Countess Erzsébet Báthory de Ecsed
Born: August 7, 1560 Death: August 21, 1614
Known more commonly in the Western world by the anglicised name Elizabeth Bathory, was born the daughter of Baron George Bathory and Baroness Anna Bathory whom were both Bathorys by birth.
Elizabeth’s Crime: Killing & Torturing over 600 victims who were mostly comprised of females. (Speculated to be young, virgin, females & would bathe in their blood)
The Bloody Lady of Csejtef
& many other similar ones
Penalty: Confinement til Death by her own family where her only connection to the outside world were small slits to pass meals through.
What makes this particular story intriguing is that for most of the information that has been accumulated from back when it started to now, is that most is pure speculation.
The Bathorys were one of the most powerful Protestant families in Hungary and had an overwhelming amount of power.
Elizabeth was highly educated. She was fluent in Hungarian, Latin, German and Greek.
- Even men, who generally received a higher education, were illiterate.
- Most women were not allowed to read or write, let alone speak another language besides their own.
- Even the King of Poland, Stephen Báthory, was barely literate.
Married Count Ferencz Nadasady on May 8th. She took over household affairs at Castle Sarvar, the Nadasdy family estate.
Had five children: Paul, Andrew, Anna, Ursula, Katherine
(1st Image) A copy of the original portrait (1585) which was lost (disappeared) in the 1990s. The only known image of the Countess.
The trial examined the bodies found and only about 80 bodies were accounted for out of the >600 assumed.
Confined in a four wall chamber until death. Was found dead facing down by one of the guards. Lasted only 4 years.
Myths, Speculations, and Allegations:
During the trial, many witnesses, survivors, and accomplices of Elizabeth were brought to recount what they knew about the Countess and her acts.
Bathed in the blood of virgins who were first tortured.
Her fear of aging was the main trigger for her actions. Hence, she used fresh blood to bring her a youthful appearance.
Demanded all mirrors to be removed.
Elizabeth & Ferencz Nadasady would spend time creating devices of torture.
Darvulia (depicted on the last picture) was Elizabeth’s “witch doctor” who would instruct Elizabeth in ways of torturing. Assumed to be her lover.
The Blood Countess by Andrei Codrescu
This book is insane. It’s basically a man who claims to be the decedent of the Countess and dwells into the mind of Bathory. It tells events of the Countess. definitely a must read!
This man’s grandmother believes they are decedents of the Countess and here he stores some information of the Countess.
Santiago Caruso (Artists of all these photos, except the first image (the portrait))
The images used here can be found here along with the book. Caruso himself and his art can be found in DeviantArt and Tumblr.
Films depicting the Countess
Elizabeth Bathory (Character) - Imdb
(In the film Hostel: Part 2, which is not on the list, Lorna’s death scene is a depiction of Bathory’s torture method. The scene can be viewed here as a gif set. Warning, its very graphic).
Thoughts: While Bathory’s killing spree and actions were horrifying and dark in nature, I find her quite interesting and someone who has grasped my interest for a long time. She was not only a serial killer, but a highly educated one. If only these things were included in damn history classes.
P.S. The image of the dragon is actually the Bathory family crest depicted by Santiago Caruso. In the image you could see the shield with the 3 claws. The crest has a dragon-like creature surrounding it, but Caruso actually drew the damn thing.
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