Chapter 1. The birth of a blood angel.
What could be better than a young lady's fresh blood? Nothing.
August 7, 1560.
Nothing could save the thirsty people as well as icy water from a new well in the middle of the bazaar. But a miracle happened in the royal house! The niece of Stefan Báthory, Prince of Transylvania and King of Poland since 1576, was born. This miracle of angelic origin was incredibly charming. Her eyes expressed her whole soul. This angel grew up in a rich and wealthy family. Her parents were very happy to see a child of such unearthly beauty. In honor of her prosperity, she was named Erzsébet, meaning divine grace, which describes her. In her teenage years Erzsébet was very strange, even then were noticed the oddities in her character. At the age of 10 she was diagnosed with epilepsy, which caused severe seizures. In her youth she learned such languages as Latin, German, Greek, and arithmetic. In written and spoken form she had an excellent command of the Hungarian language, as well as Slovak, which was spoken by the courtiers.
Chapter 2: Erzsébet's Marriage
Her story begins with her accidental pregnancy at the age of 13. Her bewildered mother did not know what to do, so she was forced to marry Ferenc Nadasdia, a very influential and authoritative man. Perhaps the marriage was a happy one, the countess gave birth to 4 children. Nadasdy himself spent a lot of time away from home, especially from 1578, when he became the commander of the Hungarian army and was busy fighting the invading Ottomans. He died in 1604 due to a fever contracted on one of his campaigns.
Chapter 3.Entertainments of a bloody angel
According to ancient accounts, it can be understood that Erzsebet went mad after the death of her consort. She had very frequent seizures, frequent headaches, and also according to her she saw silhouettes of people, even felt them, but it was just a hallucination. After the death of her husband all his gods fell into the hands of Erzsebet, she had a lot of courtiers who served her, mostly young ladies.
One beautiful sunny day, the Countess asked one of the ladies to comb her hair. In the moment the young lady accidentally ripped off a piece of hair, which infuriated the Countess very much. She hit the young lady very hard, and she bled, and drops of that fresh blood got on the Countess's hand. Those places with blood as if suddenly revived, became young and ruddy again, and the countess felt a burst of vigor. She ordered other courtiers to kill her and pour all her blood into her luxurious bath. Soon she undressed and dived into the bath and then felt the divine beauty of Aphrodite. She realized what she was going to do.
"If I drink the maiden's blood or bathe in it, I will remain forever young."
- Erzsebet Bathory
Assisting her in her terrible deeds were two elderly court maids, a young court lady named Anna Durvolja and a young man named Janos Ujvari, Fitzko. It is worth noting the fact that Elizabeth had an unhealthy obsession with the phenomenon of "eternal youth" and an insatiability for relationships with young lovers. She believed that the blood of young girls could slow down her aging process and allow her to remain attractive. One of her cruelest tortures was the pointed cage, The structure was too low to stand and too narrow to sit in. Nails and knives were attached to the bars on all sides. Inside, the killers put a naked girl inside, lifted her up to the ceiling and locked her in place. In other words, this structure was called the Dark Angel Cage, in honor of Erzsebet.
After that, one of the torturers would take a red-hot poker and poke the girl. Swinging the cage around, the victim fumbling inside would be slashed with nails and knives. Then the only man in the group, Fitzko, would swing the cage on purpose, causing the innocent to receive more and more wounds from sharp objects. During the gruesome ritual, dressed in a white dress, Elizabeth would sit on a chair under the cage and enjoy the blood dripping on her until the naked victim gave out a breath and the dress was not blood red.
Chapter 3: The Bathory Conviction
After a while, the Countess and her assistants decided to kidnap and kill nobles. Rumors that Bathory was behind a long series of disappearances quickly spread among the nobility and reached the royal court.
On December 26, 1609 or 1610 (it is not known exactly), Count György Turzo, on the orders of Hungarian King Matyas II, uninvitedly visited Elizabeth's castle in Csahtitsa at the very moment when she was having another "rejuvenation" session. The count was shocked by what he saw and ordered the countess to be taken into custody immediately.
In addition to the severely wounded and half-dead girls in the torture room, other victims were found in various places in the castle waiting to be tortured.
The trial of Elizabeth Bathory and her henchmen took place in January 1611. More than 300 witnesses testified about what they had seen. The testimony of 34 people was written down in detail and presented to the court. But the noble origin of the defendant and active lobbying of family members in court allowed Elizabeth to avoid the death penalty.
The sentence for the Countess was house arrest for life in her own castle. She was locked in one of the bedrooms, the doors of which were bricked up, leaving only a small opening for the transfer of food and drink.
Three assistants of the bloodthirsty mistress were tortured and executed, one was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Elizabeth Bathory died on August 21, 1614, a few weeks after writing her will. She was buried in Cheute Church, but the family reburied her rather quickly in another unknown location. The surrounding inhabitants did not want this fierce woman to lie in their sacred land.
Elizabeth Bathory was born on August 7, 1560 in a wealthy family of a famous Hungarian family, in her youth received an excellent education and became the most famous aristocrat of her time.
She became famous thanks not only to her origin, but also as the greatest serial killer of all time with a list of more than 600 victims, getting even into the "Guinness Book of Records".
Her real name is Erzsebet, but she is known worldwide as Elisabeth.
