In the 18th century, most of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe were seized by a strange epidemic of the transformation of the dead into vampires. Many thousands of people died, dozens of settlements were deserted. Undoubtedly, this phenomenon could not but appear in the field of vision of the church and secular authorities, as well as scientists.
And these events began with numerous complaints about the attacks of vampires in East Prussia and in the Austrian Empire in 1721-1734.
It should be noted that many cases of the appearance of vampires have been officially confirmed by representatives of the authorities.
One of these stories happened in Serbia. It was reported in his book "A Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits" by the learned Benedictine abbot Augustin Calmet (1672-1757). The essence of the story is as follows.
“In a village in Silesia, a sixty-two-year old man named Blagovic died. Three days after his death, he suddenly appeared at his house, woke up his son and asked him to eat. The son set the table, served food. The old man ate and left. The next day, the son, of course, told everyone about this incident. The old man did not appear that night, but the next night he came again and again asked for food. Whether his son treated him this time or not, history is silent about this. It is only certain that this man, that is, the son, was found dead in bed the next morning. And on the same day, five or six other inhabitants of the village suddenly somehow mysteriously fell ill and a few days later they died one after another.
In more detail about the events that took place in Europe at that time, Augustin Calmet told in his other work - "Thesis on the appearance of ghosts, vampires and ghosts", published in 1749. And he told the following: “In this century, a new phenomenon has opened up to our eyes, which we have been observing for sixty years in Hungary, Moravia, Silesia, Poland. They say that people are met there who died many years ago or only a few months before. They appear, say, walk, invade villages, torture people and animals, drink the blood of their loved ones, make them sick and, in the end, cause them death. And there is no other way to get rid of their dangerous visits and invasions, except exhumation, stabbing, removing the head, taking out the heart or burning …
Numerous theories have been proposed to explain the resurrection and emergence of vampires. Some theories rejected their existence as something invented, as some effect of prejudice and ignorance of the people of the country in which they believe in their existence.
According to other theories, these people were not actually dead, but were buried alive. Thus, they resurrected themselves in a completely natural way and came out of their graves.
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Some believed that these people were really dead, but God, by his permission or by special order, allowed them to be resurrected and return for a time to their bodies, because when they are taken out of the earth, their bodies are found intact, their blood is scarlet and liquid, and their limbs are - flexible and mobile.
There were also those who held the view that the devil resurrects ghosts and uses them as his tool to inflict all kinds of harm on people and animals.
I learned from the late Monsieur de Vassimont, Counselor of the Finance Chamber in Bar, that, being sent to Moravia by the late Duke of Lorraine Leopold on the business of his brother Prince Charles, Bishop of Olomouc and Osnabrück, he was made aware of the fact that in these parts it is considered quite common to meet a person who died some time ago.
This man returns to the village, sits down at the table with his friends, without saying a word, and makes a sign with his head to one of those present, who inevitably dies in a few days.
And here is another excerpt from the same work: “The vampire was buried about three years ago; above his grave, a glow was visible, similar to the light of a lamp, but less bright.
The grave was opened and a man was found intact and seemed as healthy as any of us present; hair, nails, teeth and eyes (the latter were half-closed) were also firmly held on his body, as they are now on us, living, and his heart was beating.
Then he was taken out of the grave; his body was not really flexible, but it was whole and completely intact; then something like a metal lance, round and sharp, pierced his heart: a whitish liquid with blood flowed from there, but the blood dominated it, all this did not have any bad smell; after that, they cut off his head with an ax similar to those used for executions in England. The same liquid with blood flowed from the body, but more abundantly than from the heart. In the end, he was thrown back into the grave and covered with quicklime to complete the matter for sure. Since then, his niece, from whom he drank blood twice, began to feel better."
Considering that this treatise was written by the abbot, and besides, it was published in the middle of the 18th century, these passages could be counted at best as tales, of which there were many in those days. But thinking so is hampered by the fact that other famous personalities have written about vampires. For example, Pope Benedict XIV wrote Vampires in the Light of Science in 1749. In 1781, Gerard Van Swieten, chief court physician of the Austrian Empress Maria-Theresa, made a "Medical Report on Vampires" especially for Her Highness.
The famous Jean-Jacques Rousseau spoke very definitely and categorically in relation to vampires. He stated: “If there was a story in the world that was true and proven, it was the story of vampires. Nothing is missing: official reports, testimonies of dignitaries, surgeons, priests, judges: the evidence is complete."
Moreover, in addition to this evidence, there are many other documents, reports and articles confirming the existence of the phenomenon of vampirism.
However, despite such authoritative evidence, most scientists are openly skeptical of the numerous stories with vampires that have happened in the past. And yet, a number of researchers not only do not dismiss this phenomenon, but also try to give it an explanation.
In general, the phenomenon of vampirism boiled down to the following: people who were buried some time ago suddenly appeared in the houses of their loved ones, drank their blood or committed some other violent actions, which became the cause of the death of relatives.
To stop this phenomenon, the dead, who were suspected of vampirism, were dug up. And when at the same time it was discovered that the dead man had not decomposed, but, on the contrary, had pinkish skin and flexible limbs, as well as blood on the body and in the coffin, he was pierced with a stake, his head was cut off and burned at the stake. After that, the vampire ceased to exist …
The recognition of vampirism as a real phenomenon raises many questions. For example, what time factor causes a vampire to leave the grave? After all, some dead people left the coffin immediately after burial, others - after three, five and ten years, and some - even after many decades. Or: why do vampires visit relatives? Why do they not decompose, but remain alive for a long time? How to explain the regeneration of their nails and hair?
But perhaps the most important question is: why do the dead come out of their graves and how do they do it? Indeed, according to eyewitnesses, the soil on the graves of vampires remains intact from the day of their burial. Calmet could not answer these questions. However, they baffled and baffle all researchers of this phenomenon. And although a variety of speculative hypotheses were put forward as an answer to them, they were very quickly rejected.
Perhaps the answer lies in the glow over the graves of vampires - a phenomenon that almost all those who have investigated this phenomenon write about. True, most modern scientists claim that this glow appears as a result of the combustion of phosphorus, which is formed during the decomposition of a corpse. This is how, in particular, Sergey Ryazantsev explains the glow over the graves in his book "Thanatology".
“This is a frightening phenomenon … one could comment as follows. Cases when fires flash suddenly during the opening of graves have been known for a long time. It turns out that there are substances that ignite in air by themselves. These include a chemical compound of phosphorus and hydrogen - phosphorous hydrogen, a colorless gas with the smell of rotten fish. In the summertime, it is often excreted from the soil overflowing with decaying animals or plants, which always include phosphorus as an essential component. When an organism dies, this phosphorus passes into the soil, and part of it combines with hydrogen to form phosphorous hydrogen. As soon as such a gas enters the air, it spontaneously ignites, which can explain the small pale lights that go out and flash in different places in swamps and cemeteries."
The hypothesis seems to be quite scientific. However, the attendants of the cemeteries, for their part, testify that a glow appears only over a rare grave, perhaps one of many thousands. In that case, what kind of glow is observed over the graves of vampires? Could it be the astral body of the deceased? Or perhaps something else that modern scientists do not even know about?
The fact that vampires were seen both at night and during the day is also significant. In addition, many people at the same time.
It was already mentioned above that the vampire usually appeared at his house and asked for food. He was immediately served food, and he did eat it. But if the vampire is the astral body of the one who is in the coffin, then how can it eat and drink? And what is it?
Most authors of fiction write about the vampire drinking blood. This is his trademark. But he does not bite through the skin, and, most likely, sucks blood through the surface of the body. At least in the area where the vampire drank blood, there are no wounds, but only bruises remain.
And even when the graves of vampires were opened, often the coffin in which they were located was filled with a large amount of fresh blood. If we assume that the vampire is the astral body of the deceased, then the question arises: how does this blood penetrate into his grave? It is possible that he develops it himself. But again, where do the resources for the production of such a volume of living matter come from?
Of course, the question of the existence of vampires is controversial. And you can treat him in different ways. But if numerous facts, monographs of famous people testify to this phenomenon, then, probably, this phenomenon cannot be viewed from the position: this cannot be, because it cannot be. It is not for nothing that it is said that "there is no smoke without fire."
Bernatsky Anatoly