Blood Countess

[Miranda]

Blood lust was the controlling passion of Countess Erzsébet Báthory, who satisfied her sadistic urges by murdering and torturing young women she would lure to her castle in the guise of work. She was born on August 7, 1560 in Nyibator, Hungary. Raised on one of her family’s many estates in the Carpathian mountains, accustomed to the finest of luxuries by birth. In May 1575, she married “The Black Hero”, General Count Ferencz Nadasdy, she was 15. Emperor Maximilian of Hapsburg was one of her wedding guests , she was brought only the best by kings, princes and dukes.

The Countess and her black bearded husband lived in Csejthe among the vineyards on north-west Hungary. Before long the general was off to fight wars, leaving Erzsébet, who was known for her extreme hyper sexuality alone for months in the castle on the hill. She took a pale-faced nobleman as her lover; he was said to be a vampire, who indulged in the consumption of blood. It has been said that he even had the extremely sharp and pointed teeth of a vampire. He was never able to control the Countess, even at her young age. Once the nobleman left, Erzsébet immersed herself in spells, witchcraft and black magic.

Her only obsession was to be youthful and beautiful. With her sable hair, large dark eyes and pouting mouth, she would carry a “ magic parchment”. She believed this would ward of any enemies she may have. Spells were also sent off to the General, so she would ensure his well-being. Questioning his wife’s fidelity, the General moved in his mother to the castle so she could keep an eye on the Countess.

The two women loathed the sight of each other and the Countess would soon begin to abuse the servants in her fits and rages of anger. While she was having her hair combed by one of her care givers, she struck her harshly in the face, drawing much blood. It is said the blood poured onto her and on this occasion she developed the desire to have blood on her skin. To her, the skin seemed much more supple, and glowing once the blood was washed from her body, making her appear more youthful . In January 1600, at the age of 47, Count Nadasdy died of “natural causes”. The day after the funeral, Erzsébet dismissed her mother-in-law from the castle grounds forever. For the next 10 years the Countess would live in seclusion with a nurse and several servants to attend to her wants.

At the head of a force of soldiers and gendarmes, the prime minister of Hungary and the Countess’ cousin, Count Gyorgy Thurzo, they would burst into the castle of the Countess. She was in the middle of throwing a New Years Eve party on December 31, 1610. Count Thurzo had heard the rumors surrounding his cousin for many years and took steps to get to the truth or to see if this was all legend. Nothing would prepare him for what he would find that evening and he then knew the truth for himself. While walking the halls of the castle, he would come upon lifeless bodies drained of what seemed to be every drop of blood they had, on stone floors.

She had literally had between 400-600 young girls kidnapped and slaughtered for her daily bath routine. Some were still alive and were in the process of being “drained”, with her torture devices pierced through their chests, stomachs and throats. Pawing their way through the bodies were her cats, she had as many as 100. There was no sign of the Countess, she would be found later hiding on the lowest part of her home, near the village. She never denied what she had done to her cousin and felt that it was her birth right to do as she wished upon anyone who was not royalty. She said to him, “Remember that our family is of royal blood. We have the right to do whatever we wish with those whom are beneath us”.

She was kept by guard at Csejthe until her trial in Bicse in January of 1611. When it was noticed that many local girls were disappearing never to be heard from again, and that the Countess , nearly 50, was never aging, the rumors of her blood baths began. Did this all begin as a legend, only then the truth was to be found out? It is very likely. The main person to shed light on the Countess’ tortures was her trusted servant Johannes Ujvary. His accounts of her debauchery would leave many stunned and in disbelief.

She would torture the women with knives, scissors, needles, and even had an “Iron Maiden” in her dungeon. To extract blood, she would bind the women very tightly, almost like a tourniquette in deep bondage, the slice at their veins with sharp scissors. In extreme cases, she would slice off skin, and have it fried and served to the girl, so she would know she would be eating her own severed flesh.

When women would faint from pain, she would have her nurse, Ilona Joo, put paper between their toes and light it on fire. Once the Countess was found guilty she was sentenced to be walled up in her bedchamber, with a small slit to allow food and drink. She would die three years later on August 21, 1614. It was said, after being denied her blood baths, at the time of her death she was unrecognizable and had aged with unbelievable rapidity.

By Miranda