Who was Elizabeth Báthory: the Blood Countess and Hungary's own female Dracula

Another Me Too! Gender equality has many meanings! Was she a predecessor of Marquis de Sade?

"On a dark and cold night on December 29, 1610, soldiers stormed the Hungarian castle of Csejte and arrested Countess Elisabeth Báthory and her servants. What they found inside shook them to their bones and, in the coming months, as her trial unfolded, an entire kingdom would lose sleep over the countess’ vile and despicable crimes.

Báthory is today remembered as one of the most cold-blooded and prolific killers in history. She reportedly was responsible for the torture and murder of 600 young girls and women. Indeed, even Guinness World Records lists her as the foremost female serial killer that we know of. ...
However, there is absolutely no credible evidence that suggests the countess actually took blood baths, although it wouldn’t be totally unheard of. Modern villain Vladimir Putin routinely bathes in the blood from Maral stag antlers, which is extracted while the stag is still alive, supposedly to boost male health and sexual potency, as well as improve the cardiovascular system and rejuvenate the skin. ...

According to surviving testimonials from subsequent trials from her closest servants, countess Báthory performed all manner of vile and unspeakable acts of savagery. ... She would beat servants so badly that the blood splattered on the walls and beds had to be soaked up with ashes and cinders. Servants were burned with red-hot keys, coins, and all manners of metal objects and in the most painful ways, such as ironing the soles of the feet or sticking burning iron rods into the victims’ vagina. Servants often had their lips and tongues stitched together, others were forced to stand in tubs of ice water up their necks until they died of hypothermia.

Some torture sessions were purely diabolical. According to one account, the countess forced servants to cook and eat their own flesh, usually from the buttocks. Needles, knives, burning candles, and all manner of pain-inducing objects were used to lacerate servants’ genitals. One servant girl was stripped naked, covered in honey, and left outside to be bitten by ants, wasps, bees, and flies. Dead bodies were found in the gardens, grain pits, and orchards on the castle’s domain and adjacent properties. ..."

Who was Elizabeth Báthory: the Blood Countess and Hungary's own female Dracula The dark story of a 17th-century Hungarian countess and her torturous escapades.