1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,160 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:10,720 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: show that shines a light on the darkest corners of 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: human history. I'm Gabe Lucier, and today we're looking at 5 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: the story of a Hungarian noble woman who's often called 6 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 1: the most prolific female murderer of all time. Nicknamed the Blood, Countess, 7 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Battery was accused of slaying as many as six 8 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,519 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty young women, and his rumored to have 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: partially inspired the creation of another Transylvanian monster, none other 10 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:44,200 Speaker 1: than Bram Stoker's Dracula. As you can probably guess from 11 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: that introduction, Today's episode deals with some disturbing subject matter 12 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: and may be upsetting for some listeners. The day was 13 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: August twenty first, sixteen fourteen. Notorious serial killer Elizabeth Battery 14 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: was found dead in Shakitse Castle. The fifty four year 15 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: old Hungarian Countess was believed to have sadistically tortured and 16 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,839 Speaker 1: murdered dozens of female servants over the course of a decade, 17 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: but because of her immense wealth and noble birth, she 18 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: never stood trial for her crimes. Instead, the Countess was 19 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: placed on permanent house arrest in sixteen ten. Confined to 20 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: a single room in one of her lavish castles, she 21 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: remained there for the better part of four years until 22 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: her death in sixteen fourteen. Elizabeth Battery was born in 23 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: nar Batoor, Hungary, on August seventh, fifteen sixty. She was 24 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: heir to a wealthy dynasty that controlled the region of Transylvania, 25 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: now part of Romania. Despite her family's position, Battery's childhood 26 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: was marred by trauma and health problems. By the age 27 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: of four or five, she begun to suffer epileptic seizures, 28 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: mood swings, and migraines. Like many children of the era, 29 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: she was also exposed to sanctioned social violence, including the 30 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: routine beatings of servants and public executions. Well educated and 31 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: strikingly pretty, Battery was betrothed to a member of another 32 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: aristocratic family by the time she turned thirteen. Her soon 33 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: to be husband was eighteen year old Count Ference Nadojdi, 34 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: a high born soldier in the Hungarian army. They married 35 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 1: two years later and went on to have several children together. 36 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: Shortly after their wedding, the couple moved to the town 37 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: of Sharvart in western Hungary to live in one of 38 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: the Nadajdi's family castles. There in seclusion, Fence schooled his 39 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: wife in torture techniques he'd encountered in the military. For 40 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: the Countess's entertainment, he restrained one of their female servants, 41 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: coated her and honey, and then set loose a swarm 42 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:03,079 Speaker 1: of insects. Also gifted Battery a pair of spiked gloves, 43 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: which she used to slash her servants whenever they made 44 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: a mistake. A few years into their marriage, Fence was 45 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: promoted the chief commander and sent to war against the 46 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: Ottoman Turks. The couple spend most of their time apart 47 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: from then on, and in January of sixteen o four, 48 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: Ferens died in battle that left Battery in charge of 49 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: both his family's estates, Sharvard Castle, where they had lived together, 50 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: and Shakitz Castle, located in modern day Slovakia. Battery moved 51 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: to chakid S later that year, and once she was 52 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: settled into her mountain stronghold, she began to indulge her 53 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: sadistic tendencies with increasing abandon At first, the countess restricted 54 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: her bloodlust to the young peasant girls she held as 55 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: captive servants. She took pleasure in causing them pain, and 56 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: devised countless twisted ways to do it. Sometimes she stuck 57 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: needles under their fingernails or burnt them with red hot irons. 58 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: Other times she whipped them with stinging nettles or mutilated 59 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: them with scissors and knives. During the coldest parts of 60 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: the year, she would force her victims to bathe in 61 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: frigid water and then make them stand outside until they 62 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,799 Speaker 1: froze to death, becoming gruesome ice sculptures for her garden. 63 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: The countess often committed these atrocities herself, but she also 64 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: had a small inner circle of trusted servants who participated 65 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: in the torture and murders. They even helped her recruit 66 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: more victims whenever her supply of servants ran low. The 67 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 1: cover story was that the previous batch had succumbed to cholera. Eventually, though, 68 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: as more and more girls went missing from the surrounding villages, 69 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: the local families began to hide their daughters from her service. 70 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: This forced Battery to lure in victims from higher born families, 71 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,160 Speaker 1: a switch that ultimately led to her downfall because while 72 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,799 Speaker 1: it was frowned upon. For nobles to kill serfs and peasants. 73 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: It wasn't technically illegal, but killing your fellow nobles, even 74 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: if you outranked them, was too heinous an offense to ignore. 75 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:16,160 Speaker 1: By sixteen ten, word of Batteri's actions had reached Matius 76 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: the Second, the King of Hungary. He dispatched his right 77 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: hand man, Count Gierji Torso to investigate, and on December 78 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: twenty ninth of that year, Torso arrived unannounced at the 79 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 1: countess's castle. He reportedly walked in right in the middle 80 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: of one of her torture sessions, and upon searching the grounds, 81 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: he found the remains of eighty young women and many 82 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: others who were on the brink of death. That evidence 83 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: alone was enough for Torso to arrest and imprison Battery 84 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: in her own castle, But in the coming days he 85 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: would hear the corroborating testimony of dozens of witnesses. Some 86 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,600 Speaker 1: of them claimed Battery's body count was actually more than 87 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: six hundred, but the exact number was never conclusively proven. 88 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: Because of her high status, the countess was never put 89 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,599 Speaker 1: on trial for the murders of her eighty confirmed victims, 90 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:13,600 Speaker 1: but several of her accomplices were including three servants who 91 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: were ultimately found guilty and burned at the stake. As 92 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: for Elizabeth Battery, she remained locked in her lavish home prison. 93 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: The windows and door of the room she was confined 94 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,239 Speaker 1: to were said to have been walled up, leaving only 95 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: a small slit through which she was given meals. Four 96 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,160 Speaker 1: years later, on August twenty one, sixteen fourteen, the Countess 97 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: died there at the age of fifty four. The castle 98 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: that became her tomb continued to house nobility for nearly 99 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: a century after her death. Today the castle lies in ruins, 100 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: but visitors can still tour the infamous site and visit 101 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,919 Speaker 1: the village below, where a wooden statue of Battery and 102 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: one of her victim's looms over the town square. The 103 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: crimes of Elizabeth with Battery remained a subject of fascination 104 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: and revulsion for centuries after her death. During that time, 105 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: additional horrible deeds were attributed to her, including the persistent 106 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: rumor that she bathed in the blood of her virginal 107 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: victims in an effort to restore her youth. However, that 108 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: claim didn't appear in print until seventeen twenty nine. More 109 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: than one hundred years after her passing, and since none 110 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: of the witness testimonies mentioned a bathtub full of blood, 111 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: it's safe to assume the story was a fabrication. In 112 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: more recent years, some scholars and historians have come to 113 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: believe that Battery was something of a victim herself. There's 114 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: evidence to suggest that some of her relatives may have 115 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: conspired with the Habsburg dynasty to discredit the countess and 116 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: seize control of her vast estate. Of course, even if 117 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: she was the target of a political plot, and even 118 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: if some of her crimes were exaggerated, there's still no 119 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 1: question that Battery was a killer. The many dead and 120 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: dying girls found in her castle proved as much, and 121 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: while we'll never know what compelled her to act so statistically, 122 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: she likely wasn't as complicated a figure as some like 123 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: to suggest. Like many real world monsters, Countess Battery was 124 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: born to wealth and power and believed that her privilege 125 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: gave her license to inflict pain with impunity. The real 126 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: tragedy of her story is that she was mostly right. 127 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: She never stood trial, was never convicted, and got to 128 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: die at home in her own bed, a far better 129 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: death than the ones she gave her victims. I'm Gabe 130 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: Lucier and hopefully you now know a little more about 131 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you have a 132 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: second and you're so inclined, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, 133 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, And if you have 134 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestion, don't hesitate to share them by 135 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: writing to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to 136 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: Chandler Maze for producing the show, and thank you for listening. 137 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 138 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: in history class.