A Short History of the Blood Countess

Elizabeth Báthory, also known as The Blood Countess was born in 1560 in Hungary to Baron George Báthory and Baroness Anna Báthory, both of whom were born under the same name. Because of her parents' blood relation, it's believed that Elizabeth experienced seizures, fits of rage, and loss of control in her early years of life.

Though Protestant, Elizabeth's parents were cruel and unforgiving, often having their officers inflict harsh punishments onto those who crossed them. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, she witnessed these events quite a lot, as they were regularly committed on her parents' property.

Elizabeth's parents weren't the only people in her family that may have been in some way disturbed. Her uncle, for example, taught her Satanism and her aunt introduced her to sadomasochism.

Elizabeth married Count Ferenc Nádasdy at only fifteen. Ferenc was a soldier, who eventually led Hungarian armies to war against the Ottoman Empire. Ten years after they married, Elizabeth and Ferenc had four children - one son and three daughters.

Likely from her traumatic childhood, Elizabeth found joy in participating in sadistic activities, some of which she learned from her husband.

After her husband died in the early 1600's, Elizabeth became even more cruel. Once she moved to a castle in northwest Hungary, present day Slovakia, Elizabeth hired numerous servants to assist her in torture.

Some say that one day a servant of Elizabeth's accidentally pulled her hair while brushing it. This angered Elizabeth to the point she struck her servant so hard she drew blood, which she thought made her skin look much younger. This event is what inspired Elizabeth to take it further and bathe in the blood of virgin girls.

Elizabeth would offer jobs to young girls in town in order to lure them to her castle, where she would torture them instead. After torturing these girls to death, Elizabeth would quite literally bathe in their blood. She tortured and killed so many girls that she ran out, either because she killed them all or the rest were hidden away by their families. Because of this, she ended up turning to noble girls, which is what eventually caused her to be caught.

After Elizabeth killed a noble girl and staged it as a suicide in 1609, authorities finally decided to take action. When raiding Elizabeth's castle, they found bodies in every corner, thus sending her to trial. Many of Elizabeth's servants testified against her, saying she would often beat her victims to the point their skin was tattered. Another of her victims was allegedly struck 200 times before she succumbed to the cold embrace of death.

After trial, Elizabeth and her servants were convicted on 80 counts of murder, but it's believed that she had over 650 victims in total. Though her servants were sentenced the death penalty, Elizabeth received life in prison. She died three years later, face down on the floor of her cell.

In conclusion, Elizabeth Báthory was undeniably the most sadistic woman in history.