lizzietudor: THE BLOODY COUNTESS // Elizabeth (Erzsébet) Báthory de Ecsed;
lizzietudor: THE BLOODY COUNTESS // Elizabeth (Erzsébet) Báthory de Ecsed; a member of one of the richest and most influential families in Hungry during the sixteen-century, married to Count Ferenc Nádasdy. While most members of the powerful Protestant family were remembered as rulers of Poland and Transylvania, Elizabeth will always be remembered as the most prolific female murderer. The exact number of her victims remains debated but at the time of her trail, the largest number was 650. Elizabeth was obsessed with preserving her beauty, youth and most importantly, the creamy smoothness of her skin. The belief that blood would prevent the aging came after an incident when a servant girl accidentally pulled Elizabeth’s hair while combing it. The girl received a slap so hard that it caused her nose to bleed, the blood landed onto Elizabeth’s hand and as she wiped it away, she swore the parts of her skin that had been touched by the blood had been regenerated. Supposedly she had the girl’s throat cut and blood drained into a vat so she could bathe in it while it was still warm. Along the way, it is said that she went from bathing in the blood of virgin girls but also drank the blood. Within 30 years, Elizabeth stamped out an entire generation of girls around the Báthory estate. Desperate for more blood, she established a school at Castle Čachtice for minor nobility to attend. After the noble girls began to go missing, authorities began to actually listen to the reports. The Báthory family, who knew all along what was going on, could no longer cover up the truth. An investigation was launched which led to the arrest of Elizabeth and her four accomplices. Because Elizabeth was an aristocrat, the laws of the time kept her from actually going to trial, her accomplices took the full brunt of the accusations and suffered the penalties. However, Elizabeth was given a penalty for her crimes, but by a court of law but by her family. They had worked hard to preserve their family’s honor and feared she would continue to be a menace and disgrace their name. So, to ensure she would never escape, she was walled up in her bed chambers. The only opening were small slots to allow food, drink and proper ventilation to be passed through. She survived for three years in the confines of her room before she was found lying face down, dead. -- source link