Elizabeth Báthory – The Most Prolific Female Killer In History

At this point Elizabeth Báthory is a name that you’ve probably heard of by this point. As more articles and videos surface describing who Elizabeth was and what she did, her name alone probably makes you feel uneasy. However, if you haven’t heard of the Blood Countess, a nickname given to her based on her allegedly bathing in her victims’ blood, strap in. Your stomach may twist and turn at what’s about to come. Mind you, there isn’t a verbatim historically accurate picture painted on Elizabeth. There’s many accounts and it’s up to you to believe whatever path you choose. 

Starting off, Elizabeth comes from a powerful Hungarian noble, inbreeding family. She was born either in 1560 or 1561 and her lineage around this time included the King of Poland and Prince of Transylvania. Her parents, Baron George VI Báthory and Baroness Anne Báthory, were of close relations. It’s believed that since her parents were of close relations, it caused Elizabeth to suffer from severe epileptic seizures, along with other health related issues as a child.

The side effects of inbreeding weren’t the only troubles she’d faced as a child. It’s said that her uncle instructed her on Satanism and sacrificed right in front of her, while her aunt taught her sadomasochism. Evidence of these acts is dubious, but so is most of her childhood. 

By age 15, she married Count Ferenc Nádasdy, whom of which helped lead the Hungarian armies against the Ottomans. As a wedding gift, he gave Elizabeth his castle, Castle of Csejte.  Given Elizabeth’s nobility, she was more powerful than him, which meant she had power over the castle and its property after he granted it to her. Elizabeth and Ferenc were separated many times throughout their marriage, though. Their frequent separation led her to needing to satisfy her boredom. And her bloodthirst. 

Elizabeth’s treacherous acts were not, however, done alone. Her four main servants would collect women and even girls as young as ten to be taken back to the castle; in some of the collected women’s and young girls’ minds, they were taken in for work or training to learn better manners. Of course, good intentions weren’t met when they arrived. Her husband, Ferenc, knew what Elizabeth was doing. In fact, he built a torture chamber within the castle to fit his wife’s needs. 

Some torture includes: sticking pins and needles under her victims’ nails, covering them in honey so ants and bees would attack them, inflicting lacerations, cutting off body parts, burning of the flesh, and ice showers so they would freeze to death. 

Elizabeth’s rampage exploded when Ferenc died in the early 1600s. No, her reason for wanting more blood didn’t occur because her husband passed, rather, Ferenc is believed to have kept Elizabeth in mild check. The atrocities she’d commit after his death further supports this idea. If there’s a place worse than Hell, then her victims would see it shortly after. 

Some torture includes, plus the previously mentioned: cannibalism (she would bite off their skin, debates are up in the air about her eating their flesh), forcing her victims to cook and eat their own flesh, and consuming and/or bathing in their blood (this is debated too as bathing in her victims’ blood didn’t come to light until a century later, which makes some believe this to be false). There are reports that say Elizabeth believed consuming human blood, specifically younger women’s blood or virgins’ blood, would help her retain younger looking skin and maintain better health.   

No matter what, Elizabeth would make sure to torture her victims as long as she could before they eventually died.

Although the kingdom residents knew of Elizabeth’s killings, it’s ruler King Matthias didn’t intervene until word spread that noble women and noble girls were dying at the castle around 1610. During this time period, anything could happen to servants and nothing would be done about it. But with noble females dying, King Matthias thought it was imperative to intervene. So, he sent Court György Thurzó to investigate the castle. There, he witnessed a live torture session, and arrested Elizabeth on the spot. 

So that’s how one version of the arrest goes.

Another version is György Thurzó investigating complaints against Elizabeth. Apparently, he gathered around 300 witnesses who told of Elizabeth’s evil doings. 

In January 1611, Elizabeth and her four servants were put on trial for 80 counts of murder. Justice would only come to her accomplices, though. Death, they faced. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was high ranking; instead, she lived the rest of her days secluded in her room. There were no windows, just an opening in the door for air and food. She died in her cage August 1614 at age 54. Another version claims that she was free to roam her castle but could never leave. Her death came the same month, August 1614. 

Supposedly, Elizabeth Báthory claimed 650 lives. This has yet to be proven as not all bodies have been discovered, which makes this possible claim even more eerie. Most corpses were found on castle grounds.

What did she and her accomplices do with the other bodies then? Burn them? Why not burn every single one of her victims? 

I present this question because some scholars believe Elizabeth Báthory wasn’t a murderer at all. Rather, because of her power and wealth, during a time period where men reigned supreme, she made enemies. One of them being King Matthias himself. In fact, King Matthias owed a debt to her husband, and now Elizabeth given she ruled the castle. He would’ve been pressed for the money and simply didn’t want to pay her. Theories suggest he lied about Elizabeth and ordered for her arrest, and also ordered “witnesses” to confess their lies about Elizabeth, painting her to be a hellish murderer. Other theories suggest that people in her family wanted her gone so one or the other could obtain her power. Another popular theory involves Elizabeth being targeted by the Lutheran Church due to her Calvinist faith. One thing that’s hard for scholars to dispute were the amount of dead bodies found on the castle grounds. Because of this, every theory proposed has fallen under scrutiny. Given that she’s inbred and suffered from it, and allegedly was exposed to heinous crimes from her family as a child, it may not be all too surprising if she, as most people believe, is in fact a cold blooded murderer. Perhaps, the scariest aspect about Elizabeth Báthory’s case is the fact that no one truly knows if she did or didn’t commit those crimes. Who killed those girls and women if Elizabeth didn’t do it? And if she did torture and kill all those females, how many bodies were really left unfound?