WEBVTT
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You have shop featuring local vendors and merchandise featuring our
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logo and characters. Come out and see what all the
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hype is about. Welcome back to Southern Ghost Stories. I'm
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the American Home Story and Alan Searcy. And I told
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you guys I had a new book coming out. It's
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Fear and Folklore of Vampires. So today I wanted to
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jump into that and talk about some vampires. It's October,
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you know. So you guys ready? Let's go. There are
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some names in history that never seem to fade. Centuries pass.
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Empires rise and fall. Entire civilizations disappear. Yet certain people
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will continue to haunt our imagination. Jack the Ripper. Vlad
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the Impaler. There are stories that become so tangled with
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myth and legend that it's almost impossible to separate truth
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from exaggeration. Few historical figures carry that same dark reputation.
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as Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian noblewoman remembered by history as
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the Blood Countess. For more than 400 years, she's been
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accused of torturing and murdering hundreds of young women inside
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her castle in the Carpathian Mountains. According to legend, she
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was so obsessed with preserving her beauty that she bathed
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in the blood of virgins, believing it would keep her
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young forever. Whether any of that's true has been debated
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for years, but one thing is certain. Elizabeth Bathory's name
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has become one of the darkest in European history. Have
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you guys heard about the Screamin' Holler? Something went wrong
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at their facility in McEwen, Tennessee. If you're looking for
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a genuinely creepy outing this season, our friends at Screamin'
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Holler at Black Rose Farm, they had a containment breach.
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There's been strange experiments, and now there are things that
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don't belong in Tennessee. McEwen, Tennessee is just an hour
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west of Nashville. So for more details and tickets, check
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out screaminholler.com. That's screamingholler.com. No G, just screaming, like you
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will be when you visit Screaming Holler. Are you brave
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enough to check out Screaming Holler this year? Now let's
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get back to the show. To understand how such horrifying
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stories about Elizabeth came to surround her, we have to
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step back into 16th century Hungary, a kingdom constantly threatened
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by war. Much of the country was under attack from
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the Ottoman Empire. Noble families wielded enormous political power, and
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justice often depended more on wealth than on fairness. The
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Bathory family stood among the most influential dynasties in all
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of Eastern Europe. Their relatives included princes, judges, generals, bishops,
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and even kings. Their estates stretched across lands that today
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belong to Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania. Simply carrying the Bathory
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name and doors open, laws bent. and people obeyed. Elizabeth
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was born on August 7, 1560, into this world of privilege.
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Unlike most women of her era, she received an exceptional education.
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She learned to read and write in several languages, including Hungarian, Latin, German,
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and Greek. She studied estate management, politics, and law, subjects
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rarely taught to women during the Renaissance. Visitors often remarked
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that she was strikingly intelligent, confident, and remarkably capable. She
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wasn't simply the wife of a powerful nobleman. She was
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fully capable of running vast estates all by herself. The
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Bathory family, however, also carried a darker reputation. Over the years,
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stories spread about relatives who suffered from violent tempers, mental illness,
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or strange obsessions. One uncle reportedly experimented with the occult.
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Another supposedly delighted in watching brutal public executions. When Elizabeth
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was only 15 years old, she married Ferenc Natasi, one
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of Hungary's greatest military commanders. Known as the Black Knight
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of Hungary, Ferenc spent much of his life fighting Ottoman
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armies across the country's southern frontier. Their marriage united two
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of the wealthiest noble families in Hungary, and as part
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of the wedding arrangements, Elizabeth became mistress of Seci Castle,
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an imposing stone fortress perched high atop a hill overlooking
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dense forests and scattered villages in what is now Slovakia.
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Even today, the castle feels like the setting of a
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gothic novel. Thick stone walls rise above steep cliffs. Dense
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forests stretch for miles in every direction. Morning fog rolls
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through the valleys below, hiding the roads it snaked towards
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the fortress. During Elizabeth's lifetime, those woods were filled with wolves,
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howling men, and soldiers moving between battlefields. Once the castle
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gates closed for the night, those inside were almost completely
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cut off from the outside world. Whatever happened within those
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walls remained hidden behind massive stone fortifications. Because her husband
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spent years away fighting for the Ottomans, Elizabeth assumed responsibility
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for managing their enormous estate. She supervised hundreds of servants,
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settled disputes among tenants, collected taxes, oversaw harvests, and managed
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finances worth fortunes by modern standards. Historical records suggest she
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handled these responsibilities with considerable skill. Some local peasants even
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preferred bringing disputes directly to Elizabeth because they believed she
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was more competent and fair than many of the officials
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serving beneath her. For years, she appeared every bit the
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successful noblewoman her family expected her to become. Yet gradually,
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strange stories began circulating through the villages. Families who had
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sent young daughters to work as servants inside the castle
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sometimes noticed they never returned home. At first, explanations seemed reasonable.
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A girl had fallen ill. Another had married and moved away.
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Others supposedly went looking for employment elsewhere. But as the
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years passed, more and more families quietly began asking questions.
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Merchants traveling between villages whispered that servants occasionally appeared in
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public bearing gifts. severe bruises or cuts. Priests reportedly heard
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troubling confessions from frightened young ladies employed at the castle. Still,
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no one dared openly accuse one of Hungary's most powerful
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noblewomen of doing wrong. In that era, a peasant's word
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meant very little against the authority of a woman like Elizabeth.
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It's also more important to remember that standards of punishment
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during the 16th century were vastly different from our own.
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Physical discipline of servants was considered entirely acceptable all throughout Europe.
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Noble households frequently used whippings or beatings to maintain order,
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and few people questioned the practice. But according to her
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later testimony, what occurred inside the castle went far beyond
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ordinary punishment. Former servants would eventually claim that Elizabeth's anger
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could erupt without warning, and even the smallest mistake might
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result in horrifying abuse. the stories became increasingly disturbing. Witnesses
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later claimed that servants were beaten until their bones broke,
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stabbed with sewing needles beneath their fingernails, burned with heated irons,
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or forced to stand outside during the brutal Hungarian winters
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while water was poured over them until ice formed across
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their skin. Others described girls being starved for days or
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forced to work despite serious injuries. Rumors of extraordinary cruelty
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spread throughout the surrounding countryside. So everything changed in 1604
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when Frederick Nassau Dizzi died after a lengthy illness. Elizabeth
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suddenly found herself one of the wealthiest widows in Europe.
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She controlled immense estates, thousands of servants, and a fortune
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that raveled some members of her royal family. But her
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wealth created powerful enemies. King Matthias II. owed the Nazity
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family an enormous amount of money borrowed to finance Hungary's
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wars against the Ottoman Empire. As long as Elizabeth remained
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alive and powerful, that debt remained unpaid. And some historians
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have long wondered whether eliminating Elizabeth from public life offered
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the crown a convenient solution to both political and a
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financial problem. Soon after her husband's death, the accusations against
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Elizabeth multiplied. Reports of missing servant girls became impossible to ignore,
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Local ministers claimed they had buried an unusually large number
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of young women connected to her household. Village officials quietly
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documented complaints from worried families. The rumors that had once
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circulated only in whispers now reached the royal court itself.
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In 1610, King Matthias appointed one of his highest-ranking officials,
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who was also a relative of Elizabeth's, to investigate what
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was going on. Over the course of several months, investigators
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interviewed hundreds of witnesses. Many admitted they had only heard
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rumors from neighbors or servants. Others claimed first-hand knowledge of beatings, torture,
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and mysterious deaths inside the castle. One particularly sensational claim
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alleged that Elizabeth kept a written list recording every victim
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she had killed. And according to that testimony, the total
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reached an astonishing 650 young women. Yet despite centuries of searching,
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No such document has ever been discovered, leaving historians to
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wonder if it even existed at all. Finally, in December 1610,
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after months of gathering testimony, Count Thurzo, who was working
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for King Matthias, decided to act. Under cover of winter darkness,
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he and a group of armed men rode toward the castle.
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According to later accounts, they entered the fortress without warning
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and claimed to find horrifying evidence inside. One young woman
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lay dead. Another was reportedly dying from severe injuries. Several
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others were said to be imprisoned within the castle walls,
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their bodies bearing unmistakable signs of abuse. Elizabeth Bathory, one
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of the richest and most powerful women in Europe, was
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immediately placed under arrest. By sunrise, the woman who had
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once ruled vast estates and commanded enormous respect had become
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the most infamous noblewoman in Europe. The legend of the
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Blood Countess had begun. But whether she truly was the
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monster history remembers or the victim of a carefully orchestrated conspiracy. Sure,
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the story becomes even more fascinating. By the time Elizabeth
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was placed under arrest in December 1610, word of her
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alleged crimes had spread across Hungary like wildfire. Stories traveled
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from village to village, growing darker with every retelling. Some
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claimed investigators had uncovered hidden chambers where torture had taken place.
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Others insisted the castle floor still bore stains from years
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of bloodshed. Elizabeth, powerful noblewoman, she became something far more terrifying.
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She was no longer accused of murder. She became the
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embodiment of evil itself. Surprisingly, Elizabeth was never formally tried
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in court, and that fact has puzzled historians for centuries.
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Instead of appearing before a judge to defend herself, she
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remained confined while those around her faced trial. Several of
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her closest servants were arrested and interrogated, often tortured. It's
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a common practice in 17th century Europe. Modern historians point
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out that testimony obtained through torture is notoriously unreliable. People
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often confessed almost anything simply to make the pain stop. Nevertheless,
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the confessions became the foundation of the case against the Countess.
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The servants painted an almost unimaginable picture of life inside
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the castle. One described girls being beaten with sticks until
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they collapsed from exhaustion. Another claimed Elizabeth enjoyed stabbing servants
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with needles whenever they made mistakes. Some alleged she burned
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victims with hated pokers or forced them to stand naked
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outside during the brutal Hungarian winters until they froze to death.
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Others described starvation, mutilation, and endless cruelty carried out for
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the slightest offense. During one confession, a servant claimed Elizabeth
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often watched these punishments without emotion, calmly continuing conversations or
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eating meals, while suffering enfolded all around her. The trials
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themselves were swift. Several servants were found guilty and sentenced
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to horrifying deaths. Some had their fingers torn away with
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red-hot tongs before becoming burned alive. Others were beheaded and
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their bodies thrown into the flames. Such brutal punishments were
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intended not only as justice, but as public warnings to
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anyone who might commit similar crimes. In Elizabeth's fate, it
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was different. Because she belonged to one of Hungary's most
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powerful noble families, executing her would have created a political firestorm. Instead,
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Count Thurzo reached a compromise with the Bathory family. Elizabeth
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would never stand trial, avoiding the public humiliation of one
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of Hungary's greatest noble houses. Instead, she would spend the
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remainder of her life imprisoned inside her own castle. Workers
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reportedly sealed the doors and windows of a small suite
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within the castle using stone and brick. only a tiny
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opening remained through which food and water could be passed.
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Once accustomed to commanding servants, overseeing vast estates, and entertaining
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Europe's elite, Elizabeth suddenly found herself confined to a handful
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of dark rooms where she would never again walk freely
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beneath the open sky. She remained there for nearly four years.
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Very little is known about her daily life while she
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was imprisoned. Guards occasionally reported seeing her walk slowly from
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room to room or praying quietly by a window. Some
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accounts claim that she continued insisting she had done nothing wrong.
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Others say she refused to discuss the accusations altogether. Since
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Elizabeth left behind no surviving account of her imprisonment, history
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offers only silence where her own voice should have been.
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On August 21, 1614, one of her guards noticed that
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breakfast remained untouched. Looking through the small opening in the wall,
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he found Elizabeth lying motionless on the floor. She was
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54 years old. The woman who had once ranked among
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the wealthiest aristocrats in Europe died alone in a sealed chamber.
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Even after her death, controversy followed. Local villagers objected to
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burying her within the community church because of the horrifying
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accusations against her. Some accounts suggest her body was quietly
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transported to another Bathory family estate for burial though the
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exact location of her final resting place remains uncertain. More
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than four centuries later, historians still debate where Elizabeth Bathory
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is actually buried. Then came the legend that would make
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her famous around the world. Curiously, the most famous story
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associated with Elizabeth, that she bathed in the blood of
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young virgins to preserve her beauty, doesn't appear in the
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trial records. That detail surfaced decades later in writings and
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blended folklore with sensational storytelling. According to legend, Elizabeth once
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struck a servant girl who accidentally pulled her hair while
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brushing it. When a drop of the girl's blood landed
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on Elizabeth's hand, she supposedly believed the skin beneath it
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looked younger. Convinced she discovered the secret to eternal youth,
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she ordered countless young women murdered so she could bathe
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in their blood. It was an unforgettable image and inspired novels, films, operas,
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comic books, and countless campfire stories. and historians have found
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no contemporary evidence that such bloodbaths ever occurred. Modern historians
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remain deeply divided over what happened in that castle. Some
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believe Elizabeth Bathory was exactly what the witnesses described, a
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sadistic serial killer who used her wealth and status to
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torture and murder servants for years, with no consequence. If
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the accusations are even partly true, she may indeed have
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become one of history's most prolific female murderers. Others, however,
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see the case differently. They point out that King Matthias
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II owed Elizabeth an enormous debt, one that conveniently disappeared
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after her arrest. So no one really knows, but it's
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fun to speculate. Today, the ruins of the castle still
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stand high above the Slavic countryside. Visitors climb the ancient
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stone pathways, wandering through broken walls where Elizabeth once ruled
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her vast estate. Guides point towards the room where she
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supposedly imprisoned servants. in the chamber where she spent her
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final years sealed away from the world. As evening settles
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over the mountains and mist drifts through the valleys below,
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many visitors scrap an overwhelming feeling that history never truly
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left those stones behind. Whether Elizabeth Bathory was history's most
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notorious female serial killer or one of its greatest victims
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of political intrigue, her story has endured because it forces
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us to confront uncomfortable questions. How much of history is fact?
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How much is legend? How easily can power hide terrible
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crimes or create terrible accusations? And once a person's name
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becomes synonymous with evil, is it ever possible for the
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truth to be heard again? So if you enjoyed this episode,
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00:17:51.630 --> 00:17:53.539
don't forget to check out my latest book, Fear and
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00:17:53.619 --> 00:17:57.859
Folklore of Vampires. It's available on Amazon. And speaking of
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new books, check out my other new book, Arsenic Anna.
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It's a real story about a serial killer in Cincinnati
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during the Great Depression. Anna Hahn was the first lady
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to be executed in Ohio. Crazy, crazy story. Also, make
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sure to leave a review and subscribe to the show.
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It really helps more than people realize and helps folks
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us questions for our socials. I set up an email,
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southernghoststories at gmail.com, to send questions in. I do the
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Q & A every two months, so November will be
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the next one. October is just too nuts, but southernghoststories
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at gmail.com. And don't forget, I'll be in Lexington, Kentucky
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booth signing books. It's going to be a good time. Actually,
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in Gallatin. So anyway, October's here. You know what that means.
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One more episode tomorrow and the next day and the
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day after that. So, hey, I'll see you guys soon.
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the American Home Story and Alan Searcy. And I told
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you guys I had a new book coming out. It's
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Fear and Folklore of Vampires. So today I wanted to
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jump into that and talk about some vampires. It's October,
8
00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:32.359
you know. So you guys ready? Let's go. There are
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00:00:32.380 --> 00:00:36.549
some names in history that never seem to fade. Centuries pass.
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00:00:37.509 --> 00:00:43.750
Empires rise and fall. Entire civilizations disappear. Yet certain people
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00:00:43.789 --> 00:00:48.350
will continue to haunt our imagination. Jack the Ripper. Vlad
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00:00:48.369 --> 00:00:51.450
the Impaler. There are stories that become so tangled with
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00:00:51.570 --> 00:00:54.590
myth and legend that it's almost impossible to separate truth
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00:00:54.609 --> 00:00:59.950
from exaggeration. Few historical figures carry that same dark reputation.
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00:01:00.979 --> 00:01:05.280
as Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian noblewoman remembered by history as
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the Blood Countess. For more than 400 years, she's been
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accused of torturing and murdering hundreds of young women inside
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her castle in the Carpathian Mountains. According to legend, she
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was so obsessed with preserving her beauty that she bathed
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in the blood of virgins, believing it would keep her
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young forever. Whether any of that's true has been debated
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for years, but one thing is certain. Elizabeth Bathory's name
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has become one of the darkest in European history. Have
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you guys heard about the Screamin' Holler? Something went wrong
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at their facility in McEwen, Tennessee. If you're looking for
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a genuinely creepy outing this season, our friends at Screamin'
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Holler at Black Rose Farm, they had a containment breach.
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00:01:49.819 --> 00:01:52.500
There's been strange experiments, and now there are things that
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don't belong in Tennessee. McEwen, Tennessee is just an hour
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00:01:55.799 --> 00:01:58.500
west of Nashville. So for more details and tickets, check
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out screaminholler.com. That's screamingholler.com. No G, just screaming, like you
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00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:08.789
will be when you visit Screaming Holler. Are you brave
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enough to check out Screaming Holler this year? Now let's
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get back to the show. To understand how such horrifying
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stories about Elizabeth came to surround her, we have to
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step back into 16th century Hungary, a kingdom constantly threatened
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by war. Much of the country was under attack from
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the Ottoman Empire. Noble families wielded enormous political power, and
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justice often depended more on wealth than on fairness. The
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Bathory family stood among the most influential dynasties in all
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of Eastern Europe. Their relatives included princes, judges, generals, bishops,
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and even kings. Their estates stretched across lands that today
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belong to Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania. Simply carrying the Bathory
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name and doors open, laws bent. and people obeyed. Elizabeth
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was born on August 7, 1560, into this world of privilege.
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Unlike most women of her era, she received an exceptional education.
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She learned to read and write in several languages, including Hungarian, Latin, German,
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and Greek. She studied estate management, politics, and law, subjects
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rarely taught to women during the Renaissance. Visitors often remarked
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that she was strikingly intelligent, confident, and remarkably capable. She
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wasn't simply the wife of a powerful nobleman. She was
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fully capable of running vast estates all by herself. The
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Bathory family, however, also carried a darker reputation. Over the years,
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stories spread about relatives who suffered from violent tempers, mental illness,
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or strange obsessions. One uncle reportedly experimented with the occult.
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Another supposedly delighted in watching brutal public executions. When Elizabeth
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was only 15 years old, she married Ferenc Natasi, one
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of Hungary's greatest military commanders. Known as the Black Knight
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of Hungary, Ferenc spent much of his life fighting Ottoman
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armies across the country's southern frontier. Their marriage united two
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of the wealthiest noble families in Hungary, and as part
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of the wedding arrangements, Elizabeth became mistress of Seci Castle,
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an imposing stone fortress perched high atop a hill overlooking
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dense forests and scattered villages in what is now Slovakia.
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Even today, the castle feels like the setting of a
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gothic novel. Thick stone walls rise above steep cliffs. Dense
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forests stretch for miles in every direction. Morning fog rolls
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through the valleys below, hiding the roads it snaked towards
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the fortress. During Elizabeth's lifetime, those woods were filled with wolves,
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howling men, and soldiers moving between battlefields. Once the castle
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gates closed for the night, those inside were almost completely
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cut off from the outside world. Whatever happened within those
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walls remained hidden behind massive stone fortifications. Because her husband
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spent years away fighting for the Ottomans, Elizabeth assumed responsibility
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for managing their enormous estate. She supervised hundreds of servants,
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settled disputes among tenants, collected taxes, oversaw harvests, and managed
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finances worth fortunes by modern standards. Historical records suggest she
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handled these responsibilities with considerable skill. Some local peasants even
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00:05:35.100 --> 00:05:38.600
preferred bringing disputes directly to Elizabeth because they believed she
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was more competent and fair than many of the officials
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serving beneath her. For years, she appeared every bit the
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successful noblewoman her family expected her to become. Yet gradually,
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strange stories began circulating through the villages. Families who had
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sent young daughters to work as servants inside the castle
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sometimes noticed they never returned home. At first, explanations seemed reasonable.
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A girl had fallen ill. Another had married and moved away.
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Others supposedly went looking for employment elsewhere. But as the
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00:06:14.029 --> 00:06:18.149
years passed, more and more families quietly began asking questions.
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Merchants traveling between villages whispered that servants occasionally appeared in
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public bearing gifts. severe bruises or cuts. Priests reportedly heard
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troubling confessions from frightened young ladies employed at the castle. Still,
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no one dared openly accuse one of Hungary's most powerful
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noblewomen of doing wrong. In that era, a peasant's word
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meant very little against the authority of a woman like Elizabeth.
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It's also more important to remember that standards of punishment
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during the 16th century were vastly different from our own.
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Physical discipline of servants was considered entirely acceptable all throughout Europe.
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Noble households frequently used whippings or beatings to maintain order,
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00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.230
and few people questioned the practice. But according to her
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00:07:06.269 --> 00:07:09.470
later testimony, what occurred inside the castle went far beyond
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ordinary punishment. Former servants would eventually claim that Elizabeth's anger
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could erupt without warning, and even the smallest mistake might
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result in horrifying abuse. the stories became increasingly disturbing. Witnesses
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later claimed that servants were beaten until their bones broke,
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00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:34.079
stabbed with sewing needles beneath their fingernails, burned with heated irons,
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or forced to stand outside during the brutal Hungarian winters
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while water was poured over them until ice formed across
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their skin. Others described girls being starved for days or
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00:07:45.129 --> 00:07:50.069
forced to work despite serious injuries. Rumors of extraordinary cruelty
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spread throughout the surrounding countryside. So everything changed in 1604
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when Frederick Nassau Dizzi died after a lengthy illness. Elizabeth
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00:07:59.529 --> 00:08:02.209
suddenly found herself one of the wealthiest widows in Europe.
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She controlled immense estates, thousands of servants, and a fortune
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that raveled some members of her royal family. But her
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wealth created powerful enemies. King Matthias II. owed the Nazity
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family an enormous amount of money borrowed to finance Hungary's
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00:08:17.750 --> 00:08:21.310
wars against the Ottoman Empire. As long as Elizabeth remained
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alive and powerful, that debt remained unpaid. And some historians
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00:08:26.250 --> 00:08:29.920
have long wondered whether eliminating Elizabeth from public life offered
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the crown a convenient solution to both political and a
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financial problem. Soon after her husband's death, the accusations against
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Elizabeth multiplied. Reports of missing servant girls became impossible to ignore,
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Local ministers claimed they had buried an unusually large number
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of young women connected to her household. Village officials quietly
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00:08:52.700 --> 00:08:56.700
documented complaints from worried families. The rumors that had once
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circulated only in whispers now reached the royal court itself.
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In 1610, King Matthias appointed one of his highest-ranking officials,
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who was also a relative of Elizabeth's, to investigate what
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00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:13.480
was going on. Over the course of several months, investigators
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00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:17.139
interviewed hundreds of witnesses. Many admitted they had only heard
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rumors from neighbors or servants. Others claimed first-hand knowledge of beatings, torture,
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and mysterious deaths inside the castle. One particularly sensational claim
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alleged that Elizabeth kept a written list recording every victim
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she had killed. And according to that testimony, the total
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reached an astonishing 650 young women. Yet despite centuries of searching,
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No such document has ever been discovered, leaving historians to
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wonder if it even existed at all. Finally, in December 1610,
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after months of gathering testimony, Count Thurzo, who was working
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for King Matthias, decided to act. Under cover of winter darkness,
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he and a group of armed men rode toward the castle.
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According to later accounts, they entered the fortress without warning
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and claimed to find horrifying evidence inside. One young woman
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lay dead. Another was reportedly dying from severe injuries. Several
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others were said to be imprisoned within the castle walls,
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their bodies bearing unmistakable signs of abuse. Elizabeth Bathory, one
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of the richest and most powerful women in Europe, was
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immediately placed under arrest. By sunrise, the woman who had
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once ruled vast estates and commanded enormous respect had become
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the most infamous noblewoman in Europe. The legend of the
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Blood Countess had begun. But whether she truly was the
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monster history remembers or the victim of a carefully orchestrated conspiracy. Sure,
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the story becomes even more fascinating. By the time Elizabeth
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was placed under arrest in December 1610, word of her
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alleged crimes had spread across Hungary like wildfire. Stories traveled
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from village to village, growing darker with every retelling. Some
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claimed investigators had uncovered hidden chambers where torture had taken place.
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Others insisted the castle floor still bore stains from years
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of bloodshed. Elizabeth, powerful noblewoman, she became something far more terrifying.
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She was no longer accused of murder. She became the
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embodiment of evil itself. Surprisingly, Elizabeth was never formally tried
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in court, and that fact has puzzled historians for centuries.
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Instead of appearing before a judge to defend herself, she
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remained confined while those around her faced trial. Several of
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her closest servants were arrested and interrogated, often tortured. It's
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a common practice in 17th century Europe. Modern historians point
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out that testimony obtained through torture is notoriously unreliable. People
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often confessed almost anything simply to make the pain stop. Nevertheless,
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the confessions became the foundation of the case against the Countess.
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The servants painted an almost unimaginable picture of life inside
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the castle. One described girls being beaten with sticks until
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they collapsed from exhaustion. Another claimed Elizabeth enjoyed stabbing servants
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with needles whenever they made mistakes. Some alleged she burned
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victims with hated pokers or forced them to stand naked
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outside during the brutal Hungarian winters until they froze to death.
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Others described starvation, mutilation, and endless cruelty carried out for
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the slightest offense. During one confession, a servant claimed Elizabeth
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often watched these punishments without emotion, calmly continuing conversations or
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eating meals, while suffering enfolded all around her. The trials
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themselves were swift. Several servants were found guilty and sentenced
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to horrifying deaths. Some had their fingers torn away with
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red-hot tongs before becoming burned alive. Others were beheaded and
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their bodies thrown into the flames. Such brutal punishments were
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intended not only as justice, but as public warnings to
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anyone who might commit similar crimes. In Elizabeth's fate, it
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was different. Because she belonged to one of Hungary's most
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powerful noble families, executing her would have created a political firestorm. Instead,
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Count Thurzo reached a compromise with the Bathory family. Elizabeth
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would never stand trial, avoiding the public humiliation of one
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of Hungary's greatest noble houses. Instead, she would spend the
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remainder of her life imprisoned inside her own castle. Workers
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reportedly sealed the doors and windows of a small suite
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within the castle using stone and brick. only a tiny
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opening remained through which food and water could be passed.
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Once accustomed to commanding servants, overseeing vast estates, and entertaining
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Europe's elite, Elizabeth suddenly found herself confined to a handful
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of dark rooms where she would never again walk freely
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beneath the open sky. She remained there for nearly four years.
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Very little is known about her daily life while she
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was imprisoned. Guards occasionally reported seeing her walk slowly from
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room to room or praying quietly by a window. Some
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accounts claim that she continued insisting she had done nothing wrong.
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Others say she refused to discuss the accusations altogether. Since
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Elizabeth left behind no surviving account of her imprisonment, history
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offers only silence where her own voice should have been.
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On August 21, 1614, one of her guards noticed that
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breakfast remained untouched. Looking through the small opening in the wall,
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he found Elizabeth lying motionless on the floor. She was
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54 years old. The woman who had once ranked among
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the wealthiest aristocrats in Europe died alone in a sealed chamber.
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Even after her death, controversy followed. Local villagers objected to
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burying her within the community church because of the horrifying
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accusations against her. Some accounts suggest her body was quietly
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transported to another Bathory family estate for burial though the
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exact location of her final resting place remains uncertain. More
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than four centuries later, historians still debate where Elizabeth Bathory
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is actually buried. Then came the legend that would make
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her famous around the world. Curiously, the most famous story
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associated with Elizabeth, that she bathed in the blood of
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young virgins to preserve her beauty, doesn't appear in the
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trial records. That detail surfaced decades later in writings and
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blended folklore with sensational storytelling. According to legend, Elizabeth once
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struck a servant girl who accidentally pulled her hair while
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brushing it. When a drop of the girl's blood landed
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on Elizabeth's hand, she supposedly believed the skin beneath it
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looked younger. Convinced she discovered the secret to eternal youth,
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she ordered countless young women murdered so she could bathe
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in their blood. It was an unforgettable image and inspired novels, films, operas,
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comic books, and countless campfire stories. and historians have found
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no contemporary evidence that such bloodbaths ever occurred. Modern historians
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remain deeply divided over what happened in that castle. Some
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believe Elizabeth Bathory was exactly what the witnesses described, a
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sadistic serial killer who used her wealth and status to
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torture and murder servants for years, with no consequence. If
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the accusations are even partly true, she may indeed have
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become one of history's most prolific female murderers. Others, however,
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see the case differently. They point out that King Matthias
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II owed Elizabeth an enormous debt, one that conveniently disappeared
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after her arrest. So no one really knows, but it's
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fun to speculate. Today, the ruins of the castle still
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stand high above the Slavic countryside. Visitors climb the ancient
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stone pathways, wandering through broken walls where Elizabeth once ruled
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her vast estate. Guides point towards the room where she
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supposedly imprisoned servants. in the chamber where she spent her
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final years sealed away from the world. As evening settles
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over the mountains and mist drifts through the valleys below,
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many visitors scrap an overwhelming feeling that history never truly
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left those stones behind. Whether Elizabeth Bathory was history's most
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notorious female serial killer or one of its greatest victims
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of political intrigue, her story has endured because it forces
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us to confront uncomfortable questions. How much of history is fact?
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How much is legend? How easily can power hide terrible
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crimes or create terrible accusations? And once a person's name
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becomes synonymous with evil, is it ever possible for the
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truth to be heard again? So if you enjoyed this episode,
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don't forget to check out my latest book, Fear and
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Folklore of Vampires. It's available on Amazon. And speaking of
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to be executed in Ohio. Crazy, crazy story. Also, make
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sure to leave a review and subscribe to the show.
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