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Legend has it she killed over 650 people, and bathed in their blood.
Named by the Guinness book of records as the most prolific female serial killer of all
time, aristocrat Elizabeth Bathory targeted her young servant women, and tortured them
before killing them in cold blood.
She chained them up until their hands squirted blood before bathing them in stinging nettles
and forcing them to cook and eat their own body parts.
Could a woman so evil have actually existed in 16th Century Europe?
That's what we'll find out today, in this episode of The Infographics Show – The Blood
Countess – Elizabeth Bathory.
Countess Elizabeth Bathory de Ecsed was born to a noble family in Hungry on August 7th,
1560.
At aged 10 she was engaged to the son of Baron Ferenc Nadasdy, but as her social standing
was higher than her husband's, she refused to change her surname.
She was married at the age of 15 in a Hungarian Palace in 1575.
They moved to Nadasdy Castle and she spent much of time alone in the castle while her
husband studied in Vienna.
Her husband then went to fight in the Ottoman war leaving Elizabeth to take care of matters
in the castle.
It appears she did this successfully until on the 29th of December, 1610, soldiers made
their way into the castle and arrested Elizabeth on hundreds of charges of murder and torture.
Over 300 townspeople were questioned about the events that took place in the castle and
their reports are all on record.
Charges against her included the burning of her servants with metal sticks and rods.
She was said to have strangled a servant to death with a silk scarf (which is the Turkish
method, apparently).
She would chain her underlings at night so that their hands turned blue and squirted
blood.
She would stab and prick her servants in the mouth with needles, and cutting their hands,
lips, and noses with scissors was an everyday occurrence at the castle.
Plunging burning white rods into her female servant's most private regions was also
a popular pastime.
Stitching her servant's lips together if they complained, pleaded, or screamed was
a common method of keeping the staff in line.
Then there were the hot baths.
She forced her servants to bathe in stinging nettles, rubbing the nettles into their back
and breasts while doing so.
She was also said to have smeared a naked girl in honey, leaving her outside to be bitten
by ants, bees, wasps, and flies.
She starved her servants and allowed them to drink only their own urine.
Finally, when the hunger became critical, she would force her servants to cut off a
chunk of their own buttocks, fry it up in butter, and then watch with glee as they ate
their own flesh.
Elizabeth was also accused of casting magic spells to summon a cloud of ninety cats that
she would let loose to torment her enemies.
These and many more complaints piled against her.
After her death, the stories grew wilder.
She bathed in the virgin blood of her victims to induce beauty and longevity.
She was syphilitic and epileptic, was raped when she was young, her aunt was a lesbian
who thrust upon her an incestuous relationship.
Well, they do say 'the abused becomes the abuser' and Elizabeth had, by any standards,
led a colorful existence.
Following the trial, sentencing for her female accomplices was harsh.
The old ladies who had helped Elizabeth in her diabolical spree had their fingers removed
from their hands with iron tongs and were then thrown into open fires as the townspeople
cheered.
Elizabeth was bricked up in a room in her own castle where she died five years later.
The highest estimate of Elizabeth's victims stands at 650.
A servant named Susannah claimed that she had seen the figure in one of Elizabeth's
books, indicating that she not only kept count of her victims, she also kept a written record.
The stories are verified by more than 300 witness statements from survivors and onlookers
of the period.
Along with Vlad the Impaler of Wallachia (who was the basis for the fictional character
count Dracula), Elizabeth (also known as The Blood Countess) is one of the most feared
figures in Hungarian history.
And, yes, Hungary has itself a healthy history of horror.
However, the story doesn't end here.
Years later, authors such as Laszlo Nagy and Dr. Irma Szadecky-Kardoss have postulated
that Elizabeth Bathory wasn't in fact the criminal, but the victim of an anti-aristocrat
conspiracy plot.
They argue that the proceedings against Elizabeth were politically motivated.
Due to Elizabeth's extensive wealth in the region, and her ownership of vast amounts
of real estate in Hungary and Slovakia, she was singled out as part of an elaborate plan
to seize her wealth and assets.
This theory is consistent with Hungarian history at the time, which was rife with political
and religious conflicts, especially during the wars with the Ottoman Empire.
But just why the conspiracy, if it is true, is so elaborately detailed with such horrific
accounts of abuse and torture, remains to be seen.
So, what do you think?
Was Elizabeth the cruelest woman to ever slip on a corset, or was she part of an anti-aristocrat
plot to rid her of her wealth and status?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Also, be sure to watch our other video called – America's Most Evil Serial Killer - Ted
Bundy.
Thanks for watching, and as always, don't forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time!
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