{"id":27589,"date":"2023-08-21T12:00:47","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T10:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=240489"},"modified":"2023-08-21T12:11:40","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T10:11:40","slug":"elizabeth-bathory-a-17th-century-serial-killer","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/elizabeth-bathory-a-17th-century-serial-killer\/","title":{"rendered":"Elizabeth B\u00e1thory: a 17th-century \u2018serial killer\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hungarian countess Elizabeth B\u00e1thory is said to have murdered hundreds of girls and bathed in their blood to keep herself beautiful. But is there any truth in the gory story, or is it just a malicious lie? <\/p>

By Jonny Wilkes\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 21 August 2023 at 10:00 AM<\/p>

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In the first decade of the 17th century, some disturbing claims swirled around the Kingdom of Hungary: of young girls\u2019 disappearances, of torture and of murder. At the centre of them all was one woman accused of wanton cruelty and sadism, a countess named Elizabeth B\u00e1thory. Seemingly, she targeted poor girls from the local villages, either by kidnapping or luring them to her many castles with the promise of work.<\/p>\n

Nothing was initially done about this, however, not least since the victims were mere peasants, while B\u00e1thory was wealthy, intelligent and powerful.<\/p>\n

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Who was Elizabeth B\u00e1thory?<\/h2>\n

Born on 7 August 1560 into Protestant nobility, her family held dominion over Transylvania, a de facto independent principality within the kingdom (modern-day Romania), with her uncle Stephen B\u00e1thory ruling as prince as well as king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania.<\/p>\n

Despite the accusations against her, this birthright meant that B\u00e1thory remained at liberty at \u010cachtice Castle, her domineering, Gothic pile on top of a hillside that had been a wedding present. In 1575, when still a teenager, she had been married to Count Ferenc N\u00e1dasdy, himself a member of a major aristocratic dynasty who went on to command the Hungarian army in wars against the Ottoman empire, and the couple had five known children together. It was after N\u00e1dasdy\u2019s death in 1604 that the whispers and fears regarding B\u00e1thory began to proliferate.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The ruins of \u010cachtice Castle, in modern-day Slovakia, where Bathory is said to have carried out her gruesome deeds. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

That was also when her heinous crimes \u2013 torture and murder \u2013 intensified. B\u00e1thory, it was said, took pleasure in a catalogue of gruesome acts: stabbing victims under the fingernails with needles; cutting, burning, even biting their flesh; beating and starving them to death; leaving them outside to freeze, or covering them with honey so they would be attacked by insects. It was said she had a purpose-built torture chamber, and that she associated with witches.<\/p>\n

Still, it was only after the allegations suggested that her victims had started to include young noble girls that they were taken seriously. B\u00e1thory supposedly invited daughters of the gentry to attend a form of finishing school at her castles (finishing being the operative word).<\/p>\n

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How many girls did Elizabeth B\u00e1thory kill?<\/h2>\n

The count palatine of Hungary, Gy\u00f6rgy Thurz\u00f3, was ordered to investigate and he took dozens of witness statements. He reached the conclusion that B\u00e1thory had killed at least 80 girls; although that may have been a fraction of the total number, which is said to have been more than 300.<\/p>\n

\"Gy\u00f6rgy<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Gy\u00f6rgy Thurz\u00f3, shown here lying in his coffin following his death in 1616, ordered the arrest of the countess and her accomplices. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

On 29 December 1610, Thurz\u00f3 had B\u00e1thory and four of her servants arrested. Her accomplices confessed and were put on trial, with three being executed and the last imprisoned for life, but she never stood trial for her crimes. Her noble status and the scandal that could have ensued convinced Thurz\u00f3 to have her confined within \u010cachtice Castle instead.<\/p>\n

How did Elizabeth B\u00e1thory die?<\/h2>\n

Confined in \u010cachtice Castle, reportedly in rooms that had been completely walled up with only small slits to allow food to be passed through, B\u00e1thory saw out the final few years of her life. B\u00e1thory was found dead, aged 54, on 21 August 1614.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If everything said about B\u00e1thory was true then she certainly deserves her reputation as the most prolific female serial killer in history. That is the title bestowed upon her by Guinness World Records. Today, she is also remembered essentially as a vampire, since a part of her legacy is that she would drink the blood of her victims as a means of preserving her youth. For that, she has sometimes been referred to as \u2018Countess Dracula\u2019.<\/p>\n