Was Elizabeth Bathory really a vampire or just eccentric?

Eccentric

1 of 1

by Colleen Mart

• 

Write now Print Invite a writer™ Add to Favorites RSS Feed Contact this writer

Was Elizabeth Bathory really a vampire or just eccentric?

The commonly accepted attributes of the mythical vampire are that they are an animated corpse that attacks helpless victims, drinking their victim's blood in order to renew their dead and decomposing flesh. Vampires are reputed to sleep in a coffin by day and hunt for victims by night since daylight will supposedly kill a vampire. Vampire's victims are not necessarily virgin victims and vampires are not gender specific. Out of desperation when not able to find a human victim, vampires would resort to drinking the blood of animals and supposedly could take the form of animals, the most common being a bat.

Comparing the Erzsebet Bathory, also called Elizabeth Bathory, to a vampire will reveal some glaring inconsistencies. Elizabeth Bathory was a real person and her life and crimes have been documented in historical documents. Because of her atrocious crimes she became infamous and was known as the Blood Countess and the inaccurate name of Lady Dracula.

Elizabeth Bathory, a Transylvanian noble woman, was born August 17, 1560. For political reasons she was married at the age of 15 to Count Ferencz Nadasdy in 1575 and lived the rest of her life in the province of Hungary, currently known as Slovakia, in the castle owned by the Count. She ruled over Count Nadasdy's castle along with its surrounding villages and land while he was away at war committing acts of atrocity of his own. It was common during this period for aristocrats to treat their servants cruelly and Elizabeth became well known for being one of the more cruel mistresses to work for.

Upon the death of the count in 1600, it appears that Elizabeth may have suffered a mental breakdown. It was shortly after the count's death that Elizabeth became obsessed with her beauty and feared that it was fading as she aged. When a young maid pulled Elizabeth's hair in the process of brushing it, Elizabeth slapped the maid so hard that blood was drawn. Some of the blood got on Elizabeth's hand and she believed that it made her skin look younger. It was the catalyst that made Elizabeth Bathory probably the most prolific female serial killers of all times. It is believed that she may have tortured and killed more than 600 young women. Although Elizabeth was reputed to have drunk the blood of her victims, she was more famous for bathing in the blood of young virgin girls to restore her skin to its youthful vitality. Following a trial for her crimes, Elizabeth was walled up in her castle and died on August 21, 1614 at the age of 54.

Unlike the myths which surround vampires, Elizabeth was not a decomposing corpse that drank blood to renew decomposing flesh. Elizabeth's victims were young virgin girls and it was never said that she used or drink the blood of animals. Elizabeth was not known for taking the form of an animal, she did not sleep in coffins and committed her crimes at any hour of the day or night since she was able to move about during the day.

A preponderance of the evidence would lead one to conclude that Countess Elizabeth Bathory was a mentally ill eccentric serial killer and did not possess the behaviors that are reputed to be the characteristic traits of history's legendary vampires.

Learn more about this author, Colleen Mart.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.