This legend appeared in print for the first time in 1729, in the Jesuit scholar László Turóczi’s Tragica Historia, the first written account of the Báthory case.

At the beginning of the 19th century, this certainty was questioned, and sadistic pleasure was considered a far more plausible motive for Elizabeth Báthory’s alleged crimes.

In 1817, the witness accounts (which had surfaced in 1765) were published for the first time, which included no references to bloodbaths.

This myth is speculated to persist because of Bathory’s connection to Transylvania and vampire lore.