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SEVEN MYSTERIES OF THE CHURCH (fragment) by Bishop Varlaam of Moldavia (1645)

This fragment of the book is the first recorded mention of undead in Moldavia. The word used by the author (a major head of the Orthodox Christian Church), is werewolf but the ritual of banishing is typical for a vampire banishing. The terms of vampire werewolf witch and others (pricolich, striga, moroi etc.) are interchangeable in the old beliefs and documents, so I decided to add this fragment here as referring to vampirism. The translation is close to the original and I`m sorry if it`s hard to read or has mistakes.

#varlaam #cartojan #1645 #moldavia #vampire article #vampire quote

COPY OF A WRITING FROM THE GRADISKA DISTRICT IN HUNGARY by Frombald (1725)

COPY OF A WRITING FROM THE GRADISKA DISTRICT IN HUNGARY / COPIA EINES SCHREIBENS AUS DEM GRADISKER DISTRICT IN UNGARN by Frombald (1725)

or (the original full title)

Copy of the letter dated 1725 of the imperial cameral provisor of Gradiska district in the Kingdom of Serbia, Mr. Frombald, which relates to the so-called vampiri or blood-suckers, which were notori-ous in the Kingdom of Serbia in those times

In 1725, in the village of Kisilova in Serbia - then considered part of Hungary by the Austro-Hungarian Empire - the administrator of the district, a so called Frombald, wrote a report describing a vampire case.

Frombald's original report is either lost or at present unknown. Only a copy exists in Vienna, in the Haus Hof und Staatsarchiv, in the stand Türkei (Turcica), entitled ‘Copy of the letter dated 1725 of the imperial cameral provisor of Gradiska district in the Kingdom of Serbia, Mr. Frombald, which relates to the so-called vampiri or blood-suckers, which were notori-ous in the Kingdom of Serbia in those times’ (‘Copia des vom Herrn Frombald kayserlichen Cameral Provisore zu Gradiska im Königreich Servien erlassenen Briefes anno 1725, Die im Königreich Servien damals im Schwung gegangenen sogenannten vampiri oder Blutsauger betreffend’. Frombald 1725). The undated copy is filed into the documents relating to 1725 January-February.

The report was published without comment in the 21.07.1725. issue of the Wienerisches Diarium under the modified and fairly uninteresting title ‘Copy of a writing from the Gradiska District in Hungary’.

From The Imperial Provisor, Gradsk District

"After a subject by the name of Peter Plogojowitz had died, ten weeks past - he lived in the village of Kisilova, in the Rahm district - and had been buried according to the Raetzian custom, it was revealed that in this same village of Kisilova, within a week, nine people both young and old, died also, after suffering a twenty-four hour illness. And they said publicly, while they were yet alive, but on their deathbed, that the above-mentioned Peter Plogojowitz, who had died ten weeks earlier had come to them in their sleep, laid himself on them, and throttled them, so that they would have to give up the ghost. The other subjects were very distressed and strengthened even more in such beliefs by the fact that the dead Peter Plogojowitz's wife, after saying that her husband had come to her and demanded his opanki, or shoes, had left the village of Kisilova and gone to another."

"And since with such people (which they call vampires) various (physical signs) are to be seen - that is, the body decomposed, the skin, hair, beard and nails growing - the subjects resolved unanimously to open the grave of Peter Plogojowitz and to see if such above-mentioned signs were really to be found on him. To this end they came here to me and, telling me of these events, asked me and the local pope, or parish priest, to be present at the viewing (The peasants' custom of referring to priests in such districts as 'popes' survived well into the 20th Century).And although I at first disapproved, telling them that the praiseworthy administration should first be dutifully and humbly informed, and its exalted opinion about this should be heard, they didn't want to accomodate themselves to this at all, but rather gave this short answer: I could do what I wanted, but (if) I didn't accord them the viewing and the legal recognition to deal with the body according to their custom, they would have to leave the house and home, because by the time a gracious resolution was received from Belgrade, perhaps the entire village - and this was already (said) to have happened in Turkish times - could be destroyed by such an evil spirit, and they did not want to wait for this."

"Since I could not hold these people from the resolution they had made, either with good words or with threats, I went to the village of Kisilova, taking along the Gradisk pope, and viewed the body of Peter Plogojowitz, just exumed, finding, in accordance to truthfulness, that first of all, I did not the slightest ordor that is characteristic of the dead, and the body, except for the nose which has somewhat fallen away, was completely fresh. The hair and beard - even the nails, of which the old ones had fallen away - had grown on him; the old skin, which was somewhat whitish, had peeled away, and a new one had emerged from it. The face, hands and feet and the whole body were so constituted, that they could not have been more complete in his lifetime. Not without astonishment, I saw some fresh blood in his mouth, which according to the common observation, he had sucked from the people killed by him. In short, all the indications were present that such people (as remarked above) are said to have."

"After the pope and I had seen this spectacle, while people grew more outraged than distressed, all the subjects, with great speed, sharpened a stake - in order to pierce the corpse of the deceased with it - and put this at his heart, whereupon, as he was pierced, not only did much blood, completely fresh, flow also through his ears and mouth, but still other wild signs (which I pass by out of high respect)* took place. Finally, according to their usual practise, they burned the above-mentioned body, in hoc casu, to ashes of which I (now)inform the most laudable Administration, and at the same time would like to request, obediently and humbly, that if a mistake was made in this matter, such is to be attributed not to me but to the rabble, who were beside themselves with fear."

#frombald #vampire article #1725 #kisilova #serbia #gradiska

VISUM ET REPERTUM by Johannes Fluckinger (1732)

With the Treaty of Passarowitz (Požarevac, 1718), the Habsburg Monarchy annexed most of Serbia and the northern part of Bosnia, territories which had been part of the Ottoman Empire. These remained in Austrian control until the Treaty of Belgrade (1739), when the Austrians were forced to cede them back to the Turks. During this 20-year period, these newly conquered boundary districts were subject to direct military rule from Vienna for strategic, fiscal and other reasons.

Many of the Serbs, especially those who had immigrated from Ottoman-held areas, were recruited as militiamen (hajduks) for the peacetime protection of the borders and for regular military service at war, in exchange for unalienable lots of land. It was in these communities that the earliest well-documented alleged two vampire attacks were attested.

The first outbreak is only known from the doctor Flückinger's report about the second epidemic and its prehistory.

Paole's case, similar to that of Petar Blagojevich, became famous because of the direct involvement of the Austrian authorities and the documentation by Austrian physicians and officers, who confirmed the reality of vampires. Their report of the case was distributed in Western Europe and contributed to the spread of vampire belief among educated Europeans. The report and its significance for the subsequent eighteenth century vampire controversy are nowadays explained with the poor understanding of the process of corpse decomposition at the time.

Visum et Repertum (Seen and Discovered)

After it had been reported that in the village of Medvegia the so-called vampires had killed some people by sucking their blood, I was, by high degree of a local Honorable Supreme Command, sent there to investigate the matter thoroughly along with officers detailed for that purpose and two subordinate medical officers, and therefore carried out and heard the present inquiry in the company of the captain of the Stallath Company of haiduks (a type of soldier), Gorschiz Hadnack, the standard-bearer and the oldest haiduk of the village, as follows: who unanimously recount that about five years ago a local haiduk by the name of Arnold Pavle broke his neck in a fall from a haywagon. This man had during his lifetime often revealed that, near Gossowa in Turkish Serbia, he had been troubled by a vampire, wherefore he had eaten from the earth of the vampire’s grave and had smeared himself with the vampire’s blood, in order to be free from the veIation he had suffered.

In 20 or 30 days after his death some people complained that they were being bothered by this same Arnod Paole; and in fact four people were killed by him. In order to end this evil, they dug up this Arnold Paole 40 days after his death - this on the advice of a soldier, who had been present at such events before; and they found that he was quite complete and undecayed, and that fresh blood had flowed from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears; that the shirt, the covering, and the coffin were completely bloody; that the old nails on his hands and feet, along with the skin, had fallen off, and that new ones had grown; and since they saw from this that he was a true vampire, they drove a stake through his heart, according to their custom, whereby he gave an audible groan and bled copiously, Thereupon they burned the body the same day to ashes and threw these into the grave. These people say further that all those who were tormented and killed by the vampire must themselves become vampires.

Therefore they disinterred the above-mentioned four people in the same way. Then they also add that this Arnod Paole attacked not only the people but also the cattle, and sucked out their blood. And since the people used the flesh of such cattle, it appears that some vampires are again present here, inasmuch as, in a period of three months, 17 young and old people died, among them some who, with no previous illness, died in two or at the most three days. In addition, the haiduk Jowiza reports that his step-daughter, by name of Stanacka, lay down to sleep 15 days ago, fresh and healthy, but at midnight she started up out of her sleep with a terrible cry, fearful and trembling, and complained that she had been throttled by the son of a haiduk by the name of Milloe, who had died nine weeks earlier, whereupon she had experienced a great pain in the chest and became worse hour by hour, until finally she died on the third day. At this we went the same afternoon to the graveyard, along with the often-mentioned oldest haiduks of the village, in order to cause the suspicious graves to be opened and to examine the bodies in them, whereby, after all of them had been dissected, there was found:

1. A woman by the name of Stana, 20 years old, who had died in childbirth two months ago, after a three-day illness, and who had herself said, before her death, that she had painted herself with the blood of a vampire, wherefore both she and her child - which had died right after birth and because of a careless burial had been half eaten by the dogs- must also become vampires. She was quite complete and undecayed. After the opening of the body there was found in the cavitate pectoris a quantity of fresh extravascular blood. The vessels of the arteries and veins, like the ventriculis ortis, were not, as is usual, filled with coagulated blood, and the whole viscera, that is, the lung, liver, stomach, spleen, and intestines were quite fresh as they would be in a healthy person.

The uterus was however quite enlarged and very inflamed externally, for the placenta and lochia had remained in place, wherefore the same was in complete putredine. The skin on her hands and feet, along with the old nails, fell away on their own, but on the other hand completely new nails were evident, along with a fresh and vivid skin.

2. There was a woman by the name of Miliza (60 years old), who had died after a three-month sickness and had been buried 90-some days earlier. In the chest much liquid blood was found; and the other viscera were, like those mentioned before, in a good condition. During her dissection, all the haiduks who were standing around marveled greatly at her plumpness and perfect body, uniformly stating that they had known the woman well, from her youth, and that she had; throughout her life, looked and been very lean and dried up, and they emphasized that she had come to this surprising plumpness in the grave. They also said that it was she who started the vampires this time, because she had eaten of the flesh of those sheep that had been killed by the previous vampires.

3. There was an eight-day-old child which had lain in the grave for 90 days and was similarly in a condition of vampirism.

4. The son of a haiduk, 16 years old, was dug up, having lain in the earth for nine weeks, after he had died from a three-day illness, and was found like the other vampires.

5. Joachim, also the son of a haiduk, 17 years old; had died after a three-day illness. He had been buried eight weeks and four days and, on being dissected; was found in similar condition.

6. A woman by the name of Ruscha who had died after a ten-day illness and had been buried six weeks previous, in whom there was much fresh blood not only in the chest but also in fundo ventriculi. The same showed itself in her child, which was 18 days old and had died five weeks previously.

7. No less did a girl ten years of age, who had died two months previously, find herself in the above-mentioned condition, quite complete and undecayed; and had much fresh blood in her chest.

8. They caused the wife of the Hadnack to be dug up, along with her child. She had died seven weeks previously, her child - who was eight weeks old- 21 days previously, and it was found that both mother and child were completely decomposed, although earth and grave were like those of the vampires lying nearby.

9. A servant of the local corporal of the haiduks, by the name of Rhade, 21 years old, died after a three-month-long illness, and after a five week burial was found completely decomposed.

10. The wife of the local bariactar, along with her child, having died five weeks previously, were also completely decomposed.

11. With Stanche, a local haiduk, 60 years old; who had died six weeks previously, I noticed a profuse liquid blood, like the others, in the chest and stomach. The entire body was in the oft-named condition of vampirism.

12. Milloe, a haiduk, 25 years old; who had lain for six weeks in the earth, also was found in the condition of vampirism mentioned.

13. Stanoika, the wife of a haiduk, 20 years old, died after a three-day illness and had been buried 18 days previously. In the dissection I found that she was in her countenance quite red and of a vivid color, and, as was mentioned above, she had been throttled, at midnight, by Milloe, the son of the haiduk, and there was also to be seen, on the right side under the ear, a bloodshot blue mark, the length of a finger. As she was being taken out of the grave, a quantity of fresh blood flowed from her nose. With the dissection I found; as mentioned often already, a regular fragrant fresh bleeding, not only in the chest cavity, but also in ventriculo cordis.

All the viscera found themselves in a completely good and healthy condition. The hypodermis of the entire body, along with the fresh nails of hands and feet, was as though completely fresh. After the examination had taken place, the heads of the vampires were cut off by the local gypsies and burned along with the bodies, and then the ashes were thrown into the river Morava. The decomposed bodies, however, were laid back into their own graves.

Visum et Repertum Seen and Discovered 1732

Regimental Field Surgeon Johannes Fluckinger To the Emperor

Umb nun dieses Übel einzustellen, haben sie auf Einrahten ihres Hadnacks, welcher schon vorhin bey dergleichen Begebenheiten gewesen, diesen Arnont Paule in beyläuffig 40 Täg nach seinem Todt ausgegraben, und gefunden, daß er ganz vollkommen und unverwesen seye; auch ihme das frische Bluht zu den Augen, Nasen, Mund, und Ohren herausgeflossen, das Hemmet, Übertuch, und die Trugel ganz blutig gewesen; die alte Nägl an Händen und Füssen, sambt der Haut abgefallen, und dargegen andre neue gewachsen seyn. Weilen sie nun daraus ersehen, daß er ein würcklicher Vampyr seye, so haben sie demselben nach ihrer Gewohnheit einen Pfahl durch das Herz geschlagen, worbey er ein wohlvernehmlich Grächazen gethan, und ein häuffiges Geblüt von sich gelassen. Worauf sie den Cörper gleich selbig Tags zu Aschen verbrent, und solchen in das Grab geworffen. Ferners sagen obgedachte Leüthe aus, daß alle diejenige, welche von denen Vampyrs geplagt, und umbgebracht wurden, ebenfalls zu Vampyrs werden müssen. Also haben sie die obberührte vier Persohnen auf gleiche Arth exequirt. Deine fügen sie auch hinzu, daß dieser Arnont Paule nicht allein die Leüthe, sondern auch das Vieh angegrifen, und ihnen das Blut ausgesauget habe. Weilen nun die Leüth das Fleisch von solch Vieh genutzet, so zeiget sich aufs neüe, daß sich wiederumben einige Vampyrs alhier befinden; allermassen in Zeit 3er Monahten 17 jung und alte Persohnen mit Todt abgegangen, worunter einige ohne vorhero gehabter Krankheit in zweyen oder längstens dreyen Tag gestorben. Darbey meldt der Heydukh Joviza, daß seine Schwigertochter nahmens Stanoika vor 15 Täg frisch und gesund sich schlafen geleget; umb Mitternacht aber ist sie mit einem entsetzlich Geschrey, Forcht und Zittern aus dem Schlaf aufgefahren, und geklaget, daß von einem vor 9 Wochen verstorbenen Heydukhenssohn nahmens Milloe seye umb den Hals gewürget worden, worauf sie grosse Schmertzen auf der Brust empfunden und von Stund zu Stund sich schlechter befunden, bis sie endlich den 3ten Tag gestorben. Hierauf seynd wir denselbig Nachmittag auf den Freydhof, umb die verdächtige Gräber eröffnen zu lassen, nebst denen oft gemeldeten altesten Heydukhen des Dorfs ausgegangen, die darin sich befindlichen Cörper zu visitiren, worbey nach sambentlicher Secierung sich gezeiget:

#Johannes Fluckinger #visum et repertum #1732 #vampire article