The Crime Book

264

THE BLOOD OF

MAIDENS WILL

KEEP HER YOUNG

ELIZABETH BÁTHORY, 1585–1610

B

rick by brick, stonemasons

walled a 50-year-old woman

into a windowless suite

inside Cachtice Castle, Slovakia,

with only small slits for air and food.

For close to five years, the “Blood

Countess” remained trapped there

in solitary confinement – a bleak

end to the life of the most prolific

female mass murderer of all time.

Countess Elizabeth Báthory de

Ecsed came from one of Hungary’s

most distinguished families. At 15,

she married Count Ferenc Nadasdy

in a ceremony attended by

European royalty. The couple went

to live in Cachtice Castle.

Nadasdy was the commander

of the Hungarian forces fighting

against the Ottoman Empire.

Called the “Black Hero of Hungary”,

he was particularly known for

torturing the soldiers he captured.

His wife seemed like any other

noblewoman; attending parties,

opening an etiquette school for

aristocratic ladies, and providing

a haven for destitute war widows.

Dark obsessions

Elizabeth was drawn to the occult.

She began consorting with women

who claimed to be witches, and

began to torture her servant girls.

When Nadasdy died in 1604,

Báthory grew even more sadistic.

Taking advice on torture from

her children’s governess, one of

Báthory’s many sexual conquests,

the countess began to abduct girls

to torture and kill. At first, she took

the daughters of local peasants,

some of whom were lured by the

promise of work. Later, she turned

to wealthy girls who had come to

her school to learn etiquette.

By this time, rumours were

circulating about the countess.

A prominent Lutheran minister

denounced Báthory as a villainess.

In 1610, one of Báthory’s victims

escaped from Cachtice Castle.

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

Kingdom of Hungary

THEME

Murderous women

BEFORE

47–42 bce Prior to her five-

year reign as the first queen

of Sri Lanka, Anula of

Anuradhapura poisons her son

and four of her husbands.

AFTER

1876–96 Nurse Amelia

Elizabeth Dyer murders an

estimated 400 infants in

Caversham, England.

1988 While inquiring about

a missing tenant, police find

seven bodies buried in the

yard of a California boarding

house run by serial killer

Dorothea Puente.

1989–90 Former prostitute

Aileen Wuornos shoots and

kills seven men in Florida

at point-blank range. She

receives the death penalty, and

is executed by lethal injection.

The shadows will envelop you

and you will find time to

repent your bestial life.

Count Gyorgy Thurzo

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265

Elizabeth Báthory is often called the

“blood Countess” or “female Dracula”.

Her infamy has persisted since her

death, with stories that she bathed in

the blood of virgins to retain her youth.

See also: The Dripping Killer 206–07 ■ Lizzie Borden 208–11 ■ Ted Bundy

276–83 ■ Ian Brady and Myra Hindley 284–85

SERIAL KILLERS

The girl’s testimony prompted

the King of Hungary, Matthias II,

to order that Count Gyorgy Thurzo

start an investigation.

On 30 December 1610, Count

Thurzo ordered a raid on the castle.

The investigators found at least one

dead girl, drained of blood, and

another dying. Further searches

uncovered several girls – still alive

• in the dungeons, and about 50
  buried beneath the castle.
  At a trial led by Thurzo, Báthory
  and her servants were accused of
  torturing and killing hundreds of
  women between 1585 and 1609:
  beating, burning, freezing, and
  most notably, draining victims’

blood. One servant claimed to

have seen Báthory’s records, which

detailed more than 650 victims.

Báthory’s four conspirators were

beheaded and cremated. Báthory,

however, was saved from execution

by her noble status, and died in

confinement in 1614. Some have

suggested that the powerful widow

was a victim of a conspiracy by the

ruling Hapsburg emperor – or

perhaps even her own children. ■

Medieval torture

From the 12th century, torture

increased in Europe, both as a

popular method to make

suspects confess to their

crimes and as punishment for

wrongdoing.

In 1252, Pope Innocent IV

authorized his inquisitors to

use torture to gain confessions

from suspected heretics.

These confessions made under

duress were especially useful

for prosecuting people for

crimes of belief – a growing

category of crime in the

religious unrest that plagued

Europe’s medieval period.

Public torture aimed to

dissuade criminals and

preserve social order. The

medieval era was beset by

wars, famine, and disease,

and crime was a menace that

societies could do without.

Common techniques

included burning, mutilation,

and beheading. Often, torture

became a public spectacle.

Townspeople regularly

witnessed public floggings,

with criminals chained in

iron collars. As a punishment,

torture was often just a

prelude to public execution,

after which corpses, heads,

and body parts were impaled

on stakes on the city walls.

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