Countess Erzsebet Bathory - Vampire in a Dress!

Roots
Bathory was a rich aristocratic family, often connected with scandalous manners. Elisabeth married Franti%u0161ek Náda%u0161dy, another magnate with large influence in the kingdom. He was a famous and feared warrior against Turkish raiders. One day before his death, he wrote a letter to a friend, Hungarian palatine Juraj Thurzo, and committed his family to his protection.

Murders
Elisabeth Bathory was committing murders probably since 1585, until 1610. They are connected with various legends, including blood drinking and baths in blood (bath in virgins' blood was supposed to grant eternal beauty). She committed most of the murders in her castle Cachtice.
The victims were tortured for hours by hot iron, needles, freezing water, burnt by candles or torches. She was torturing and killing girls, who came to serve on the castle, and her henchmen were scouting for new victims in the surroundings.

Her actions were not much of a secret. The corpses were buried negligently in castle yard, cemeteries and various pits, and often dug by dogs and wild animals. Some of the victims were tortured, but were not killed and subsequently released. She committed tortures and killings even during Christmas and her daughter's wedding.

Her high position made her secure for some time, but the anger of local citizens was rising - she never travelled without strong guard. Finally, the king's officials could not ignore her anymore, since complaints were amassing. She was publicly accused by Cachtice priest in 1609 and palatine Thurzo caught her in the act on 29 December 1610, when he came for unexpected visit to her castle.

Elisabeth Bathory and four of her servants were accused of torture and murders. The total number of murders was never fully revealed, but some sources suggest it may have reached almost 2000. Her servants were accused of murders and witchcraft and three (two women and a youngster) of them were burnt alive or beheaded. Bathory was a member of one of the most powerful and respected houses and she could not been executed. She was sent to life imprisonment and walled in several rooms of her castle.

She actually never stood in front of a judge and was imprisoned unofficially. Information about her case were revealed only slowly, mainly by priests. Tortured persons (officials discovered several , who survived never witnessed.

Elisabeth Bathory died four years later and she is allegedly buried in Cachtice church. The whole case was kept in secret, creating thus a number of myths and legends.

Special lens coming soon!

While she never became renown the same Vlad Tepes - Dracula - became, the strong story imprinted in society.

There is a number of books devoted to her life, from historic to more fictional ones. A Czech-slovak-polish movie Bathory was shot in 2008 by famous slovak director Juraj Jakubisko, and there are 27 other movies related to her story. She made it to also to poetry and theatrical plays.

And obviously, the pioneers of black metal genre, swede metal band Bathory, was inspired by the bloody legend as well...

Full list of cultural influence