h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The well known Dracula authorities Radu Florescu and Raymond Mcnally have commented a few times on her history. Apparently the investigation in her own lifetime of her blood drinking/bathing discounted the idea entirely. They've suggested it was invented by people who didn't want to deal with the fact she had a very twisted interest in women(wouldn't suprise me if it was sexual but not in any healthy sense of the word) and was an extreme sadist who enjoyed murder and torture. They invented the blood stuff because the Hungarians found the idea of a vampire easier to stomache then the reality.

Are they well known? I haven't heard of them...

I wouldn't have called her a vampire either, but it's not easy to discount legends.

Yeah they are. In point of fact as memory serves they're the ones who first pinned down Ponarei as the historical Castle Dracula. They're book In Search of Dracula has a lot of knowledge regarding both Vlad and Bathory(ie did you know Stephen Bathory(probably an ancestor of Elizebeth) was gifted lands in Transylvania by The Impaler?).

If ever there was a historical acount of a vampire or vampireism id say that ol' Bathory was probably it.

Yet no evidence exists of any connection to her drinking or even bathing in blood. Many better examples exist.

Both wrote a popular book but are not necessarily totally unbiased or careful researchers.

Both Vlad Dracula and E. Bathory were in conflict with King Matthias. Matthias admitted to spreading lies about Vlad, but only when he needed Vlad to fight the Ottoman Turks for him. The common thread of those times seems to be a major conflict between the King and the highest level, old aristocracy. Any Transylvanian who fought Turks seems to have been destroyed by King Matthias who probably wanted to be the sole tyrant and take over that area of Hungary.

My deepest apologies for blending two Hungarian King Matthias's into one king here. Matthew Corvinus spread lies about Vlad Tepes, Dracula, and then admitted they were lies when he needed Vlad to fight the Ottoman Turks. King Matthias, a Hapsburg, needed to avoid a hugh financial debt he owed to Elizabeth and her husband. This was a time of extreme stress and conflict for that region. It is possible that the crimes of Elizabeth Bathory were invented by the Hapsburg minions, that would fit with the history and behavior of that time. I have yet to find a serious study in the context of the times of known facts or evidence about Elizabeth Bathory. However, as an amateur historian, all I can do is guess which is the more credible chain of events.