luni, 31 ianuarie 2011

the blood contes


Film image of the Countess BathoryPoster of Cruelty and the BeastThe only portrait of the Countess

1560: Elizabeth Bathory is born into one of the oldest and wealthiest families in Transylvania. Her family had many powerful relatives -- a cardinal, princes, and a cousin who was prime minister of Hungary are among these relatives. The most famous relative was Istvan (ISHT-vahn) Bathory (1533-86). Istvan was prince of Transylvania and king of poland from 1575-86. It has been said that At around the age of 4 or 5, Elizabeth had violent seizures. These may have been caused by epilepsy or another neurological disorder and may have something to do with her "psychotic" behavior later in life.
1575: Age 15, Elizabeth married Count Ferenc (pronounced FAIR-entz) Nadasdy (NAW-dawzhd with silent y). The Count was  26 years of age. The count took Elizabeth's surname so that she could keep her name. They lived together in Castle Cséjthe (which in hungarian is pronounced CHAY-tuh). In Slovak this Castle is named Cachtice (pronounced CHAKH-teet-suh). [To this day there is rivalry between the Hungarians and the Slovak's and you will get a blank expression if you refer to the "wrong" name.] The count spent a great deal of time away from home fighting in wars and for this he was nicknamed "The Black Hero of Hungary". While her husband was away Elizabeth's manservant Thorko introduced her to the occult. For a brief time Elizabeth eloped with a "dark stranger". Upon her return to Castle Cachtice the count did forgive her for her leaving. Back at the castle, Elizabeth couldn't tolerate her domineering mother-in-law. With the help of her old nurse Ilona Joo, she began to torture the servant girls. Her other accomplices included the major-domo János Ujvary (pronounced YAH-nosh OOEE-vahr-yuh), Thorko, a forest witch named Darvula and a witch Dorottya Szentes. The first ten years of their marriage, Elizabeth bore no children because she and Ferenc shared so little time together as he pursued his "career." Then around 1585, Elizabeth bore a girl whom she named Anna, and over the following nine years gave birth to two more girls, Ursula and Katherina, and in 1598 bore her first and only son, Paul. Judging from letters she wrote to relatives, she was a good wife and protective mother, which was not surprising since nobles usually treated immediate family very differently from the lower servants and peasant classes.
1600: At age 51, Count Ferenc died in battle and thus began Elizabeth's period of atrocities. First, she sent her hated mother-in-law away from the Castle. By this time it is thought that she had dabbled into some forms of sorcery, attending rituals that included the sacrificing of horses and other animals. Elizabeth, now 40 years old, grew increasingly vain and she feared the thought of aging as she may lose her beauty. One day a servant girl accidentially pulled her hair while combing it. Elizabeth slapped the girl's hand so hard she drew blood. The girls blood fell into ELizabeth's hand and she immediately thought that her skin took on the freshness of her young maid. She believed that she had found the secret of eternal youth. Elizabeth had her major-domo and Thorko strip the maid and then cut her and drain her blood into a huge vat. Elizabeth bathed in it to beautify her entire body.
1600 - 1610: Elizabeth's henchmen continued to provided Elizabeth with new girls for the blood-draining ritual and her blood baths. Elizabeth went out of her way to see to it that the dead girls were given proper Christian burials by the local Protestant pastor, at least initially. As the body count rose, the pastor refused to perform his duties in this respect, because there were too many girls coming to him from Elizabeth who had died of "unknown and mysterious causes." She then threatened him in order to keep him from spreading the news of her "hobby" and continued to have the bodies buried secretly. Near the end, many bodies were disposed of in haphazard and dangerously conspicuous locations (like nearby fields, wheat silos, the stream running behind the castle, the kitchen vegetable garden, etc.).  But one of her intended victims escaped and told the authorities about what was happening at Castle Cachtice. King Mátyás (MAHT-yash) of Hungary ordered Elizabeth's own cousin, Count György (pronounced DYERD-yuh) Thurzo, governor of the province to raid the castle. On December 30, 1610 they raided the castle and they were horrified by the terrible sights. One dead girl in the main room, drained of blood and another alive whose body had been pierced with holes. In the dungeon they discoverd several living girls, some of whose bodies had been pierced several times. Below the castle, they exhumed the bodies of some 50 girls.
1611: A trial was held at Bitcse. Elizabeth, who refused to plead either guilty or innocent, and never appeared in the trial.. At this trial Johannes Ujvary, major-domo, testified that about 37 unmarried girls has been killed, six of whom he had personally recruited to work at the castle. The trial revealed that most of the girls were tortured for weeks or even months. They were cut with scissors, pricked with pins, even prodded with burning irons onto short spikes in a cage hung from the ceiling to provide Bathory with a "blood shower". Sometimes the two witches tortured these girls, or the Countess did it herself. Elizabeth's old nurse testified that about 40 girls had been tortured and killed. In fact, Elizabeth killed 612 women -- and in her diary, she documented their deaths. A complete transcript of the trial was made at the time and it survices today in Hungary. Of the people involved in these killings, all but Countess Bathory and the two witches were beheaded and cremated. Due to her nobility, Elizabeth was not allowed by law to be executed. The tow accomplices had their fingers torn out and were burned alive. The court never convicted Countess Elizabeth of any crime, however she was put under house arrest. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in her torture chamber and stonemasons were brought to wall up the windows and doors of the with the Countess inside. They left a small hole through which food could be passed. King Mátyás II demanded the death penalty for Elizabeth but because of her cousin, the prime minister, he agreed to an indefinitely delayed sentence, which really meant solitary confinement for life.
1614: On July 31 Elizabeth (age 54) dictated her last will and testament to two cathedral priests from the Esztergom bishopric. She wished that what remained of her family holdings be divided up equally among her children, her son Paul and his descendants were the basic inheritors though. Late in August of the year 1614 one of the countess's jailers wanted to get a good look at her, since she was still reputedly one of the most beautiful women in Hungary. Peeking through the small aperture in her walled-up cell, he saw her lying face down on the floor. Countess Elizabeth Bathory was dead. Her body was intended to be buried in the church in the town of Cachtice, but the grumbling of local inhabitants found abhorrent the idea of having the "infamous Lady" placed in their town, on hallowed ground no less! Considering this, and the fact that she was "one of the last of the descendants of the Ecsed line of the Bathory family", her body was placed to the northeastern Hungarian town of Ecsed, the original Bathory family seat.
More Information:
  • All records of Elizabeth were sealed for more than a century, and her name was forbidden to be spoken in Hungarian society.
  • Unlike most females of the time, Elizabeth was well educated and her intelligence surpassed even some of the men of her time. Elizabeth was exceptional, becoming "fluent in Hungarian, Latin, and German... when most Hungarian nobles could not even spell or write...Even the ruling prince of Transylvania at the time was barely literate"(20). Some modern scholars and contemporaries of hers postulated that she may have been insane, thus accounting for her seemingly inconceivable atrocities, but even a brief glance into her past reveals a person fully in control of her faculties.
  • Dracula, created by the Irish author Bram Stoker, was based, albeit loosely, on the Romanian Prince, Vlad Dracula, the Impaler. Raymond T. McNally, who has written four books on the figure of Dracula in history, literature, and vampirism, in his fifth book, "Dracula was a Woman," presents insights into the fact that Stoker's Count Dracula was also strongly influenced by the legends of Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary. Why, for example, make a Romanian Prince into a Hungarian Count? Why, if there are no accounts of Vlad Dracula drinking human blood, does blood drinking consume the Dracula of Stoker's novel, who, contrary to established vampire myth, seems to appear younger after doing so? The answers, of course, lie in examining the story of Countess Elizabeth Bathory.
  • It was largely Slovak servants whom Erzsebet killed, so the name "Csejthe" is only spoken in derision, and she is still called "The Hungarian Whore" in the area.


Adevarul despre Elizabeth Bathory este poate chiar mai ciudat si intrigant decat toate legendele, speculatiile si miturile populare infioratoare care s-au nascut in jurul ei. Contesa a fost una dintre cele mai crude, de temut si sangeroase personalitati ale tuturor timpurilor si un criminal in serie atat de feroce cum rar se consemneaza in istorie.
Realitatea nu este intotdeauna numai lapte si miere asa cum ne-am dori. Istoria are si pagini mai putin curate. Istoria are si modelele ei negative, antieroii a caror viata ne fac sa ne apreciem si mai mult eroii si ne inspira in crearea povestilor de groaza. Oamenii nu sunt intotdeauna ceea ce par. Dincolo de un chip frumos si de o educatie aleasa, dincolo de aura de delicatete si fragilitate degajata de statutul de femeie, sub aparenta mastilor si a intrigilor politice, a pozitiei sociale sau a dorintei de a da uitarii faptele, exista fapte care cutremura prin malitiozitatea si cruzimea lor, exista comportamente care nu pot decat sa iti provoaca fiori pe sira spinarii. Se spune despre fascinanta si temuta contesa Elizabeth Bathory ca a fost una dintre cele mai crude si sangeroase personalitati ale tuturor timpurilor si un criminal in serie atat de feroce cum rar se consemneaza. Si s-ar putea ca totul sa fie adevarat... Elizabeth Báthory, contesa-monstru de care s-a ingrozit istoria...
Istoria nu se bazeaza insa pe legende cusute cu fir de minciuna si povesti de adormit copiii, are nevoie de fapte, dovezi, de realitate, de evenimente care au avut loc in timp si fapt. Adevarul despre Elizabeth Bathory este poate chiar mai ciudat si intrigant decat toate legendele, speculatiile si miturile populare infioratoare care s-au nascut in jurul ei. Cu siguranta ca Elizabeth Bathory nu a fost femeia vampir ce sugea sangele oamenilor si nici femeia canibal ce isi potolea foame cu carne proaspata de om, poate ca inclinatiile sale sexuale sunt incerte, poate ca practicile sale de magie si tehnicile cu care isi tortura victimele sunt doar un mit, insa mai mult ca sigura ca in numele dorintelor sale a curs mai mult sange decat i-a fost dat vreunei fiinte umane sa verse. Marturiile victimelor care i-au supravietuit dovedesc acest lucru, cadavrele si ramasitele umane mutilate gasite pe proprietatile din jurul castelului in care locuia contesa reprezinta fara doar si poate o dovada imposibil de contestat.
Ar fi putut avea totul…
Ce cuvinte neexagerate, “la limita normalitatii” ar putea fi spuse despre Elizabeth Bathory pentru a o pune si intr-o lumina favorabila inainte de a arunca asupra ei stigmatul de “femeie monstru”? Elizabeth Bathory a fost si mama, avand un baiat si 3 fete (alti 2 copii ai sai au murit la varsta infantila). Din scrisorile cu valoare documentara datand din acea perioada reiese ca Elizabeth se folosea frecvent de puterea sa pentru a interveni in favoarea vaduvelor de razboi din Ungaria aflate in pragul unei saracii cumplite. Ceea ce o face cu adevarat cea mai interesanta si “de neinteles” femeie din istorie este faptul ca era o femeie frumoasa, talentata, extrem de inteligenta, instruita si culta, o persoana care avea totul si… societatea acelei vremi la picioare pentru a fi daca nu fericita, atunci cel putin multumita. Intr-un timp in care multi dintre nobili erau iliterati (chiar si barbatii despre care se presupunea ca sunt mai scoliti decat femeile), tanara contesa era capabila sa converseze ireprosabil in 3 limbi; limba maghiara, latina si greaca, beneficiind totodata de o educatie aleasa.

istoria vampirilor

Vampirii

Vampiri


Legenda vampirilor a fost si inca mai este inradacinata in Romania. Aici au fost dintotdeauna vampiri - precum creaturile din mitologia altor culturi. Oricum, vampirul, asa cum a devenit cunoscut in Europa si de aici in America, provine din Europa de Est. O adevarata epidemie de vampirism s-a intins in Europa de Est incepand cu sfarsitul secolului al 17-lea, continuand apoi in Balcani. Din Balcani, mitul s-a raspandit spre vest in Germania, Italia, Franta, Anglia si Spania. Calatorii se intorc din Balcani si aduc cu ei aceste povesti cu vampiri, care mai au continuare si astazi. Filozofii din Vest au inceput sa studieze fenomenul. Era in timpul perioadei lui Dom Augustin Calmet care a scris faimosul tratat despre vampirismul in Ungaria. Romanele lui Stoker au fost pur si simplu culmea unei lungi serii de lucrari originare din Balcani si Ungaria.

Vampirii:       Chronologie

inspirata din cartea lui J. Gordon Melton

Anii 1000

  • 1047 Prima aparitie a cuvantului "upir" ( in prima forma a cuvantului de mai tarziu care a devenit "vampir") intr-un document referitor la un print Rus ca "upir Lichy", sau vampir periculos.

Anii 1100

  • 1190 Walter Map "De Nagis Curialium" includ referiri asupra unui vampir ca existent in Anglia.
  • 1196 Wiliam de Newburgh "Cronicile" inregistreaza cateva povesti despre vampiri ca fiind originari din Anglia.

Anii 1400

  • 1428/29 s-a nascut Vlad Tepes, fiul lui Vlad Dracul.
  • 1463 Vlad Tepes devine Print al Valahiei si se muta la Targoviste.  
  • 1442 Vlad Tepes este intemnitat impreuna cu tatal sau de catre turci.
  • 1443 Vlad Tepes devine ostatic la turci.
  • 1447 Vlad Dracul este decapitat.
  • 1448 -Vlad obtine rapid tronul Valahiei. Detronat, el merge in Moldova si are relatii de prietenie cu printul Stefan.
  • 1451 - Vlad si Stefan fug din Transilvania.
  • 1455 -  Caderea Constantinopolului.
  • 1456 - Ion Hunyadi la ajutat pe Vlad Tepes sa obtina tronul Valahiei.
  • 1458 - Matei Corvin la succedat pe Ion Hunyadi la rege al Ungariei.
  • 1459 - Masacrul boierilor si recladirea Castelului Bran. S-a stabilit Bucurestiul ca al doilea centru guvernamental.
  • 1460 - Atac asupra Brasovului, Romania.
  • 1461 -Campanie cu succes impotriva stabilirii turcilor de-alungul Dunarii, Retragerea la Tirgoviste pe parcursul verii.
  • 1462 - Urmeaza batalia de la Castelul Dracula, Vlad se refugiaza in Transilvania. Vlad face 13 ani de inchisoare.
  • 1475 - Au loc razboaiele Serbiei impotriva Turcilor pe timpul verii lui 1475. Noiembrie: Vlad recapata tronul Valahiei.
  • 1476 - Vlad este asasinat. 

Anii 1500

  • 1560 S-a nascut Elizabeth Bathory 

Anii 1600

  • 1610 Bathory este arestata pentru uciderea a cateva sute de oameni si scaldata in sangele lor. Judecata si condamnata la inchisoare pe viata fiind inchisa intr-o camera zidita in castelul ei.
  • 1614 Elizabeth Bathory moare
  • 1610 Leo Alltius termina de scris primul tratat modern despre vampiri, "De Graecorum hodie quirundam opinationabus".
  • 1657 Fr.Francoise Richard " Relatii despre ce s-a petrecut pe insula Sant-Erini", notite despre vampirism si vrajitorie.
  • 1672 Valuri de isteria vampirismului au ajuns pana la Istra.
  • 1679 Un text german despre vampirii, "De Masticatione Mortuorum", scris de Phillip Rohr.

Anii 1700

  • 1710 Isteria vampirilor trece dincolo de Prusia de Est.
  • 1725 Isteria despre vampiri se intoarce in Prusia de Est 
  • 1725-30 Isteria despre vampiri staruie inca in Ungaria.
  • 1725-32 Valurile de isterie despre vampiri din Serbia produc faimoasele procese ale lui Peter Plogojowitz si Arnold Paul (paole)
  • 1734 Cuvantul "vampyre" intra in limba englezadin traducerile referintelor din germana referitoare la curentele de vampirism din Europa.
  • 1744 Cardinalul Giuseppe Davanzati publica tratatul sau, "Dissertazione sopre I Vampiri." 
  • 1746 Dom Augustin Calmet publica tratatul sau despre vampiri,"Dissertations sur les Apparitions des Anges des Demons et des Espits, et sur les revenants, et Vampires de Hundrie, de boheme, de Moravic, et de Silesie." 
  • 1748 Primul poem modern despre vampiri "vampirul", este publicata de catre Heinrich August Ossenfelder.
  • 1750 O alta unda de mitul vampirilor survine in Prusia de Est.
  • 1756 Mitul vampirilor atinge culmea in Valahia
  • 1772 Mitul Vampirilor apare in Rusia.
  • 1797 Este publicata " mireasa Corintului" de catre Goethe (un poem privind un vampir)
  • 1798-1800 Samuel Taylor Coleridge scrie "Christabel," acum recunoscut ca primul poem in engleza despre vampiri.

Anii 1800

  • 1800 "I Vampiri," o opera de Silvestro de Palma, deschisa in Milano, Italia.
  • 1801 "Thalaba" de Robert Southey  este primul poem care mentioneaza vampirul in Anglia.
  • 1810 Date despre o oaie care a fost omorata si avea venele jugulare taiate si sangele curgea pana in nordul Angliei."Vampirul", un prim poem de John Stagg este publicat.
  • 1813 Poemul lui Lord Byron "Ghiaurul" contine intalnirea unui erou cu un vampir.
  • 1819 John Polidori "Vampirul", prima poveste englezeasca cu vampiri este publicata intr-un articol din revista "New Monthly" din aprilie al anului 1819.
  • 1820 "Lord Ruthwen ou Les Vampires" de Lord Ruthwen este publicata in Paris sub anonimat. 13 Iunie: "Vampirul" piesa de teatru de Charles Nodier, deschisa la  Theatre de la Porte Saint-Martin in Paris. August: "Vampirul; sau, Mireasa insulelor", o traducere (interpretare) dupa piesa lui Nodier de catre James R. Planche, deschisa in Londra.
  • 1829 Martie: Opera lui Heinrich Marschner "Vampirul", bazata pe piesa lui Nodier, deschisa in Liepzig. 
  • 1841 Alexey Tolstoy publica o scurta poveste "Upyr", in timp ce locuia la Paris.Este prima poveste moderna despre un vampir publicata de un rus. 
  • 1847 S-a nascut Bram Stoker. Incepe serialul  "Varney the Vampire".
  • 1851 Alexandre Dumas -ultima lucrare dramatica "Vampirul" deschisa in Paris.
  • 1854Cazul de Vampirism al familiei Ray din Jewell, Connecticut, este publicat in mai multe ziare locale. 
  • 1872 "Carmilla" este scrisa de Sheridan Le Fanu. In Italia, Vincenzo Verzeni este condamnat de moartea a doi oameni si ca le-a baut sangele.
  • 1874 date din Ceven, Irlanda, spun despre o oaie cu gatul taiat si sangele scurs.
  • 1888 Emily Gerard publica "Taramul de dincolo de padure". Lucrarea devine o sursa majora de informatie despre Transilvania pentru lucrarea "Dracula" a lui Bram Stoker.
  • 1894 Nuvela "Inflorirea orhideei salbatice" de H.G. Wells, este precursorul povestilor stintifico-fantastice.
  • 1897 Este publicata in Anglia " Dracula" de Bram Stoker. "Vampirul" de Rudyard Kipling  devine sursa de inspirattie ca un caracter stereotipic pe scena si ecran.

legenda vampirilor

Vampirii...
Mereu apar intrebari de genul: ce sunt vampirii? ei oare exista? ce puteri au? cum pot fi opriti de la a face rau? ce slabiciuni au? etc.

Va pot raspunde la toate aceste intrebari. Mai intai ... cum au aparut vampirii?
Initial a existat un singur astfel de vampir. I se spunea Dracula (Drake). El s-a impotrivit oricarei persoane, oricarei opinii. Isi dorea puterea. Vroia sa fie stapanul lumii. Asa ca a creat 5 vampiri ai lui pe care i-a antrenat - LEGENDS VAMPIRES (vampirii legendari):
Numele lor erau (in ordinea puterii lor):
1.Nakabba
2.Lasin
3.Swizer
4.Asmman
5.Sahibba (fratele lui Nakabba)

Acestia l-au servit si ajutat pe stapanul lor pana la sfarsitul vietii lor. Dracula l-a invatat pe Nakabba sa stapaneasca telechinezia partiala, in timp ce el era singura creatura de pe Pamant care stapanea telechinezia totala: putea misca orice doar cu puterea mintii. De asemenea controla si telepatia. Intre timp acesta a aflat ca exista o arma care sa il faca invincibil - un talisman al vampirilor. Asa ca a creat o armata intreaga de vampiri carora le-a impus reguli si responsabilitati, in schimbul "darului" pe care el li l-a facut si a pornit in cautarea talismanului. Vampirii au fost impartit in clanuri. Unul dintre clanuri de origine ceha, condus de un iubitor de oameni a gasit talismanul si s-a impotrivit Stapanului. Acesta i-a folosit puterile si l-a bagat pe Dracula intr-o stare de hibernare vesnica. Apoi l-a ascuns(talismanul) intr-un loc sigur, unde urma sa il gaseasca stranepotii lui. In final a fost prins si condamnat la moarte prin jupuiere de piele si ungere cu suc de usturoi.
Vampirii au continuat sa existe intr-un mod care sa nu fie observabil, ascns de lume dupa regulile anterioare ale stapanului si au jurat sa gaseasca o cale sa il reinvie pe El.
In anul 2006 au gasit o profetie ce spunea ca "sangele celei mai tinere persoane ce se trage din Dracula il poate invia". Asa ca acestia au cautat in continuare si au gasit in cativa ani o persoana de sex feminin ce provenea din El. Fiind de o varsta frageda, la scoala il avea ca si coleg de clasa pe unul din stranepotii celui care l-a "inghetat" pe stapan. Fata nu dorea raul nimanui si nu stia ca exista vampiri. In final totul se descopera. Acel stranepot continua lupta impotriva vampirilor chiar daca era si el unul, o salveaza pe fata, il ucide pe Nakabba printr-un noroc pur si gaseste talismanul. Afla ce puteri are dar aceste avea si parti negative: avea influenta asupra mintii lui si il facea mai rau ca de obicei si mai pericolos. DUpa ceva vreme este provocat de Sahibba, pe care il invinge fiind mult mai puternic ca inainte. Pleaca mai departe de unul singur catre "casa" vampirilor le bea toate resursele de sange pe care ei le colectasera apoi foloseste toata puterea talismanului si distruge si corpul stapanului .. adica tot ce a mai ramas din el. odata cu asta toti vampirii isi pierd puterile. Ca recompensa a victoriei acesta primeste o dorinta care sa i se indeplineasca. Acesta isi doreste ca el sa redevina vampir - singurul vampir din lume.
Dupa asta mai creaza inca 4 vampiri . Intre timp s-a izbit de alta problema: ca o contraforta au aparut varcolacii. Si acum lupta se da in prezent. Vom vedea ce va urma!