And some say she would later use that power to commit heinous acts. This is thought to be one of the reasons she became obsessed over blood. In 1575 she married Count Ferencz Ndasdy, a member of another powerful Hungarian family, and subsequently moved to Castle Cachtice, a wedding gift from the Ndasdy family. I think it wouldve been a little more beneficial to focus on a specific killing story of hers if there was evidence of one. It is also interesting to note that the King of Hungary only took notice or sent someone to investigate the disappearances of young girls when it was young noble girls disappearing. She had an elder brother named Stephen. About Erzsbet Bthory, "The Blood Countess". [citation needed], After the wedding, the couple lived in Nadasdy's castle at Srvr. High-quality Elizabeth Bathory pillows, tapestries, mugs, blankets, shower curtains, aprons, jigsaw. It took 35 years and 650 girls for the King of Hungary to take action. The Csejte church and the castle of Csejte do not bear any markings of her possible grave. MINIATURE framed painting art. Where did Elizabeth Bathory grow up? While Elizabeths husband was away at war, she met a witch named Anna Darvulia. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Bathory gave birth to five children. Bthory and four of her servants were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls and women between 1590 and 1610. Gabriel Bthory, the younger brother of Stephen XII, was the last male member of the Ecsed line. I really liked the introduction of this article because it made me wonder what she did and ask why should she have gotten a stricter punishment, and boy did I find out. In the 15th century, Michael's brothers George and Ladislaus, who both died without issue, had sold their heritage to the then-head of the Somly branch, Nicolaus. The book was never revealed and Szilvssy never mentioned it in his testimony. Darvulia supposedly implanted in Bathorys mind that if she killed young virgins and bathed in their blood, she could maintain her youth.9 Bathory confided in Darvulia and took interest in learning more about witchcraft and Satanism. and she had complete control over the lives of the peasants living in the . Elizabeth Bthory, by Gavin R.G. Elizabeth Bthory., College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences. It was interesting to read about the impact her family and husband had on her and how they tortured so many women made my skin crawl. Elizabeth I was a long-ruling queen of England, governing with relative stability and prosperity for 44 years. Also known as Bthori Erzsbet, Elizabeth Bathory was born to an incredibly powerful family on August 7, 1560, in Hungary. Anna (Ndasdy) Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogarasfld, Mikls (Ndasdy) Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogarasfld, Katalin (Ndasdy) Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogarasfld, Orsolya (Ndasdy) Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogarasfld, Pl (Ndasdy) Ndasdy de Ndasd et Fogaras-Fld, Erzsbet (Bathory) Bthory de Ecsed (1560-1614), http://www.macse.hu/gudenus/mfat/fam.aspx?id=15945, http://genealogy.euweb.cz/hung/bathori3.html#EG, Erzsbet (Bthory) Bthory de Somly (bef.1528-1562). Said bloodline was also one of generational inbreeding. Her family had many powerful relatives -- a cardinal, princes, and a cousin who was prime minister of Hungary are among these relatives. Being creative was fun for a while, but, we, at ElizabethBathory.Org, no longer publish educational material, nor details about the portrait for security reasons, just an image of the painting, once lost, then found, without commentary, and at considerably lower resolution. She was a bloodsucking demon sent from Hell to murder young women. This article was incredible! [3] She was imprisoned within Castle of Csejte. Bathory is reputed to have killed at least six hundred victims, earning her a Guinness World Record for most prolific female murderer. At the time of Thurzs investigation, some accused her of being a vampire, while others claimed to have seen her have sex with the Devil. Bthory, though never tried, was confined to Castle Csejte (now Cachtice), reportedly kept in a bricked-in room. Elizabeth Bathory was born on the family estate of Nyirbator in eastern Hungary on the 7th of August 1560. Descendant of both the Ecsed and Somly branches of the Bathory family. I wonder if she wouldve grown up to be different if all these people in her life wouldnt have helped her torment her servants. Her mother's brother was Stephen Bathory who was a Hungarian nobleman and later became the king of Poland. Another woman, who'd supposedly used magic to aid Bathory, was also soon killed. However, he may have schooled her in techniques of torture when they were together. Since the Dragfi estates were legally due to the crown, the Habsburgs forced George to yield the castles and withdrew to Csitsva in Zempln County. Her father was Baron George VI Bthory of the Ecsed branch of the family, brother of Andrew Bonaventura Bthory, who had been voivode of Transylvania. While I have no doubt she might have reached the sadistic level she was, I believe her upbringing where her parents tortured and mutilated their servants, combined with the sadistic nature of her husband helped her reach that level much quicker. Her father was Baron George VI Bthory, brother of the voivode of Transylvania, Andrew Bonaventura Bthory. The fourth was spared immediate execution; what happened to her afterward is unknown. Her victims were usually aged between 10 and 14. Therefore, the idea of evil inside the family bond emerges in the Countess's massacres. Bthory was born into prominent Protestant nobility in Hungary. This too may have been politically motivated, as the death penalty meant that the king could seize her land. Considering the mythologized elements of Bathorys alleged crimes, it begs the question of how much of her bloody story was actually true and how much was made up just to take a powerful and wealthy woman down. Descendants of Elizabeth Bathory the Blood Queen being hunted by descendants of her supposed victims. The family rose to significant influence in Central Europe during the Late Middle Ages, holding high military, administrative and ecclesiastical positions in the Kingdom of Hungary. is that there is "a 400-year-old war between the uncanny descendants of "Blood Countess" Elizabeth Bathory, the most prolific female serial killer of all time, and a . He had also received the castle Bujak from King Albert of Habsburg. However, Thurzo ordered her bricked into a windowless room in Cjsethe Castle. The Simolin family possessed large estates in Prussia and Courland and members served the Russian Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine as diplomats. The Elizabethan era is named for her. 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=1132822934, 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 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 10 January 2023, at 19:35. There were many suspected forms of torture carried out by Bthory. The family divided into two major branches, which descended from the sons and grandsons of Yes, there are descendants of Elizabeth Bathory that are living today. Overall, I believe the author did a good job telling a tragic story. That evidence included numerous bodies and dead and dying girls found when the castle was entered by Thurz. She was born into one of the noble families of Hungary, the Bathory family which uses the fang of a dragon as its crest. A real person, born in 1560, died in 1614. [6] A further division occurred under the great-grandsons of Ladislaus (latter half of the 15th century): John and Stephen dropped the name Bthory and founded the Szaniszlfi family, while Nikolaus continued the Somly branch. The Bathory Nadasdy family agreed to cancel Matthias's debts- and Matthias decided that Elizabeth Bathory would disappear behind the walls of her castle. According to SyFy, this claim didnt even appear in print until after shed been dead for more than a century. [36] It is difficult to know how accurate his account of events is. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. No, Bthory was not a doctor/scientist/midwife. 2023 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. If all the stories about her are true, then she is likely the most prolific and vicious female serial killer of all time. Elizabeth pleaded her innocence to Thurzo, though he did not believe her, and he eventually arrested her.15 Bathory was only put on house arrest, because they did not want to cause a scene to the public, but rumors were already going around about what she did. with video tutorial . She allegedly tortured and murdered these women between 1585 and 1609. It seems most likely that the claim of Thurz's discovering Bthory covered in blood has been the embellishment of fictionalized accounts. After Nadasdy died in January 1604, Bathory took control of her extensive estates. This witch inspired most of Bathorys brutal and sadistic killings. I will start with the claims where the evidence is clearest: No, Bthory did not keep a list of her victims/"patients". While she lived unharmed by any authority for years, many young girls went missing or ended up dead. The Blood Countess, as she would be known in the centuries to come, was born into a prominent family who held power over an ironic region: Transylvania, which was then part of Hungary. Elizabeth Bthory (Hungarian Noblewoman and Serial Killer) Elizabeth Bthory or Erzsebet Bathory was a feared Hungarian countess who became infamous as a torturer and a vicious serial murderer. Bthory was a powerful woman, made more so by her control of Ndasdys holdings after his death. It is crazy to think someone could find pleasure in killing and torturing other people, but crazier to find somebody you marry that have the same interests! Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian countess, was the daughter of Ann and George Bathory.1 She was born on August 7th, 1590, in Transylvania.2 She came from a wealthy, Protestant family that were significant landowners in Hungary. However, it's possible Bathory was not guilty of all the crimes that have been laid at her feet. Elizabeth Bathory's Chilling Secret to Eternal Youth. American serial killer Israel Keyes is thought to have murdered at least 11 people before his 2012 arrest. Bathory sometimes tortured girls by driving needles into their fingers, cutting their noses or lips or whipping them with stinging nettles. She was raised at the family castle in Ecsd, Hungary. In 1575 she married Count Ferencz Ndasdy and moved to Castle Csejte (now in Cachtice, Slovakia), a wedding gift from Ndasdys family. Those horrific acts of violence and the sometimes-supernatural legends that surround the crimes help define Elizabeth Bathorys terrifying legacy today. Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2018, s.v. There is no evidence that she actually committed the crimes she of which she was alleged. 25 of the Most Evil People the World Has Ever Seen. Thurzo heard screaming, which led him to find one of Bathorys torture chambers. She was born on a family estate in Nyrbtor, Hungary, and spent her childhood at Ecsed Castle. Zpolya appointed Stephen VIII Voivode of Transylvania, which he governed until his death in 1534. They included no references to blood baths. She would bite shoulders and breasts, as well as burning the flesh, including the genitals, of some victims. [33] Moreover, Matthias owed a large debt to Bthory, which was cancelled after she was arrested. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. As was the custom, the young bride to be left her own home once the betrothal was official and the family of her fiance took over her education. The second son, Stephen III rose to become Palatine of Hungary and in 1444 fell in the Battle of Varna as flag-bearer of Wadysaw, King of Poland and Hungary. Briccius: The elder branch of the family, the Bthory of Somly were descended from John, Count of Szatmr, the first-born son of Briccius, through his eldest son Ladislaus (died 1373). [2] Her family ruled Transylvania as an independent region within the Hungarian kingdom. [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. As a child, Bthory had multiple seizures that may have been caused by epilepsy. Elizabeth Bthory (or Erzsbet, to use the Hungarian spelling) was born into a Hungarian noble family on the 7th August, 1560. [37], Bthory has been labelled by Guinness World Records as the most prolific female murderer, though the number of her victims is debated.[38]. On December 30, 1609, Elizabeth Bthory and her servants were arrested. Matthias was not inclined to pay that debt, which historians say may have fueled his move to incriminate the countess in multiple crimes and deny her the opportunity to defend herself in court. She had everything going for her in her life, she was rich, beautiful, and her family was well . Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The palatine also coordinated the steps of the investigation with the political struggle with the Prince of Transylvania. They descended from George II, the younger son of John I, through the George's grandson Michael. George strengthened his alliance to Stephen by marrying his sister Anna, uniting the branches. 2 She came from a wealthy, Protestant family that were significant landowners in Hungary. Others reported having seen traces of torture on dead bodies, some of which were buried in graveyards, and others in unmarked locations. Most of her alleged assaults and murders took place after she was widowed in 1604. [citation needed]. Her parents were both Bthory, her father was Baron George VI Bthory of the Ecsed branch of the Bthory family and her mother was Baroness Anna Bthory. Wikimedia CommonsMany modern Hungarian scholars believe that the accusations against Elizabeth Bathory were exaggerated. Countess Elizabeth Bthory de Ecsed (Hungarian: Bthori Erzsbet, pronounced [batori rebt]; Slovak: Albeta Btoriov; 7 August 1560 - 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the family of Bthory, who owned land in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia).. Bthory and four of her servants were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of . Almost everyone has heard the legend of cruel Elisabeth Bthory who bathed in the blood of young virgins to preserve eternal youth. Today, Elizabeth Bathory is infamously remembered as the "Blood Countess" who killed up to 650 girls and women in the Kingdom of Hungary. I do wonder though, how coincidental is it that she found a husband that was practicing the same satanist things as her family? A student organization of St. Marys University of San Antonio, Texas, featuring scholarly research, writing, and media from students of all disciplines. It was a political arrangement within the circles of the aristocracy. She suffered from epilepsy as a child, possibly from familial inbreeding. [5][bettersourceneeded] Ladislaus' younger brother George II is the ancestor of the Simolin family, later called Bthory of Simolin (see below). Elizabeth was born August of 1560 to a powerful branch of the royal family in Hungary. Elizabeth Bthory, Hungarian form Bthory Erzsbet, (born August 7, 1560, Nyrbtor, Hungarydied August 21, 1614, Castle Cachtice, Cachtice, Hungary [now in Slovakia]), Hungarian countess who purportedly tortured and murdered hundreds of young women in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Early Life of Elizabeth Bathory. While Nadasdy taught her how to torture, yet another person in her life would teach her how to kill. Elizabeth Bathory was born on August 7th 1560 in Nyrbtor, Kingdom of Hungary, Habsburg . In this time period, if someone was harmed, or someone even stole a chicken, a letter of complaint was written. Elizabeth Bthory, or Bthory Erzsbet in her native Hungarian, was born in Nyrbtor on August 7, 1560. There is still no physical evidence to this day that proves she is innocent or guilty. Liz Torture Throw Pillow. As Gyrgy Thurz wrote, Elizabeth Bthory was locked in a bricked room, but according to other sources (written documents from the visit of priests, July 1614), she was able to move freely and unhindered in the castle, more akin to house arrest. In the early modern period, the family brought forth several Princes of Transylvania and one King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (Stephen Bthory). Peasant girls looking for servant work in the Csejte Castle were disappearing, and no one knew why. Many modern Hungarian scholars believe that the accusations against Elizabeth Bathory were exaggerated. For example, he instructed her to strip her servants naked, cover them in honey, and let bugs eat at them.8 Elizabeths husband, Nadasdy, was yet another influence to why she became obsessed with torturing her servants. She pled innocent to each crime. . The Chilling Story Of Simon Monjack, The 'Disturbed' Husband Of Brittany Murphy, Michael Hutchence Was One Of The World's Biggest Rock Stars Then He Choked Himself To Death In A Sydney Hotel, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Most SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY to the EXTENT STATED in the TERMS of SERVICE and PRIVACY POLICY the of! The stories about her are true, then she is likely the prolific... Television Networks, LLC a bloodsucking demon sent from Hell to murder young women many suspected of. Burning the flesh, including the genitals, of some victims bite and. Elizabeth and Catherine as diplomats Russian Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine as diplomats, including the genitals, of victims... And vicious female serial killer of all time and PRIVACY POLICY II, the younger son of i. A little more beneficial to focus on a specific killing story of if... 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