [she was 98, only admitted to 94, died suddenly after a freak accident where she fell trying to pull the blinds down], I am multitasking. As an aside, my grandma’s sisters and brothers all lived long lives bar one who died young of something like cancer. Then, they had freak accidents into their late 80s and 90s. My great-grandfather, their dad, was a sea captain, and the girls used to swim out in the Aegean to meet his ship. Hearty stock, that.
So, I am multitasking, looking up Massie’s Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, and blogging. Catherine, a generation or two later than Erzebet, was more powerful as empress, but more formidable and ruthless. Had history been written differently, Massie may have written Erzebet the Great, and Catherine would appear in more books about serial killers and ruthless murderers, though she does appear in her capacity as Russian Empress in a couple books about evil women and evil people.
I recommend Bathory, 2008. Anna Friel, whom I believe is British, has done a fantastic job, comparable to Dorothy Tutin and Genevieve Bujold playing Anne Boleyn, or Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth R, and also Vanessa Redgrave as Mary, Queen of Scots. Her name escapes me, but the actress who plays Dr. River Song on Dr. Who and who played in ER, also did an equally fantastic, comparable job playing Boudicca in the BBC production for Masterpiece Theater, yet another powerful, brave, and resourceful woman long vilified by history.
Outside the fictional love affair with Caravaggio, which was born because of hints in his paintings and his mysterious absences while fleeing from the law, the film on Erzebet gives explanations for much associated with her. How Thurzo was owed money and turned on her and her husband for wealth and power, how her servants were tortured than swiftly executed as the only eyewitnesses who saw what really happened in her castle. There were explanations for the deaths, for her book of names, which could well have been names of those who had healed, for the “bath of blood,” which was water turned red by certain herbs, and I can tell you myself that eucalyptus and chamomile will turn water red. Also, the religious wars going on, the struggle with the Ottomans, all things that built and built. In the end, one wonders what, if anything, Erzebet could have done.
That there were, and are backlashes against wealthy, powerful women is a given. That sometimes when the victors write history, it is skewed, is something we are discovering. There are entire academic departments devoted to the scholarly analysis of revisionist history. The story of Anne Boleyn bears witness to that; she is now a popular topic of fiction, and has become a sympathetic figure nearly 500 years later.
A fascinating parallel to Erzebet’s story is what else was happening in the world. It was still the age of exploration, and the beginnings of The Industrial Revolution. A great book to study is Longitude, by Dava Sobel and William J. H. Andrews. The book tells of the perils of sailors trying to navigate solely by latitude, because there was no measurement instrument for longitude until the invention of Harrison’s longitudinal clock in the 18th century, a situation I believe influenced Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Bathory 2008
Finally, the film is on Netflix, and I am watching it! Below is a review. Much of the film is historical, and much is invented, including the added romance of a fictional dalliance with the ultimate bad boy painter, Caravaggio, who actually was a contemporary of Erzebet, but who took off to Malta, not Hungary/Slovakia. Read below, but more from me, later:
Review by Jason Pirodsky
for Expats.cz
“When legend becomes fact, print the legend.” This mantra from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance can also explain the historically dubious popularization of a number of infamous figures, including Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth (or Erzsébet) Báthory. Vlad the Impaler, often cited as Bram Stoker´s inspiration for Dracula, needs no introduction; after Stoker´s novel and countless Dracula films, he was given his own ‘true story´ in Joe Chapelle´s 2000 TV film Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula. Elizabeth Báthory is just as infamous, the ‘Blood Countess´ whom the folks at Guinness have given the title of #1 serial killer: 600 kills (she was convicted of 80), mostly young girls, she bathed in their blood to preserve her youthful beauty. Or so the legend goes; the 16th century lacked the technology to verify such claims. Compared to Dracula, Báthory has received far less attention on the cinematic front, featured in some low-budget 70´s horror flicks like Countess Dracula and Daughters of Darkness; a definitive story of her legend has yet to be told.
Bathory
Rating:
Directed by Juraj Jakubisko. Starring Anna Friel, Karel Roden, Hans Matheson, Vincent Regan, Franco Nero, Bolek Polívka, Deana Jakubisková- Horváthová, Jirí Mádl, Lucie Vondrácková, Marek Vašut, Tim Preece, Anthony Byrne. Written by Jakubisko, English-language dialogue by John Paul Chapple. Cinematography by Ján Ďuriš, F. A. Brabec. Costume Design by Jaroslava Pecharová, masks by Jana Radilová. Edited by Christopher Blunden. Music by Jan Jirásek.
Showtimes
IMDb link
And we´ll have to wait: Juraj Jakubisko´s new film Bathory is presented, like Chapelle´s Dracula movie, as if it were a myth-debunking ‘true story´ of Báthory. Two things are needed, I think, to make this film work: we need a story, like it or not, that more or less lives up to the legend, and history that seems more or less accurate. Jakubisko fails on both counts, giving us a wandering, plotless film that seems content to run down a laundry list of events in the life of Báthory rather than engaging the viewer, along with entirely (and intentionally) dubious history. Yes, believe it or not, we´re given an invented romance with Italian painter Caravaggio and roller-skating monks in this film that desperately wants us to believe its version of the facts. And that´s not even the worst offender: Jakubisko ultimately wants to paint Báthory as some sort of heroic and/or tragic figure. By the end, I was reminded of the finale of Caligula, with Malcolm McDowell´s head rolling down the steps - wait, what? Now you want us to care about this maniac? (Note that the film doesn´t shy away from Báthory´s status as a murderer, evidenced by one particularly brutal scene in which she stabs a servant to death with scissors.)
Bathory is divided into three separate acts: the first, entitled Ferenc, deals with Báthory´s (portrayed - sometimes quite stunningly - by Anna Friel) marriage to Ferenc Nádasdy (Vincent Regan), who commands Hungarian troops in a war against the Ottomans. While he´s away, Báthory lives at Čachtice Castle in what is now Slovakia, and develops a bizarre romance with famed homosexual painter Caravaggio (Hans Matheson). Dubious from a historical standpoint, and mostly unnecessary in the context of the movie (I guess you can draw some connection between Caravaggio´s baroque paintings and Báthory´s legend, but the film doesn´t), it´s a curious choice by the director.
The second act of the film, entitled Darvulia, concerns Báthory´s enchantment under the witch-like Darvulia (Deana Jakubisková-Horváthová, wife of the director), who saves her life and mixes her potions to sustain her beauty. Around this time, people in the nearby village go missing and dead bodies begin to pop up; rumors of something evil at Čachtice Castle, promoted by local minister Ponicky (Anthony Byrne), begin to spread. Two catholic monks are sent in to investigate. Báthory occasionally goes mad and murders people, but hey, that´s OK: she didn´t kill all those people they say she did.
The third act is entitled Thurzo and involves the struggle of power between Báthory and György Thurzó (Karel Roden), who fought with her husband and envies her wealth. Thurzó sees the rumors surrounding Báthory as a means to strip her of her power, and in a particularly lame action set-piece, he and his men stage a massive torture scene in the cellar of the castle in order to frame Báthory for the lurid accusations. But the monks free the prisoners, and Báthory and servant Ficko dispose of some of Thurzó´s men and expose him for what he is. The day is saved. Or not: Thurzó has Báthory´s servants tortured until they testify against her and Báthory is imprisoned in her castle for the rest of her life. Lazy screenwriting at its finest: if Thurzó was just going to do that, why did he stage the needlessly complex torture scene?
Ultimately, the film fails to convince me of anything it has to say, and I really, really wish they had filmed the legend instead of this weak version of the purported ‘facts´. And even though I see the screenwriter flailing his arms in an attempt to get me to feel empathy for this murderer, I don´t. That´s not to say I didn´t enjoy the film in some capacity: there´s plenty of violence and nudity, and things never really get boring. An hour shorter and you might have a nice-looking piece of Euro-sleaze. At 140 minutes, however, this misguided epic is mostly a failure.
Highly unnecessary comic relief comes in the form of Czech actors Bolek Polívka and Jiří Mádl as the pair of roller-skating monks sent to investigate the accusations surrounding Báthory (Polívka, or rather the actor who horrendously dubbed him, also narrates the film). The characters of monks Petr and Cyril are bumbling, stumbling updates of the those played by Jack MacGowran and Roman Polanski in Fearless Vampire Killers, complete with ridiculous inventions more at home in Stephen Sommer´s Van Helsing: wooden roller-skates, a dubious hand gliding device, and shoes that allow them to trek up a snow-covered mountain without moving a leg. So pointless are these characters and their scenes that they only detract from the overall film; though admittedly, the sheer audacity of the decision to include them is entertaining.
A note about the dubbing: the film was (mostly) shot in English, a necessity given the range of international actors appearing in the film. For the most part, this isn´t an issue, though the variety of European accents (both real and attempted) often clash. Yet the scenes with the monks seem to have been shot in Czech (or Slovak) and dubbed into English; just like those Spaghetti Westerns and other Italian films from the era, which were shot without sound, the actors reading their lines in whatever language they could, and dubbed into a variety of languages for international release. That was fine when you had actors like Clint Eastwood reading their lines in English and dubbing themselves, but was sometimes distracting when other actors were clearly speaking a different language. In Bathory, when the rest of the film has been shot and recorded in English, the awful American-English dubbing over Polívka is more jarring than your average poorly-dubbed Godzilla movie (Mádl, who seems to have dubbed himself, fairs much better).
British actress Friel is terrific as Báthory, and it´s a shame the rest of the film doesn´t live up to her performance. The rest of the cast fails to make much of an impression; still, this is Friel´s film. Franco Nero shows up in a glorified cameo as King Matthias.
From a technical standpoint: the film looks great, often exceptional, though the lush, sumptuous cinematography by Ján Duris is often compromised by over-anxious editing (particularly in the film´s first third) that seems more concerned with shortening the long running time. Jakubisko has a real feel for the era, and with costume designer Jaroslava Pecharová creates a lavish and convincing atmosphere. Unfortunately, much of this is tarnished by some cheap-looking CGI, mostly employed in bloodletting effects and exterior shots re-creating Čachtice Castle. Original music by Jan Jirásek is appropriately moody.
I take no pride in deriding this latest film from Jakubisko, often cited as one of the greatest Slovak directors, and a filmmaker whose works I am, perhaps, not as well-versed in as I should be. But Bathory clearly lacks the controlling hand of an auteur; long delays in production (filming began in late 2005, the movie finally released 2.5 years later) suggests issues, and the final product confirms them: choppy, often rushed editing, highly uneven pacing and tone. The film is not a disaster but it is a mess, and clearly not the international epic the producers had envisioned. My two-star rating is, I fear, generous; I did enjoy much of the film, given my affinity for misguided epics (Caligula, Heaven´s Gate) and Jess Franco Eurotrash. Mainstream audiences beware.
Bathory has already become infamous as the most expensive Czech or Slovak production in history, costing some 300 million CZK ($20 million USD). The sacrifices of making an expensive film - bowing to conventions and playing it ‘safe´ in order to reach a wide audience - are painfully evident.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Kindness to the Poor and Sara Crewe's Emotional and Financial Debts
Below is my paper on A Little Princess, with sources. This was given at a recent MMLA convention, and it is really a long outline or series of notes. I blog it here becase Erzebet, along with Anne Boley, has been discussed in various biographies and historical documents for her generosity to the poor. Many other doomed women, especially aristocratic ones, share this generosity. Perhaps it is true that no good deed goes unpunished:
Sarah Crewe’s Financial and Emotional Obligations in A Little Princess
Young Sarah runs the gamut from child heiress to orphan to wealthy adopted child/heiress in Burnett’s novel. The interesting twist in this children’s novel is that Sara’s debts and impoverished condition are created through a misconception. She really is a “princess” disguised as a pauper. Burnett explores Victorian childhood from every class, angle, and extreme. Sarah learns that even obligation and poverty are relative through her schoolmates at Miss Minchin’s, through her friendship with Becky the little scullery maid, and through Anne, the beggar girl. Even when she has lost all material wealth, Sarah owes “student loans” to Miss Minchin, who keeps Sara as a student, but who uses her as a servant once she learns Sarah’s wealthy father dies. As hard as Sarah’s life is, she learns that Becky, the Minchin’s scullery maid suffers more, and that the street children of London suffer the worst. Sara also owes emotional and financial obligations, which she must fulfill, to her widowed father, to the Minchin sisters and their school, To Becky, and to Anne. This paper will explore Sara’s debts and how she pays them, as well as how debts are owed and paid to her when Ram Dass and her father’s wealthy business partner rescue her.
Orphans and poor children in history:
Historically, the needs of children and juveniles were not given special attention; in the penal system; children and adults were often punished equally. We only have to read the Bible and other religious texts telling the story of the lives of the saints. Many were martyred as children, e.g., St. Agnes and Sta. Lucia at about 13, Joan of Arc at 19. Thus, punishment for children included whipping, banishment, mutilation, torture and even execution (Bartolas and Miller 4). [Think of King Herod’s Law]. Age 7 was fixed “for determining whether youths would be exempted from criminal responsibility under certain conditions.” (4). English Common Law later adopted this age as the age of exemption where children could not face legal penalties (4). [Currently, civil tort law places the age of exemption at 4]. Between 700 and 1500 A.D. children were viewed in the same manner as adults, no special needs were assigned to them. (4). Medieval peasant children worked as their parents did in the fields, and were expected to assume their other roles and labors (4). The doctrine of parens patriae was finalized during The Middle Ages, and the state could now interfere in the lives of Medieval peasants and their children, and ultimately, the declining authority of the family with the state taking over, became more and more common until early agencies, after care officers, asylums, orphanages, and the agencies we know today came into being (Bartolas and Miller 5). Children were put to death and in England there were between 160 and 200 capital offenses for children (4). It was the Middle Ages and their views on children and childrearing that shaped the doctrines of juvenile justice in years to come, doctrines which only changed during the Colonial Period in the United States.
As J. Herbie DiFonzio writes in “Deprived of ‘Fatal Liberty’,” :”the metaphor of infant salvation was coined by the child savers themselves” (856), Poverty equaled depravity and moral turpitude in the Victorian era. One report of 1823 by New York’s Society for the Prevention of Pauperism sated that poor children saw “at home nothing in the way of example but what is degrading; early taught to observe intemperance, and to hear obscene and profane language without disgust, obliged to beg, and even encouraged to acts of dishonesty …” quoted in DiFonzio 856).[by example, see the film Pretty Baby and My Fair Lady or Pygmalion.] By 1880, this attitude had not changed, and penologist Enoch Wines wrote of poor children, “Their destitution their vagrant life, their depraved habits, their ragged and filthy condition forbid their reception into the ordinary schools of the people. It is from this class that the ranks of crime are continually recruited, and will be so long as it is permitted to exist. They are born to crime, brought up for it. They must be saved” (Wines quoted in DiFonzio 865). And they must be saved whether they like it or not. These comments reflected the English and American view that poor and neglected children were “pre-delinquent” and thus had to be placed in Houses of Refuge and other institutions, some penal in nature, so that they could be “reformed” and made useful members of society. Some of these houses depended on the labor of the children incarcerated to survive. We have only to think of Oliver Twist or Jane Eyre to get an idea of these institutions. In fact, Brontë’s own sisters were the inspiration for Helen Burns, the brilliant by fragile girl who dies of the harsh discipline she receives at Lowood. See Jane Eyre. One can understand Miss Minchin’s treatment of Becky and her other servant’s, and the baker’s initial skepticism about Anne, the beggar girl Sara is kind to.
DiFonzio observes that while the Victorian ideal of the home was the example and goal of Victorian society, child reformers did not think to reform the home itself. Rather, they strove to take the poor child out of the home, and to reform the child, arguing this method was correct because “deviancy began with the family” (Rothman quoted in DiFonzio 856).
Another theory for why poor children were seen as potential criminals and delinquents was that the house of refuge and child saver movements along with the juvenile court had their origins in medieval English poor laws [well used and drafted/redrafted during the reign of Henry VIII], and that the goal was to avoid pauperism, not crime (See Rendleman discussed in DiFonzio 861). As Anthony Platt writes in his book The Child Savers, ‘behaviors the child savers selected to be penalized—sexual license, roaming the streets, drinking, begging, fighting, frequenting dance halls and movies, and staying out late at night—were found primarily among lower class children” (quoted in Bartolas and Miller 8). [See David Baldus on inequality and death sentencing, where the poor receive the sentence and see it carried out far more than the wealthy; see also his Southern Poverty Law organization].
This English system and belief in deviant poor children traveled to the US with early American theocratic communities. It must be remembered here that Burnett lived in the US, and would have been familiar with these types of child reform systems. The Puritans thought that childhood was a “regrettable prelude” to adulthood (DiFonzio 864). Early on, however, childhood deviance in the colonial world was “controlled through a strong sense of family order, an institutional force which was synonymous with the public good” (DiFonzio 862). In short the family took care of its own. Even in the case of debtors, DiFonzio notes that “immediate families were usually assured that relatives or neighbors would spare them form the almshouse” (863), and this is part of the plot in George Eliot’s, The Mill on the Floss. Both workhouses and almshouses were rare in the American colonies. (Ibid). Criminal punishment was swift, but there was not “general incarceration” (863). For example, in Massachusetts, “magistrates often remitted delinquent children to their homes for a court observed, but family enforced, whipping” (ibid). If the family of a delinquent child was itself corrupt and unsuitable the child was fostered out to a good home, and kept in a family environment. This idea of the community “distrusting outsiders but sustaining its own through the family ideal, remained an ideological fixture throughout the eighteenth century” (Ibid). According to DiFonzio, prost American Revolution disorder and “urbanization” created more delinquents, and poverty was no longer “an exigency befalling a worthy neighbor,” but a type of depraved behavior fed by “the misdeeds of the new class of poor children” and “the victims of misfortune blended into the unfortunates who victimized others” (Ibid.). They’re as no more “worthy poor.” ( Ibid).[Note, children could be executed for disrespect of parents in colonial times. DiFonzio 863).
The 19th century brought a new emphasis on childhood, and Wordsworth’s quote re “the child is the father of the man,’ “reflected that childhood is not merely a stage but be outgrown but also a critical developmental period in human life (DiFonzio 864), It was better to let children be children as long as possible, and various institutions became “asylums for the preservation and culture of childhood” (865) and Miss Minchin’s school was surely one of these. If children were “different enough to warrant their own institutions,” (DiFonzio at 865), then immigrant children were rife for all kinds of educational and reform institutions and the new socialization methods that engendered them (865). Besides, poor families in general, let alone poor foreign families, could not be trusted or allowed to bring up dutiful American citizens (865). [Cf Coventry Patmore and “The Angel of the House.” ]
In the late Victorian era, childhood was sentimentalized and given special attention. Dolls, always reflections of their makers and their societies, began to represent little girls, and baby dolls were more common from the 1850s on. Maezel, who created the metronome, soon created the mechanism for the “mamma” doll, so that toys too became “juvenelized. “ Poor children were given another glance due to poems by The Romantics, and the growing body of sentimental literature written for children, as well as by other adult poets like Burnett, Dickens, Stowe, Kate Douglas Wiggins, E. Nesbit, Kate Douglas Wiggins, Eugene Field, and others. Lithographs of children were sweet and idealized, and poor, unfortunate children were given romantic deaths and sent straight to heaven, as in Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl” and to a certain extent, Little Eva in Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Carol in The Birds’ Christmas Carol. Sara’s life reflected contemporary belief in charity towards others, which Sara certainly practiced while she was wealthy, and even when she was poor, towards Ann and Melchisedec. Sara was more mature for her years and her time. She is a composite of Burnett’s own experiences [one is reminded of Joyce and his Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man], and early reform movements to improve the lives of children that didn’t involve class preconceptions or prejudices, work that perhaps began with reform of schools like that the Brontë girls attended and Dickens’ literary children, e.g., Tiny Tim.
The original story of Sara Crewe was written as a serialized novel in 1888 called Sara Crew or what Happened at Miss Minchin’s Boarding School, published by St. Nicholas Magazine, a periodical popular with children like Helen Keller who themselves later became famous writers. The Book A Little Princess was published in 1905. One of the most famous and appealing editions was illustrated by Tasha Tudor, who was a friend of Rumer Godden and also illustrated The Dolls House. Burnett also wrote a play, The Little Princess, and The Little Un-Fairy Princess, which seem to the basis of the Shirley Temple films. Since the book was published, there have been numerous film, dramatic, and TV adaptations, as well as various editions of the book.
ALP, according to one source, may have been inspired by Bronte’s unfinished Emma, but there are also shades of Jane Eyre and Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl” in the story.
As with British writer Rumer Godden, “Burnett did not begin her writing career as a children’s author, yet she seems to have stumbled onto a formula for writing for children that allowed her to be successful” (Resler 15). Some critics have argued that children’s literature gives Burnett “more reign” to show her skills as a story teller (Bixler 54 cited in Resler 15), while others claim children’s literature is less taxing for Burnett to write (Gerzina 119). Probably, Burnett’s own childhood, fraught with moves, falls from riches and descent into poverty may have made it an easier vehicle to move with as a writer. For, like Sara, the young girl living and writing in Tennessee, and later the seasoned writer in D.C., was often singled out as “not being from around here,” and just as the Carmichael children knew Sara is The Little Girl who is not a Beggar from her mannerisms, poise, and speech, so American Editors realized that the young author from Tennessee was really a displaced, well read and cultured English woman, expatriated from the life she wrote about in her stories. Moreover, like Godden, Burnett left a prolific collection of writing, over forty-four books and “countless essays and short stories,” (Resler 16) including one in the author’s archives about her doll collection, yet it is the three children’s books, Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess and The Secret Garden which have given her a place in any literary canon at all, most specifically, the canon of children’s literature. Fears of the workshouse and poor house loomed in American life as well; Anne Sullivan Macy, teacher and companion of Helen Keller, was sent with her brother to the Tewkesbury institution for the poor; her brother had a tubercular hip and walked with a crutch, while she suffered from Glaucoma and was going blind. (Lash here!!)
In fact, it was St. Nicholas magazine, created, and edited for thirty years by the author of Hans Brinker; or, The Silver Skates (1865), Mary Mapes Dodge, who first published Sara Crewe serially in December 1887 and January 1888 in St. Nicholas (Resler 19). Charles Scribner’s, who later published Burnett’s SC, also published the magazine It was as if Dodge gave FHB her seal of approval and passed the crown of leading children’s author to Burnett.
Much of Sara’s life reflects Burnett’s own (Resler 2); indeed Burnet and many of her Victorian author colleagues wrote extensively about orphans and their plight; others include Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop, David Copperfield in David Copperfield, Pip in Great Expectations, Esther Summerson in Bleak House, Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre, and Eppie in Silas Marner (Brown 23). As Richard L. Brown writes in “Disinheriting the ‘Legal Orphan’: Inheritance Rights of Children after Termination of Parental Rights,” “The plight of orphans from Oliver Twist and Harry Potter of literature . . . has long engaged our social consciousness and conscience. By ‘orphans’ we have meant children ho have suffered the death of their parents” (1).
According to Gretchen Gerzina in Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Unexpected Life of the Author of The Secret Garden, Sara’s “rise, fall and redemption (Resler 66) similar to Burnett’s “own childhood) (66): “ . . . the original ‘Sara Crewe’ . . . resonated with her own childhood, with the dead father, the child’s slide into poverty and her faculty for reading, storytelling, and pretending, all apparent enough in her 1895 memoir, The One I knew Best of All” (Gerzina 94).
Both suffer loss of wealth, so that they also lose father’s income, see Sara foreshadowing “ I believe I could.. If one was a beggar, one would have to suppose and pretend all the time. But it mightn’t be easy”( p. 78 cited in Resler 69).
1. Knoepflmacher: “such circumstances often worked their way into mainstream as well as juvenile fiction: called
2. Beneficial lowering; “bourgeois characters” are ”reschooled in values that come from ungenteel work” and is feature of adult Victorian fiction too, (cited in Resler 69) (Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights, “The Necklace”.
In 1865, The Burnett family moved to Tennessee, where there was more inspiration for her than in Islington Square (Resler 5). There, her life seems to echo those of Louisa May Alcott and her characters in Little Women, who also had to find means of support during The Civil War. Burnett set up her own Select Seminary for the children in her neighborhood. They paid in food. An issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book literally changed Burnett’s life, because it opened the possibility of publishing with them and other popular magazines (Resler 6). Burnett had a hard time convincing Godey’s editor, Sarah Josepha Hale [who with Lincoln gave us Thanksgiving as holiday] that she wrote the stories she submitted; Hale apparently didn’t believe someone from Tennessee could write like an English woman. Burnett convinced her she was an English woman, emigrated to TN, and both stories were published, and she entered this type of writing during the 1870s when literature for women and children was rapidly gaining in popularity and the serialized novel was popular, with separate profits to be gained from the serialized work and the later complete published book (7).
I. Sara’s first obligation to family and friend, one instance where she pays it forward [Mr. Carrisford’s name = carries forward].
A. Dutiful daughter as a good solider/how Shirley Temple plays her;
Shirley Temple film was done in 1939, the year of WH, GWTHW and WOOZ. While the film took dramatic license with much of the plot, including Sara’s appearance [she went from straight black hair and green eyes to the light, carefully tended curls and blue eyes of Temple], the New York Times gave the film a favorable review (Resler 29). And, as Resler notes, the film “exposed a new generation to Sara Crew’s riches to rags and back again story” (30).
Indeed, film and TV versions of the book keep the story alive and further the “core storyline” of ALP, which Resler calls “the [e]ffects of loss of a parent on a child and the experiences of the child at a cruel school . . . “(Resler 32). As Resler says, “The movie versions of Burnett’s LP indicate that her story is well-worth maintaining for each generation of children” (31).
a. Burnett’s own fortunes changed when her Father, Edwin died after a stroke (Resler 3). Johanna Elizabeth Resler believes that this early loss influenced Burnett, so that in ALP and other works, father’s are absent/fondly remembered or, if still alive, generous with wealth and affection (3) sort of Daddy Warbuck’s figures in the last example.
b. In fact, Ann Thwaite says in Waiting for the Party that “ . .Sara was undoubtedly Frances herself” (quoted in Resler 38).
c. After a serious of moves to increasingly poorer neighborhoods, Burnett ended up near the mining families of Islington Square, where Burnett did not even understand the native dialect (Resler 3).
d. Miss Minchin’s school is based on a school in Islington Square, in the more affluent home the Burnett’s shared; the school was a” Select
Seminary for Young Ladies and Gentlemen” in the home of Mr. Henry Hadfield, run by his daughters, Sarah, Jane, and Alice (Resler 4).
e. Resler is quick to note that Hadfield’s was a pleasant school, and not like Miss Minchin’s where “children were scolded for Acting like Children and where Money was more important than education” (Thwaite quoted in Resler, 4).
f. Burnett herself noted that in ALP, after the success of the play, that she wanted ALP to be a nicely detailed book, because “Children love detail” and she noted she loved the garret, Melchisedec, Becky, and Ermengarde as “so nice” (Burnett in Gerzina, 238).
B. Wealthy child who understand her good fortune and thinks of those less fortunate; perhaps because of her loving personality, most of the characters of ALP are ‘friends, or friendly, with Sara whether they are children or adults (Resler 45), animal or human. Sara’s doll is included as a friend because “she becomes Sara’s confidant even though she is inanimate” and Sara can be herself and seek consolation from Emily alone.
a. Shares: The girls at Miss Minchin’s like Sara because she is willing to share, had a good personality, and is a skilled storyteller (Resler 48).
b. Kind to Becky; understand her station but gives her things
c. Class runs throughout; accepts insults when she is degraded, titles when fortune is good to her like Little Miss, Miss, and memsahib
d. Allows girls, little one’s especially, to see and handle Last Doll and other gifts [Footnote; Jumeau employed and educated poor girls to make dolls like this that they could not afford, and Jenny Wren repaired, made, dressed dolls for others/cf how Barbie is made in Asian factories].
II. A doll may have been Sara’s and other orphan’s predecessors; she pretended to “whip” a captive doll, and her mother Eliza explained this pretending as a type of “play,” (Resler 2-3), cf my “ A Literary Shelter for Misfit Dolls.”
e. Gives of her time to handle Lottie and other girls, also tutors/teaches them. Like her, Lottie has lost her mother. Sara, however, does not use her mother’s death to manipulate others as Lottie does. Sara provides comfort for herself and Lottie when she induces Lottie to pretend Sara is her mother, “this seems to give comfort to both girls where one can receive attention and love and the other can enjoy looking after another and alos receive affection” (Resler 48). Sara needs to give as well as to receive as a truly loving child, and this way, she pays her “debts” for being wealthy and well educated.
f. She is a friend to Ermengarde who is slow and otherwise friendless, sort of the female Neville Longbottom of Miss Minchin’s, not Hogwarts. She also barters with Ermengarde; she is allowed to read Ermengarde’s books and uses her skills as a master storyteller to communicate the knowledge in them to Ermengarde, who learns better this way and who can now tell her father what is in the books (Resler 53). Sara can add effective teacher to her other talents; she knows how to impart knowledge so that others can understand it on their own level.
g. Melchisedec; and king he is named for; Sara is kind and befriends a lowly, common rat, not only anthropomorphizing him, but romanticizing him and imagining his family. In creating ”a persona” for he little rat, and by feeding him crumbs, no matter how hungry she is, Sara hopes to minimize her own miserable situation. “Sara can deal with the dismal surroundings in her room and imagine a tale around her life in the attic” (Resler 49) and M can give back to her the unconditional love only animals as pets can give.
h. Is she a ‘Poor Little Rich Girl?”
II. Sara as debtor:
III. Miss Minchin tells her “You are a beggar . . . It appears that you have no relations and no home, and no one to take care of you) ALP 92
IV. Anne Scott MacLeod notes in “From Rational to Romantic: The Children of Children’s Literature in the Nineteenth Century,” that:
By the 1850s, authors were harnessing children’s literature to the cause
Of social protest, using sentimentality toward children to arouse
Public concern for the young victims of what they saw as a crisis in
American Urban society (144).
Resler adds that “An influx of immigrants stressed the cities and lead to poorer living conditions. Children were seen dirty and forlorn begging for money and food in th e city streets (McLeod 144 cited in Resler 9). As a result of the changes an variations in children’s lives brought on by immigration, war, and poverty, Childrens literature became more “multifaceted” (Resler 9). These changes coincided with Burnett’s own life changes, and became catalysts in her later writings, including ALP.
A. Brief overview of poorhouse where the poor were sent because their poverty as seen as a result of their own bad character and shiftlessness.
Sara in SC is much younger when she loses her father, Capt. Crewe; in SC, she arrives at the school when she is seven, and loses her father when she is around eight. In SC, the explanation is that he does after “a friend loses his money ins a business deal in India. Sara is left penniless and without any family and is made to work as servant at the school” where she must run errands, keep up with her studies, and help the other girls with their French (Resler 25).
By the time she writes ALP, Burnett spends more words and pages developing Sara’s character into an “intelligent and beloved little girl, while more characters are added and Lottie and Ermengarde further evolve as foils to Sara (Resler 26).
B. Why didn’t Minchin turn her out in the poorhouse? [cf Annie Sullivan growing up in Tewkesbury, Massie, Helen and Teacher]. Tells her at p. 92 ALP in Resler 68 that it “appears” Sara has no relations, but Miss Minchin may not be quite sure of that. She subconsciously wants to hedge her bet, and not burn her bridges, but she does not know how to be compassionate or kind, and keeps Sara as a sort of Ransom, just in case a Rich relative can come to pay her bills, which is basically what happens later.
a. Miss Minchin in SC: “Now listen to me . . and remember what I say. If you work hard and prepare to make yourself useful in a few years, I shall let you stay” “You are not a parlor boarder now. Remember that if you don’t please me, and (I send you away, you have no home but the street (SC 1888 17).
b. In the play, Minchin: “if I do not choose to keep you out of charity you have no home but the streets . . Then listen to what I say. If you work hard and try to make yourself useful I may let you stay here (play 1911 29)
c. In ALP, Minchin, “you can do anything you are told . . You are a sharp child and pick up things readily. If you make yourself useful, I may let you stay here” (ALP 1905 93).
C. Why isn’t Minchin punished at the end; she mistreated a child of a class above her, regardless of child’s wealth. See end in 1995 movie where she ends up broke as a chimney sweep.
a. Minchin is “horrified” to lose Sara at the end, after Sara’s fortune is restored (54).
D. Why not call it even after she confiscated her possessions?
E. How cruel to take Last Doll, and why not take Emily? Resler notes Sara cannot keep LD because Crew had not paid her bill before his death. “The inclusion and loss of the Last Doll as a character magnifies the importance placed on Sara’s doll Emily and the connection she has with her before and after her father’s death” (Resler 49).
F. Why allow her to go to school?
a. CFJane Eyre or Oliver Twist: why not send her off to a Lowood or a workhouse? [1944 Jane Eyre with Eliz. Taylor as Helen].
G. Resentment: Sara was kind and generous, gracious and respectful
a. Why is cook so mean? Why does the rest of the staff resent her?
b. Why is Minchin so mean? Minchin only interested “in the tuition she receives from Sara’s father, this is why when Sara’s fortune is lost Miss Minchin sees no us e n being nice to her any longer—it is no longer advantageous” (Resler 48).
1. True, but Resler has no reason for why Minchin is so mean.
ii. What were English laws holding children as debtors?
iii. Where else could Minchin make a claim?
iv. Was her crime one of malice and asserting involuntary servitude because she was jealous of
Sara?
c. Why Lavinia and her friend? Lavinia is jealous; she was somewhat of a star before Sara came, though she was not a parlour border. She is unkind to Sara and is trying to ruin Sara’s reputation as “being the kind and perfect girl,” which she kept even after her fortunes fell. Sara is as genuinely kind and well liked as Lavinia is genuinely resentful and spoiled.
i. Resler says that Lavinia is a child instigator (46) and Minchin is “the adult who has become the ultimate authority” (46) and who abuses that authority.
ii. The two share different power advantages (46).
iii. Both “create an environment in which Sara, is not only belittled and ridiculed, but one in which she must arduously work to receive a pitiful amount of food and rest” (46).
d. Why is Amelia so passive/aggressive and timid? She is not a friend, and neither is Jessie, because neither tried to stop the abuse, (Resler 46), though Amelia does stand up to Minchin later.
e. Why starve Sara? How were servants fed?
H. Burnett’s stories, especially Sara’s, “have the element of the fairly tale” (Resler 14).
A. With ALP, Burnett joined a popular Victorian writing tradition,[ actually a 19th Century tradition shared by Charles and Mary Lamb with their tales of Shakespeare for children] ,that of retelling fairy tales (Resler 22).
B. Peter Hunt writes that “FHB’s work embodied fantasies of wish fulfillment, consolation, or reconciliation often drawn from fairy-tales or popular romantic form” (168).
C. With Sara and FHB, death of a father “is the catalyst that changes both of their lives “ (Resler 67).
B. Yet, as in the Fairy Tales, and even the Greek Myths, Sarah is a beggar in disguise. Also stories in the Bible. This is a moral test or tale where she is sorely tried, but maintains her dignity and princess statute through using her imagination, her friendships, and remembering her station.
i. The large family calls her The Little Girl who is Not a Beggar
j. Ram Dass notices right away she is not a servant or working class
k. Cook and toher servants are crude because they steal food but don’t know their place or recognize their station; cf Upstairs Downstairs, Manor House, Dowinton Abbey.
l. Sara says, in ALP, “everything’s a story. You are story—I am a story.”
m. Parallel to Cinderella: Burnett relies on (Bixler 75 in Resler 70)
n. Burnett writes “escapist literature, and reflects early love of romance. Ibid. Calls ALP “another version of the Cinderella tale for children” (Bixler 75 cited in Resler 70).
o. Princess defined: “In the Sara tales, a princess is one who acts kindly toward others, who is pleasant and helpful, and doesn’t look down on someone because of their social station in life” (Resler 71)
p. Sara “pretends to be a princess to help her combat the negative encounters she must have every day with other servants and her new superiors” (71). As a princess, she can spare Minchin :the executioner’s block, showing the teacher is a poor stupid old thing who doesn’t now any better” (Thwaite 105 cited in Resler 71).
III. Sara’s true friends are true to her in her misfortune, but also indebted to Sara for her kindnesses to them. Sara and Lottie remain her friends, even when she loses her fortune and humiliated by Miss Minchin (Resler 26). Becky also remains her friend, and through observing Becky and interacting with her, albeit inadvertently, Sara learns to cope as a servant in a cruel and parsimonious household.
a. Lottie-her father absolved his debt to her by sending his motherless child away
b. Ermengarde-debt to her father and grandmother she can’t fulfill; se is not a good student, like boy in Harry Potter, Nigel?
c. Becky
d. Ramdass and the Indian Gentleman
e. Anne and the Baker
f. Melchisedec, see his name, lowly rat; Sara is kind to him, though Victorians sentimental about animals, not usually rats. Others would be cruel to him, but she, though not used to such things, is kind.
A. Other stories of prisoners befriending rats or small animals, Elizabeth George, and The Bird Man of Alcatraz.
IV. It’s all relative
B. Sara has an obligation to continue to be a princess; keeps up her studies and continues to treat people well (Resler 59). She thus “stands apart form the other servants even while being one” (60). Her carriage is different (60).
C. Debt to her father’ memory/his guilt over financial failure led to is death and abandonment of his daughter.
D. He made no provision for her
E. Becky is always worse off and suffers more. Resler writes “The addition of the scullery maid, Becky, exemplifies the dichotomy that exists between Sara and the servants, including Becky, before and even after Sara becomes a servant . . . Becky is treated kindly by Sara before the death of Captain Crewe. Sara and Becky become closer and develop a friendship after Sara is made a servant: (Resler 59).
F. Anne the beggar girl is at the bottom the heap; she gives the girl, who has no name till the Baker woman names her, her food to pay it foreword because she realizes that she is still has some roof over her head, and though often hungry, she has some promise of a meal, and friends.
Anne makes an impression on Sara, and realizes that there are others like Anne. The book ends with Sara and Mr. Carrisford going back to Mrs. Brown’s bakery to ask her help in implementing a plan that will fund the bakery to feed hungry children like Anne.
Chapter where Sara first meets “Anne” as a filthy, hungry begging child is significantly titled “One of the Populace”
The Bakery owner was so impressed by Sara’s selflessness, that she takes in Anne and feeds her, then gives her a job and a placed to live, as well as a calling. She has been feeding other hungry children because Sara made her notice them and roused her pity and her actions.
i. Women of white chapel from Rumbelow
ii. Little Match Girl
G. Makes Baker notice her
H. Poor at this level are not noticed
I. Even servants like Becky aren’t considered to have feelings
J. Why is Ram Dass so shocked? He is a servant and there is a caste system in India/Monkey does better than Sara
i. What happens to Melchisedec/ [research is name]
K. Indian gentleman caused Capt. Crewe’s despair; he is debt to him to find and rescue Sara
V. The Indian Gentleman
A. Profile
B. The Large Family and why Sara is The little girl who is not a beggar
C. Queen’s larger brood; must be well off and he is a lawyer; different from cliché of lawyers
D. Sara is then charged with looking after The Indian Gentleman. She assumes her role on mistress of the house.
E. Wants to check on Ann, the beggar girl at the bakers, and this time, she arrives as a princess in full princess attire.
F. Indian Gentleman restores her to heiress state
G. Story gets around Miss Minchin’s, but other than Becky and Sara, no girls are removed. Why?
H. In the movie, 1995, Minchin is reduced to being a chimney sweep and loses all.
Vi. Sara as Princess and Persephone myth/her allusions to being a prisoner in Bastille, like Marie Antoinette
Conclusion: Why isn’t Minchin punished more? Because she was correct on the facts she had that she was owed a debt, so though a villain, she is a villain like Shylock who is indeed owed something. She is herself a single woman trying to run a business in patriarchal Victorian society. Capt. Crewe left her with a burden, and Minchin made it worse by worshiping money and putting Sara on a pedestal. They didn’t like each other in the first place.
Use Burnett, Cinderella, Prince and Pauper De Maupaussant The Necklace, Little Match Girl, Mill on Floss, Little Dorrit, Jenny Wren, Fairy Tales, even Persephone owes a debt, Kate Douglass Wiggins, Uncle Tom
Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Lincoln's Proclamation of Thanksgiving
Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Lincoln's Proclamation of Thanksgiving: Happy Thanksgiving from Dr. E and all her Blogs! Proclamation of Thanksgiving Washington, D.C. October 3, 1863 This is the proclamati...
Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Lincoln's Proclamation of Thanksgiving
Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Lincoln's Proclamation of Thanksgiving: Happy Thanksgiving from Dr. E and all her Blogs! Proclamation of Thanksgiving Washington, D.C. October 3, 1863 This is the proclamati...
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: To the Muses of my Blogs
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: To the Muses of my Blogs: Our beloved Anne Rice has her People of the Page, and I have my readres/viewers, my extended family which I call The Muses of my Blogs. For...
Thursday, November 15, 2012
I have it on good authority that the 2008 Czech film "Bathory" is at Redbox. You can get it on Netflix, but it is the DVD itself, not the Internet version. More later by John Donne on his wife, and other views of 16th abd 17th c. women. I write tonight in memory of my grandmother Marie, who died 31 years ago today. My YiaYia was a living saint, who never said a bad word about anyone. She wore black most of her young life because she lost her father as a little girl. She was a seamstress, and went to school with my other grandmother, Ellen, and with her sister Voula. She only went to the sixth grade, but she loved poetry and used to cut out poems with her pinking shears and clip them toghetr with safety pins. She was best friends with her mother in law, my greatgrandmother Clara Agglaia, and when she died, my grandma used to spend all night on the porch, rocking and crocheting. She suffered terribly in war, from loss of children, grief, and illness, but she never complained. She made the best cookies, and baked the best pies. I used to stand with her, wrapped in a little apron. She dressed naked dolls as she found them and quilted. She used to send me cards with a dollar inside, and was the family peacemaker. She grew up in Calamata, where the olives come froml May she rest in peace; I will always love her.
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Where else can you find Dr. E's Doll Museum?
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Where else can you find Dr. E's Doll Museum?: You can find us on Twitter, hashtag "Dr. E's Doll Museum." Facebook: Dr. E's Doll Museum We show up on Linked -in under my name, too. or ...
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Thank you for 2000+
Thanks to those 2000+ viewers who have read this blog. I appreciate it more than you know. I will be posting more information soon about Erzebet and women of her time similarly situated. In this month of haunts and vampires, her story becomes particularly significant. Also, the plight of protestants in Catholic dominated countries also becomes instructive, and those interested may want to read histories of The Holy Inquisitin and The Huguenots.
From my own experiences and heritage, I can tell you that many vampire legends began in Eastern Europe after The Great Schism, when the new Catholic supporters fought the traditional Church, now the Greek Orthodox/Eastern Orthodox Church. A good book on the subject is Bishop Timothy Ware's, The Orthodox Church. The combatants fought over who would bury the dead, and spread vampire legends about undead bodies walking the earth if they were not buried by the proper church. Whic church was proper was, of course, part of the controversy and therefore subjective at the time.
Thank you, and keep reading. I welcome information from other sites or sources as well.
Dr. E
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Haunted Dolls and Dolls of Horror
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Haunted Dolls and Dolls of Horror: Here is a link for an eBay review on buying Haunted Dolls; nope, I'm not kidding. "Tis" the season! There are dolls on eBay and on website...
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: The Peter Headed Huret
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: The Peter Headed Huret: Good Morning! I am looking for any information and photos about the whereaouts of this doll. It was once in the Maureen Popp collection, a...
Friday, October 5, 2012
The Iron Vigin
Elizabeth Bathory
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabeth-bathory.htm
Elizabeth Bathory
Interesting Facts and information about Elizabeth Bathory in Elizabethan Times
Short Biography about the life of Elizabeth Bathory - Lady Dracula
Facts and History of Elizabeth Bathory
Parallels between Elizabeth Bathory and Vlad Dracula
Facts and Brief History of Elizabeth Bathory
Elizabethan Times
Elizabethan Era Index
Elizabeth Bathory
Famous Elizabethans - Major Figures & People during Elizabethan Times
Short Biography of the life of Elizabeth Bathory - Lady Dracula
The following biography information provides basic facts about the life Elizabeth Bathory:
Nationality - Hungarian
Nickname: The notorious Elizabeth Bathory is also known as Lady Dracula
Lifespan - 1560 - 1614
Born: August 7, 1560 in modern-day Slovakia
Married: Count Ferencz Nadasdy in 1575
Spent her early married life living in the home of her husband - Nadasdy Castle in Sarvar, Hungary
Count Ferencz Nadasdy took Elizabeth Bathory's surname when they married giving her the full title of Countess Elizabeth Bathory Nadasdy.
Lady Dracula's Castle: Count Ferencz Nadasdy gave his wife the Countess Elizabeth Bathory Nadasdy Cachtice Castle in modern Slovakia ( then Hungary) together with the adjoining villages
Died: Elizabeth Bathory died August 21, 1614
Family connections of Elizabeth Bathory - Elizabeth Bathory came from one of the wealthiest families in Transylvania. Father was George/Gyorgy and her mother was Anna Bathory. The brother of Elizabeth’s mother was the Polish king Istvan Bathory (1533-1586) and Elizabeth’s nephew Gabriel Bathory was the ruler of Transylvania
Children: Elizabeth Bathory had six children although two children died in infancy. the names of her surviving children were:
Anastasia Bathory, born out of wedlock 1574
Anna Nadasdy (born c.1585)
Katalin (Katherina) Nadasdy (born c.1594)
Paul Nadasdy (1598 - 1650)
Education - extremely well educated and able to speak several languages
Famous for : Countess Elizabeth Bathory Nadasdy ( 1560 - 1614 ) is famous as a real historical figure who was reputed to have not only drunk but bathed in the blood of young virgin girls she murdered in order to retain her youth
Character of Elizabeth Bathory : Intelligent, ruthless, vain, cruel and sadistic - probably mentally unstable
Short Biography, Facts & History about the life of Elizabeth Bathory - Lady Dracula
The following are additional facts about the bio, life and history of Elizabeth Bathory:
Legend has it that Countess Elizabeth Bathory Nadasdy discovered her "secret of eternal youth" when some spots of blood from a beaten servant seemed to 'tighten' her skin. She became obsessed with this notion which gave her a perfect excuse to vent her sadistic streak on local teenage peasant women. Countess Elizabeth Bathory Nadasdy was known to torture her victims before bathing in their blood. Her instruments of torture included knives, pincers, needles, razors, red-hot irons and pokers. She is also reputed to have ordered the construction of an iron cage called "Iron Virgin". The "Iron Virgin" was shaped like a woman and fitted with blades, similar to the "Iron Maiden". Countess Elizabeth Bathory Nadasdy was believed to have been responsible for the deaths of over 600 peasant women. She was aided in her crimes by servants including Dorka Szentes, Iloona Joo, Johannes Ujuvary, Anna Darvulia and Damien Thorko. So many complaints were made about the Countess that King Mathias of Hungary sent cousin, Lord Palatine George Thurzo to question her. Her accomplices were sentenced to death but Elizabeth's involvement was 'hushed-up' due her her royal connections. She was quietly left to die in her own castle. The windows and doors of her room were sealed by workmen were sealed leaving just a small hath to pass food to her. Countess Elizabeth Bathory Nadasdy ( Lady Dracula ) died three and a half years later.
Parallels between Elizabeth Bathory and Dracula
Parallels have been made between Countess Elizabeth Bathory Nadasdy and Vlad Dracul (Prince Vlad IV) also called Vlad Dracula meaning Son of the Devil. Vlad Dracul (1431 - 1476) a was also known by the nickname Vlad the Impaler after impaling his enemies on stakes as a cruel and vicious form of torture and execution. Bram Stoker wrote the famous fictional book he called Dracula which was inspired by the Middle Ages prince from Transylvania who had a lust for blood. There is speculation that Bram Stoker also used the stories about Countess Elizabeth Bathory Nadasdy when writing his book. Prince Vlad IV and Elizabeth Bathory both lived in Transylvania and had a real lust for blood - there are several other similarities between these two historical figures...
Famous Elizabethans - Elizabeth Bathory - Lady Dracula
Some interesting facts and biography information about the History, Life & Times of Elizabeth Bathory. Additional details, facts, history and information about the famous Elizabethans and events in Elizabethan Times can be accessed via the Elizabethan Era Sitemap.
Elizabeth Bathory
Interesting Facts and information about Elizabeth Bathory in Elizabethan Times
Short Biography about the life of Elizabeth Bathory
Facts and History about Elizabeth Bathory
Major Figures during Elizabethan Times
Important accomplishments, dates and events in the life and history of Elizabeth Bathory
Nickname: Lady Dracula
Parallels between Elizabeth Bathory and Vlad Dracula
Elizabeth Bathory
More Balanced approach
What laws forbad her being tried due to status? Can anyone quote them or cite them to me:
Erzebet Bathory
http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/erzebet.html
Erzsebet Bathory, also known as Elizabeth Bathory, is one of the most infamous figures in history. Her crimes caused her to become a legendary and feared figure. Even after the legends have been lifted her crimes still seem unimaginable.
Bathory was born in 1560 to a well-established family. Her family had produced many powerful people in her time, including the Kings of Transylvania and Poland. She was married off for political reasons to Count Ferencz Nadasdy. Before the marriage took place she became pregnant with a child from a peasant. She was taken away to a family castle under the excuse that she was sick. She had a daughter, which was given away. She began a practice of torturing servants and was introduced into the occult while her husband was away at battle. The fascination with torture began for her as she saw her family deal with political enemies.
After her husband's death her fears of growing old began to grow more and more. When striking a servant girl for combing her hair too hard some of her blood fell on her hand. She thought the blood made her skin look younger and become convinced that blood was the secret of eternal youth. She was also convinced that blood from virgin girls would be the most effective. The maid was murdered so that Erzsebet could bathe in her blood. From here her most notorious deeds began. The tortures the girls would be put through would last for weeks, months. They were then cut in several different ways to provide blood for Bathory to wash herself with. More than six hundred women died because of Erzsebet. These women ranged from peasants to members of the nobility.
Investigations on Erzsebet's activities began in 1610. Some claim that she was investigated not because of her crimes but because of the finances involved with her family. These investigations also came only after four noble women were found murdered. Laws forbade she be put to trial because of her royal standing. These laws were removed to deal with her. Erzsebet did not admit to the crimes but she was sent to a small, walled in, room in her castle. Only a small opening to provide food was allowed. She stayed four years in that room until her death in 1614. Many of her accomplices were also found guilty and put to death but Bathory avoided that punishment due to her status.
Sometimes it is easy to concentrate on her crimes and ignore Erzsebet herself. She was very beautiful and also very intelligent. In fact she used her intelligence as a tool to get more victims as she lured noble girls to her castle under the promise of an education. It is also interesting to look at the political actions involved in this story. There are several interests involved in the prosecution of Erzsebet Bathory. Most involve the family fortune she had control over and people wanting an excuse to take it. She had the potential as being remembered as one of the best members of the Bathory family but she wound up becoming the most infamous.
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Annotated Bibliography
Báthory-Kitsz, Dennis. "Erzsebet." Malted/Media Productions. and . 5 April 2005.
The page is about a opera based on Erzsebet Bathory. It deals primarily with the happenings that are portrayed in the opera but manages to give some good information in the process. The page is best for works dealing with Erzsebet in the media. More information on the opera is found in the page at this link: . The page has some photographs of Erzsebet's home country at this link: .
Blinderman, Charles. "Vampurella: Darwin & Count Dracula." Massachusetts Review 21(1980): 411-428.
The article makes for an interesting read. It does not contain as much good information as the books on Erzsebet Bathory. Not something to base a report on but it makes for good secondary information.
Krause, Jerome C. "Erzsebet (Elizabeth) Bathory. Elizabeth Bathory" Brilliant Brief Lives. 5 April 2005.
A very good source of information. The page spends most of its time on Erzsebet's life saving only a couple of paragraphs for her crimes and punishment. This is a welcome change from biographies that are dominated by her crimes. The page also does a good job of giving a glimpse of her childhood and the life at the time. This page should definitely be visited if doing research, although it has, according to the author, a strong fictional content.
McNally, Raymond T. Dracula was a woman: in search of the blood countess of Transylvania. New York: McGraw Hill, 1983.
This is my favorite source for information on Erzsebet Bathory. The book begins with a background on Bathory as well as a look into the research done for the book. This is an interesting look into the research done for these projects. The book is a fascinating look into Bathory's life, trial, and the legends that have arisen in time. A very recommended book.
Penrose, Valentine, translated by Alexander Trocchi. The Bloody Countess. London: Calder & Boyars, 1970.
A look into the crimes of Erzsebet Bathory. The book is a bit old but still worth a read as it does provide much information on the subject. Definitely a source worth looking at.
Ronay, Gabriel. The Truth about Dracula. New York: Stein and Day, 1972.
The book goes heavily into the myths connected to Erzsebet Bathory. The findings in the book have been challenged in future books so its usefulness can be questioned. Still it is something to consider.
Segrave, Kerry. Women Serial and Mass Murderers: A Worldwide Reference, 1580 through 1990. McFarland and Co., 1992.
Information on Erzsebet Bathory is found in pages 20 through 23. While the book does provide some good information it's best contribution comes from its overall topic. It can be hard to believe that a person is capable of doing such horrible acts, which helps legends grow. This book shows that, unfortunately, the urge to kill or torture is not limited only to Erzsebet Bathory. Not many can equal her in numbers but far too many equal her in the desire.
Thorne, Tony. Countess Dracula: the life and times of the blood countess, Elisabeth Bâathory. London: Bloomsbury, 1997.
A very new source on Erzsebet Bathory. Because of its newness there have not been much time to evaluate its contents but still worth looking at for recent information. A source that definitely should be looked at.
Sheppard, R.Z. "Gothic Whoopee." Time, 8/14/95 Vol. 146 Issue 7.
The magazine gives a review of Andrei Codrescu's The Blood Countess. It doesn't offer much information on Erzsebet Bathory herself. The article talks about the use of the non-fictional figure in the fictional work. A good source if one plans on writing about the book or on the way Bathory is presented in the media.
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These sites seem to be dead:
An Early Countess Bathory. InterVamp http://home.wxs.nl/~intrvamp/art2.htm Viewed: 3/23/98
Not about Erzsebet Bathory directly. It is about a member of the French nobility who did a very similar crime. An interesting source for comparisons.
Biographical Notes for the Life of Elizabeth Bathory. Elizabeth Bathory Data http://www.oxy.edu/~dameron/occult/bathory.html . Viewed: 3/16/98
The page offers excerpts from The Dracula Book by Donald F. Glut. The excerpts go into a little more detail on the life of Erzsebet Bathory. They tend to ignore the very beginning and the very end, concentrating more on her crimes and what led to them. The excerpts also include descriptions of Erzsebet Bathory's presence in movies, comics, and books. A good source if one is interested in researching how she has been portrayed in the media.
Bloodlines: A Brief on the life and death of Hungary's infamous Blood Countess, Elzabeth Bathory-Nadasdy. Vampires http://msc.city.unisa.edu.au/Vampire/Characters/Elizabeth.html . Viewed: 3/22/98
The page offers a good amount of information of Erzsebet Bathory. It goes into detail on the crimes Erzsebet committed as well as the circumstances of her investigation. The author also goes into the subject of how much Bram Stoker was influenced by Erzsebet when writing Dracula. The annotated bibliography in the page helped me finish this bibliography.
Countess Elizabeth Bathory c. 1560-1614. VO http://doncaster.on.ca/~vampyre/faqs/bathory.html . Viewed: 3/16/98
The information on the page is not very specific but it does offer some interesting points about her life and punishment. Nothing to base a report on but it does offer some information that could help fill out a project. If you visit this page you may want to stop by the (very good) humor section. From personal experience, a good laugh is a good way to calm the tensions of research.
Elizabeth Bathory. Serial Killers http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~bakerkm/bathory.html . Viewed: 3/23/98
A brief biography of Elizabeth Bathory. It does have some interesting information on her husband's role in the formation of her habits. Worth a look if one still needs information.
Who is Elizabeth Bathory? Pathway to Darkness http://www.pathwaytodarkness.com/facts/who_is_bathory.htm. Viewed: 3/16/98
This section of the page offers a good, short biography of Erzsebet Bathory. The page also offers a link to a book review section ( http://www.pathwaytodarkness.com/fiction/reviews/index.html ) that offers reviews of fiction and non-fiction books. You can buy books that you may like online. The page is a good way to get basic information before setting on more ambitious goals.
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A Fictionalized Epistolary Novel; Erzebet as Unwitting Muse
The Letters of Elizabeth Bathory
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/1500019/1/The-Letters-of-Elizabeth-Bathory
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: VKM PM
A collection of letters pertaining to the historical "vampire", Elizabeth Bathory of Transylvania.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Words: 1,636 - Reviews: 4 - Favs: 1 - Published: 01-17-04 - id: 1500019
A a Abc Abc Abc Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
September First, 1614
To Whom It May Concern: The papers contained within this envelope are the personal letters of the evil vampiress, Erzebet Bathory, also known as Elizabeth. She was found guilty of the murder of over 600 innocent girls.
She was a demon obsessed with maintaining her youth, and aspiring to the throne of Poland, for which she was next in line.
After the death of her husband she began practicing the dark arts. She also became certain that the blood of young maids would keep her younthful, if she bathed in it, and sometimes she would drink the blood. Countless peasant girls were killed, as well as nobles. After the massacre of the latter began, the Emperor ordered her trial.
She was found guilty of all the murders in 1610. Also condemned were a coven of witches, led by Dorotta Szentes, also called Dorka. These foul creatures were burned for their crimes.
Due to her nobility, the Countess herself could not be put to death. The law even had to be changed to allow her to be put on trial in the first place. Her punishment was to be locked in a small closet in her castle with no openings except a small slot for food to be passed in. She died on August 21, 1614, without having ever shown any remorse for her atrocious crimes.
Now that you know the history of Erzebet Bathory, Countess of Transylvania, you may decide to continue. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Bram V Irving,
Magistrate
************************************************************************ March 1, 1610
Dorotta Szentes,
I hope that your lessons have been a success. It will be most convenient for me to communicate with the coven using writing, rather than having to summon you to my home. It is raising suspicion that is best avoided.
My youth cannot be maintained by myself alone. I constantly need your aid. As I have ever since my servant's blood fell upon my skin after I stuck her with my scissors. Where her virgin blood fell upon my skin looked fresher and younger. I had discovered the secret of everlasting beauty.
Unfortunately I have come to the conclusion that this weak peasant stock is not longer capable of providing such a gift. Their blood is weak, impure, and defective. I need noble blood for my noble skin. One day I will be Queen, and I cannot sully my appearance with tainted blood.
I have not yet decided how the noble girls I need will be acquired. But I will decide soon. Be prepared for my instructions.
Erzebet Bathory, Countess of Transylvania
************************************************************************
March 13
Erseebett,
Thanc yu for the lesons. to reade and wright is a honer. Thes skils our verie inportent. Coven is always yors to comand. Glad to be af sir vice.
Dorotta
************************************************************************
March 17, 1610
Dorotta,
You are never to misspell my name again! In fact, I forbid you to write Erzebet. You may refer to me as Elizabeth, and ONLY Elizabeth.
I have finally devised a plan to bring my elixir of youth to me. Since I am highly educated, a fact of which I am proud, I will offer to teach 25 young noble women who are not as learned as me. This will seem perfectly natural, and many nobles will wish their daughters' education to be properly finished. Once I am through with them, their education will be FINISHED! I cannot wait.
I will also invite another girl to aid me in my teachings. She will have to be gifted not only with intelligence, but also with beauty. Her blood will be the finest, befitting a lady of my status.
Erzebet Bathory
************************************************************************
March 28, 1610
Dear Dorotta,
I have found the perfect assistant for my academy. Her name is Rosalind Dumas and she is the Countess of Wallachia. She received her education as a result of being the only legitimate child and sole heir of the former Count of Wallachia. Both her parents have passed and with no immediate relatives, few will notice when she does not return from the castle alive.
Rosalind is also famous for her beauty. Many suitors have tried to win her hand, yet she refuses them all. I wouldn't mind if some of them followed her here, for my own enjoyment! No doubt her relatives will relish the opportunity to claim Wallachia for themselves once I remove her from this world. One of those distant relatives can inherit on the event of her death.
I sent her invitation yesterday. If all goes well Rosalind will arrive in one month, as will the noble maidens whom I also invited.
A fortnight afterwards the coven is to come to the back entrance of the castle. I will deliver to you the first of the girls. Be there by midnight.
Is not written communication so much better than verbal? Erzebet
************************************************************************
Apr. 1, 1610
Dear Erzebet Bathory,
Countess of Transylvania
Many thanks for your kind invitation. I would be delighted to come to your castle and share my knowledge with other young girls. I have long been grateful for the open mind of my gracious father, God rest his soul.
Most girls my age have not had the privilege to have had even a few lessons, much less the private tutor of my own education. Their minds have been left to be taught by their similarly uneducated mothers, and an unfortunate cycle has begun. But thanks to you, for some it will end.
My own mother died in childbirth and my father never remarried, for he loved her dearly. Thus I was the sole heir to my father's title and estates. It is because of this that I attribute my extensive education. My father also prepared me for the role that I have undertaken since his death last year.
Not many lords would consider a daughter a worthy successor. Many, when faced with such a predicament, hurry to find a suitable husband for their child, and secure a true heir. I sincerely hope your ladyship is not offended by my frankness, as I know you were married when you were quite young, younger than I am now. I hope that you were able to find love with your husband, before his untimely death. My own father gave me leave to marry a man who I loved, not just one who was rich. He did not "marry me off", for which I am thankful beyond words.
Once again I must express my gratitude for the opportunity to share what I know with young women who have not had my fortunate background. I thank you again.
Rosalind Dumas, Countess of Wallachia
************************************************************************ April 15 Elizabeth,
A hundread apologezes for my misspelling. I am verie, VERIE sorey. The coven whill bee at the castle at midnite. All is redy for the gest. May she bring yu many yeers of beuty.
Dorotta
************************************************************************
Apr. 29, 1610
Dearest Isabella, My dear, dear nurse, who raised me to be the lady I am now, I am deathly afraid. And terrified that something evil is afoot.
When I first arrived, my task here was pure joy. The area around the castle is beautiful, the Carpathians surrounding here are so magnificent. And those lovely young students were so eager. It was as if I had wandered into a dream. Then it became a nightmare.
One of the girls, little Sophia Luhrman, disappeared one night. The Countess sent search parties to find her, but not a trace was discovered.
We had finally put the sad affair behind us when another girl disappeared.
I am afraid for the girls and myself. Something is not right with our hostess. Every time I look into Elizabeth's eyes, I now see something sinister.
Please, dearest Isabella, I am in desperate need of your counsel. I want to flee this evil place, yet I cannot abandon those precious girls. What shall I do?
All my love,
Rosalind Dumas (written below)
Did she really think that I would allow this letter to leave the castle? Foolish child. She will not have time to regret it.
~E
************************************************************************
May 6, 1610
Dear Dorka,
Rosalind is dead. I have been forced to terminate her employment earlier than originally intended. She was beginning to become suspicious, she even tried to send a letter pertaining to the recent events here in the castle. I had planned to save her until the end, but some things are unavoidable. Do not worry about collecting anything, I have disposed of her.
Because of this unforeseen event, the next delivery will have to be delayed. Expect the next girl on the first of June.
Elizabeth
************************************************************************
May 18
Dearest Mistress,
I fear that the famly of the countes will discover wat hapenned to Roselin. The coven is scaired. Be carful!
Dorka
************************************************************************
May 20, 1610
Dorka,
In light of the expected investigation, please return the correspondence that I have sent to you, including this one. They would incriminate both of us beyond anything else, as they are undisputable confessions of our guilt.
You have been a faithful servant, and your service will not be easily forgotten. Once this suspicion dissipates, I will be in need of the coven again.
I MUST ALWAYS BE BEAUTIFUL!!!
Elizabeth
(A/N This story, sadly enough, is based on the true life of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, one of the most infamous "vampires" in history, possibly second only to Vlad Dracula himself.) The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.
Delpy's 2004 Film; Some Background
'Disturbing'
But if Celine's future is not yet mapped out, Delpy's career path certainly is.
Next year she wants to direct a feature film she has written about bloodthirsty Hungarian Countess Erzebet Bathory, who, it is rumoured, inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula.
"I just love that story," says Delpy as she recounts the tale of Bathory who is said to have bathed in the blood of virgins.
"It is really, really dark... I actually had an agent who dropped me because of that script. He said it was so disturbing he didn't think he could work with me any more."
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Perseuction of Protestants in Hungary
Here is a great article on the Hungarian Reformation, applicable to Erzebet's time:
The Hungarian Reformation
By Chris Richards
…in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. (2 Cor 11:23 KJV)
With the rise of Islam very much in the news, the history of the Reformation in Hungary makes an interesting study. The Church there not only had to contend for the faith against Roman Catholicism but also against the Islamic Turks who invaded Hungarian territory. The Christian can learn much from the history of the Church in Hungary. For the greater part of its existence it has been oppressed and persecuted. Rome, Islam, or Communist persecutions have never totally destroyed Gospel witness in Hungary.
It is also fitting that the Reformation story be retold in this year of 2006, as this year marks special anniversaries for Stephen Bocskay, sometimes known as the Hungarian Oliver Cromwell. Bocskay was born in 1556 and died by poisoning in 1606. He is commemorated on the International Reformation Monument in Geneva, towards the erection of which the Hungarian Reformed Church contributed one of the largest sums of money. Only the Church of Scotland contributed more. Despite the Reformed Church of Hungary claiming over two million adherents, Hungary is often regarded as a wholly Roman Catholic country.
The Early Days
The Gospel was planted among the Magyar peoples who settled in Hungary from Asia by Cyrillus. The rise of the Papacy affected Hungary as it did in all other places where Rome usurped local churches. By the time of the Reformation, Hungary had 150 so-called Holy Places. “Miracles” were commonplace yet the morality of the country was very low.
The preaching of John Huss in Prague affected many students from Hungary who were studying at Prague University. However, it was not until a century later that the populace were reached with the Gospel. Luther’s protest against the sale of indulgences in 1517 opened the way for the Hungarian Reformation. Many Germans had settled in Hungary. This German influence led to Luther’s writings being circulated. By 1600 it is believed that 60% of the population was Protestant.
Queen Mary, a very influential member of the Royal Family, was won over to the Reformation. She used her influence to protect Protestant preachers, especially John Henkel. From 1523 Reformed Truth had been taught at the Academy of Ofen in Budapest. In Transylvania (then part of Hungary) the Reformers were zealous in catechizing the people. This led to the populace mocking and ridiculing the superstitious beliefs of the Roman priests.
Rome Thwarted
The Roman Bishops demanded that Queen Mary’s husband, King Louis II, move against the Reformers. All Lutheran books were ordered to be burnt and all property owned by Lutherans was to be confiscated. Some books were burnt, but before the persecution could take hold an Islamic army threatened invasion. Soliman the Magnificent with an army of 300,000 men marched on Hungary. All the troops Louis could muster were 27,000. These were quickly defeated by Soliman. The King, in making his escape, suffered a riding accident which killed him.
The invasion by the Turks resulted in 200,000 Hungarians being massacred. Two claimants put themselves forward as the rightful king, John Zapolya and Ferdinand of Austria. This division led to civil war and was accompanied by Soliman’s occasional attacks. This unrest left the Reformers unhindered. Nobles and two Bishops embraced the Reformation.
In 1537 Matthias Devay began a powerful ministry in Budapest, and Ferdinand was presented with a copy of the Augsberg Confession. Budapest was under Zapolya’s authority. Influenced by Roman priests, Zapolya had Devay imprisoned. Also in the prison was Zapolya’s blacksmith and Devay witnessed to the smith. Zapolya ordered the blacksmith’s release. He, though, said he would not leave prison without Devay, whereupon Zapolya ordered his release too. Devay left the country, visiting Wittenburg in Germany and Basle in Switzerland, where he acquainted himself with printing practice. In 1537 he returned to Hungary and set up a press. On this was printed the first book in the Hungarian Language.
Reluctantly, Ferdinand agreed to move against the Reformers. Devay and an evangelist, Stephen Szantai, were denounced but not imprisoned. Ferdinand arranged for a debate between Szantai and a Romanist theologian named Gregory. The judges of the debate came to Ferdinand explaining that they were in a dilemma. Szantai could prove his doctrine by Scripture; Gregory could not. Yet if they found Szantai the victor they would be guilty of heresy.
The King now found himself in the same dilemma. He spoke with Szantai. Rome demanded that the King have Szantai burned. Instead, he made provision for the would-be martyr to leave his territory.
Reformation Complete
In Hungary there was no sudden fall of the Roman Catholic Church, but rather a gradual weakening of its support. The great progress of the Reformation came from three sources-the evident superior teaching of the Reformation so clearly seen in the Szantai-Gregory debate; the publishing of the Hungarian New Testament in 1541; and the reluctance of the claimants to the Kingdom to offend the Protestant nobility by persecution.
Young men studied theology in Wittenburg and Geneva. On their return they took up evangelical ministries. On John Zapolya’s death, his infant son was proclaimed his successor. His mother invited Soliman to become the child’s protector. The army of Soliman entering the Kingdom led to many fleeing before it, including many Reformed preachers. When things settled down these returned, the Turks allowing them to preach unhindered. By 1554 Transylvania was almost entirely Protestant. The last priest left the city of Huns as the place was without a single Roman Catholic. Count Petrovich undertook, as Regent to the infant King, a political reformation. Metal idols were melted down, monasteries turned into schools and the Church lost all political patronage.
Troubles Within
Unfortunately a difference arose within the Church that would lead to a split. The trouble arose over the Lord’s Table. Ministers who studied in Wittenburg followed Luther’s teaching while others followed Calvin’s teaching. In 1545 and 1546 two confessions were published, one from each camp. At this time separation was not practiced by either side. The publishing of these Confessions, however, did lead to the Hungarian church organizing itself and not relying on German help. It also completely broke off ecclesiastical contact with local Roman Catholic Bishops.
Romanists tried to bribe the Turks to kill Protestants. However, as Protestant meeting houses had no idols, which the Turks abhorred, they refused. The Pashas ordered that no hindrance should be put in the way of those who preached the faith of the “Great Mufti of Wittenberg”! A change of Regent could have caused the Reformers many problems. However, the enemy of the Reformation, Losonezy, was killed in battle against the Turks.
The differences between the two Protestant groupings remained even during the fierce persecutions which were to follow. Publications and counter-publication from both sides vied with one another. Pronouncements from both sides precluded any coming together.
Stephen Bocskay
The claim of Ferdinand passed eventually to Rudolph II. He had no interest in Reformed teaching, being more concerned with astrology and alchemy. His lack of concern at the treatment of his Protestant subjects, now confronted by a Jesuit led counter-reformation, led to an uprising. The Protestants of Holland had risen against the persecuting Hapsburg emperors of the Holy Roman Empire who ruled them. The Hungarian Protestants, facing similar despotic rule and active persecution, sought to defend themselves. Their captain was Stephen Bocskay who was elected to lead the Protestant forces, called hadjous. Rudolph refused the Protestants’ call for religious freedom and was determined to destroy any attempt to secure this. Bocskay led his hadjous to victory and was urged to accept the title Prince of Hungary. He would not accept this claim to the Kingdom. He did however accept the simple title of Prince of Siebenburgen.
Bocskay Victories
Bocskay victories over the Hapsburg Rudolph called for great military skill. Not only did Bocskay have to face Romanist forces but also to keep a watchful eye on the Turks, who were always looking for an opportunity to invade. The victories over Rudolph forced him to sign a treaty called the Peace of Vienna. This gave rights to all citizens to practice their faith without state interference. The Peace of Vienna was accepted by the hadjous at the Diet (legislative assembly) at Kassa. During the Diet, Bocskay was poisoned, probably by a false friend, the Chancellor Katay. Bocskay died on 29th December 1606. On his death the outraged hadjous put Katay to death.
The death of Bocskay was a great setback for the Protestant cause. The provisions of the Peace of Vienna proved short-lived and a fearful persecution came on the Church once again.
The Fall of the Hapsburgs
In 1616 Ferdinand II came to the Throne. He repudiated the Peace of Vienna. The Jesuits set up courts of Inquisition. Pastors and Protestant nobility were hung and villages forcibly made to accept Roman Catholicism. Again the Protestants were driven to take up arms to defend themselves. Again the Protestants had a great military leader, Gabriel Bethlen. Three times he secured promises of peace from the Romanist Ferdinand only to see the Treaty broken once the Protestant forces dispersed.
Bethlen never seemed to realize that Rome could not be trusted. The last Treaty Bethlen secured by arms from the Hapsburgs also gave an undertaking by Bethlen never to take up arms again. Although Bethlen kept his part of the bargain, Rome did not keep her side. Like Bocskay, Bethlen was poisoned by Romanist doctors. During this time 100,000 were forcibly “converted to Rome.” The country was depopulated through martyrdom and Protestants fleeing.
Ferdinand II was followed by a succession of persecuting monarchs. Just as many came to view the French Revolution as God’s judgment on the persecuting Romanist French Royal family, so, when in 1866 defeated Austria fell from the front rank of nations, this was viewed in the same light. Another fifty years on from this the Hapsburg Empire collapsed in the First World War. Protestants called the House of Austria the House of Ahab. The Protestants of Hungary adopted a policy of passive resistance. Pastors sent to row in the galleys were freed by Dutch men-of-war, who hearing of the punishment given to the Hungarian pastors, made it their business to board the Hapsburg vessels and free the pastors. Finally, as revolution threatened the Romanist despots of Europe during the 18th Century, religious toleration was granted. The Act of Toleration of 1781 was superseded in 1848 by the guarantee of complete religious liberty.
The Hapsburg Empire went into history at the end of World War 1.
The Church remained, having withstood both Rome and Islam!
This article was written in:
The Reformer
July/August 2006 Edition
Published by:
The Protestant Alliance
77 Ampthill Road
Flitwick, Bedford MK45 1BD
England
Back
Just in Time for Halloween
They have not done Erzebet yet, but I love this site by Shiva Rodriguez. I have their Catherine Howard doll. The links are fun, too.
http://www.headlesshistoricals.com/GalleryIndex.htm
Demonic Dolls
No pun intended, these are OOAK Barbie type dolls made into EB and other hellish figures. They are indeed, the "dolls from hell," no pun intended, and the menacing music and graphics set the tone. The dolls are custom made and not for sale, but you can order your own. Not for kids.
http://www.artonyou.com/DemonicDolls2.htm
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