The Blood Countess: Elizabeth Báthory

The Blood Countess: Elizabeth Báthory
In the 16th century, a noblewoman named Elizabeth Báthory lived in the gloomy castles of present-day Hungary. She came from one of the most powerful families in Europe, but her name was not to be remembered for wealth or power, but for something sinister.
Elizabeth married the warlord Ferenc Nádasdy at an early age, who was often absent on raids. In his absence, she managed the estates - and developed a sinister obsession. Rumour had it that she feared ageing. When she discovered her first grey hairs in her mid-30s, she searched for a ‘fountain of youth’.
According to court documents, a servant accidentally injured Elizabeth's scalp while combing her hair. A drop of blood fell on Elizabeth's hand - and she believed that the skin there suddenly appeared more youthful. This observation gave rise to a superstitious delusion: she began to collect the blood of young girls to bathe in.
For years, Elizabeth lured hundreds of peasant girls to her castle Čachtice under the pretence of hiring them as servants. Testimonies described torture chambers in which the girls were whipped, burned or suffocated. Their blood was collected in huge vats. Local legends soon spoke of a ‘blood countess’ who stalked the corridors at night. She is said to have murdered between 60 and 650 people.
In 1610, the mysterious disappearances came to the attention of the Hungarian King Matthias II. When soldiers searched the castle, they found dozens of lifeless bodies, some drained of blood, others with stitches in their necks and arms. Elizabeth was placed under house arrest - but because of her noble status, she escaped public execution. She died in 1614, walled up in a windowless room in her own castle. Elizabeth Báthory's story was mixed with vampire myths. Some historians doubt the most extreme accounts, but her deeds inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula and modern vampire stories. To this day, locals in Slovakian Čachtice call her ‘the true vampire’.
Elizabeth's trial records and eyewitness accounts still exist today, as do her castle ruins. Whether she actually bathed in blood remains controversial - but her cruelty is historically proven. It shows how real horrors become supernatural legends. What do you think of this story?

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