Five years after theyd gotten engaged, in 1575, when Elizabeth was 15 and Ferenc was 21, they got married. Bathory sometimes tortured girls by driving needles into their fingers, cutting their noses or lips or whipping them with stinging nettles. There were rumors that Elizabeth had an affair with a peasant during the time she was betrothed but not married to Ferenc and had a baby at age 13. During the 16th century, it was common for peasants and servants to get tortured by nobles, so Bthory's behavior wasn't so out of the ordinary. Today, Elizabeth Bathory is infamously remembered as the Blood Countess who killed up to 650 girls and women in the Kingdom of Hungary.

Elizabeth Bathory was born August 7, 1560, to a Protestant family which was one of the most powerful families in Hungary at that time.

Two died as infants, but two daughters and a son survived.

Bthorys violence peaked within another grand fortress. A history of epilepsy from the Greeks to the beginnings of modern neurology", "Bthory Erzsbet Bthory Erzsbet: Short FAQ", "No Blood in the Water: The Legal and GenderConspiracies Against Countess Elizabeth Bathory in Historical Context", "The Early Ottoman Period, Including Royal Hungary, 15261606", "Elizabeth Bthory Drop of Blood Festival: 16 August 2014", "A genealogy of the Ndasdy family, including her descendants", A complete genealogy of all descendants Elizabeth Bthory (17th-20th century), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elizabeth_Bthory&oldid=1147550420, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from March 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia references cleanup from March 2021, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from March 2021, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Articles needing additional references from January 2023, All articles needing additional references, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Articles containing Hungarian-language text, All articles that may contain original research, Articles that may contain original research from October 2021, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from October 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 31 March 2023, at 17:53.

Through her mother, Elizabeth was the niece of the Hungarian noble Stephen Bthory (15331586), the King of Poland, the Grand Duke of Lithuania of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, and Prince of Transylvania.

[30] She was buried in the church of Csejte on 25 November 1614,[30] but according to some sources due to the villagers' uproar over having the Countess buried in their cemetery, her body was moved to her birth home at Ecsed, where it was interred at the Bthory family crypt. Cruelty-wise, most people seemed to blame people with jobs in Elizabeths household such as Anna Darvulias job of overseeing the female servants. Finding several mutilated bodies by the doorway, they also heard the sounds of screams coming from inside, which led them to Bthory's torture chamber. The holiday celebrates the Israelites liberation from Egyptian slavery, but it continued evolving after the Neo-Babylonians conquered Jerusalem in 587 B.C.

Many of the witnesses who spoke against Bathory were beholden to Thurz, who oversaw the entire investigation. That evidence included numerous bodies and dead and dying girls found when the castle was entered by Thurz. Record information. Others reported having seen traces of torture on dead bodies, some of which were buried in graveyards, and others in unmarked locations. A Hungarian noblewoman who killed more than 600 people also drank the blood of her victims to retain her youth, according to legend. Elizabeth was, by the standards of the time, an old lady. There is no document to prove that anyone in the area complained about the Countess. Remember how Thurz was only Palatine of Hungary? achtice Castle, which Ferenc had given her all those years ago when theyd wed, was now Elizabeths prison. Nobody could question him, because his literal employer was the Holy Roman Emperor.

Bthory is said to have begun killing daughters of the lesser gentry, who were sent to her gynaeceum by their parents to learn courtly etiquette. [3] She was imprisoned within Castle of Csejte. Thats why that little bit is so important, because Thurz is about to attempt to arrest her for not breaking any laws. According to History Today, Bthory stabbed and cut servants with scissors, burned them with irons or coins, or simply starved them to death. Visitors can roam this lofty site, from which startling rumors tumbled down the hillside in the early 1600s. Descendant of both the Ecsed and Somly branches of the Anthony Pellicano? (LogOut/ Their first child was Anna, followed by Orsolya, Katalin, Andras, and Pal. According to Thurz's letter to his wife, his unannounced visit found one dead girl and another living "prey" girl in the castle,[19] but there is no evidence that they asked her what had happened to her. Possibly stemming from inbreeding within her family, it is said that from an early age Elizabeth Most of those witnesses were Thurzs friends and family, which is only a little suspicious.

At 13 Bthory was engaged to 18-year-old Count Ferenc Ndasdy, from another influential Hungarian family, and they married two years later. So, to preserve her beauty, she would bathe in blood. Slovakia () When. Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogarasfld, Nikola Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogarasfld, Katalin Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogarasfld, Andrs Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogarasfld, Ursula Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogarasfld. Depending on the account, Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bthory (1560-1614) was either a murderous maniac or a pawn incriminated by family and foes keen to seize her holdings. Elizabeth definitely killed people, but it wasnt an oddity, everyone did it. According to Biographics, Bthory also had a steady supply of victims since she had almost 400 peasant women and girls working as servants across her estates. Bthory fills a gap in the iconography of horror., Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. [15] The child, said to have been fathered by a peasant boy, was supposedly given away to a local woman who was trusted by the Bthory family. This may or may not be true, but in a little bit, well get to the whole numbers thing, because she allegedly killed a ton of people. The crumbling remains of achtice Castle loom over the town of achtice in western Slovakia, 50 miles northeast of the capital, Bratislava. What finally undid the widow countess was extending her abuse to victims of a higher class, says Rachael Bledsaw, adjunct faculty in the history department at Washington States Highline College. Over the centuries, the tale of Countess Elizabeth Bthory has acquired the status of legend.

[20] By October 1610 they had collected 52 witness statements;[19] by 1611, that number had risen to over 300. She was even alleged to have bitten off pieces of servants' flesh, sometimes from bed if she was too sick to get up to beat someone.

Birth of Ursula Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogarasfld, ""The Blood Countess"", ""The Blood Countess of Csejthe"". Photograph by Daniel Prudek, Getty Images.

Although it is commonly believed that Bthory was caught in the act of torture, she was having dinner.

The countess enduring legend is inspired largely by this one sensational account. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. But Bthorys privileged upbringing was tainted by violence and health problems, according to Aleksandra Bartosiewicz, of Polands University of d, who in 2018 published a research paper on the countess. Now, everyone hated them. Depictions of Bathory often mention her bathing in the blood of virgin victims in an attempt to recapture her lost youth. Bthory and four of her servants were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls and women between 1590 and 1610. [18] In 1610, Matthias II assigned Gyrgy Thurz, the Palatine of Hungary, to investigate.

And, of course, he was her co-ruler, so Elizabeth was the niece of the King of Poland. Despite Magyari's complaints to the authorities, nothing happened because the servants who'd died were peasant women.

There was another woman who apparently helped Elizabeth kill and/or torture and/or something else someone, so she was just dragged off and murdered without a trial. They eventually had four children. It happens in every story. Killing your fellow nobles, even ones of lower rank, was a far more serious problem, and not one that could be ignored.. So, were almost nearing the end of this absolutely horrendous story. [4] As a young woman, she learned Latin, German, Hungarian and Greek. http://www.origo.hu/tudomany/tortenelem/20131219-bathory-erzsebet-g ---------------------------------A felvidki Drakula grfn vres legendja.

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Ilona and Dorottya also received a formal sentence of torture and had their fingers individually torn out with hot pincers before being burned alive. The frescoes decorating this palatial room in Ndasdy Castle depict the battles fought by Ferenc Ndasdy II between 1591-1602.

Her father, Baron George VI Bthory, was an important nobleman. They say Bthorys crimes were likely exaggerated to discredit hera conspiracy by relatives and the Habsburgs, a dynasty which at that time ruled a swath of Europe, including Austria and western Hungary. She spent her childhood at Ecsed Castle. Consult the bees. The Crazy Real-Life Story Of History's Most Prolific Female Murderer, most prolific female serial killer of all time, bathing in blood was seemingly added later on, over 300 different witness testimonies and reports, few rumors about Bthory before her husband's death.

Ferenc was also well educated, but because the general perception of Elizabeth Bthory to most people was that she was a cruel person who loved nothing but a good murder, Ferenc is seen as pretty much a really sadistic guy. Regardless of how he caught her, Gyrgy Thurz finally arrested Elizabeth Bthory and all her servants on December 30th, 1609. She would live there for a while, and thats where all the murder we know her for would allegedly take place.

In 1611, Bthory's servants were put on trial and Erzsi Majorova, Jnos jvry, Ilona Jo, and Dorottya Szentes were executed as accomplices.
[19] On 31 December, Thurz went to Csejte Castle and arrested Bthory along with four of her servants, who were accused of being her accomplices: Dorotya Semtsz, Ilona J, Katarna Benick and Jnos jvry ("Ibis" or Fick). Although it is commonly believed that Bthory was caught in the act of torture, she was having dinner. However, this depraved action isn't backed up by contemporaneous witness accounts (which otherwise didn't shy away from gore).

Majorova was thought to be the mastermind behind body disposal, but she's also thought to be the reason that Bthory was caught. Bthory was also exposed to brutality. [21], Thurz debated further proceedings with Bthory's son Paul and two of her sons-in-law, Nikola VI Zrinski and Gyrgy Drugeth. Instead, four of Bthorys servants were convicted of violence against young women in her castles. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Its not just about seeing the stars. Only Andreas Somogy may be considered a physical witness, having allegedly seen a girl whose hands had been burnt. [13] At the time, symptoms relating to epilepsy were diagnosed as falling sickness and treatments included rubbing blood of a non-sufferer on the lips of an epileptic or giving the epileptic a mix of a non-sufferer's blood and piece of skull as their episode ended. [citation needed] Thurz, along with Paul and her two sons-in-law, originally planned for Bthory to be sent to a nunnery, but as accounts of her actions spread, they decided to keep her under strict house arrest.[22]. WebElizabeth Bthory. In August 1610, Bthory brought the mother of a deceased girl from Bthory's etiquette school into court so that the mother could testify that her daughter's death was from natural causes. She spent her childhood at Ecsed Castle. Ferencs family was nowhere near as rich as Elizabeths because the Bthorys were literally the rich people, but his father was the Palatine of Hungary, so a marriage was arranged. Their court proceedings began early in January 1611. WebElizabeth Bthory (died 1614), daughter of George VI and through her mother niece of the Polish King Stephen Bthory.