By
Succubyss
Everywhere you turn, someone is lamenting about the state of beauty in today’s world. The angry, man-hating feminists rant and rave about the objectification of women, as little girls look up to Paris Hilton as a role model. Britney Spears is bent out of shape (literally) about the form her pregnant body has taken. Seventy year old women are having breast enhancement surgery while they get their wrinkled faces pulled up over their foreheads.
Revenues from beauty products sold around the world are in the ka-trillions of dollars. Yes, I said ka-trillions. I’m not writing for the Wall Street Journal here. If you want numbers, try their web-site. I’m just sayin’, the quest for youth and beauty is at an all time high in the 21st century. Or is it?
When you think of commercial beauty products, who do you think of? That old bleached blonde with the pink Cadillacs? Do you wish the Avon Lady would come to YOUR house? How about Estee Lauder, the queen of department store spritzing? How many other beauty mavens come to mind as you ponder the ridiculous lengths people in our society will go to, to look better, younger?
I’ll tell you who I think of. A woman who used her power, her money and her position in society to get the most out of her beauty products. A woman NOT of this century. A fine, aristocratic, bold adventuress who truly understood that one should stop at NOTHING to maintain a youthful appearance. A true rebel of the cosmetic industry.
Countess Elisabeth Bathory. That’s right. The Blood Countess. She was innovative and completely dedicated to finding a concoction to preserve her youth. All this in the 1500s, when the equivalent of a media announcement of war was the staking of heads in your front yard.
Born in 1560, Elisabeth was engaged to be married at the ripe old age of 11. Talk about the value of youth in a society. She was reputed to have been a beautiful girl, with milk-white skin of a creamy consistency and long, luxurious raven hair. Her family was of a long, royal heritage and tho’ beauty was rampant in the line, in-breeding had taken it’s toll on the mental state of Elisabeth and other Bathory family members. Rumor had it that Elisabeth was a difficult child, prone to rages and hysterical outbursts. She was often found in the castle gardens, torturing and dismembering insects and small animals.
When she was 14, Elisabeth became pregnant by a peasant boy. She was installed at the family castle, isolated until she gave birth and the baby girl given away to persons unknown. Some say that during this isolation, she became fascinated with the occult and the power a young, beautiful woman could wield.
At 15, Elisabeth had developed a voluptuous figure and striking amber eyes that pierced the souls of all who were victimized by her angry glance. This was the year of her marriage to Count Ferencz Nadasdy. The Count was a powerful warrior, who spent most of his days out in the field, fighting wars and torturing his enemies. It was at this time, that Elisabeth started to spend more time in the company of her sadistic, lesbian aunt, Countess Karla Bathory. It was with Karla that Elisabeth experienced orgies, sado-masochism and experimented with various forms of “dark magic”.
As Elisabeth grew older, she became more and more obsessed with her looks and maintained a full staff of peasant girls to attend to her daily beauty routine, which could sometimes last for hours. She was an exacting mistress and could bear no error, perceived or real. One day, as a servant girl apparently pulled Elisabeth’s hair too hard while combing it, Elisabeth slapped her hand hard enough to draw blood. As the blood dripped from the servant onto Elisabeth’s own hand, she was fascinated by the apparent reaction her milky skin had. Her skin appeared to take on the freshness of the young peasant girl. At that, Elisabeth believed she had discovered the secret to eternal youth.
To her credit, she stopped at nothing to pursue her new belief. Elisabeth had a room that was lovingly referred to as, “Her Ladyship’s Torture Chamber”. This room was outfitted with all the latest and greatest torture and bloodletting devices of the time. Under the guise of “punishment” for failure to properly perform their duties, servant girls were brought to this chamber and forced to undergo a variety of bloody exercises to satisfy The Countess’s need for youthful blood. She used razors, pincers, molten wax and knives to draw and revel in the blood of these young girls, eventually resorting to attacking victims with her own teeth, ripping chunks of flesh from the servant’s face, neck and shoulders.
As Elisabeth perfected her techniques of drawing blood, she was eventually able to drain great quantities of the stuff by increasing the number of servants she used. She collected the blood in vats and then bathed in it, so as to allow her skin to be completely exposed to the life-giving liquid. As more time passed and began to take its toll on her aging body, Elisabeth started to doubt the rejuvenating effects of fresh peasant blood. She was advised by her beauty consultant, a local witch, that only VIRGIN blood would have the continued effect of youth. Of course. Once Elisabeth had exhausted the fresh, young girls of her village, she sent her guards out to procure virgins from neighboring villages with the promise of education and a place in her court.
Nearing 50, Elisabeth could no longer deny the obvious effects of aging. Again, she consulted her witch. After confirming her color palate, the witch said that virgin peasant blood wasn’t going to cut it any longer. Elisabeth was advised that only NOBLE blood would succeed in maintaining her youthful appearance. Of course. She then sent her minions out to find local noblewomen and entice them to her castle under any pretense that would get them there. Of course, once there, they met the same fate as the others. Torture and bloodletting in the name of youth and beauty.
There came a time when Elisabeth could no longer hide the bodies of her beauty treatments. Through various political machinations, the local clergy was able to demand an inquiry into Elisabeth’s lifestyle and beauty practices. The investigation revealed that The Blood Countess had over 650 bodies hidden in, around and under her castle. These bodies were devoid of blood and mutilated in hideous ways.
Elisabeth Bathory faced the equivalent of a criminal trial. She was found criminally insane and spent the next four years locked alone in a single room of her castle. She was fed thru a hole in the door and was denied creature comforts and companionship. Elisabeth wasted away and died without ever acknowledging any wrong doing.
Her last words were rumored to be, “Hey, a girls’ gotta do what a girls’ gotta do.” I don’t know that I believe that, but let’s hear it for Countess Elisabeth Bathory. The Blood Countess is a dead rebel who was willing to do anything to maintain the illusion of youth and beauty. Sound like anyone you know?
Dead Rebel Of The Week
~ The Blood Countess ~
Elizabeth Bathory
