Cachtice Castle and Elizabeth Bathory

I got another request. I had talked a little bit about Cachtice Castle, where Elizabeth Bathory lived, in my travel post. There are some who wish for me to expand on this topic. I couldn’t be happier to do this topic. There is so much to talk about, I will have to restrain myself. Cachtice Castle is located on the top of a hill just about the village of Cachtice. Cachtice Castle was a wedding present given to Countess Elizabeth Bathory in the 16^th century, along with the 17 surrounding villages. Elizabeth moved into Cachtice Castle when she was 14 years old. It was not until 1615, when Elizabeth was about 40 years old, that she started killing young women within the wall of Cachtice.

                For those of you who have not read my previous posts on travel and Elizabeth Bathory I will give a bit of a background on the historical context of this amazing castle. Elizabeth Bathory was a countess who lived in Cachtice Castle in the late 16^th and early 17^th centuries. She was also known as the Blood Countess. She believed that if she bathed on the blood of young women she would remain youthful and beautiful. Over approximately a five year period, Elizabeth Bathory killed about 600 young women from the surrounding villages. When this was found out Elizabeth was found guilty of these crimes. Since they could not kill a member of the nobility, they walled her up in the castle and left her to die.

                With all of that in mind, one is surely thinking that Cachtice Castle must be haunted. So many deaths took place here. The castle is in ruins. Today people are allowed to go on a hike to the ruins. They can’t go in due to the ruins being a historical landmark for the local people. There could also be some superstitions connected to the castle and anyone who would choose to walk in there. There is also a museum within the village of Cachtice that is dedicated to the castle and relics that were able to be saved after the castle was burned down in 1708.

                It was in 1708 that the castle was laid siege to and burned. They did repair the castle in 1715 though. After that it was used as a jail. No one has used Cachtice Castle as a residence since 1708. Not many people remember that this castle was used as a jail though. It is most famous for being the residence of Elizabeth Bathory. I think I have gone through about 10 articles that talk mainly about Elizabeth Bathory and horrible things she did during her life at Cachtice Castle. People are mainly wanting to hear about where Elizabeth Bathory lived during the infamous years of her life. Along with the details of the horrible things that she did during those infamous years. One can never forget to mention why Elizabeth Bathory is infamous.

Sources:

http://www.slovakheritage.org/Castles/cachtice.htm

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ruins-cachtice-castle

Time Travel to Transylvania, Romania

So, I got a comment on my post about travelling. YAY!!!! I love it when people give me feedback, it lets me know that people are reading the post and are enjoying it. The comment I got was asking me which era I would like to travel to. This is a no brainer for me. It would have to be the High Middle Ages. For those who are unaware of when that time period is, it is the period between 1066 and 1500. Vlad the Impaler lived right at the end of the High Middle Ages. I know that a lot of people call this period the Dark Ages as well, mainly because they believe that nothing of importance really happened during this era. They are very wrong though. So much happened during the Middle Ages.

                For me the draw to Transylvania would be the people more than the events that took place. Compared to the rest of the world the Middle Ages were pretty quiet for the people of Transylvania, at least when it came to events that took place. There were not too many major battles that took place so it would have been a relatively safe place to live. Sure there would have been a lot of the small battles where people would be trying to seize power or maintain a hold on power. These battles were inevitable during the Middle Ages. The thing to consider is that they would have kept life interesting back then. They did not have television or movies or internet for entertainment. Their entertainment would have been the gossip or news that was circulating at the time. 

                Another thing for me would have been the activities that did take place. For example, the faires or even just the day to day life of the common people. Yes, I would have chosen to be a commoner, not a person of nobility. Sure life would be harder for a commoner than a person of the nobility. As it is, I love doing crafts like knitting, crochet and sewing. These are talents that would have been used on a daily basis in the Middle Ages. Each country had their own styles and patterns that they would have used. The Transylvania styles and patterns can be hard to come by now a days, so the idea of having the opportunity to learn them is something that I would not be able to pass up. 

                The final thing that would bring me to the Middle Ages in Transylvania would have been the people who did become famous. I would love to have a chance to meet both Vlad the Impaler and his father, Vlad Dracul. Meeting Vlad Dracul would be more of the interest of learning just what kind of father Vlad the Impaler had. Also I am kind of obsessed with anything that involves dragons so learning more about the Order of the Dragon (from those who were actually in the Order) would be another temptation that I could not pass up. The desire to meet Vlad the Impaler is more of a curiosity with comparing the man he was to the character of Count Dracula that Bram Stoker created.

                This was a post I had a lot of fun with. Looking things up and just deciding ‘when’ I would travel there if there was a time machine available. For those of you wondering why I did not name Elizabeth Bathory, it’s because she was not alive during this period. Well, that and I would be afraid that she would want to kill me and bathe in my blood. Please feel free to comment and leave more ideas for future posts.

Transylvanian Society of Dracula

Looking back through some previous websites that I have sourced before I noticed a new link had been added. It was a link to the TSD, the Transylvanian Society of Dracula. When I first saw this link I was thinking that it was a new link talking about an old society that had existing in either the time of Vlad Tepes or just after he had died. The thing was it wasn’t. It is a new link about a society that had formed in 1991. It is still strong in the present day.

The main thing about it is that it is a society that is dedicated to the study of both the fictional character of Count Dracula and the historical man Vlad Tepes. This is a society that people can join and find other people who share their love of Dracula, both the history and the myth. There are events held annually in Romania by the TSD. It is a non-profit organization that has chapters throughout Romania and Europe. There is even a Canadian chapter. Unfortunately, no chapter in the US, but Americans can join through the Canadian chapter. There are even some of BramStoker’s relatives that are a part of the society.

Once a person becomes a member they do receive a few things. They will get a quarterly newsletter, a free copy of the annual scholarly publication (Journal of Dracula Studies), access to membership directory, the occasional in-house publication, access to various resource materials of the TSD (upon request only), and updated information on Dracula conferences and travel tours. Of course the main thing that people receive is the feeling of belong to a group of like minded people. The link will be at the bottom of the page. The head office is located in Bucharest, Romania. There is also the “Company of Mysterious Jouneys.” This is the travel agency that is run by members of the TSD. They have tours of Transylvania and Romania available. The link provided will also have the methods of how to become a member of the TSD. There does appear to be an annual fee, which is understandable due to the newsletter and annual scholarly publication that members will receive.

Having learned about this new society it makes me think of some things. For example are some of the directors and producers of Dracula movies part of the TSD? Dracula is slowly coming back to popularity. They are even making a new television series for Dracula within the year of 2013-- hopefully this will help Transylvania and its history. Are any of the people involved in the making and production of this show member of the TSD? Are any of the people involved in previous Dracula shows and movies members of the TSD? It is something to consider. The members of the TSD can and do come from all walks of life.

One major thing to keep in mind is that the TSD does not connect itself to either practicing or aspiring vampires. They study one vampire, which would be Dracula, in a fictional sense.