medieval-women: Countess Elizabeth Báthory Born 1560 – Died 1614 Claim to Fame: Nicknam
medieval-women:Countess Elizabeth BáthoryBorn 1560 – Died 1614Claim to Fame: Nicknamed ‘the Blood Countess’ and ‘Countess Dracula’, Elizabeth Báthory was labelled by Guinness World Records as the most prolific female murderer for torturing and killing hundreds of young women.Elizabeth grew up in a noble Hungarian family that governed Transylvania. She was engaged at age 10 to a young aristocrat, Ferenc Nádasdy. There is speculation that Elizabeth became pregnant when she was 13 by one of the servants who Ferenc then castrated and threw to a pack of dogs. The story suggests that Elizabeth was taken away to give birth to a daughter who was never heard of again. Elizabeth married Ferenc when she was 14 or 15 in front of approximately 4,500 guests. Afterward, Ferenc studied abroad and then commanded the Hungarian troops against the Ottomans. Elizabeth was a well educated woman and, with her husband away, she managed the business affairs and defence of the estates during turbulent and dangerous times. The couple had at least five children before his death in 1604 from a strange illness. Although rumours of Báthory’s atrocities had been surfacing for years she was not seriously investigated until 1610. She was arrested along with four of her servants (who were suspected accomplices) and officials reportedly found imprisoned girls that were dead, dying or wounded in her castle.Notaries collected evidence and testimonies from more than 300 witnesses that suggested Báthory and her accomplices had tortured and killed hundreds of young women between 1585 and 1610. Báthory’s victims were the adolescent daughters of local peasants and lesser gentry. Some were lured to her castles for employment and others came to be trained in courtly etiquette. Some were possibly abducted. The girls were subjected to extreme cruelty that included severe beatings, burning, mutilation, flesh being bitten off, self cannibalism, freezing and starvation. The precise number of victims is unknown and ranges from 80 to 650.King Matthias II originally pushed for Elizabeth to go trial and be executed but he was persuaded that it would be unwise to disgrace the influential Báthory family. Instead her accomplices were prosecuted and all but one were executed. Elizabeth avoided a public trial but was bricked into a set of rooms in Čachtice Castle where she remained until her death four years later.Elizabeth Báthory inspired numerous stories, the most common being that she bathed in the blood of her victims to retain her youthful beauty - though sadistic pleasure is a more plausible motive. The legend nonetheless persisted in the popular imagination and has fuelled Elizabeth’s infamy and connection to Transylvanian vampire lore.Sources: 1. 2. 3. 4. -- source link
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