Elizabeth Bathory was born on August 7, 1560. She went on to become the “female dracula”.
Here is the legend. How much is true cannot be determined. Elizabeth Bathory was a Hungarian countess. Her husband was a general and she lived in a castle in the Carpathian Mountains. She surrounded herself with an entourage of witches, sorcerers, and alchemists. They convinced her that she could maintain her youth by bathing in the blood of virgins. When her husband was away on campaigns, she and her companions would go out at night in a black coach to hunt for victims. They would kidnap children and bring them back to the castle. They were tortured and chained up in the castle to drain their blood. There was also some cannibalism. She became known as the “Blood Countess”. When word got out, King Mathias II marched on the castle and arrested the countess. She was put on trial in 1611 for the murder of 50 people. Her accomplices were beheaded or burned at the stake. Because she was a aristocrat, she could not be sentenced to death. She was imprisoned in a small room in the castle with only small portions of food. It took her four years to die. She was 54 years old.
It is a great story, but is it true. Most likely Bathory was the victim of a witch-hunt that was politically motivated. However, there were 300 witnesses that testified, although many were second-hand witnesses. Supposedly, evidence of dead girls was found when her castle was searched. As to why she did it (if she did), she was an epileptic. When she was a girl, it was believed that putting the blood of a non-epileptic on their lips would alleviate the seizures.
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_B%C3%A1thory
– Strange 555-6
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