“Thirteen Autumns and a Widow” by Cradle of Filth

Trying to decipher “Thirteen Autumns and a Widow” word-for-word or even passage-for-passage would likely prove an act of vanity. And this is not only due to the highly metaphorical/poetic/historical nature of the lyrics. But also, despite this piece being based on someone who actually existed in the past, they also do not read as if they are actually factual. Rather they are Cradle of Filth’s own artistic telling of her story.

Elizabeth Báthory

And that individual would be one Countess Elizabeth Báthory (1560-1614) who, by all accounts, was one of the worst human beings to ever live. Even the vocalist of the song, who doesn’t necessarily seem to be taking a judgmental approach, depicts her as someone who was surrounded by all types of depravity and negativity. That much is at least clear from the lyrics. 

But what part of her life respective verses point to is open to interpretation. For even if you read the Countess’s history from childhood, many aspects of her life were less-than-ideal. And this is despite the fact that she was a privileged nobility.

Thirteen Autumns

What is also pretty obvious is that the first part of the title, the “thirteen autumns”, alludes to a period of time, logically spanning years. It may not be 13 years per se, i.e. how long it would take for 13 autumns to transpire. But some analysts have seemingly suggested that the song concludes with Elizabeth’s conviction, not her actual death, which happened four years later. 

And we are suggesting that the period of time this song covers would be from around her birth to around that point, with being “a widow from God” meaning that she was no longer held down by the moral consequences of her actions since she was no longer affiliated with the church, or something like that. 

But perhaps it should be noted that Báthory did in fact become an actual widow in 1604, which was a decade prior to her death.

In Closing

Also to note is that Cradle of Filth are a pretty macabre act themselves. But again, it definitely doesn’t read like they’re celebrating the acts of Elizabeth Báthory. Yet at the same time, they would be the type of modern-day musicians to actually recount them, albeit metaphorical. 

And most simply put that’s what seems to be going down here, i.e. an ornamented recounting of the life of a horrific historical figure. Indeed Elizabeth Báthory was so horrific that if they had told her story using plain language, it wouldn’t even be suitable for listening.

“Thirteen Autumns and a Widow” Facts

Artist(s): Cradle of Filth
Release: 1998
Album/EP: “Cruelty and the Beast”
Genre(s): Extreme metal

Was “Thirteen Autumns and a Widow” a single release?

 No.

Who has covered this song?

• SantiLloret – June, 2015
• Paolo Bruno – November, 2012
• Alexander Paiva – May, 2017
• Daniel Firth – May, 2020
• Rodrigo Chavez – April, 2015
• Alexander Paiva – November, 2019
• Mitohondriq – January, 2021

More about Elizabeth Bathory

She was referred to as the Blood Countess and was known as the most invented serial killer in history. Countess Elizabeth Bathory was born on the 7th of August 1560 to an affluent family in Hungary. 

Elizabeth was beautiful by all physical standards with features that could hardly be contested. Despite this fact, her character was the absolute opposite of beauty.

Her attitude and behavior were classified as awkward and unreasonable. She spent hours staring at her image in the mirror admiring herself. 

The obsession that Elizabeth had with herself and her dangerous desire to avoid the hands of aging drove her into insane acts.

It was said that she began capturing young ladies by wooing them with the offer of pleasant jobs, then subjected them to unwholly acts. She bit their faces off, cut off their hands, decapitated, and burnt some while physically and sexually abusing them. The peak of this was starving and freezing the young girls to death.

An estimated number of over 650 girls were tormented and murdered by the Countess. Facing judgment after she was discovered, Elizabeth Bathory was kept prisoner in her castle until she died four years after.