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Erzsebet Bathori
(-1614)
Died 21 August 1614 Csejte
Married 1573 Varanno
Count Ferenc Nadasdy de Nadasd,
son of Count Tamas Nadasdy and Orsolya Kanizsay
Born 1545 (1555?)
Died 4 January 1604 |
With Lucrezia Borgia she must be one of history's most maligned women.
The combined wealth of her and her husband made them one of the wealthiest
and most envied people of Transylvania. Rumours, actively refuted by her
son, made her one of the monsters of history. According to these rumours,
in 1604 she was giving a servant girl a beating when
the girl's blood splashed into her face. When Erzsebet washed the blood
from her cheeks she was of the opinion that it had increased her beauty.
As a result she was said to have bathed in virgin's blood every morning
until, in 1611, four corpses were accidentally discovered near the Countess's
castle. Still according to the legend, some 650 young girls were supposed
to have died for her vanity. Being of noble birth, she could not be executed,
but instead was bricked into her apartment within the castle. There she
lived for four more years until her death. Throughout, her son endeavoured
to restore his mother's reputation but failed to gain the necessary support.
Source: Leo van de Pas |
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