By the end, Elizabeth's inner savagery reached an uncontrollable peak. She frequently pricked those around her with needles, especially women. On one occasion, it is said, she ordered one of her maids to be stripped naked, smeared in honey, and driven out of the castle.
In total, she murdered 650 girls through various gruesome methods, even constructing numerous dungeons across different locations specifically for this purpose.
Eventually, the parents of the deceived girls, unable to endure the atrocities any longer, united to storm Elizabeth’s castle and brought her before a judge. Faced with the overwhelming outrage, the judge had no choice but to sentence her to life imprisonment.
The story of Gilles de Rais is equally legendary. Known for his achievements as an artist, scholar, general, and valiant knight, he seemed to embody greatness. However, one fateful day, as he sat in his library reading, a murderous urge suddenly gripped him. From that moment, his life took a dark and irreversible turn, transforming him into one of history’s most infamous criminals.
The tale of Swiatek is just as dramatic. Born into poverty, he often went hungry but was known for his gentle and kind demeanor. Everything changed one day when he encountered the aftermath of a devastating fire. Upon arriving at the scene, he found the charred remains of the victims still smoldering. Driven by starvation, he grabbed the arm of a burned corpse and took a bite. The taste was exhilarating. From that moment, Swiatek developed an insatiable craving for human flesh.
A similar transformation occurred with France’s Béraud. Polished and well-educated, he was the epitome of sophistication. Yet one day, while passing a cemetery near a church with a friend, he was overcome by an inexplicable urge to see what happened to a body after burial. Following the funeral, Béraud returned to the graveyard, exhumed the body, and gazed at its remains. This act marked the beginning of his obsessive fascination with the dead.
Stolen story; please report.
Certain physical changes can also trigger cruel impulses. Pregnancy, for instance, often causes profound and subtle transformations within a woman’s body, disrupting hormonal balance and altering appetite. One tale recounts a pregnant woman who, upon seeing a baker carrying a tray of baguettes through the street, was overwhelmed with a desire to taste the man’s shoulder. She begged her husband to summon the baker, and after persistent negotiation—including the promise of a handsome payment—the baker reluctantly agreed. The woman then lunged forward, tore a piece of flesh from his shoulder with her teeth, and devoured it. Later, she gave birth to twins.
In Andernach, along the Rhine, there was a woman who murdered her husband, consumed half of his body, and preserved the other half in salt for future meals. Eventually regaining her senses and overcome with remorse, she turned herself in to the authorities.
In 1553, another woman slit her husband’s throat and, while his body was still warm, ate his nose and left arm. She then dismembered the corpse, salted the remains, and stored them for later. Shortly after, she gave birth to triplets. Only when others began searching for the father to deliver the joyous news did they realize he had been missing for some time.
In the summer of 1845, a Greek newspaper reported a similar case: a wife murdered her husband, extracted his entrails, and roasted them over a fire to eat.
Grüner, in his writings, recounted the story of a deranged shepherd boy who killed and roasted two people. Mark told of a woman who cannibalized her own child. While her husband was away, she murdered their 15-month-old son, dismembered his legs, and hid them in cabbage leaves. When her husband returned, she served the cabbage to him for dinner. Mark noted that although the family was poor, they were by no means desperate enough to justify such an act.