European Vampire Skeletons | Unearthing Monsters

Join me, Cinzia DuBois, as we explore the chilling discoveries of vampire skeletons unearthed across Europe. In this episode, we delve into the centuries-old fear of the undead, examining the bizarre and fascinating burial practices aimed at preventing vampires from rising from their graves. From mysterious stakes to severed heads, these archaeological finds reveal a dark side of folklore and history. Discover how legends of bloodthirsty creatures intertwine with ancient beliefs, leaving a haunting mark on European culture

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
3:43 17th Century Polish Vampire Found
5:08 Vampires and the Romantic Movement
6:24 Venitian Vampire
9:36 Documented vampire stories
12:12 How philosophers responded to vampires
14:03 Testing the skeletons
16:00 Aristoleanism and vampires
17:39 Vampires before the Romantic period

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[werdw]

The quote, " I don't have any enemies. They're dead." Dead stare. Made me totally lol!! Thank you. Needed that today.

[daniellester]

Since you have a preference for werewolves, perhaps a trip through their history in literature?

[chrisball]

I've always liked the theory that a lot of vampire, werewolf and zombie folklore could be inspired by rabies. Rabies fits the bill very well- people get it from being bitten by animals (particularly dogs and bats) and the virus infects the victim's brain. Infections progress slowly, but irreversibly over the course of up to about a year, with suffers becoming increasingly averse to light and water, drooling uncontrollably, hallucinating, becoming paranoid and potentially violent, sometimes even trying to bite people, before eventually resulting in delirium, paralysis, coma and death. It's an absolutely horrific and terrifying way to go, and it'd be completely understandable if people in pre-industrial societies attributed the disease to supernatural causes and took extreme measures to try to prevent it. It's noteworthy that vampire-like beings are found in the folklore of societies all around the globe, so whatever it's origin, the idea of possessed corpses rising to attack the living inspires near-universal horror across different cultures.

[jrojala]

I’d love a “Halloween” video series about “monster” lore/history. Especially interested in a video about Lilith!!

[ericsmith]

Lady of the Library: I'm not vampire! Don't be alarmed by my red fingers. I was wearing red nail varnish. I promise I didn't gouge out the eyes of my enemies!"
Me: "hmm...that was an oddly specific denial...🤔
Lady of the Library: "I don't have any enemies! ...They're dead."
Me: * subscribes *
"Well played you vampire you. Well played."

[jelenavucic]

As a Serbian, I am very happy that you included our Vampire history in this. You should check out our most famous vampire Sava Savanović. It's really interesting. 🤗

[folly]

I read somewhere that the shroud eater myth came from people digging up bodies* that were well preserved except that the flesh and the burial shroud around the mouth was eaten away; presumably from bacteria in the dead person's mouth.

* This was at a time when most large towns had community mass graves where most common people were burried.

[JaelaOrdo]

“I did not gouge out the eyes of my enemies.”

That thought didn’t go through my head until you said that and now I’m suspicious.

[russergee]

It’s fascinating how the idea of a deceased person bringing malice and ruin to their communities is so widespread. A lot of this may go back to burial practices, as in some places the deceased are buried in the graveyard for a few years before being dug up to be stored in a mausoleum. It was a space issue, the graveyard had a defined space so they had to reuse plots.

The idea was, you dig up the remains, which presumably have decomposed into bones, and you can store those bones into a smaller container in the mausoleum. But what if you dig up granny and she’s, uh, looking a little less decomposed than you expected and why does she look somewhat engorged with blood?… We know better about decomposition to know this can happen given certain environmental factors, but people didn’t have this knowledge in the past.

Depending on where you are, the superstition about how one becomes a vampire (or any folkloric creature that is thematically related) can be very different, and there’s plenty of “it was their own fault” and “it wasn’t their fault” kinds of reasons to go around. Example, blue eyed people are more susceptible to becoming vampires according to some superstitions, because blue eyes were less common and thus more ‘other’. The main idea is, something about you, something you did, something that happened to you, allowed evil to take hold of you. I’m reminded of a superstition from my Mom’s Greek village: Don’t answer the door on the first knock, if it’s evil at your door it will not wait around and a real person will wait to knock a second time. Of course, this is a superstition told more to children, and by the time she was growing up most people would more or less have thought of it as a silly thing to tell children.

Sorry, long comment, I just love this folkloric topic :)

[Sariur]

"I don't have any enemies, they're dead!" ~ Lady of the Library

[DneilB]

Speaking as someone who combats winter weather by growing more fur, I commend you on choosing the correct side of the vampire/werewolf question.

[GrayCatbird]

16:18 on redrawing “the boundaries of nature” —this seems a very important consideration. We often scoff looking at beliefs in the past, wondering how our ancestors could be so credulous. But the thing is, oftentimes they genuinely couldn’t know any better. When we look at nature’s oddities, what exists and what doesn’t can be surprisingly difficult to distinguish: the natural is oftentimes extraordinary.
Indeed the only reason why today we can do confidently say vampires don’t exist to the point we take is as a given, is because people like Calmet sat down and took the time to investigate the claims seriously.

[cmata]

Cinzia your sour throat actually match this vampire, your deeper voice gives off a victorian, vampire duchess vibe.

[wqdtlix]

I liked the video. It was nice to cook too

A Lilith video would be appreciated, but I think it would also be helpful to note how the term "Vampire" is like "Dragon" in that it is applied as a common motif across cultures

The SE Asian Mananangal, various Japanese Yokai, the Adze from Africa, the Chinese Jiangshi, and the Aboriginal Yara-ma-yha-who are all vampires too

The don't get as much attention in the west, but a lot of them are really cool

[GuiSmith]

I find it interesting how vampires are like diet werewolves in modern times. They’re both already associated with the night, but even more so have gotten attached to eviscerating people, transmitting curses, and transforming especially due to some of the folklore spoken of here being later interpreted by Bram Stoker’s _Dracula_ and then Hollywood. Though I will say, werewolves also got some vampiric upgrades.

All in all, werewolves are preferable because they combine the vampires’ best traits with floof.

[bizarrebraincomics]

"I don't have any enemies. They're dead." I love it! Great sounding French. Don't take it to heart when people mention your pale skin. You are so look beautiful.

[justsomedude]

Video starts, think "wow she has a nice voice"
"My voice isnt at its best"

[marineb]

Thanks for all your videos, they are really interesting and cool to watch! And kudos to you for learning French! Small tip that can be useful for the pronounciation (that, as a native, I have actually learned very recently): in French, it's often said that there is no word stress, compared to other Indo-European languages, but in fact, we do have a small one, but only and always on the very last syllable of each word. That's what makes our accent strange and so recognizable, especially when we try to speak other languages. So for those who want to pronounce French correctly (or correctly make fun of our accent!), try to speak each word in the most monotonous way possible, with just a little emphasis on the last syllable!

[brinmoody]

Please do continue with these! I'd love to watch more episodes on vampires. I love the way you explain things. Also hope you feel better soon.

[wanderinghistorian]

Winston: Are you telling me that some Babylonian god is going to start tearing up the city?
Ray: Sumerian, not Babylonian.
Peter: Yeah, big difference.
Winston: Look, no offense...but I gotta get my own lawyer.