Although vampires are fairly common in modern pop culture, tales of blood-sucking creatures date back to ancient times, including the Indian branches, Greco-Roman creatures that fed on human flesh. Today we think of fictional bloodsuckers like Dracula, but the "right" vampires appeared in medieval European folklore.
Early Eastern European tales describe revenans that resemble the Old Norse draugr. By the 17th century, tales of blood-sucking devils were spreading along with unexplained diseases. The following examples and the associated 18th century hysteria will tell how vampires quickly established themselves as one of mankind's greatest nightmares.
Alnwick Castle Vampire
Alnwick Castle was built on the northeast coast of England in the 11th century and was the seat of the Duke of Northumberland. It was also the place where the vampire legend was recorded by William Newburgh in the 12th century. After falling from a roof while spying on his unfaithful wife, the owner of the estate was mortally wounded. He forgot to confess before dying and returned as an unrepentant avenger. The villagers blamed the plague on the creature, and a local priest soon organized a group to dig up the corpse and destroy it. After the body of the duke was burned, the problems stopped, although this was only the beginning of the legend.
Melrose Abbey Vampire
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St Mary's Abbey at Melrose was founded in 1136 as the country's main home. Although it is now partially in ruins, its halls also housed a Cistercian order of monks and a 12th-century ghost. In this case, the ghoul was a priest who died without confession and then returned to feed himself with the blood of innocents. In real life, he received the nickname "Dog Priest" because he loved hunting with dogs. After his death, he roamed the abbey and terrorized the monks. However, when the creature was stalking its former mistress, the monks set up an ambush at nightfall and hit him in the head. After being burned, the ashes were scattered throughout the territory, although legends say that his shadow still wanders in the abbey.
Vlad the Impaler, nicknamed Dracula
Although he was a fierce warrior, Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, was not a vampire. He was born in 1431 in Targovishte, his house was engulfed in conflict, because it was sandwiched between Christian Europe and the Muslim Ottoman Empire. In his youth he was even kidnapped and raised by the Turks, and returned after the nobles ousted and killed his father. Vlad was a very suitable model for Dracula, especially considering his vicious tendencies in war and his title as a son of the Knight of the Order of the Dragon.
Vampires and plague
The Black Death has been one of the worst pandemics in humanity, as the Yersinia pestis bacteria killed about 200 million Europeans. While deaths peaked around 1350 AD. e., outbreaks took place even in the 18th century. At the same time, the plague led to tremendous upheavals, and beliefs changed rapidly. This included the rise of a "vampire" figure, which was a little-known Eastern European legend until the early 1700s. Superstitions spread throughout Western Europe, leading to mass hysteria. It was said that vampires brought disease or fed on its victims. Worse, phenomena that are associated with decomposition, such as dark liquid in the stomach, have been recognized as evidence of the existence of the living dead.
Elizaveta Bathory
The "Bloody Countess" is known for bathing in blood and feeding on the blood of innocent people in order to preserve her youth. Nonetheless, she started out as a noblewoman in Hungary who married Count Nadasdi and ruled his estates during wartime and after his death. However, the problems began in 1609 when a local Lutheran priest suspected her of the disappearance of local girls. Authorities soon uncovered the murders for decades, although historians now point to evidence of a court conspiracy. Together with several accomplices, Bathory allegedly lured the peasants and gave them to her castle for work or for etiquette lessons. Then they were beaten, burned, frozen, starved. In the end, the Countess was walled up in her house. Although they say that she lived for another 5 years in this state.
Yure Grando
Another variant of "vampire" is the Eastern European term strigoi, strigun, or strigon, which describes a blood-sucking creature with mystical powers. Such a monster is the first documented case of a vampire. In 1656, the peasant Yure Grando died in the village of Kringa. For the next 16 years, he terrorized a city in Croatia, wandered around at night and knocked on people's doors, causing someone to die a few days later. He even attacked his widow for an intimate act, causing his children to flee to Italy. Soon the priest and several villagers reached his grave, dug up Yura and beheaded his corpse.
Peter Blagojevich
Another early story was about the Serbian peasant Peter Blagojevic. In 1725 he died of a strange illness in the village. However, official Austrian documents detail how, within 8 days of his death, 9 villagers died as a result of a strange illness. Before dying, each reported that Blagojevich strangled them in their sleep. Even his family was not safe as Blagojevich's son died after meeting Peter in the kitchen and his wife fled after he showed up in his bedroom. The villagers eventually exhumed his body and discovered signs of vampirism, including hair and nail growth and lack of decay. With the permission of the local priests, they burned his body.
Vampire from "Croglin Grange"
According to August Hare's Story of My Life, Amelia Cranwell and her brothers Edward and Michael moved to Croglin Grange in Cumberland, England in 1875. One summer, Amelia was looking at strange lights under her window at night and saw a creature with glowing eyes outside. It entered the house and attacked. Her brothers came to the screams of Amelia, but this figure escaped, but managed to bite her neck. The frightened trio traveled to Switzerland and returned in 1876 with a plan for revenge. While Lady Cranwell was asleep, the brothers approached the vampire, attacked him and shot him. The next day, they organized a group to inspect the cemetery and found an open crypt with an open coffin in which a corpse had been shot. They burned him down, and the villain presented no further trouble anymore.
New vampires in New England
New England experienced resentment and panic in the 19th century. Since the outbreak of tuberculosis devastated these lands, the withering of the bodies of people was interpreted as being eaten by the spirits of deceased relatives. Treatment included ritual burning or even eating their internal organs. For example, following the death of Lemuel Ray, the corpses of his father and brothers in Connecticut in the mid-1800s were looted and reburied to prevent harm.
Supreme vampire
Highgate Cemetery London has over 150,000 inhabitants, including one vampire. In this case, the sprawling cemetery and nature reserve came under the target of the media in 1969. Reports focused on a tall, dark figure in gray who oozed evil and could haunt humans and animals. As the number of emaciated animals increased, so did the number of human victims who were hypnotized. Although in 1970 the number of so-called vampire hunters rose so high that the cemetery was threatened with extinction, sightings diminished over the year, and the vampire was forgotten.
In most of these cases, the true roots of vampirism seem to lie in a lack of understanding of the decomposition process in which human bodies often exude dark fluids. In some cases, it is possible that people were buried alive, as nail marks were found on the roofs of the coffins. Regardless of their origins, these vampire tales have become important standards for larger myths. Thus, this is far from their last message and far from the last time a person wonders what might be hiding in the dark at the local cemetery.
Victoria Ivashura