Elizabeth Bathory is believed to have been the most prolific female serial killer in history. Bathory is reputed to have tortured and killed up to 600 of her female servants, giving her the infamous nickname of the female 'Countess Dracula'.
Elizabeth Bathory's Early Life
Bathory was born on August 7, 1560 on the family estate in Nyirbaton, Hungary. For a woman of the time, Bathory was well educated. She could speak Hungarian, Latin, Greek and German and was interested in science and astronomy.
Although a minor noblewoman by birth, Bathory had extended family in 'high' places as she was related to the King of Poland as well as several Princes of Transylvania.
By today's standards, Bathory married young, she was just 15 years of age, her husband, Ferenc Nadasdy was 21. The match had been arranged when she was three years old, uniting two of the most powerful family clans of the time.
Elizabeth Bathory's Married Life
Marrying into one of the most powerful families of the time, Bathory was given a wedding gift by her new husband as befitted her new status. He gave her his home, Csejte Castle in the Little Carpathians which came complete with its own country house and 17 villages. Together, Bathory and Nadasdy had six children, two of whom died in early childhood.
Myths and Legends
Myths and legends surround the life of Elizabeth Bathory. Many were invented in an attempt to understand the 'goings on' at the castle. Although there is no documented evidence as to why Bathory became a sadistic killer there is an incident in her childhood which may have been part of the cause. At the young age of six, Bathory is said to have witnessed the sadistic death of a gypsy. It is reported that a horse was cut open and the gypsy was sewn inside the struggling animal. Both were left to die.
Peasants and servants had very few rights during this time and it was common practice to torture the lower classes. It is believed that Bathory's husband, Nadasdy, initiated her into the art of torture. This included dousing a naked servant in honey, leaving her outside to be stung by wasps and ants. Another favourite form of torture was to burn the public hair of their victims with candles, or throwing naked servants outside during the winter months and dousing them in cold water until they froze to death.
Queen of Torture
In 1578 Nadasdy was promoted to chief commander of the Hungarian Troops in their fight against the Ottoman Empire, so Bathory was left to run the estates on her own.
Aided by her personal servants, Dorottya (Dorka) Szentes, Ilona Jo, Katarina Benicka and Janos Ujvary (Fricko), Bathory started to select her victims from the surrounding villages. Church records show that the deaths of young women rose dramatically when Bathory was in residence.
As her victim pool started to diminish, Bathory began to make mistakes. No one would notice the disappearance of a peasant, but Bathory started to invite the daughters of nobility to her castle, it was only a matter of time before people began to ask questions.
A local Lutheran Minister, Istvan Magyori was a particularly brave man. Between 1602 and 1604 he complained about the atrocities occurring in the vicinity. But it wasn't until 1610 before he was taken seriously. King Matthias sent Gyorgy Thurzo, the Paladine of Hungary to investigate the complaints.
Thurzo and his men found a number of women dead or dying as they entered the castle – the rumours appearing to be true. Over a period of time they took almost 300 witness statements the kind of action that was virtually unheard of at the time.
The thought of prosecuting a noblewoman of Bathroy's standing would scandalise the country. Instead, she was placed under house arrest and her estates seized. Her servants were not so lucky. Dorka and Ilona were found guilty of torture and murder. They had their fingernails ripped out before being burnt to death. Ficko, deemed to be less complicit, was beheaded before his body was burnt and Katarina was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Bathory remained under house arrest, bricked into a small suite of rooms until her death, four years later on August 21, 1614.
Sources:
"Famous Serial Killers" hub pages.com/hub/famousserialkillers accessed 20.6.10
"Serial Killers of the 1600's – Elizabeth Bathory" jezzyteddysarticles.com accessed 20.6.10
"Elizabeth Bathory" BBC.co.uk accessed 21.6.10
Martina Cole's Lady Killers ITV3 14.6.10
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