Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 15:55:19 +0000
From: Daniel Haines <daniel-AT-tw2.com>
Subject: Vampires in the 1730's


John Appleby wrote:
> 
> Hi
> 
> On page 237 of ATP (290 in the French), there is the following
> unreferenced quotation:
> 
> "From 1730 to 1735, all we hear about are vampires"
> 
> Can anybody tell me where this is from and/or what it refers to?
> 
john,

i just hunted around a bit and found this story which covers 1727-32  -
don't know if it's relevant or not, really... but it's about vampires. 
was something else happening in or near this locale that is more
obviously relate to d&g, I wonder?


How It All Began... 

                       The story of Arnod Paole is one of the few
vampire histories that
                       has been sufficiently documented over the years
to lend it
                       historical validity. In the spring of 1727, Arnod
Paole returned
                       from service in the military to settle in his
home town of
                       Meduegna, near Belgrade. He bought some land,
built a home
                       and established himself in the community. After a
short time, he
                       was betrothed to a local girl whose father's land
bordered his, and
                       the two were wed.

                       Paole told his wife that he was haunted by fears
of an early
                       death. In the military, he had been stationed in
Greece. Local
                       beliefs were that the dead come back to haunt the
living in the
                       form of revenants or vampires. While he was
stationed there, he
                       told his wife he had been visited by an undead
being. Afterwards,
                       he hunted down the unholy grave from which the
undead being had come, as was the local
                       custom. He extracted his revenge upon the vampire
by burning the corpse. However, the
                       incident affected him so greatly that against the
advice of his superior officers, he resigned
                       from the military and came back to Meduegna.

                       Shortly after his marriage, Paole fell from a
great height while working on the farm, and was
                       brought, unconscious, back to his home. He must
have sustained internal injuries with the fall,
                       for within a few days, Paole died and was buried
in the town cemetery. A month after he died,
                       there were several reports from people around the
township who had seen Paole. A few had
                       even seen him in their own home, although these
reports do not clearly state what he did
                       while in these homes. For the most part, however,
there was little panic stemming from these
                       reports until a short time later. Several weeks
after the initial reports, most of the people 
			     who had claimed Paole had visited their home turned up dead for
inexplicable reasons, 
				and a group was assembled to exhume the body of Arnod Paole.

                       Vampire Proof 

                       The group consisted of two military officers, two
army surgeons, and a priest from the local
                       church. When the group exhumed the body, they
found a fresh corpse. There was no
                       decomposition of the body whatsoever, and in fact
the old skin and nails had fallen off, and
                       new ones had grown to take their place! The final
insult was the fresh blood that rested on the
                       lips of the deceased Paole. When one member of
the group staked the body, it cried out and
                       fresh blood spilled from the wound. The group
then scattered garlic around the remains, and
                       did the same to each of the graves whereto Paole
had sent his newest victims.

                       All was quiet in Meduegna for several years until
1732, when there was another spate of
                       inexplicable deaths. This time, the town took no
chances and immediately sent out a group to
                       the graveyard to investigate. The resultant
report has ended up in many history books over
                       time. It was signed by three renowned army
surgeons and cosigned by a lieutenant-colonel
                       and a sub-lieutenant. Of all the body they
disinterred during the investigation, they once
                       again found no less than 11 corpses which
displayed the same marked traits as the Paole
                       corpse. No decomposition, (although many had been
interred several months previous to their
                       inquiry), fresh skin grown, fresh blood in the
arteries and in the heart. The complete medical
                       report is available in many modern vampire
histories. No explanation has been given for the
                       later outbreak of vampirism, although one theory
holds that Paole had feasted on local cattle
                       as well as people during his vampiric reign.
Then, the theory states, as time passed and the
                       cows were killed for their meat, the vampire
qualities were passed on to anyone who ate the
                       meat.
__________________________
(thanx for email addres btw)
dan h.99
-- 
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/chupacabras/48/     
http://www.tw2.com/staff/daniel/

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Tsuneni bushido seishin o wasurezu,
Wa to nin o motte nashi,
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Should never forget the spirit of the samurai,
With peace, perseverance and hard work,
We will reach our goal without failure.