For a long time, Transylvania has been home to vampire legends. The famous ruler of Wallachia, Vlad III Tepes, known as Vlad Dracula, instilled terror in the hearts of the people and was famous for his bloodthirstiness. But Countess Erzhebet or Elizaveta Bathory became famous throughout the world for her cruelty towards young girls. She got into the Guinness Book of Records as the bloodiest maniac in history.
A daughter was born to a wealthy and famous family on August 7, 1560. There were many heroes from the Bathory family: respected and revered priests, great and brave warriors and rulers. Stephen, the countess's cousin, was recognized as a warrior - a hero, after - the ruler of Transylvania, and then the king of Poland. In those early days, incest and close marriages were widespread among noble families. This led to the fact that children from birth were often either insane or dangerous. Uncle Erzsebet was a warlock. The aunt was distinguished not only by lesbian inclinations, but also sadistic. Her brother was known as a debauched alcoholic.
The young countess suffered from epilepsy and various mental disorders. Despite this, she studied well and was an extremely smart child. At the age of 15, she could not compare with peers from other aristocratic families, she was distinguished by high intelligence and special charm. At a time when the ruler of Transylvania could hardly read, Elizabeth was fluent in three foreign languages.
Like all people from aristocratic families, even as a child, Erzsebet realized that she was allowed everything and used her position for entertainment. I never missed an opportunity to punish the guilty servant by whipping. It also happened that, getting a taste, she could beat the girl to a pulp. The young Countess took delight in watching the blood ooze from the inflicted wounds. As soon as she discovered that sadism gives her the highest pleasure, Elizabeth began to write down all the details of what she had done in her personal diary.
When she was still a teenager, her parents strictly forbade overstepping the permitted boundaries during their "fun". But as soon as she was 15 years old, all restrictions lost their force. She is said to have given birth to a child from a footman at the age of 14. Naturally, such an event was not included in the plans of a noble family, and as a result, the footman and the child disappeared. But this information has not been documented in any way. Her parents gave her in marriage to General Ferenc Nadashd. He bore the nickname "the black knight of Hungary" for the fact that he bravely fought in the war against the Ottoman Empire.
Even becoming a mother of four children, she did not give up her "entertainment". At first, it didn't go beyond slaps. Particularly guilty could occasionally hit with a club. However, this did not last long. Then she drove needles into all parts of the body. It is assumed that this "art" was taught to her by her lesbian aunt, with whom they were secret mistresses.
The bloody countess's servant resorted to various tricks, realizing that the mistress's cruelty was increasing. When guests visited the residence, the slaves did everything possible so that they could not leave its possession: for example, they damaged carriages or released horses. But this method did not help for long.
Elizabeth's bullying was truly terrible: one girl nearly died when the bloody countess singed her hair in an intimate place. Another suffered greatly during the mistress's fit of rage: she tore the whole face of the servant. Torture chambers were located in all Bathory estates. In one castle there was even a theater of suffering and torment. Here the victims remained for a long time, experiencing all the horrors of bullying, dying long and painfully. Katya Benechko and her maid named Dorka were elected to Erzhebet's assistants. Access also had a dwarf invalid named Fichko - the only man in this strange club.
Promotional video:
Things got worse after the death of Elizabeth's husband. She forced the young girls-maids to strip naked and in this form serve on the street in winter. She poured water over them and left them to certain death in the form of statues covered with ice. It was considered a minor punishment, for example, to put a red-hot coin on the palm of a servant if there were suspicions of theft. And if, God forbid, the countess's clothes were badly ironed, then you could get a burn on your face with an iron. The young maids were all scarred, their skin could be ripped off with forceps, and their fingers were completely disfigured with scissors. Needles were a favorite "entertainment". She drove them under the nails of the victims. In a state of euphoria, Erzhebet tore off the skin on the girls' arms and breasts with their teeth.
It was easy to look for new "toys": among the common people, poverty was hopeless, and the peasants sold their own daughters into slavery to Countess Bathory. The moment has come for the mockery of the daughters of small nobles, thereby Erzhebet put an end to herself. However, at that moment she was not at all interested. The only problem was getting rid of so many corpses. Naturally, they were not buried with all the honors, they were simply buried. Some priests made attempts to expose the bloody countess, but all remained silent under the pressure of Elizabeth's wealth and power. Then she independently began to dismember the corpses and bury them in the field or simply dump them into the river. Fishermen occasionally found body parts, and rumor spread that a werewolf had wound up in the vicinity.
Several girls managed to escape from the sadist, and they told about all the horrors and exposed Countess Erzhebet Bathory. The case was drawing to a close, and it was more and more difficult for the woman to "cover her tracks." In 1607, the ruin of the treasury forced the Countess to sell the Deveno castle, and three years later the Beckov castle. In 1610, a search was organized in the Kakhtice castle. The remains of a former slave were found, and there are two more corpses in Elizabeth's room.
The trial began on January 2, 1611. The court was presented with the Countess's diary on January 7, which detailed the murders of 650 victims, although the exact number is unknown. The assistants were sentenced to suffering: to tear out their fingers with hot tongs, and then burn them at the stake. But another punishment was applied to Erzhebet Bathory: she was walled up in her own room, leaving a hole for the transfer of food. She was in this position for three years. On the morning of August 22, 1614, the guard found her dead.