Random Disturbing Facts About Elizabeth Bathory, History's Most Murderous Woman (15 items)

(#7) She May Have Engaged In Cannibalism

Along with the other ways she terrorized imprisoned girls, Elizabeth supposedly bit off chunks of their flesh. According to some stories, she forced one young woman to cook and eat her own flesh - and she may have partaken of human meat herself.
(#8) After Her Husband's Death, She Grew Even More Violent

Eventually, Elizabeth outgrew her husband's torture tactics and began to learn new methods of wreaking havoc on those around her, especially servant girls. She wrote to Nadasdy that her servant Thorko had taught her a new method of cursing: "Beat a black hen to death, then smear the blood on your enemy or his clothes to condemn him."

After her husband died in 1604, Elizabeth became even more extreme. Records from her later trials indicate Elizabeth shoved needles underneath girls' fingernails or into their faces. She would bite chunks of flesh from their bodies or poke their breasts with sharp pincers.
(#5) She Made Girls Freeze To Death In The Snow Or Burned Them With Hot Irons

After marrying The Black Knight, Elizabeth expanded her torture tactics. She stuck young girls in spike-lined cages and hung them from the ceiling and threw others in the snow, tossing cold water on them so they froze to death. Elizabeth enjoyed putting red-hot coins into servant girls' palms; she also thrust pokers into the fire and used them to burn her servants' faces. To top it off, she also tore off their fingers with pincers.
(#14) Elizabeth May Have Murdered 650 Young Women

Between her servant girls and the local noblewomen she recruited to "tutor," Elizabeth slaughtered and tortured many young women. Over 10 years of torture, she reputedly brutalized 650 different ladies, that number reported by a peasant girl who was a witness to these crimes. But she was only officially charged with the murder of 80 women. How many did she kill? We'll probably never know.
(#6) She Smeared Girls In Honey And Sent Them To Be Attacked By Bees

Following the suggestion of her husband Count Nadasdy, Elizabeth smeared servant girls in honey and put them outside for a full day so they would be bitten by bugs and stung by bees. Though the two were frequently separated, Nadasdy would send his wife torture advice from the battlefield while he was away as a sort of "love letter."
(#12) The King Of Hungary Finally Discovered Her Terrible Crimes

Allegedly jealous of the Protestant Bathory-Nadasdy family's wealth, Matthias II, the Catholic king of Hungary, picked up on these allegations about Elizabeth and decided to get even. He and his parliament ordered the royal deputy in Hungary, Count George Thurzo, to investigate her. Perhaps they were suspicious because they believed in witchcraft, or perhaps a sexually powerful woman was threatening to their beliefs. Also, if Elizabeth - by now a widow - was tried and convicted, then all of her wealth would revert to the crown and all of the debts the king owed to Bathory would be erased.

Thurzo was a friend to the Bathory family, however, and he helped Elizabeth escape prosecution. As a result, Elizabeth wasn't put on trial herself, but her accomplices were.