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 284–85SERIAL 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.264-265_Elizabeth_Bathory.indd 265 13/12/2016 10:10