elizabeth bathory living descendants

While facing fraud charges, she was publicly revealed to be a transgender woman. . Some witnesses named relatives who died while at the gynaeceum. One of those children (Pl) had two children. But before long, many locals began to point their fingers at Countess Elizabeth Bathory. The family divided into two major branches, which descended from the sons and grandsons of Yes, there are descendants of Elizabeth Bathory that are living today. [8][9] Some scholars have suggested that she served as one of Bram Stoker's influences for writing the novel Dracula but the evidence to support this is slim. After Ndasdys death in 1604, rumours of Bthorys cruelty began to surface. [18] This does not contribute to the notion of a Catholic/Habsburg plot against the Protestant Bthory, although religious tension is still a possible source of conflict, as Bthory was raised Calvinist, not Lutheran. Afterwards, his body was burned on the same pyre as J and Szentes. The Bthory family belonged to the Gutkeled, a clan of Hungarian nobles, which traced its descent to the Swabian brothers Gut and Kelad, who immigrated into Hungary from the castle Stof (probably Staufen im Breisgau or Hohenstaufen in Wrttemberg) during the reign of King Peter (reigned 10381046), who himself was partly of Venetian descent. [5][6][7] Other writers, such as Michael Farin in 1989 have said that the accusations against Bthory were supported by testimony from more than 300 individuals, some of whom described physical evidence and the presence of mutilated dead, dying and imprisoned girls found at the time of her arrest. According to widespread misbelief, Elizabeth Bthory was one of the most notorious serial killers in history, supposedly murdering over 600 women in her castle during her lifetime. Countess Elizabeth Bathory. At the age of 13, before her first marriage, Bthory allegedly gave birth to a child. The theory is consistent with Hungarian history at that time, which included religious and political conflicts, especially relating to the wars with the Ottoman Empire, the spread of Protestantism and the extension of Habsburg power over Hungary. Bathory gave birth to five children. [citation needed], On 8 May 1575, Bthory and Ndasdy were married at the palace of Vranov nad Topou (Varann in Hungarian). A powerful terror ruled over lands in Hungary in the 16th century. Though previous accounts of the murder of peasant women had apparently been ignored, the claims in 1609 that she had slain women from noble families attracted attention. The family rose to significant influence in Central Europe during the Late Middle Ages, holding high military, administrative and ecclesiastical positions in the Kingdom of Hungary. Btor had been the estate of Vajda son of Lngos, who had married a relative of Andrew but died without issue. Secret societies, paranormal elements, and twist and turns galore. [3] She was well- educated, beautiful and wealthy. While I had known that this Elizabeth Bathory character would kill her servant girls for blood, I had no idea that she would delight in torturing them. in order to explain Bthory's cruelty later in her life is that she was trained by her family to be cruel. The Torture. Elizabeth Bathory was born on August 7, 1560 in modern day Slovakia. Uncanny parallels between the two. Thurzo investigated and accumulated hundreds of witnesses, and a few were willing to testify against Bathory. [4], The charges leveled against Bthory have been described by several historians as a witch-hunt. But as time went on, rumors that Bathory tortured her servants began to spread. Why might Bathory have been subject to outside machinations? The servants were put on trial in 1611, and three were executed. Most of the witnesses testified that they had heard the accusations from others, but did not see it themselves. Gabriel Bthory, the younger brother of Stephen XII, was the last male member of the Ecsed line. The possible causes were very well documented and the cruelty leaves me to wonder how many innocent people died at the hands of sadistic powerful rulers who enjoyed torture. Her father was Baron George VI Bthory, brother of the voivode of Transylvania, Andrew Bonaventura Bthory. Such acts weren't illegal at the time Bathory was only punished because her victims were said to have included noblewomen but would still make Bathory responsible for many ruined lives. We strive for accuracy and fairness. (726) $5.00. Due to his youth and the belief that he was less culpable, Jnos jvry was executed by a much less painful method: beheading. There were many suspected forms of torture carried out by Bthory. Depictions of Bathory often mention her bathing in the blood of virgin victims in an attempt to recapture her lost youth. About Erzsbet Bthory, "The Blood Countess". Her relatives included the governor of Transylvania, The king of Poland, and the prince of Transylvania. While she lived unharmed by any authority for years, many young girls went missing or ended up dead. Serial Killer Elizabeth Bathory (aka) The Blood Countess, The achtice Countess, was active for 20 years between 1590-1609, known to have ( 80 confirmed / 650 possible ) victims. She had received it as a wedding gift from her husband, the famed Hungarian war hero Ferenc Ndasdy. This article was incredible! People grew more suspicious after she killed one noble girl. Their hands showed burn marks, or their faces were disfigured. Bthory, though never tried, was confined to Castle Csejte (now Cachtice), reportedly kept in a bricked-in room. High-quality Elizabeth Bathory pillows, tapestries, mugs, blankets, shower curtains, aprons, jigsaw. After taking a lover at age 13 and giving birth to a secret love child, Elizabeth was married shortly before turning 15 to a nobleman named Ferenc Nadasdy. the surrounding dragon being the emblem of the Order of the Dragon. Vitus killed it with three thrusts of his lance and as a reward received the castle. While slightly lower down the social . 1 She was born on August 7th, 1590, in Transylvania. A late 16th-century copy of the now-lost portrait of Elizabeth Bathory, painted in 1585 when she was 25 years old. If all the stories about her are true, then she is likely the most prolific and vicious female serial killer of all time. According to witnesses, Bathorys crimes took place between 1590 and 1610, with most of the vicious murders happening after her husbands death in 1604. It was interesting to read about the impact her family and husband had on her and how they tortured so many women made my skin crawl. According to the opinions of a majority of historians, legends such as her bathing in the blood of the young women were based on later rumors. The family divided into two major branches, which descended from the sons and grandsons of Two of the women and the male servant were sentenced to death, which was quickly carried out. There are only secondary accounts of her actions. 1590 is when she was said to have started her crimes. When Nadasdy passed away in 1604, he gave his whole estate away to Bathory including his castle, Cachtice, in modern day Slovakia. A history of epilepsy from the Greeks to the beginnings of modern neurology", "Bthory Erzsbet Bthory Erzsbet: Short FAQ", "No Blood in the Water: The Legal and GenderConspiracies Against Countess Elizabeth Bathory in Historical Context", "The Early Ottoman Period, Including Royal Hungary, 15261606", "Elizabeth Bthory Drop of Blood Festival: 16 August 2014", "A genealogy of the Ndasdy family, including her descendants", A complete genealogy of all descendants Elizabeth Bthory (17th-20th century), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elizabeth_Bthory&oldid=1132822934, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from March 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia references cleanup from March 2021, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from March 2021, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Articles containing Hungarian-language text, All articles that may contain original research, Articles that may contain original research from October 2021, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from October 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 10 January 2023, at 19:35. It is also interesting to note that the King of Hungary only took notice or sent someone to investigate the disappearances of young girls when it was young noble girls disappearing. The Bthory coat of arms, granted in 1325 to the sons of Briccius, was styled in reference to this legend: three horizontally placed teeth surrounded by a dragon biting its own tail,[4] Hungarian royal family prominent in Central Europe from the 13th to 17th centuries, This article is about the Hungarian noble family. Bthory of Simolin [ edit] Her mother was Baroness Anna Bthory (15391570), daughter of Stephen Bthory of Somly, also voivode of Transylvania, who was of the Somly branch. Most of her alleged assaults and murders took place after she was widowed in 1604. How did they find each other? She would soon be accused of not only torturing but killing hundreds of girls and women who entered her castle. The Csejte church and the castle of Csejte do not bear any markings of her possible grave. In Hungarian the word btor means "brave". The fact that a large debt owed by Matthias to Bthory was canceled by her family in exchange for permitting them to manage her captivity suggests that the acts attributed to her were politically motivated slander that allowed relatives to appropriate her lands. and Andrew's sons George (d. 1307), Benedict (d. 1321) and Briccius (d. 1322) for their military services by granting them Btor in the county of Szabolcs. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. Countess Elizabeth Bathory, or Erzsbet Bthory, was a wealthy and powerful Hungarian noblewoman whose relations included an uncle who was king of Poland and a nephew who was prince of. She had everything going for her in her life, she was rich, beautiful, and her family was well . It pains my mind just to think of it! Elizabeth Bthory was born in 1560 to Protestant nobility in Hungary. There is a rumor that Elizabeth became pregnant by a peasant right before she married Nadasdy, and he castrated the peasant and gave his body to wild dogs to eat. And some say she would later use that power to commit heinous acts. As a child, Bthory had multiple seizures that may have been caused by epilepsy. [26], On 25 January 1611, Thurz wrote a letter to King Matthias describing that they had captured and confined Bthory to her castle. The King of Hungary, King Matthias II, ordered Gyorgy Thurzo, Palatine of Hungary, to look into the rumors and accusations about Bathory. At first, all appeared to have been well under Bathorys leadership. Rate this book. The servants confessed under torture, which is not credible in contemporary proceedings. I never new much about Elizabeth Bathory other than her obsession with Virgin blood and the occult, but boy did some of these accounts just turn my stomach. Login to find your connection. He had also received the castle Bujak from King Albert of Habsburg. In 1573,[9] Bthory was engaged to Count Ferenc Ndasdy, a member of the Nadasdy family. In the 1550s, when Ferdinand briefly gained control of Transylvania in 1551, he installed Stephen's nephew Bonaventura as his lieutenant to govern the country. [3] She was imprisoned within Castle of Csejte. She celebrated 70 years on the throne in June 2022 with her Platinum Jubilee. Corrections? [clarification needed] She was detained in the castle of Csejte for the remainder of her life, where she died at the age of 54. Although it is commonly believed that Bthory was caught in the act of torture, she was having dinner. [15], Bthory was raised a Calvinist Protestant. Soon after her arrest, Bathory attended the trial against her. Great job! I wouldve expected her to get decapitated or more severely punished. Just go lie down." As she was not convicted of a crime, Bathory's holdings passed to family members instead of being seized. [19] In the last month of 1614, she signed her arrangement, in which she distributed the estates, lands and possessions among her children. [citation needed], Bthory's daughter, Anna Ndasdy, was born in 1585 and was later to become the wife of Nikola VI Zrinski. Katarna Benick received a life sentence after evidence showed that she'd been abused by the other women. I do wonder though, how coincidental is it that she found a husband that was practicing the same satanist things as her family? Elizabeth Bathory Home & Living. Extremely well written article. Bathory is reputed to have killed at least six hundred victims, earning her a Guinness World Record for most prolific female murderer. Better known in the West as Elizabeth Bathory and Vlad Dracula, they were in their own places and ages already infamous, though for different reasons. The Blood Countess, as she would be known in the centuries to come, was born into a prominent family who held power over an ironic region: Transylvania, which was then part of Hungary. Bthory was born into prominent Protestant nobility in Hungary. Meet Elizabeth Bathory, The Blood Countess Who May Have Been Historys Most Prolific Female Serial Killer. He reportedly surprised Bathory in the middle of tormenting a victim and in response immediately imprisoned her in her home (her high status meant she would not be jailed as a common criminal). Almost everyone has heard the legend of cruel Elisabeth Bthory who bathed in the blood of young virgins to preserve eternal youth. Elizabeth Bthory (or Erzsbet, to use the Hungarian spelling) was born into a Hungarian noble family on the 7th August, 1560. Bthory was the great-great-granddaughter of Barbara Aleksandrwna and Bolesaw IV of Warsaw, and Mikalojus Radvila the Old; the 3rd great-granddaughter of Bolesaw Januszowic; the 4th great-granddaughter of Vladimir Olgerdovich; and the 5th great-granddaughter of Algirdas. In the way that governments and authorities dont act if something happens to the poor or unprivileged. Elizabeth I was a long-ruling queen of England, governing with relative stability and prosperity for 44 years. Abridged from Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters by Peter Vronsky. By . For the 1982 song by Venom, see, Copy of the lost 1585 original portrait of Elizabeth Bthory, The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of, Lengyel Tnde, Vrkonyi Gbor: Bthory Erzsbet - egy asszony lete / Life of a woman, Letters from Thurz to both men on 5 March 1610, printed in, A letter from 12 December 1610 by Elizabeth's son-in-law Zrnyi to, Szdeczky-Kardoss Irma - Bthory Erzsbet igazsga / The truth of Elizabeth Bthory (10 years of research using contemporary correspondence), Infamous Lady the true story of Countess Erzsebet Bathory Kimberly L. Craft 2009 p.298, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Bloody Countess? Her family had many powerful relatives -- a cardinal, princes, and a cousin who was prime minister of Hungary are among these relatives. George and Anna were both Bathorys by birth; he a member of the Ecsed branch of the family and of the Somlyo. The Ecsed branch first rises to prominence with the sons of Luke's grandson John V. His eldest son Bartholomew I fell in 1432 fighting against the Hussites. The evidence gathered by Thurz also included 289 witness statements. But not everyone is convinced of her guilt. This page has been accessed 12,844 times. The most famous relative was Istvan (ISHT-vahn) Bathory (1533-86). It was a political arrangement within the circles of the aristocracy. The Countess came from a very influential family. B > Bathory | B > Bthory de Ecsed > Erzsbet (Bathory) Bthory de Ecsed, Categories: Slovakia, Notables | Csejte, Magyarorszg | Murderers | This Day In History August 07 | Hungarian Nobility | House of Bthory | Insane Aristocrats | This Day In History August 21 | Criminals | Serial Killers | Hungary, Notables | Notables, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. According to widespread misbelief, Elizabeth Bthory was one of the most notorious serial killers in history, supposedly murdering over 600 women in her castle during her lifetime. Her victims were usually aged between 10 and 14. Many of the witnesses who spoke against Bathory were beholden to Thurz, who oversaw the entire investigation. Transylvania is also infamous for the reputation of . That said, one witness claimed to have seen a book kept by Bathory herself, where she recorded the names of all of her victims 650 in total. It has been said that over hundred young women were among her victims. I also find intriguing that Bathory was not charged with something more serious. Another servant, Erzsi Majorova, initially escaped capture, but was burned alive after being apprehended. So, Hungarian King Matthias II sent his highest-ranking representative, Gyrgy Thurz, to investigate the complaints against her. Wikipedia, 2019, s.v. [9] Her older brother, Stephen Bthory (15551605), served as a Judge Royal of Hungary. The Habsburg court owed her money they didn't want to pay. Simon Kezai, Lzl Veszprmy, Frank Schaer (ed. She was born on a family estate in Nyrbtor, Hungary, and spent her childhood at Ecsed Castle. After the death of the count on the battlefield in January 1604, horrifying suspicions of torture, murder and vampirism were voiced against Elizabeth. The ruse worked. Beauty pioneer Elizabeth Arden opened the doors of her first salon in 1910. To cure her epilepsy, her family took blood from servants and put it on her lips. The family divided into two major branches, which descended from the sons and grandsons of Yes, there are descendants of Elizabeth Bathory that are living today. Witnesses claimed that Bathorys favorite method of torture was using scissors to mutilate her victims bodies and faces. I recognize that most people took little interest in their servants, but I feel like someone would have noticed the mass disappearance of young girls, regardless of their social standing. Bthory is said to have begun killing daughters of the lesser gentry, who were sent to her gynaeceum by their parents to learn courtly etiquette. Since the Dragfi estates were legally due to the crown, the Habsburgs forced George to yield the castles and withdrew to Csitsva in Zempln County. Ive never heard this story before but it reminded me of the move snow white and the huntsman. Bathory sometimes tortured girls by driving needles into their fingers, cutting their noses or lips or whipping them with stinging nettles. After the trials concluded, Thurzo founded Bathory guilty, and she stayed in solitary confinement in her castle, Cachtice, for the rest of her life. Elizabeth Bathory portrait - Bloody Countess, medieval serial killer print, poster (DIGITAL DOWNLOAD) ArtisMortisGallery. is that there is "a 400-year-old war between the uncanny descendants of "Blood Countess" Elizabeth Bathory, the most prolific female serial killer of all time, and a . While I have no doubt she might have reached the sadistic level she was, I believe her upbringing where her parents tortured and mutilated their servants, combined with the sadistic nature of her husband helped her reach that level much quicker. This branch, since they retained the possession of Btor, are sometimes called of Btor or, as the younger branch, Nyrbtor (New Bathory).[3]. She pled innocent to each crime. In the 19th century, long after the demise of the other branches, the family claimed name and title of Counts Bthory, since their ancestor Michael had never consented to the sale conducted by his brothers, and in 1852 the Russian government confirmed the legitimacy of their claims.[6][11][12]. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Bthory was born into prominent Protestant nobility in Hungary. Elizabeth was born August of 1560 to a powerful branch of the royal family in Hungary. [36] It is difficult to know how accurate his account of events is. [citation needed], Several authors, such as Lszl Nagy and Dr. Irma Szdeczky-Kardoss, have argued that Elizabeth Bthory was a victim of a conspiracy. Highly interesting and indulging article that I enjoyed reading. [8] Szdeczky-Kardoss argues that the physical evidence was exaggerated and Thurz misrepresented dead and wounded patients as victims of Bthory, as disgracing her would greatly benefit his political state ambitions. [19] On 31 December, Thurz went to Csejte Castle and arrested Bthory along with four of her servants, who were accused of being her accomplices: Dorotya Semtsz, Ilona J, Katarna Benick and Jnos jvry ("Ibis" or Fick).

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