"The Blood Countess"
On the surface Elizabeth's life seems like an old fairytale with beauty, power, intelligence and fame across Hungary. However Elizabeth's infamy has risen from her horrific tortures of her servants in vast quantities and using indescribable methods. It is said that Elizabeth's appetite for torture was first introduced to her through her husband. Count Ferencz reportedly enjoyed inflicting pain on servants and had particular methods which were particularly effective that he taught to Elizabeth. Following the death of her husband in 1644 and inheritance of his estates, Elizabeth also inherited Ferencz's power. With little supervision and a sense of boredom and frustration it is at this point that historians suggest that Elizabeth's pursuits become truly of a sadistic nature. There are reports of young women in Elizabeth's household being slowly tortured in numerous ways- some a very inventive for example Elizabeth left young women outside during winter and poured water over them until they froze to death.
Over the course of thirty five years, Elizabeth is reported to have murdered over six hundred people. This is clearly a staggering number in a relatively short space of time and it seems unlikely that she carried these murders out alone. Her accomplices were three of her servants: Ficzko, Helena and Dorothea and it is reported that Elizabeth's murders were mostly sparked by violent rages rather than being meticulously premeditated. At first Elizabeth took pleasure from making her servants suffer and bleed in order to punish for mistake or fault but later she murdered for the sake of murder with no apparent trigger to spilling blood. It was considered prestigious to secure a job in one of the Bathory castles and Elizabeth would recruit young girls from neighbouring villages and hamlets to work for her at one of castles and carry out her tortures on them with the help of her three trusted servants.
Over the course of thirty five years, Elizabeth is reported to have murdered over six hundred people. This is clearly a staggering number in a relatively short space of time and it seems unlikely that she carried these murders out alone. Her accomplices were three of her servants: Ficzko, Helena and Dorothea and it is reported that Elizabeth's murders were mostly sparked by violent rages rather than being meticulously premeditated. At first Elizabeth took pleasure from making her servants suffer and bleed in order to punish for mistake or fault but later she murdered for the sake of murder with no apparent trigger to spilling blood. It was considered prestigious to secure a job in one of the Bathory castles and Elizabeth would recruit young girls from neighbouring villages and hamlets to work for her at one of castles and carry out her tortures on them with the help of her three trusted servants.