Did Elizabeth Bathory actually bath in her victims Blood?
It’s hard to ascertain whether it’s myth or not, but contemporary writing would seem to bare it out, and show that she did in fact bathe in the blood, first of her servants and eventually, by her arrest, 37 women in total. This comes from the occult belief, that if you are covered in the blood of a beautiful young virgin, that the skin will in turn become youthful and virgin like in it’s appearance. Though in Elizabeth’s case it probably stems from the manipulation of a mind, left vulnerable and highly suggestive, by the seizures she experienced as a child – probably a neurological problem, which also effected her actions – and the continued absence of her husband in battle. It was often commented that she was an excellent wife and mother, and always gave the girls drained the best Christian burial, though she did threaten the priest to keep it all quiet, so part of her must have known it was wrong, I believe now she would be shown to have schizophrenia, aggravated by the influence of
