Countess Elizabeth Bathory

Elizabeth Elms Báthory
Copy of the lost 1585 original portrait of Elizabeth Báthory
Born	Erzsébet Báthory (1560-08-07)7 August 1560 Nyírbátor, Kingdom of Hungary, Habsburg monarchy
Died	21 August 1614(1614-08-21) (aged 54) Čachtice, Kingdom of Hungary, Habsburg monarchy (now Slovakia)
Other names	The Blood Countess The Čachtice Countess
Criminal penalty	Confinement until death
Spouse(s)	Ferenc Nádasdy
Children	Paul Anna Ursula Katherine
Killings
Victims	Purported over 650
Span of killings	1590–1609
Country	Kingdom of Hungary, Habsburg monarchy
Date apprehended	December 30, 1609; 407 years ago (1609-12-30)

Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (Hungarian: Báthory Erzsébet, Slovak: Alžbeta Bátoriová ; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman and serial killer from the Báthory family of nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary, who owned land in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Hungary and Slovakia) and Transylvania (now Romania), which were areas of Habsburg monarchy. She has been labelled by Guinness World Records as the most prolific female murderer, though the precise number of her victims is debated. Báthory and four collaborators were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of young women between 1585 and 1609. The highest number of victims cited during Báthory's trial was 650. However, this number comes from the claim by a serving girl named Susannah that Jakab Szilvássy, Countess Báthory's court official, had seen the figure in one of Báthory's private books. The book was never revealed, and Szilvássy never mentioned it in his testimony. Despite the evidence against Elizabeth, her family's influence kept her from facing trial. She was imprisoned in December 1609 within Čachtice Castle, in Upper Hungary (now Slovakia), and held in solitary confinement in a windowless room until her death five years later.

Elizabeth Báthory was born on a family estate in Nyírbátor, Hungary, Habsburg monarchy, in 1560 or 1561, and spent her childhood at Ecsed Castle. Her father was George Báthory of the Ecsed branch of the family, brother of Andrew Bonaventura Báthory, who had been voivode of Transylvania, while her mother was Anna Báthory (1539–1570), daughter of Stephen Báthory of Somlyó, another voivode of Transylvania, who was of the Somlyó branch. Through her mother, Elizabeth was the niece of the Hungarian noble Stephen Báthory (1533 – 1586), the king of Poland and the grand duke of Lithuania of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the prince of Transylvania. Her older brother was Stephen Báthory (1555–1605), who became a judge royal of Hungary. Elizabeth was raised Protestant, Calvinist. As a young woman, she learned Latin, German and Greek. Born into a privileged family of nobility, Elizabeth was showered and endowed with wealth, education and a stellar social position. Before her first marriage, at the age of 13, Elizabeth allegedly gave birth to a child. The child, said to have been fathered by a peasant boy, was supposedly given away to a local woman that was trusted by the Báthory family. The woman was paid for her act, and the child was taken to Wallachia.