Born, August 7, 1560
Elizabeth was born Erzebet Bathory to a wealthy and prominent family. She was the daughter of the Baron and Baroness George and Anna Bathory. Highly educated, fluent in Hungarian, German and Latin.
Engaged to Ferenc Nadasdy, the "Black Hero of Hungary" at age 11.

Because the Nadasdy family was of a lesser social status, Elizabeth kept her name and her husband hyphenated his. Elizabeth went to live with her future mother-in-law and while there, a brief affair with a commoner which produced a daughter, who was given, along with money, to a commoner.

Becomes aware of effects of blood.

While getting ready for her husband's homecoming, Elizabeth was being helped by one of her maids. The maid saw that something was wrong with Elizabeth's hair dress, but when she went to fix it, Elizabeth hit her with a brush. So hard in fact, that blood was drawn. Some of the maid's blood fell onto Elizabeth, who cleaned it away in disgust. However, Elizabeth noticed that the skin below the blood seemed to be younger and more vibrant.

Married, May 8, 1575

Taking time off from the ever-present war with the Turks, Ferenc came home to marry his fiancée.
Husband teaches different forms of torture:
Honey torture: involving stripping the victim naked, smearing honey over them, and leaving them outside to be the victim of any insect that happens by. Later, Elizabeth would use her own version of this involving water and a cold winter night. Reputed to be one of the most beautiful women in all of Europe, beneath is a portrait of the Countess.


































The Countess

Torture devices of Elizabeth:

Iron Maiden: a coffin with spikes in it. The spikes don't impale the victim, but do cause bleeding. There are then two spikes that are driven into the eyes causing (obviously) blindness. The victim then slowly bleeds to death.

Spiked Crows Nest:  A cyndrical cage, that is too narrow to sit in, and too
small to stand in. It had spikes on the inside of it, and when the cage is
hoisted and rocked, the victims will skewer themselves on it.

Variation: The cage is hoisted, but the victim is poked at with a red-hot poker, and impales themselves.Elizabeth would sit under this cage, shout obscenities at her victim and "soak" up the blood that dripped down.

Elizabeth was eventually caught and brought to justice. Some say it was because officials could no longer ignore rumours circulating around the commoncommunity. Others say that it was because Elizabeth, bored with common blood, turned to that of royalty, who were missed more than their commoner counterparts.

Whichever the reason, Elizabeth was given two trials:

First trial: Held on January 2, 1611 at Bytca. (pronounced Byt-cha).

Seventeen testimonies including her four accomplices, Helena Jo, Dorka,
Katharina, and Ficzko. Elizabeth was not alone in her acts. She had four known accomplices, perhaps others. A maid, identified as "Zusanna" testified that she was aware of a list, written in the Countess's own handwriting, of the names of six hundred victims.

Second trial: Held on January 7, 1611.

Elizabeth was not allowed at either trial. She was also never convicted at
either trial. This may have been to protect the family name. It may have
also been to keep away the king. The king at the time owed a great deal of money to the Bathory family, and if she had been convicted, all debts would have been cancelled.Three of her cohorts were sentenced to horrible deaths and mutilations. Helena Jo and Dorka were sentenced to have all the fingers on their hands, (which they used as instruments in so much torture and butchering and which they dipped in the blood of Christians),torn out by the public executioner with a pair of red-hotpincers; thereafter they where thrown alive on a fire.

Ficzko, her only male accomplice, was sentenced to decapitation. His
body, drained of blood... reunited with his two fellow accomplices where... he was burned.

Katharina was exonerated by Dorka, Helena Jo and Zusanna, and was left to be dealt with at a later date.

Elizabeth never having been convicted of anything, remained for the rest of her life walled up inside of her room, under "Castle Arrest." The room was small, and the only link to the outside world was through a small opening for air and food to be passed through.

On August 21, 1614, a guard, who had never seen the countess, wanted to get a look at her, who was still, at the age of 54, reputed to be one of
the most beautiful women in all of Europe. Looking in through one of the
slots left open for food and air, he discovered Elizabeth lying face down.

The Blood Countess was dead.

Life of Elizabeth Bathory taken from: see links page. (The version you see here has been revised and edited and corrected, e.g. spelling mistakes removed.)

Countess Elizabeth Bathory
c. 1560-1614

There are many legends about vampires. However, there are official documents proving the existence of an authentic seventeenth-century countess, Elizabeth Bathory, who was the most bloodthirsty vampiress of all time.

Elizabeth Bathory was born in 1560 into one of the oldest and wealthiest
families in Transylvania. She had many powerful relatives - a cardinal, princes, and a cousin who was prime minister of Hungary. The most famous Bathory was King

Steven of Poland. 1575-86.

Elizabeth was married to Count Ferencz Nasdasdy when she was 15, he was 26. The count added her surname to his, so the countess kept her name. They lived at Castle Csejthe in the Nyitra country of Hungary. The count spent a great deal of time away from home fighting. His nickname was "The Black Hero of Hungary". While he was away, Elizabeth's manservant Thorko introduced her to the occult. Elizabeth eloped with a dark stranger briefly, but came home. Luckily the count forgave her. Back at the castle, Elizabeth couldn't stand her domineering mother-in-law. She began torturing the servant girls with the help of her old nurse Iloona Joo. Her other accomplices included the major-domo Johannes Ujvary, Thorko; a forest witch named Darvula and a witch Dorottya Szentes.

In 1600 Ferencz died and Elizabeth's period of real atrocities began. First, she sent her hated mother-in-law away. Elizabeth was very vain and afraid of getting old and losing her beauty. One day a servant girl accidentally pulled her hair while combing it -- Elizabeth slapped the girl's hand so hard she drew blood, which fell onto her own hand. She immediately though her skin took on the freshness of that of her young maid. She was sure she found the secret of eternal youthful skin. She had her major-domo and Thorko strip the maid, cut her and drain her blood into a huge vat. Elizabeth bathed in it to beautify her entire body.

Over the next 10 years Elizabeth's evil henchmen provided her with new girls for the blood-draining ritual and her blood baths. But one of her intended victims escaped and told the authorities about what was happening at Castle Csejthe. King Mathias of Hungary ordered Elizabeth's own cousin, Count Cuyorgy Thurzo, governor of the province to raid the castle. On December 30, 1610 they raided Castle Csejthe. They were horrified by the terrible sights in the castle - one dead girl in the main room, drained of blood and another alive whose body had been pierced with holes; in the dungeon they discovered several living girls, some of whose bodies had been pierced. Below the castle, they exhumed the bodies of some 50 girls.

Elizabeth was put under house arrest. A trial was held in 1611 at Bitcse. She refused to plead guilty or innocent and never appeared at the trial. A complete transcript of the trial was made at the time and it still exists today in Hungary.Johannes Ujvary, major-domo, testified that about 37 unmarried girls had been killed, six of whom he had personally recruited to work at the castle. The victims were tied up and cut with scissors. Sometimes the two witches tortured these girls, or the Countess herself. Elizabeth's old nurse testified that about 40 girls had been tortured and killed.

All the people involved in the killings, except the Countess Bathory and the two witches were beheaded and cremated. The two accomplices had their fingers torn out and were burned alive. The court never convicted Countess Elizabeth of any crime. Stonemasons were brought to Castle Csejthe to wall up the windows and doors of the bedchamber with the Countess inside. They left a small hole through which food could be passed. King Mathias II demanded the death penalty for Elizabeth but because of her cousin, the prime minister, he agreed to an indefinitely delayed sentence, which really meant solitary confinement for life.

In 1614, four years after she was walled in, one of the guards wanted a look at this famous beauty. He saw her lying face down on the floor. Elizabeth Bathory, the "Blood Countess" was dead.

There are some connections between the Bathorys and the Dracula's. The commander of the expedition that helped Dracula regain his throne in 1476 was Prince Steven Bathory. A Dracula fief, Castle Fagaras, became a Bathory possession during the time of Elizabeth. Both families had a dragon design on their family crests.

One thing I found out was that the Countess, as a small child (4 or 5) used to have quite violent seizures where she would pass out. I do not think this was epilepsy, but most likely some other neurological disorder that may help to explain her horrific behaviour as a young woman. The second thing is that when her husband, the Count, was alive, he loaned a large sum of money to the government. After his death, and once the discovery of Elizabeth's grisly activities was made, the government decided that another reason to wall her up in her castle was to avoid having to pay back the debt they owned to her estate.

The original portrait of the Countess from 1585 is lost (nicked in the 1990s). However, this is a fairly contemporary copy of that original, probably painted in the late 16th century. She was 25 when the original portrait -- the only known image of her -- was painted.
There have been many pictures of The Countess, but which one is the real one??
Erzsébet original, according to McNally
Erzsébet original, according to Penrose
19th Century idea of Erzsébet in Cachtice
17th Century idea of Erzsébet in Cachtice
Picture and information credit goes to Dennis Bathory-Kitsz (c) 1992-2001 his site can be seen @ www.bathory.org His site is a MUST see site, jam packed with good information on this beautiful, yet disturbing woman.
My opinions on these pictures are that the first one is quite possibley more convincing than the others.  But the last one really puzzles me because her apperance is that of a woman from India, also the art is very similar to that of Inidan paintings, if you look at the shape of the  mouth, nose, eyes, and eyebrows.