A few months ago, I had finished reading a novel “The Countess”, written by American Writer Rebecca Johns. Undoubtedly, it was an amazing work of literature; I had even sent a message to the writer via facebook thanking her for writing such a great historical novel. She was glad and sent me a message back – it was great. However, besides the great story and writing, the central character Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed had also fascinated me a lot. So, after finishing the book, I started to dig a little deeper, and it got more interesting! Turns out that she was one of the main inspirations of the story of “Dracula”! – Today, I’m going to share the fascinating and horrifying story of Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed, possibly the worst female serial killer ever lived:
[modern-day photoshoot regarding "The Countess"] source
Some of you may have heard of her, some of you haven’t. She is one of the prime inspirations behind Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, which has lead to today’s Vampires. Legend has it, Countess Elizabeth Báthory (Hungarian: Báthory Erzsébet ) killed over 600 girls and she took bath in the blood of the virgins to keep her youth lasting.
Although, historians have doubts about whether her “bloodbath” was of truth or not, there is no doubt that no other female serial killer had so many body count to her ‘credit’. The Gunness World Records labelled her as history’s most prolific female liquidator (murderer). Her bloodthirsty actions had led many people to acknowledge her as history’s one of the earliest ‘Vampires’!
[ the copy of Countess Elizabeth's original stolen portrait (1585) ] - source
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (born on August 7th 1560, died on August 21st 1614 in prison) was a noblewoman who owned a substantial amount of land in now Hungary and Slovakia (then- the Kingdom of Hungary), and now-Romania (then-Transylvania).
Although, there are debates about the actual number of her victims, the ‘Countess’ and four of her confederates were charged with torturing and murdering hundreds of young women. The period of her killing-spree is believed to be lasted between 1585 and 1609, (or in dissenting opinion, 1610 – for the exact timing is agrueable).
During her trial, the highest number of the victims killed by her was mentioned to be 650! A servent of Báthory, named Susannah claimed this number. She claimed that the Countess’s court official Jakab Szilvassy came across the figure in one of her private books (which was never revealed, nor Szilvassy had mentioned it in his testimony).
In spite of the evidences against the Countess, she could manage to escape trial for her crimes for a long time because of her family’s wealth and influnce.
However, On December 26th of 1609 or 10 (for the sources are inconclusive), by the order of King Matthias, Count Gyorgy Thurzo made an investigatory visit to Csejthe palace and discovered that Countess Bathory undertaking a torture session on some of her young serving girls. She was already ill-famed for her brutality over the servant girls and peasants, but her family, which included judges, knights, cardinals, and even kings, saved her from facing a trial for her ‘Satanism’.
A more fascinating fact is that her husband Count Ferenc Nádasdy (whom she married when she was 15) also shared her insanity and allegedly built a torture chamber for her! After the death of the count in the beginning of the 1600s, (who, apart from taking part in his wife’s brutalities, he might also have confined her impulses), Elizabeth’s vicious activities became even worse as she started to abduct and torture and murder peasant girls from her estate. According to some reports, she believed that the blood of the virgin girls would keep her looking healty and young!
Methods of torturing:
The ‘Countess’ tortured the young girls by smearing their bodies with honey and left them for the ants and bees to attack! – She jammed pins and needles under their fingernails, tied them down and beat them with still rods. Often the Countess bit clumps of flesh off of her victim’s bodies, and once she forced an unfortunate girl to cook and eat her own meet!
A local witch Dorotta Szentes and her former nurse Ilona Joo were her close accomplices.
Crime and Punishment:
As said before, her crimes were ignored by the authority for her family’s influence on the government, but once sthe started to abduct and torture the daughters of local nobles, the king issued an order to put an end to her horrifying activities.
In 1611’s January, Elizabeth and her accomplices were put on trial for eighty counts of murder. All but the Countess were convicted. Unlike her accomplices, instead of executing they put her in a door and windowless small room with only a tiney hole for the air and food to be passed. Three years later, in 1614, She was found dead in that lonely chamber.
According to many exparts, besides Vlad the Impaler, the horrifying tale of Elizabeth Bathory is also one of the prime inspirations of the story of Dracula, written by Bram Stoker: one of the scariest horror stories of all time.
In pop culture:
In today’s pop culture, Elizabeth is quite a common character. There are several movies and books released and published regarding her. To name a few, the list of movies includes Bathory (2008), The Countess (2009), Countess Dracula (1971);
source
The book list includes "Infamous Lady: “The True Story of Countess Erzsebet Bathory, “The Countess: A Novel of Elizabeth Bathory” by Rebecca Johns (I’ve read this one myself, it’s a marvelous piece of work), “The Blood Confession” by Alisa M. Libby, “Countess Dracula” by Tony Throne, “Blood Countess” by Andrei Codrescu.
You can collect and read the books and watch the movies. I’ve downloaded two movies about her, but didn’t get the time to watch them. I’ll let you know how they were once I’ve watched them.
Now, that was it about the ‘countess’. Thank you for considering me worthy of your time.
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Have A Wonderful Day
courtesy: wikipedia, history.com, Rebecca Johns