The Blood Countess: Elizabeth Bathory

Elizabeth Bathory was one of the most famous female ‘vampires’ in history. Though less well known than Dracula, she was an documented eater of flesh and liked to bathe in the blood of her subjects.

Elizabeth was a Hungarian of noble blood, born in 1560 to George and Anna Bathory. They were both Bathory’s by birth, an inbreeding that many think responsible for Elizabeth’s reign of torture.

As one of he most powerful families in Hungary, the Bathory’s ancestors fought beside Vlad Dracula and Elizabeth’s cousin became the Prince of Transylvania in 1571. He later became the King of Poland.

Elizabeth was highly educated, speaking multiple languages and engaged to Count Ferenc Nadasdy at the age of 11. It is rumored that she suffered bouts of rage and seizures due to inbreeding but the horrors of the time may have been large influences on how she grew as well. Punishments for those in that region included being sewn up in the belly of a dead horse and left there to die.

In 1574, Elizabeth became pregnant by a peasant lover and was hidden away until she gave birth. The child was given away and in 1575, she was married to Ferenc Nadasdy and stories soon spread of her and her new husband being involved in torturing servants.

After ten years of marriage, Elizabeth had three daughters and a son, and by all reports, was a doting mother. Her husband was a warrior who was gone a lot and during his absences, it is said that she regularly tortured young girls to occupy her time. One of her favorite methods was to douse a naked girl with water and then drag her through the snow until she froze to death.

In 1604, Elizabeth’s husband died of an infected wound and she began traveling with new friends, all of whom were also into torture and witchcraft. It was during this time that Elizabeth discovered that blood would heal aging skin and took to bathing in the fresh blood of virgins to remain young.

Elizabeth’s activities went overlooked for a long time because she was nobility but when she murdered females of nobel blood, the King of Hungary ordered her arrest. Upon her capture, it is said there was found the body of a girl in the hallway and many other corpses, along with captives waiting in cells. Elizabeth’s friends were arrested too and in 1611, were given fast trials and even faster executions. Evidence at the trial put the death count for Elizabeth Bathory at well over 650.

Although Elizabeth was never convicted of any crime, she was declared a danger and walled up inside the bed chamber of her own castle, given only tiny slits for ventilation and passing food. After three years, a guard saw her lying face down on the floor, dead. Rumors imply that the lack of fresh blood was the cause of death. She passed on August 21, 1614 and was buried at Ecsed.

sources:

http://www.bathory.org/shyla.html