On 21st August 1614, Erzsébet Báthory died imprisoned within the walls of Čachtice Castle. More than four centuries later, the woman remembered as the "Blood Countess" remains one of history's most infamous and controversial figures.
Reputed to have been a vampire, the world's most prolific female serial killer, and a sadistic aristocrat who bathed in the blood of young women, Báthory has been credited with the deaths of as many as 650 victims. But how much of what we think we know about her is actually supported by the historical evidence?
Joining me is Professor Kimberly Craft, attorney, legal historian and leading Báthory researcher, to strip away centuries of sensationalism and explore the woman who existed before the legend.
By the twenty-first century, accounts of Báthory's life have become so heavily fictionalised that the historical Countess can be difficult to recognise. Behind the image of the Blood Countess, Tiger of Csejthe and Infamous Lady was a far more complicated figure: the wife of a Hungarian national war hero, a mother, landowner, generous benefactor and aristocrat who moved within the highest levels of society, attending court and even the King's coronation only months before her arrest.
For years, a major obstacle for English-speaking researchers has been access to the surviving primary evidence. Professor Craft has undertaken the painstaking work of researching and translating European sources into English, including trial documents, the depositions of 306 witnesses, private correspondence and Báthory's Last Will and Testament.
Drawing upon this remarkable body of evidence, we explore what the historical documents actually tell us about Erzsébet Báthory and the accusations made against her.
Who was the woman behind the Blood Countess?
What evidence existed against her?
What did witnesses actually claim?
How did her wealth, gender, family and political position influence events?
Where does documented history end and legend begin?
And what happens when centuries of retelling transform a complicated historical individual into a monster?
A fascinating conversation about crime, power, folklore, historical memory and the difficulty of separating a real sixteenth- and seventeenth-century woman from the vampire who eventually took her place.
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Website episode link: https://www.podpage.com/haunted-history-chronicles/infamous-lady-the-true-story-of-countess-erzsebet-bathory-with-kimberly-craft/
