Castles & ruins 45: Čachtický hrad, SK / Cachtice castle

 

Čachtice Castle was built in the 1260s on the orders of King Béla IV to defend against Tatar-Mongol raids, a purpose the fortress served successfully.

In 1299 it was seized by Matúš Čák Trenčanský—a legendary local knight and hero, the uncrowned ruler of the lands known as “Horné Uhry,” roughly corresponding to modern southern Poland, northern Slovakia, parts of Ukraine and Lithuania. The nameless outpost received his name — Čachtice — was fortified and enlarged and became a strong castle.

Matúš left no heirs, and after the lands changed hands several times, they returned to the Crown—at that time worn by Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, King of Hungary, Germany, Bohemia and Lombardy, and Holy Roman Emperor, among other things. He granted the castle to various feudal lords in return for guarding the border.

Čachtice did not pass from hand to hand for long: already in 1569 it came into the possession of the Nádasdy family and remained theirs until its decline.

The decade from 1604 to 1614 became the most famous period in the castle’s history. Erzsébet Báthory lived here then — the Blood Countess, Čachtická paní, widow of Ferenc Nádasdy. Ferenc himself was known for his cruelty: having spent his entire life fighting the Turks, he earned from them the nickname “the Black Bey.” His army carried the heads of Turks and their horses on spears alongside its banners, terrifying the enemy. As befits a heroic general, he died in battle.

Elizabeth was left alone with three children and vast estates stretching from todays Poland to Croatia. Half of the lands had already belonged to her before the marriage. The Báthory family traced its descent from the Gutkeled clan—few noble Hungarian families could boast of anything similar. Čachtice was her wedding gift, and Elizabeth spent most of her time here, only occasionally visiting her southern estates.

That is why the castle also received the Báthory coat of arms: three dragon’s teeth. Yes, her ancestors killed dragons with their bare hands - there are many entirely truthful legends about it.

A Protestant widow who owned half of Europe and represented one of its oldest families naturally stood in everyone’s way: the Catholic Church, the Habsburg dynasty, which was steadily taking more power and territory into its hands, and all the other noble and less-than-noble envious people. She was in no hurry to remarry—and probably never would have—and she was in no hurry to die either. On the contrary, she adored magnificent clothes, jewels, hunting and balls, where she shone brilliantly, blinding greedy and jealous eyes.

Her enemies nevertheless managed to unite. The countess was accused of torturing and murdering more than 600 girls. Her chief accuser was her husband’s former comrade-in-arms and also one of her largest debtors, György Thurzó. George found several witnesses who claimed that the countess had tortured and killed girls. The case was deliberately built around her alleged sadism, so that no one would get the idea of accusing her of involvement in a cult—for then all her possessions would have passed to the Church, which did not fit Thurzó’s calculations.

Condemning a person of such wealth and lineage was difficult, however. First, what kind of precedent would that create? Second, everyone wanted a piece of the pie. While the case proceeded, the countess was confined to house arrest in Čachtice Castle. She did not waste her time there, but drew up a will dividing all her property among her children.

Elizabeth died in Čachtice. Since no proceedings had been opened against her children, and there was no reason to do so, the usurpers received only whatever could be stolen and carried away. The land and the rest remained with the descendants of the Nádasdy family.

No direct evidence of the Blood Countess’s atrocities has survived, unlike the records of the interrogations of her servants. Those describe in detail during the breaking of which fingers they confessed. As for the mutilated bodies themselves, none were found either then or later. All the accusations were built on rumours and talk that the tortured victims had been burned or thrown into the forests to be eaten by wild animals.

It may well have been true that Báthory was a harsh and formidable mistress, but she could hardly have murdered so many people, while the beating of servants and subjects was nothing unusual in those days.

The presence of large numbers of young women around the castle was true: Čachtice was under constant threat from Turkish raids; the castle had both an infirmary and a kind of refugee camp. Elizabeth herself was involved in treating the injured and built a hospital at the castle for victims of the raids, who were mainly women and children.

Whatever the truth may have been, throughout her entire rule neither her subjects nor travellers passing through complained about their lady. The disappearance of even one hundred girls, never mind the fabulous 600+, would have been noticed. Nevertheless, the influence of both families—the Báthorys and the Nádasdys—was undermined, while later legends about the countess bathing in the blood of young virgins and all the other nonsense permanently dragged her name through the mud. Btw, the descendants of both families are still alive today.

Čachtice Castle was later enlarged by Báthory’s grandson, František. The outer walls were strengthened, the towers were “rounded” so that artillery strikes would damage them less, the entrances were fitted with drawbridges, and so on. František prepared thoroughly, but after taking part in a conspiracy and the uprising of 1670, he was executed. Imperial troops burned the castle, and Čachtice was never rebuilt.

The castle remained a ruin until 2012, when a major reconstruction and archaeological excavations were carried out. The archaeologists dug all the way down to Neolithic settlements on the site.

Since 2014, the castle has been open to visitors as a museum.

The Báthory legend almost erased the older stories of the place, yet a few of them are still remembered. One of them is, naturally enough, about hidden treasure.

It is said that if you spend a full-moon night beside the castle walls, the White Lady will appear to you in a dream. You will recognise her by the large hazel branch covered in mistletoe that she carries in her left hand. Treat her politely, and she will show you the place in the castle wall where the snake lives.

The snake guards a golden key. If you manage to snatch it away, you may unlock the doors leading into endless tunnels filled with gold. But you must hurry and leave the tunnels before sunrise or you will never find your way out again.

There is also a story about a careless castle captain named Stibor. He was a valiant and powerful man who had no faith in old wives’ tales.

The people of Čachtice village used to leave half a loaf of bread and a knife on the table at night - for Death, as they said. The sick and the elderly observed this custom regularly, as did soldiers and anyone else considered “endangered,” who might suddenly die.

The idea was that Death, entering the house as a polite guest, would first sit down at the table and cut herself a piece of bread. While she ate, she would miss the exact moment at which the person was meant to be taken away. Having missed the appointment, she would be forced to spare that person’s life and return on another occasion.

The captain regarded this as nothing more than a foolish village superstition and forbade his soldiers to do so. When the castle was being prepared for yet another attack, everyone followed the old custom except him. Before the enemy had even arrived, the captain was found dead the following morning.

the castle web: https://cachtickyhrad.eu/

from above: https://youtu.be/YxDOIq27AL8