Katharina Buczek
Nonetheless, some historians point out that the name “Bloody Mary” could have been sexist regard for the Queen.
After all, her father had condemned fifty-seven thousand of his own subjects to death– yet she was the one considered “Bloody.”
Regardless, many believe that Mary’s infamous reputation and tragic miscarriage are undeniably linked to the popular urban legend.
Other Women Who Might Have Inspired “Bloody Mary”
Two other women, one an alleged witch and one a Hungarian noblewoman, may have also contributed to the Bloody Mary legend craze.
The first, Mary Worth of Wadsworth, Illinois, was considered to be a notorious witch who kidnapped children, put them under her spell, and murdered them. Then, she was believed to use her victims’ blood in order to remain youthful.
The townspeople eventually tied Mary to a stake and burned her alive.
But, before then, she allegedly told the public that if they dared to chant her name in the mirror, she would forever haunt them.
The second, Elizabeth Bathory, was a noblewoman who would eventually be charged with murdering eighty young girls and women in 1610.
She was rumored to have beaten the girls with clubs, sewn their lips shut, burned them with hot irons, and even mutilated their bodies with scissors.
And, like Mary Worth, Elizabeth was also rumored to have bathed in the blood of her victims to stay young.
