She Was Convicted Of Murdering 80 Women And Torturing Them In Unimaginable Ways, But Was Elizabeth Bathory Truly An Evil “Blood Countess” Of The 17th Century?
During the early seventeenth century, the village of Trencin– located in present-day Slovakia– fell victim to countless unexplainable crimes.
All of a sudden, peasant girls who had been searching for work in the Csejte Castle began vanishing one by one without a trace. Then, rumors of torture and murder began to swirl throughout the region.
However, it did not take long for villagers to accuse the strong-willed “Blood Countess” Elizabeth Bathory of being the evil mastermind behind it all.
Elizabeth hailed from an extremely powerful Hungarian family after being the daughter of inbreeding between Baron George Bathory and Baroness Anna Bathory. Then, as a young woman, she went on to marry Ferenc Nádasdy, a war hero, who gifted her the lavish Csejte Castle.
But, in 1578, Ferenc was forced to travel on a military campaign against the encroaching Ottoman Empire. After all, he had become the Hungarian arm’s chief commander and needed to lead his troops.
In turn, Elizabeth was left alone at the castle and in charge of managing his numerous estates. On top of that, she was also expected to rule over the villagers.
And at the beginning of her solo reign, Elizabeth appeared to be leading her populace just fine. But then, out of nowhere, wild rumors that the Countess had been torturing her servants became commonplace.
However, it was not until Ferenc died in 1604 that these rumors seemingly multiplied overnight. It was not long until Elizabeth would be accused of far worse acts than torture– murder.
In fact, the murder of hundreds of peasant women and girls who even just set foot in her castle.
Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; pictured above is a painting of Elizabeth
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
Elizabeth Bathory’s Sinister Reputation
The Countess was no stranger to privilege. After being born and raised in a mighty family, she went on to rule over her own entire region. So, some believed that her innate disposition for all things lavish later helped her accomplish some of the most monstrous of crimes.
Witnesses who detested Elizabeth claim that her brutal acts began in 1590 and continued for two decades until 1610.
The Countess allegedly began by stealing away young women who had only visited her castle in hopes of getting servant work. Then, Elizabeth’s evil allegedly only escalated.
She was accused of killing daughters who had come to the Csejte Castle for education. Then, Elizabeth reportedly kidnapped village girls who had never even gone to the castle.
And by 1610, the Countess was believed to have murdered numerous people of noble birth– which, of course, worried authorities much more at the time.
So, that year, Elizabeth started being investigated by Matthias II, the Hungarian King. And what the King’s highest-ranking representative, Gyorgy Thurzo, found was utterly damning.
About three hundred witnesses came forward with horrifying tales of Elizabeth and aided the downfall of the region’s Countess.
The Countess’ Crimes
According to witness testimony, Elizabeth tortured young girls and women in horrific ways. She was alleged to have stuck needles under their fingernails, burned them with hot irons, sewed their lips shut tight, and beaten them with clubs.
Moreover, villagers claimed that their Countess would pour ice-cold water over girls’ bodies and leave them to freeze out in the cold. And some even said Elizabeth would douse her victims in honey before allowing bugs to feast on their flesh.
However, nothing could compare to what witnesses claimed was Elizabeth’s favorite form of torture– using scissors to slice and mutilate women’s bodies. Many claimed the Countess had cut off noses and hands and even sliced open the skin between victims’ fingers.
These unthinkable acts only helped cement Elizabeth’s reputation as genuinely evil among her populace. Moreover, many began to think that her sinister ways were tied to the supernatural. Villagers began to accuse the Countess of being a vampire, while some others claimed to have witnessed her sleeping with the Devil.
Nonetheless, one despicable accusation alone is what truly earned Elizabeth her infamous title as “Blood Countess.” Shockingly, Elizabeth was claimed to have bathed in her young victims’ blood in hopes of maintaining an effervescent appearance.
Elizabeth’s Downfall
All of these accusations eventually prompted Gyorgy Thurzo to charge Elizabeth with the murder of eighty women. One of her supposed accomplices, a wet nurse, was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft.
But surprisingly, Elizabeth herself had not been doomed to such a fate herself. Instead, since she was of noble status, the Countess was simply isolated in a bricked-up room at her castle. And she remained alone in that room for four long years until she eventually died in 1614.
Nonetheless, the “Blood Countess’s” reputation and conviction may not have been as straightforward as they appeared at the time. Instead, some historians point toward other factors– such as greed.
It was later revealed that King Matthias II, who initially launched the investigation against Elizabeth, owed her late husband a large sum of money. So, since the King did not want to cough up the sizable chunk of change, historians believe he may have been the mastermind behind a grand scheme to bring down the Countess.
After all, the King did not even allow Elizabeth to defend herself in court. Moreover, the sheer number of witness testimonies is almost concerning– which is why some historians believe they were coerced or provided under duress.
Finally, the King did call for Elizabeth to receive the death penalty before any of Elizabeth’s family could intervene. This last act would have ensured that he seized Elizabeth and her late husband’s estates.
So, in the end, historians believe that only two possible storylines could have actually happened.
The first is that Elizabeth was, in fact, a torturer whose crimes were completely blown out of proportion once she got to trial. Or, the King was simply intimidated by an intelligent and powerful woman who ruled without a man by her side and set out to ruin her.
Both are terrifying in their own sadistic ways. But which one was actually true will forever remain a mystery.
If true crime defines your free time, this is for you: join Chip Chick’s True Crime Tribe.
The Chilling Tale Behind What Happened On The Ghost Ship S.S. Ourang Medan
Her Daughter Said She Wasn’t Going To College, So This Mom Signed Her Up Anyway
More About:Freaky
Read This Next
