Everyone knows Elizabeth Báthory as the Blood Countess, the noblewoman who supposedly bathed in the blood of young girls to preserve her beauty. But how much of that infamous story is actually true?

In this Tangisode, we're peeling back four centuries of legend to uncover the real woman behind one of history's darkest reputations. From the political power of the Báthory family and the brutal world of sixteenth-century Hungary to the mysterious deaths of servant girls, the daughters of lesser nobles, and the investigation that ended in house arrest instead of a public trial, we separate documented history from gothic folklore.

Was Elizabeth Báthory history's most prolific female serial killer, or did centuries of rumor, politics, and beauty myths transform a real woman into an immortal monster? Pour yourself something appropriately dramatic and join us as we explore where history ends... and legend begins.

🩸 LOVE HISTORY WITH A LITTLE SCANDAL? We'd be thrilled if you'd follow, rate, and leave us a five-star review! Share this episode with your favorite history-loving friend, post it to your stories, and let us know: Do you think Elizabeth Báthory was a monster, a political scapegoat, or something in between?

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Sources Referenced:

• Craft, Kimberly L. Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory. 2009.
• Thorne, Tony. Countess Dracula: The Life and Times of Elisabeth Báthory, the Blood Countess. 1998.
• Bledsaw, Rachael Leigh. No Blood in the Water: The Legal and Gender Conspiracies Against Countess Elizabeth Bathory in Historical Context. Illinois State University, 2014.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Elizabeth Báthory."
• Associated Press. "Centuries Later, Hungary's Blood Countess Still Inspires Debate."

This week on Dressed for the Grave, we are buttoning ourselves into the absurd and occasionally fatal world of men's neckwear. The "father killer" collar, or Vatermörder, was a high, stiff, starched detachable collar worn by respectable nineteenth- and early twentieth-century men who apparently looked at breathing and thought, "How necessary is this, really?"

We trace the collar from laundry-saving invention in Troy, New York, to class symbol, masculine posture prison, newspaper joke, and possible cause of death in cases like C. O. Slater and Harry D. Wingert. We also wander into Francis Dukinfield Astley's suspicious 1825 death, celluloid collars, racist laundry advertising, and military neck stocks, because men's fashion was not safer than women's fashion. It was just louder about being practical while quietly trying to throttle someone in a parlor.

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If you love fashion history with a body count, please follow Dressed for the Grave, leave us a five-star review, and share this episode with someone who enjoys their history crisp, morbid, and slightly over-starched.

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And Remember: Dress to impress yourself, not the coroner.

• Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Robert Friedel, "A White Collar With a Message."
  https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/white-collar-message
• Textile Research Centre Leiden, Joshua Verkerk, "How the Detachable Collar Came and Went."
  https://www.trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/blog/1444-how-the-detachable-collar-came-and-went
• Georgia Historic Newspapers, The Atlanta Georgian, "Choked to Death By High Collar," 21 July 1913.
  https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053729/1913-07-21/ed-6/seq-1/ocr/
• Georgia Historic Newspapers, The News and Farmer, "A Fatal High Collar," 24 September 1903.
  https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86053065/1903-09-24/ed-1/seq-1/ocr/
• 100 Halls Around Manchester, "Francis Dukinfield Palmer Astley."
  https://100hallsaroundmanchester.wordpress.com/tag/francis-dukinfield-palmer-astley/
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Catherine McLean and Charlotte Eng, "How the Hatter Went Mad."
  https://unframed.lacma.org/2011/03/07/how-the-hatter-went-mad

Before Amsterdam's Red Light District became famous for glowing windows, it was a busy medieval neighborhood packed with sailors, merchants, churches, and taverns. In this Tangisode, Noelle walks us through the over 700 year history of the Red Light District.

⚓️ Listen now, follow the show, and come take a walk through old Amsterdam before the lights turned red. 🔴✨