The blood bath. The legend Elizabeth Báthory

On 7 August 1950 Elizabeth Báthory was born in Hangry.

She was born into a rich and powerful family. From her childhood, people talked about her beauty—bright, delicate, and almost unreal. Some even said her eyes were so sharp that they could look deep into a person’s soul. She was married very young to a brave soldier, the commander of a strong fort. Their marriage was short, because her husband was killed in battle. Still a teenager, she became the owner of the huge stone fort, which soon became her home and her world.

At first, she ruled with respect. People admired her for her youth and beauty, and her presence seemed to bring light to the dark halls of the fort. But soon, evil thoughts began to grow inside her heart.

One evening, an old servant told her a terrible secret: “If you bathe in the blood of young girls, your beauty will never fade. You will never grow old.”

The idea shocked her. She became afraid of aging, of losing her smooth skin and shining face. Night after night she thought about it, until her fear turned into madness.

She began to invite poor village girls to the fort, offering them work as servants. Families, not knowing the truth, happily sent their daughters, believing they would be safe. But once the girls entered the fort, they never came out again.

The fort had hidden rooms where no sunlight entered. In those secret chambers, she placed terrible instruments of pain—chains, cages, and sharp blades. The walls soon echoed with the screams of the innocent. She would watch as the life left their bodies, and their blood was collected into large tubs. Then she would step into the bath of blood, believing it would keep her young forever.

Years went by, and dark rumors spread. Mothers told their daughters never to go near the fort. But the Lady of Blood was clever. She began to target the daughters of rich families, promising them fine clothes, gold, and important positions. When they came, they too vanished into the fortress’s chambers of death.

The fort, once a proud place, had turned into a house of horror. Servants whispered about ghostly cries in the night, shadows that moved without bodies, and red stains on the stone that could never be cleaned. Even the guards grew afraid of their mistress, but no one dared speak against her. Her noble blood protected her.

But whispers cannot be silenced forever. Soon the stories reached the king. Shocked by the reports of missing girls and blood rituals, he sent soldiers to investigate. What they found inside the fort was beyond belief: broken torture tools, chains covered in blood, and records written in her own hand. The truth was clear—she was guilty of terrible crimes.

The king could not kill her, because she belonged to a noble family, and her death might cause problems in the kingdom. Instead, he ordered her to be locked inside her own fortress. The windows of her room were sealed with bricks, leaving only a small hole through which food could be passed.

She spent one year in that dark prison. But she was not alone. People said the spirits of the murdered girls came to her every night. Bloody hands reached out from the darkness, and shadows gathered at her bed. Some even said a holy man appeared in her dreams and cursed her soul.

Her once-beautiful face became thin and sickly. Her eyes were filled with madness. She screamed all night, begging for release, but no one answered. After a year, she was found dead, her body twisted as if unseen hands had strangled her.

Even after her death, the fortress was feared. Travelers spoke of strange lights glowing in its windows, and villagers claimed they heard screams carried on the wind.

Some say she was a monster who killed to stay young forever. Others believe she was a victim of a plot to steal her family’s land. Whatever the truth, her name became a curse—Elizabeth Báthory, the Blood Countess—forever remembered as one of the most frightening women in history.

This is truth that Elizabeth Báthory was accused of torturing and killing young girls.

​This story has been popular for many years in various forms. There is no solid evidence that she actually bathed in the blood of girls. This idea became very famous in stories and movies and has now become a part of her identity.

Many historians also say that the accusations made against Elizabeth Báthory were part of a conspiracy to seize her family's land and property. Therefore, some parts of this story are true, but many have become part of legends that have been famous for centuries.

She die in 16th century in prison.