VampireDrama16:49 Jul 26 2010
Times Read: 1,200
"Soon after the 1819 publication of John Polidori's The Vampyre the vampire was brought to the stage in France There Polidori's dark tale caught the interest of a group of French romantics attracted to the story because they thought it had been written by Lord Byron Before the year was out, it had been translated and published in Paris as Le Vampire, nouvelle traduite de l'anglais de Lord Byron. However, for many of these early explorers of the subconscious, the vampire became a fitting symbol of the darker, nightmare side of the inner reality they were discovering. An expanded sequel to the story appeared early in 1820 as Lord Ruthwen ou les vampires, authored by Cyprien Bérard.
Bérard's colleague Charles Nodier was the first to adapt "The Vampyre" for the stage. He merely had to alter the ending of Polidori's story to assure his audience that the forces of good were still in control. In the end, these forces triumphed over the lead antihero, Lord Ruthven who in Nordier's version was killed. His three-act play, Le Vampire, mélodrame en trois actes, opened on June 13, 1820, at the Theatre de la Porte-Saint-Martin in Paris. It was an immediate and somewhat unexpected success and inspired several imitations. It was translated into English by J R Planché and opened in London as The Vampire; or, The Bride of the Isles. Later in the decade it would inspire a vampire opera, Der Vampyr, by German musician Heinrich August Marschner
Two days after Nodier's play premiered, a second vampire play, a farce also called Le Vampire, opened at the Vaudeville in Paris. This comedic version of Polidori's tale was set in Hungary and featured a young suitor mistakenly believed to be a vampire. A short time later, a second comedy, Les trois Vampires, ou le chair de la lune, opened at the Varieties. It centered on a young man who imagined that vampires were after him as a result of his reading vampire and ghost stories. In 1820, no less that four vampire plays, all comedies, opened in Paris under the titles Encore un Vampire; Les Etrennes d'un Vampire; Cadet Buteux, vampire; and Le Vampire, mélodrame en trois actes.
The vampire seemed to have run its course with Parisian audiences after a year or two, but in 1822 a new play, Polichinel Vampire premiered at the Circus Maurice. The following year a revival of Nodier's play again attracted a crowd at the Porte-Saint-Martin. Among those who attended was the young Alexandre Dumas, who was just beginning his literary career. He later would recall his traumatic evening at Nodier's play, where he was seated next to the author, by composing his own stage version of Le Vampire. The 1851 production of that play closed out the Parisian phase of Dumas's life.
Over the next few years, writers periodically would fall back on the vampire theme, which always attracted an audience hungry for the supernatural. In England, for example, records have survived of St. John Dorset's The Vampire: A Tragedy in Three Acts (1831); Dion Boucicault's The Vampire (1852) (generally revived under the title, The Phantom; George Blink's, The Vampire Bride; and Robert Reece's The Vampire (1872).
Theatre du Grand Guignol: At the end of the nineteenth-century a theatrical innovation in Paris had an immense effect upon the image of the vampire. Max Maurey opened the Theatre du Grand Guignol in 1899. The drama offered at the theater followed the old themes of dark romanticism but treated them in a fresh manner. It attracted numerous working-class people who seemed fascinated with the presentation of gruesome situations and ultrarealistic stage effects, however, horrorific. The theater developed its own vampire drama called, fittingly, Le Vampire.
Grand Guignol, slightly tempered by stricter censorship laws, opened in London in 1908. The English version emphasized the gothic element in its stage productions. Most importantly, Grand Guignol flourished in both England and France, producing original drama as well as utilizing established horror stories such as Dracula and Edgar Allan Poe's tales. Through the first half of the twentieth-century the theater influenced individual motion pictures; but after World War II it became important in the creation of the Hammer Films horror classics, beginning with The Curse of Frankenstein (1958) and the Horror of Dracula (1958).
Dracula Dramatized: The entire thrust of vampire drama had changed in 1897 with the publication of Dracula by Bram Stoker During the twentieth century, the overwhelming majority of new vampire plays and dramatic productions would be based on Dracula, and the character of Lord Ruthven, who dominated the stage in the nineteenth century, would all but disappear.
The dramatizing of Dracula was initiated immediately after the publication of the book, Stoker himself taking the lead with the intention of protecting his rights to his literary property. Using the cast of the Lyceum Theatre, where he worked, he presented Dracula; or The Undead as a five-act, 47-scene play. Ellen Terry, the cast's star, portrayed Mina Murray Even Stoker described the hastily prepared production, "Dreadful!" Its opening night was also its last performance.
The intricacies of the plot served as an obstacle to playwrights who might have wanted to bring the story to the stage. However, in the years after World War I, an old friend of the Stoker family, Hamilton Deane then the head of his own dramatic company, began to think seriously about a Dracula play. He asked a number of acquaintances to give it a try, but was always turned down. Finally, in 1923 during a period of illness, he accepted the challenge himself. Four weeks later, he had a finished script. He overcame the book's problem by deleting the opening and closing chapters in Transylvania and Whitby setting all the action in three scenes in London, and bringing Dracula on stage in London to interact with his archenemy Abraham Van Helsing
Deane, not at ease in London, and fearing the ridicule of the London critics, opened the play in rural Derby, England, in June 1924. It was a success, and the public's demands soon made it the company's most frequently performed play. Finally, on February 14, 1927, Deane opened his play in London. The public loved his work, and while most critics panned it, others gave it very high marks. It played at the Little Theatre on the West End and after several months moved to large facilities at the Prince of Wales Theatre. It ran for 391 performances. Deane then took it back to the countryside where it ran successfully through the 1930s. At one point he had three companies touring with the play.
Soon after Dracula opened in London, Horace Liveright purchased the American rights for the play from Florence Stoker, Bram Stoker's widow. To assist with the delicate negotiations, Liveright had engaged the services of John L Balderston an American playwright and journalist then living in London. Balderston continued in Liveright's employ to do extensive rewriting of Deane's play for the American audience. Balderston also streamlined the plot, eliminating several characters and significantly changing the ones who remained. Dr John Seward the youthful suitor of Lucy Westenra in the original story, became the central character in the revised plot as Lucy's father. Mina Murray, the leading woman in the novel, was eliminated and her role collapsed into that of Lucy, who also became the love object of Jonathan Harker
The Balderston version of Dracula opened on Broadway on October 5, 1927, following a brief tryout at the Shubert Theater in New Haven, Connecticut. Bela Lugosi assumed the title role. The play was an immediate success and played for 33 weeks and 241 performances. Liveright had hesitated in developing a touring company to take it around the country but, Deane (who retained a small financial stake in the American enterprise) threatened to write a play based on a vampire other than Dracula and bring it to the United States. Balderston convinced Liveright of the need to send a company on the road. Lugosi joined the West Coast cast that played Los Angeles and San Francisco. The success on the West Coast convinced Liveright to create a second company to tour the East and the Midwest.
The original Deane version of the play significantly affected the image of Dracula and the appearance of the vampire in general. Deane domesticated Stoker's Dracula by dressing him in formal evening wear and ridding him of his extreme halitosis. The formal opera cloak, the cape with the high collar, would be clearly identified with the vampire character. Balderston's rewrite of Deane's play, however, was the more influential dramatic version of the novel. It introduced Bela Lugosi, later typecast as Dracula, to the part. And it was Balderston's version that served as the basis of the 1931 Universal Pictures movie and the 1979 remake with Frank Langella Published by Samuel French, the Balderston play became the version to which producers turned when they decided to revive Dracula on the stage. The most notable revival, of course, was the 1977 stage version starring Langella, which inspired Universal's remake.
Dracula Clones, Variations, and Parodies: For a generation after the success of the Balderston play, dramatists did little with the vampire theme, although in England a satire of Deane's play appeared briefly in the 1930s and a musical version surfaced in the 1950s. While a few variations on the Dracula theme were written in the 1960s, generally whenever a vampire play was sought, the Balderston play was revived yet again. The situation did not change until 1970 when suddenly four new vampire plays were published: Bruce Ronald's Dracula, Baby; Leon Katz's Dracula: Sabbat; Sheldon Allman's I'm Sorry, the Bridge Is Out, You'll Have to Stay the Night; and a more obscure Johnny Appleseed and Dracula.
Since that time almost 50 vampire plays have been published. They vary from one-act plays for high school productions to more serious dramas designed for the Broadway stage. Only a few, such as The Passion of Dracula (1977), Dracula Tyrannus (1982), and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (1984), have risen above the crowd to receive some national attention. The Passion of Dracula opened for a successful run at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City on September 30, 1977, just three weeks before the award-winning revival of the Balderston play with Frank Langella opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on October 20. It was a variant of the Dracula story with Christopher Bernau as Count Dracula and Michael Burg as his archenemy Abraham Van Helsing. On August 23, 1978, it began a successful run in London.
Ron Magid's Dracula Tyrannus: The Tragical History of Vlad the Impaler was the first play to use all of the newly available material on the historical Dracula, Vlad the Impaler the fifteenth-century Romanian ruler. It built on the ruler's rivalry for the throne with his cousin Dan. Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, whose three acts take the audience on a romp through history from ancient Sodom to Hollywood in the 1920s and modern Las Vegas, is based more upon the vamp the female seductress, than the classical vampire.
Among the lesser-known plays, made available in large part for amateur productions, were several written by Stephen Hotchner and Tim Kelly. In 1975, Hotchner wrote three one-act Dracula plays, Death at the Crossroads, Escape for Dracula's Castle, and The Possession of Lucy Wenstrom. These were adapted for use at high schools, colleges, and community festivals from a full-length Dracula play Hotchner published in 1978 that combined the three one-act plays. During the 1970s Kelly also produced a number of Dracula-based plays, including musical variations such as Seven Brides for Dracula (1973) and Young Dracula; or, the Singing Bat (1975). Hotchner and Kelly's publisher, Pioneer Drama Service in Denver, Colorado, specialized in plays for amateur productions. The Dramatic Publishing Company of Chicago also published a number of Dracula-based dramas, including the first I Was a Teen-Age Dracula by Gene Donovan (1968). These productions characteristically used a lighter treatment of the vampire/Dracula theme and were targeted to younger audiences or people attending less serious entertainment events.
Of the vampire plays written since 1965, the overwhelming majority have been variations on the Dracula story, or at the very least have used the word Dracula in the title. Carmilla comes in a distant second with three plays based on Sheridan Le Fanu 's story. During this period the number of vampire plays has steadily increased and, given the heightened interest in vampires at the beginning of the 1990s, there is every reason to believe that new plays will continue to be written.
Vampire Theater: The gothic movement that developed in the United States in the late 1970s has had a noticeable influence upon vampire drama. The movement itself was very dramatic, built as it was around bands who used theatrical effects as an integral part of their performances. Possibly the principal examples were those by choreographed by Vlad the Chicago rock musician who heads the band The Dark Theatre.
More recently, La Commedia del Sangria was created in 1992 by Tony Sokal as a dramatic company that performs "vampire theatre" and includes a strong element of audience interaction. The company's very metaphysical production, examines questions of the vampiric condition (limited immortality) and the existence of God. Some of the actors begin the performance portraying audience members and then enter the stage as an apparent interruption. The production has received a warm response from people in the vampire subculture who regularly attend to cheer on the vampires each time they bite someone.
Deane, Hamilton, and John L. Balderston. Dracula: The Vampire Play in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1927. 113 pp.
Donovan, Gene. I Was a Teen-Age Dracula. Chicago: Dramatic Publishing Company, 1968. 90 pp.
Dracula (The Original 1931 Shooting Script). Atlantic City, NJ: Magic Image Filmbooks, 1990. Glut, Donald F. The Dracula Book. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1975. 388 pp.
Hotchner, Stephen. Dracula. Denver, CO: Pioneer Drama Service, 1978. 55 pp.
Kelly, Tim. Young Dracula; or, The Singing Bat. Denver, CO: Pioneer Drama Service, 1975. 61 pp.
Leonard, William Tolbert. Theatre: Stage to Screen to Television. Vol. I. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1981.
McCarty, John. Splatter Movies: Breaking the Last Taboo. Albany, NY: FantaCo Enterprises, Inc., 1981. 160 pp.
Skal, David J. Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage to Screen. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1990. 242 pp.
Stuart, Roxana. Stage Blood: Vampires of the Nineteenth-century Stage. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1994. 377 pp."
Source:
http://www.answers.com/topic/vampire-drama
The cases presented by William of Newburgh10:27 Jul 12 2010
Times Read: 1,235
These vampire cases were presented by William of Newbury(aka Newburgh) in his book "Historia Rerum Anglicarum" (written after 1198) and are considered the oldest vampire cases in England.
"It would not be easy to believe that the corpses of the dead should sally (I know not by what agency) from their graves, and should wander about to the terror or destruction of the living, and again return to the tomb, which of its own accord spontaneously opened to receive them, did not frequent examples, occurring in our own times, suffice to establish this fact, to the truth of which there is abundant testimony. It would be strange if such things should have happened formerly, since we can find no evidence of them in the works of ancient authors, whose vast labor it was to commit to writing every occurrence worthy of memory; for if they never neglected to register even events of moderate interest, how could they have suppressed a fact at once so amazing and horrible, supposing it to have happened in their day? Moreover, were I to write down all the instances of this kind which I have ascertained to have befallen in our times, the undertaking would be beyond measure laborious and troublesome; so I will fain add two more only (and these of recent occurrence) to those I have already narrated, and insert them in our history, as occasion offers, as a warning to posterity.
A few years ago the chaplain of a certain illustrious lady, casting off mortality, was consigned to the tomb in that noble monastery which is called Melrose. This man, having little respect for the sacred order to which he belonged, was excessively secular in his pursuits, and -- what especially blackens his reputation as a minister of the holy sacrament -- so addicted to the vanity of the chase as to be designated by many by the infamous title of "Hundeprest," or the dog-priest; and this occupation, during his lifetime, was either laughed at by men, or considered in a worldly view; but after his death -- as the event showed -- the guiltiness of it was brought to light: for, issuing from the grave at night-time, he was prevented by the meritorious resistance of its holy inmates from injuring or terrifying any one with in the monastery itself; whereupon he wandered beyond the walls, and hovered chiefly, with loud groans and horrible murmurs, round the bedchamber of his former mistress. She, after this had frequently occurred, becoming exceedingly terrified, revealed her fears or danger to one of the friars who visited her about the business of the monastery; demanding with tears that prayers more earnest than usual should be poured out to the Lord in her behalf as for one in agony. With whose anxiety the friar -- for she appeared deserving of the best endeavors, on the part of the holy convent of that place, by her frequent donations to it -- piously and justly sympathized, and promised a speedy remedy through the mercy of the Most High Provider for all.
Thereupon, returning to the monastery, he obtained the companionship of another friar, of equally determined spirit, and two powerful young men, with whom he intended with constant vigilance to keep guard over the cemetery where that miserable priest lay buried. These four, therefore, furnished with arms and animated with courage, passed the night in that place, safe in the assistance which each afforded to the other. Midnight had now passed by, and no monster appeared; upon which it came to pass that three of the party, leaving him only who had sought their company on the spot, departed into the nearest house, for the purpose, as they averred, of warming themselves, for the night was cold. As soon as this man was left alone in this place, the devil, imagining that he had found the right moment for breaking his courage, incontinently roused up his own chosen vessel, who appeared to have reposed longer than usual. Having beheld this from afar, he grew stiff with terror by reason of his being alone; but soon recovering his courage, and no place of refuge being at hand, he valiantly withstood the onset of the fiend, who came rushing upon him with a terrible noise, and he struck the axe which he wielded in his hand deep into his body. On receiving this wound, the monster groaned aloud, and turning his back, fled with a rapidity not at all interior to that with which he had advanced, while the admirable man urged his flying foe from behind, and compelled him to seek his own tomb again; which opening of its own accord, and receiving its guest from the advance of the pursuer, immediately appeared to close again with the same facility. In the meantime, they who, impatient of the coldness of the night, had retreated to the fire ran up, though somewhat too late, and, having heard what had happened, rendered needful assistance in digging up and removing from the midst of the tomb the accursed corpse at the earliest dawn. When they had divested it of the clay cast forth with it, they found the huge wound it had received, and a great quantity of gore which had flowed from it in the sepulchre; and so having carried it away beyond the walls of the monastery and burnt it, they scattered the ashes to the winds. These things I have explained in a simple narration, as I myself heard them recounted by religious men.
Another event, also, not unlike this, but more pernicious in its effects, happened at the castle which is called Anantis, as I have heard from an aged monk who lived in honor and authority in those parts, and who related this event as having occurred in his own presence. A certain man of evil conduct flying, through fear of his enemies or the law, out of the province of York, to the lord of the before-named castle, took up his abode there, and having cast upon a service befitting his humor, labored hard to increase rather than correct his own evil propensities. He married a wife, to his own ruin indeed, as it afterwards appeared; for, hearing certain rumors respecting her, he was vexed with the spirit of Jealousy. Anxious to ascertain the truth of these reports, he pretended to be going on a journey from which he would not return for some days; but coming back in the evening, he was privily introduced into his bedroom by a maid-servant, who was in the secret, and lay hidden on a beam overhanging, his wife's chamber, that he might prove with his own eyes if anything were done to the dishonor of his marriage-bed. Thereupon beholding his wife in the act of fornication with a young man of the neighborhood, and in his indignation forgetful of his purpose, he fell, and was dashed heavily to the ground, near where they were lying.
The adulterer himself leaped up and escaped; but the wife, cunningly dissembling the fact, busied herself in gently raising her fallen husband from the earth. As soon as he had partially recovered, he upbraided her with her adultery, and threatened punishment; but she answering, "Explain yourself, my lord," said she; "you are speaking unbecomingly which must be imputed not to you, but to the sickness with which you are troubled." Being much shaken by the fall, and his whole body stupefied, he was attacked with a disease, insomuch that the man whom I have mentioned as having related these facts to me visiting him in the pious discharge of his duties, admonished him to make confession of his sins, and receive the Christian Eucharist in proper form: but as he was occupied in thinking about what had happened to him, and what his wife had said, put off the wholesome advice until the morrow -- that morrow which in this world he was fated never to behold! -- for the next night, destitute of Christian grace, and a prey to his well-earned misfortunes, he shared the deep slumber of death. A Christian burial, indeed, he received, though unworthy of it; but it did not much benefit him: for issuing, by the handiwork of Satan, from his grave at night-time, and pursued by a pack of dogs with horrible barkings, he wandered through the courts and around the houses while all men made fast their doors, and did not dare to go abroad on any errand whatever from the beginning of the night until the sunrise, for fear of meeting and being beaten black and blue by this vagrant monster. But those precautions were of no avail ; for the atmosphere, poisoned by the vagaries of this foul carcass, filled every house with disease and death by its pestiferous breath.
Already did the town, which but a short time ago was populous, appear almost deserted; while those of its inhabitants who had escaped destruction migrated to other parts of the country, lest they too should die. The man from whose mouth I heard these things, sorrowing over this desolation of his parish, applied himself to summon a meeting of wise and religious men on that sacred day which is called Palm Sunday, in order that they might impart healthful counsel in so great a dilemma, and refresh the spirits of the miserable remnant of the people with consolation, however imperfect. Having delivered a discourse to the inhabitants, after the solemn ceremonies of the holy day had been properly performed, he invited his clerical guests, together with the other persons of honor who were present, to his table. While they were thus banqueting, two young men (brothers), who had lost their father by this plague, mutually encouraging one another, said, "This monster has already destroyed our father, and will speedily destroy us also, unless we take steps to prevent it. Let us, therefore, do some bold action which will at once ensure our own safety and revenge our father's death. There is no one to hinder us; for in the priest's house a feast is in progress, and the whole town is as silent as if deserted. Let us dig up this baneful pest, and burn it with fire."
Thereupon snatching up a spade of but indifferent sharpness of edge, and hastening to the cemetery, they began to dig; and whilst they were thinking that they would have to dig to a greater depth, they suddenly, before much of the earth had been removed, laid bare the corpse, swollen to an enormous corpulence, with its countenance beyond measure turgid and suffused with blood; while the napkin in which it had been wrapped appeared nearly torn to pieces. The young men, however, spurred on by wrath, feared not, and inflicted a wound upon the senseless carcass, out of which incontinently flowed such a stream of blood, that it might have been taken for a leech filled with the blood of many persons. Then, dragging it beyond the village, they speedily constructed a funeral pile; and upon one of them saying that the pestilential body would not burn unless its heart were torn out, the other laid open its side by repeated blows of the blunted spade, and, thrusting in his hand, dragged out the accursed heart. This being torn piecemeal, and the body now consigned to the flames, it was announced to the guests what was going on, who, running thither, enabled themselves to testify henceforth to the circumstances. When that infernal hell-hound had thus been destroyed, the pestilence which was rife among the people ceased, as if the air, which had been corrupted by the contagious motions of the dreadful corpse, were already purified by the fire which had consumed it. These facts having been thus expounded, let us return to the regular thread of history."
The entire book can be found translated into English from Latin here:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/williamofnewburgh-one.html
Balkan Vampires before Ottoman Courts
13:02 Jul 07 2010
Times Read: 1,243
I found another interesting article signed by Dr. Emre Öktem:
Balkan Vampires before Ottoman Courts
According to the news on the 8th of August, 2008,[1] “In Gazimihal and Menzilahir, Rom quarters of Edirne (ancient Adrianopolis, near the Bulgarian border) the inhabitants reported that for ten days they had seen, a man flying from one roof to another, and able to jump as high as a minaret, they felt therefore very troubled and decided to organize a recital of Mevlid[2]. Such a recitation took place under the aegis of the Edirne Rom Association on Ağaçpazarı Avenue, in order to overcome the fears and expel the calamities. The Vice-Mufti of Edirne declared that these rumours were mere superstitions, and possibly hallucinations; thus the recitation of the Mevlid was completely irrelevant.”[3]
Repercussions of the man flying between the roofs persisted in the Turkish media for a couple of months, certainly deserves a number of articles, even doctoral theses in the field of sociology, anthropology, psychology, comparative theology and perhaps toxicology- the region is notorious for a high level of alcohol consumption. Our professional deformation leads us to analyse it from a legal point of view.
The flying man in question is certainly not a “wonderful hero” who, like Superman, provokes admiration; otherwise the Mevlid recital would not have been considered a necessary. He is a supernatural and horrendous creature, often observed (!) in the Balkans and especially in Turkish Thrace, and called by different names. Edirne’s judicial records are particularly abundant in such peculiar cases, which would immediately be called vampirism in a Western context. Such a term did not exist in Turkish until Turkish readers got acquainted with Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Beforehand, such phenomena were described as “Cadı”, etymologically derived from the Persian Jadu, a female witch or sorcerer. Unable to find another term, Ottomans designated any kind of ghost, vampire etc. by this word.
Cases of vampirism dated to the beginning of the 18th century were brought before the Kadi (a judge assuming the functions of the mayor)of Edirne, Mirzazade Mehmet Efendi, who consulted the Great Vizier Hüseyin Pasha for the settlement of the problem. This latter sent an order to the Subashi (police superintendent)[4]
“The inhabitants of the Marash village, district of Edirne, declared before the religious court that some signs of evil sprits were observed upon the grave of Bıyıklı Ali (Ali the moustached) previously deceased, situated in the graveyard of the aforementioned village, that fear overwhelmed the village’s inhabitants who lodged a complaint; (the judge has reported that) in fact, in the provinces of Rumelia, in case such signs are observed upon the grave of a Non-Muslim, this latter has to be nailed in his belly with a stake; if the evil spirit persists and, when his grave is opened, if he has changed his position and does not stay as he has been put into the grave and if redness is observed in his face, he must be beheaded and his head must be put next to his feet, if the problem still persists, he has to be unburied and burnt; such was the fetwa (religious advisory report) of the Late (Sheikh ul Islam) Ebussuud Efendi on this issue of the Non-Muslims; however the Kadi has not found the solution of this problem in the law books in Arabic. (addressing to the Kadi: ) In order to dissipate this illusion of the villagers, the court must send a reliable person and a vice-judge on the spot. Upon further investigation, if the population is unanimous to confirm that evil spirits’ signs have been seen and the position of the dead has changed and redness is observed on his face, let me know. The problem having occurred again, it has been ordered what is written hereinafter: (addressing to the Subashi) The inhabitants of the Hacı Sarraf quarter in Edirne complained before the court that the signs of cadı appeared upon the grave of a woman called Cennet, deceased three months ago, and fear overwhelmed all of them; the kadi assigned a deputy and they visited the woman’s grave, four women examined the deceased and observed that her cadaver was not rotten and her face was red, and informed that such particularities were signs of the cadı; open the aforementioned grave and do whatever is accustomed in order to remove the fear and take care of dissipating the quarter inhabitant’s illusions.”
The fetwa of Sheikh ul Islam Ebussuud Efendi, referred to by the kadi of Edirne, shows that cases of cadı/vampirism were brought before Ottoman courts since, at least, the 16th century :[5]
“QUESTION: In Rumelia, in a village nearby Salonica, a member of the Christian community has died, a few days after his burial he came at the doors of his relatives and of others and proposed them to pay visit to certain persons, the day after these Christians died as well, a few days later he called another person who died afterwards, in sum, many Christians died, some Muslims living in the same village who saw Christians dying in such a way, were frightened and wanted to flee; is it in conformity with the sharia?
RESPONSE: It is not. The duty of the Muslims, who spent the night sleepless because of what occurred at the Christian village, is to resort to public authorities in order to solve the problem.
QUESTION: His Eminence is begged to explain the solution of the problem aforementioned, and to indicate how to proceed.
RESPONSE: The tongue and the mind are powerless to define the causes and the qualification of such events, and nothing further may be said in addition to what has been said by the authorities who led the investigation. The solution of the problem is as follows: The day the event takes place, a stake, well stripped, has to be driven into the body until the hearth; the problem is therefore expected to be eliminated. If not, and if redness appears on the face of the corps, the head has to be severed and placed next to the feet. Some sources inform us that this method is efficient. If the corps, after having been reburied, is found in the same situation, slaughter it and place it at the same position. If, after the application of all these methods, the problem remains unsolved, take the corps out and burn it with fire. At the time of our well-guided predecessors, the practice of burning with fire was many times reiterated.”
Ebussuud Efendi was famous for his intransigent positions in religious matters, as well as for the strength and clarity of his legal reasoning. In the present case, his application of the sharia is technically perfect. Having determined a vacuum juris in the holy sources of Islamic law, i.e. the Koran and the Hadith, and found nothing, neither in the well-established jurisprudence, nor any ruling applicable by analogy; he resorts to the local custom.
By the beginning of the 19th century, in a very delicate political context, the scenario repeats itself in Tirnovo, another Balkan city of the Ottoman Empire currently situated in Bulgaria. The facts are reported by Ahmed Şükrü Efendi, Kadi of Tirnovo, in a letter published in the official journal (Takvim-i Vakayi, date: 19 Rebiulahir 1249 /1833)
“There have been manifestations of vampires in Tirnovo. They started assaulting the houses after sunset. They mixed together foods like flour, butter and honey, or spoiled them with earth. They tore the pillows, the blankets, the mattresses and the wrapping clothes that they found in the cupboards to pieces. They threw stones, earth, jars and pots onto people. Nobody could see anything. They also assaulted some men and women. These latter have been summoned and interrogated. They said they felt like a water-buffalo was sitting on them. Because of these troubles, the population of two quarters left their homes and fled elsewhere. The inhabitants of the town agreed that all these things were the works of evil spirits called cadı. A man named Nikola, reputed for exorcism in the town of Islimye was brought and hired for eight hundred kuruş. His scheme was to hold a painted piece of wood[6], to go to the graveyard, and to turn the piece of wood on his finger: The painting showed the grave haunted by the evil spirit. A huge crowd went to the graveyard. As he turned the painted piece of wood on his finger, the painting stood in front of the graves of two brigands, Tetikoğlu Ali and Apti Alemdar, formerly members of the Janissary corps, and bloody tyrants. The graves were dug up. The cadavers were found to have grown by a half, their hair and nails had grown longer by three or for inches. Their eyes were inundated by blood, and looked terrifying. All of the crowd assembled at the graveyard saw it. When alive, these men had committed all kinds of mischief, including rape, theft and murder; when their corps was abolished, they had not been delivered to the executioner, interestingly, as evidenced by their age they had died a natural death. Unsatisfied by their mischievous life, they now harassed people as evil spirits. According to the description of Nikola the exorcist, in order to expel such evil spirits, one has to drive a wooden stake into the belly of their cadavers and pour boiling water onto their hearts. Ali Alemdar’s and Apti Alemdar’s corpses were removed form their graves. Wooden stakes were driven into their bellies and their hearts were boiled with a cauldron of water, but with no result. The exorcist said: we must burn these corpses. The authorisation was granted, since such an act is allowed according to the sharia. And, the unburied corpses of the two Janissaries were burnt in the graveyard and, thank God, our town was freed from the cadıs’ evil.”[7]
The political background of this event is fascinating. The Janissary corps was created at the beginning of the Empire by the third Ottoman Sultan, Murad I. Its members were recruited from among the Christian youth of the Empire, especially in the Balkans. Placed under the spiritual authority of the Bektashi religious order, highly suspected of heresy, they gradually became a formidable war machine, certainly one of the best infantry troops in the military history. They were forbidden from marriage until their retirement, which they took at a very late age, if they were not killed on the battlefield. They lived in huge military barracks in the midst of Istanbul, kind of holy shrines, whose access was strictly prohibited to civilians. Because of their fanaticism and utmost courage, these military elite were later compared to another one, the SS of the Third Reich.[8] Their decline followed the decline of the Empire, or perhaps preceded it. By the 18th century, they had become an undisciplined army, extorting the entire city of Istanbul, refusing to go to war and participating actively in the intrigues of the Palace. They did not hesitate to assassinate the statesmen, religious dignitaries and even a sultan, who tried to abolish the military corps, dominated by an institutionalised perversity. Finally, in 1826, Mahmud II annihilated the Janissaries by using his modern troops, specifically the artillery, trained in the European fashion, with the help of the civilian population and the Muslim clergy. The survivors were persecuted in the whole empire and, when arrested, delivered to the executioner for strangulation. Even their tombstones were dismantled: it is an amazing curiosity to find a few Janissary tombstones in the graveyards of some mosques, like the Ayazma Camii in Üsküdar.
Therefore, it is hard to explain how the two Janissaries in the Tirnovo story were spared from execution in their “normal” life. As for their vampirism, according to the Ottomanist historian Ilber Ortaylı, it was mere forgery within the framework of the State propaganda in order to defame the name of the Janissaries and to erase their memory. The anti-Janissary State ideology invoked the Janissaries with hatred, even when they were dead. [9] Mahmud II was, beyond any doubt, a genius in matters of political propaganda. [10] However, it was certainly not coincidental that the event took place in the Balkans. The story was probably not staged by the Government ex nihilo, but a case brought before the judge was distorted for anti-Janissary propaganda. It was not hard to find an exorcist, especially with the promise of 800 kuruş, a good deal of money in those times. Nevertheless, explaining the finding of uncorrupted corpses in the grave with long grown fingernails requires more imagination, and perhaps a forensic medicine expert’s help.
Given the extermination methods, in perfect conformity with the Hollywood clichés, these cadı’s can easily be categorized as vampires. As a matter of fact, Köhbach, who discovered the first story in the archives, does not hesitate to identify it as a case of vampirism. According to Giovanni Scognamillo, an Italian originating Levantine vampirologist and historian of cinema, born and living in Istanbul; the Turkish cadı corresponds, mutatis mutandis, to the Western vampire. He cites Arminius Vambery, one of the founding fathers of the science of Turkology, who reports that Ottomans believed that vampires hid in tree cavities. When caught, they were beheaded and thrown into the sea.[11]
We have reached the intersection area between Turkish history, vampirism in the Balkans and universal horror literature. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the vampire hunter Prof. van Helsing consults Arminius, a friend of his who teaches at Budapest University.[12] As it may easily be guessed, this protagonist is none other than Arminius Vambery. While writing his novel, Stoker corresponded frequently with Vambery in order to gather some juicy material on vampires.
The settlement of the vampirism cases through the judge is interesting, but by no means unusual. Travellers report that “the Turks have an opinion, that men that are buried have a sort of life in their graves. If any man makes an affidavit before a judge that he heard a noise in a man’s grave he is by order dug up and chopped all to pieces’’[13] The judge, or kadi, is empowered, in the Ottoman legal system with judicial, as well as, administrative powers.[14] Besides, similar vampire manifestations that occurred in the Europe in those days were dealt with by the courts. One can imagine what the the reaction of the public authorities would be if a more frightening and reoccuring situation than the flying man in Edirne happened. Given that in the 1930s, declarations of disappearances were issued by the courts with regard to the Virgin Mary, Archangel Gabriel, St. Michael etc.,[15] no one should be surprised if a criminal court issues an order of arrest for vampires.
Ottoman judges found themselves perplexed when facing cases of vampirism. However, such cases were quite frequent, especially in the Balkans and were reported by a number of European authors. Jean Bodin, the French political scientist, economist and lawyer who built the theoretical structure of the concept of State sovereignty, is nowadays famous for his “Les six livres de la République.” Being a judge and involved in several cases of witch-burning, Bodin had a great reputation in his days for the De la Démonomanie des sorciers (first printed in 1580) a “practitioner’s book” for prosecutors and judges in witchcraft cases. According to Bodin, in the year 1542, under the reign of Sultan Soliman the magnificent there appeared such a quantity of werewolves in the city of Constantinople that the Emperor, accompanied by his guard, went out in arms to pursue 150 of them, who disappeared before the eyes of everyone[16]. A very detailed and reliable chronology of the Ottoman Empire is silent about these werewolves observed in 1542 (949 of the hegira).[17] Tournefort, sent to Anatolia by the French King, Louis the XIV, for botanical research informs us, in his Voyage au Levant, that in 1732, he witnessed personally an exorcism against vampirism near Transylvania.[18] Actually, systematic torture and “bathing” technique were often applied in order to detect sorcerers in German-influenced Transylvania, whilst Balkan provinces enjoying a certain autonomy under Ottoman rule were preserved from the witch-hunting delirium that raged in Europe. There were never such proceedings in Christian princedoms like Moldavia and Walachia.[19]
Such stories are not just historical curiosities; they are still very frequent in our days and reflect the sophisticated cultural interaction and exchange in the Balkans. While religious discrimination is a tremendous source of conflict in the neuralgic peninsula among the living; there is no such a problem for the dead. Christian ghosts assault Muslims and Muslim ghosts do not let Christians sleep who are living on top of them. In his charming study on the history of Salonica, that he meaningfully entitled “City of Ghosts” Mazover reports that “In the 1930s, the spirit of the Sufi holy man Musa Baba was occasionally seen wandering near his tomb in the upper town. Even today house-owners sometimes dream that beneath their cellars lie Turkish Janissaries and Byzantine necropolises. One reads stories of hidden Roman catacombs, doomed love-affairs and the unquiet souls who haunt the decaying villas near the sea. (…) Salonica’s ghosts emerge in other ways too, through documents and archives, the letters of Byzantine archbishops, the court records of Ottoman magistrates…”[20]
Jean Jacques Rousseau’s statement about vampires seems to be still valid: “If there is a real story in the world, it’s about the vampires: Nothing is lacking, legal proceedings, certificates provided by notables, surgeons, priests and magistrates; the legal evidence is perfectly complete. However, who believes in vampires? Shall we be damned for not having believed in them?”[21] In fact, in the coming years, researchers digging in old newspaper volumes will learn that in August 2008 something like a ghost-demon-vampire-superman has been observed in Edirne. They will probably use this news as reliable data in their research and will confirm their theories. The legend tells us that vampires are immortal. In fact, the vampires are not immortal, but their legend is, thank to such cases. It is sad to see that these superstitions have survived up to our times. However, I must confess that I am happy to see that the marvellously rich folk-lore of the Balkans, as well as its sophisticated culture and profound sub-conscience are still alive. While the process of fragmentation, -the “Balkanisation” as it is called in this part of the planet- is going on, due to religious and ethnic differences, the Balkan pandemonium preserves its integrity, regardless of religion or ethnicity.
***
Yahya Kemal (1884-1958) is a poet who was born as an Ottoman subject in the town of Üsküp, (current Skopje) and died as a Turkish citizen in Istanbul. His strikingly profound and rhythmic poetry, qualified as “neo-ottoman”, was mostly devoted to beauties of the past, to war and to love. However, his poem entitled “Demons” shows that this epic Balkan poet was also fond of psychology:
…
We are the pain of the consciences, they know us
They believe we came to visit for tormenting them
Have you ever felt us, at least once? Do you know who we are?
We are the demons, or illusions who resemble them.
[1] Radikal “Uçan adam mevlit okuttu”, 8 Ağustos 2008.
[2] Poem song in the honor of the birth of the Prophet Muhammed.
[3] Besides his doubts about the “authenticity” of the story, the vice-mufti is perfectly right in his religious reasoning: The recital of Mevlid is a para-liturgical activity, which does not figure in the canons of Islam. The concept of exorcism does not exist in Islam. The prayers that can be mutatis mutandis assimilated to exorcism are the two last surats of the Koran, the Ayet-el-Kursi and some shorter formulas of prophetic tradition. They can be recited by any Muslim and there is no need to invite any religious official, especially when he asks to be paid!
[4] Transcribed into Latin characters from an anonymous chornicle in the Berlin State Library by Köhbach, Markus, “Ein Fall von Vampirismus bei den Osmanen” in Balkan Studies, 20/1, 1979, p. 84-85.
[5] For the text transcribed into Latin characters see Düzdağ, Ertuğrul, Şeyhülislam Ebussuud Efendi Fetvaları Işığında 16. Asır Türk Hayatı, Enderun Kitabevi, İstanbul, 1972, p. 198.
[6] Needless to say: an icon.
[7] See Koçu, Reşat Ekrem, Tarihimizde Garip Vakalar, 5. baskı, Doğan Yay. İstanbul, 2003, p. 15-16.
[8] See. Kitsikis, Dimitri, L’Empire ottoman, PUF, Paris, 1985, p. 57.
[9] Ortaylı, I˙lber, I˙mparatorlug˘un En Uzun Yüzyılı, 3. Baskı, Hil Yayın, I˙stanbul, 1995, p. 32.
[10] The sultan was accused of becoming a heathen because of his zeal for westernizing the Empire. As a response, he took a number of steps in order to show how pious he was: He discovered the graves of the companions of the Prophet (sahabe) who died during the first siege of Constantinople in VIIth century. Some of them are situated extra muros, and their discovery may be explained by miracle. But some are intra muros, and their presence and survival in the midst of the Byzantine capital is quite mysterious.
[11] Scognamillo, Giovanni, I˙stanbul Gizemleri. Büyüler, Yatırlar, I˙nançlar, Altın Kitaplar, I˙stanbul 1993, p. 22, 24.
[12] Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Introduction and notes by David Rogers, Wordsworth Classics, 2000, p. 200.
[13] North, Hon. Roger, Lives of the Norths, Londra, 1902, ii, p. 147 cited by: Hasluck, F. W., Christianity and Islam Under the Sultans, Vol. 1, Octagon Books, New York, 1973, (reprint of the 1929 ed.) p. 253.
[14] Bkz. Ortaylı, I˙lber, Hukuk ve I˙dare Adamı Olarak Osmanlı Devletinde Kadı, Turhan Kitabevi, Ankara, 1994.
[15] As a legal fiction, some properties belonging to church foundations had been registered on the names of the Saints or Angels to whom the churches were dedicated, because, in the Ottoman period, foundations did not enjoy legal personality. In republican era, Public Treasury lawyers seized the courts in order to obtain declarations of disappearance for these saints. These latter having been declared to be dead without inheritors, their property was transferred to the Public Treasury. See Öktem, Emre, “Statut juridique des fondations des communautes non-musulmanes en Turquie- la nouvelle loi sur les fondations », in Rivista di diritto e di politica ecclesiastica, Milan, 2008.
[16] Bodin, Jean, De la Démonomanie des Sorciers, Quatrième édition, Antoine de Harsy, éditeur, Lyon, 1598, p. 212. (see: http://gallica2.bnf.fr)
[17] Danişmend, İsmail Hami, İzahlı Osmanlı Kronolojisi’nin (vol. 2, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 231-234.
[18] Cited by: Villeneuve, Roland, Loups-Garous et Vampires, Ed. J’ai lu, 1970, p. 103.
[19] Bechtel, Guy, La Sorcière et l’Occident. La destruction de la sorcellerie in Europe, des origines aux grands bûchers, Plon, 199, p. 707-708.
[20] Mazover, Mark, Salonica, City of Ghosts- Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430-1950, Harper Perennial, 2005, p. 10-11.
[21] Rousseau, Jean Jacques, “Lettre à Mgr. de Beaumont, Archevêque de Paris”, (Annex to the Contrat social) Librairie Garnier Frères, Paris, p.489.
Croatian 'Dracula' revived to lure tourists16:22 Jul 04 2010
Times Read: 1,258
Recently I found an article about one of the oldest(if not the oldest) vampire case documented!
I added the article here and in the database.
"As evening mist slowly embraces the village of Kringa in the heart of Croatia's picturesque Istrian peninsula, a few young enthusiasts gather in a bar trying to revive the legend of a 17th-century local Dracula.
Sitting in a red velvet chair in the Vampire bar, decorated with garlic wreaths and lamps with crosses, Mladen Rajko explains how local tourist authorities launched a project last year called "Jure Grando, the Vampire from Kringa".
"No one is claiming that vampires or evil forces exist, all we want is to promote a documented legend in order to boost what we can offer tourists," says Rajko (28) head of the nearby municipality of Tinjan.
Croatia is already a hotspot destination for foreigners, with some ten million tourists -- more than double the local population -- visiting the beautiful Adriatic coast of the Balkan country last year.
The first document on Grando, dating back to the 17th century, was written by his contemporary Janez Vajkard Valvasor, a Slovenian travel writer and historian. In his 15-tome work, The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, which was published in 1689 in Germany, Valvasor tells the story heard when he visited Kringa.
Valvasor`s book
According to the legend, for 16 years after his death and burial Grando terrorized his former fellow-villagers, notably his widow. At night he wandered the area knocking on the doors of houses, many of whose inhabitants later died, it said. The lustful demon paid regular visits to his widow, forcing her to continue fulfilling her marital duties.
Eventually, in 1672, a group of nine local men decided that they had to put an end to the menace. Upon opening his grave they saw Grando, his body intact, smiling at them.
After the first attempt to drive a hawthorn stake through his corpse failed because the wood rebounded, the bravest of the nine eventually managed to decapitate the body, bringing to an end Grando's reign of terror, the legend said.
"Grando already has all the characteristics of future literary vampires -- who appear some 150 years later -- he is a cynic, challenges both civil and church authorities and is sexually active," explains Boris Peric, a writer who investigated the issue.
The village of Kringa in Valvasor`s book
"The story was later taken and quoted by various authors from theologians to historians," he said, adding that German writer Herman Hesse published an account of Grando in an anthology early in the 20th century.
CONTINUES BELOW
Peric says he believes Grando served as one of the models for his future literary counterparts, possibly even for Irish writer Bram Stoker's Dracula, which is said to be inspired by cruel Romanian Prince Vlad Tepes the Impaler.
Although the legend of the "Istrian vampire" -- in local language called "strigun" -- never died, Grando's name was slowly forgotten, he explained. The story gradually returned to prominence after Croatia's first edition of Stoker's Dracula in 1999, as Valvasor's story was mentioned in a preface written by Peric.
In August last year, eight months after its opening, the Vampire bar hosted the first exhibition linked with the legend. This year, the bar has monthly "Vampire Nights" featuring appearances by horror literature writers, while a science fiction and horror literature festival will be staged in Kringa on August 11.
A plaque to the memory of the nine courageous villagers who defeated the demon will be also unveiled, Rajko says, adding that the event would start with a symbolic blood-donation drive. However, those promoting the legend are aware that they have to do it rather cautiously as they still face opposition in the small conservative community, notably from the elderly and the church.
Kringa, a typical Istrian village whose stone houses fight for space at the top of a hill surrounded by forest trees, is located about a 12km south-west of the central Istrian town of Pazin. The younger generation in Kringa, which has around 300 inhabitants, are the most supportive of the idea to make the village a destination for Dracula fans.
The village of Kringa nowdays
They are already planning to create a range of souvenirs and open apartments for tourists, while middle-aged residents of the village are beginning to change their minds.
"We want to prepare good infrastructure first. Our goal is to make tourists visit Kringa and spend a few interesting hours here," said Rajko.
One of the first locals to recognise Kringa's potential for "vampire tourism" was Mirjana Fabris, who is already turning her family house into an inn, offering local specialties. "I believe that I will decorate one room in vampire style -- red velvet with a lot of mirrors," said the 35-year-old.
The production of souvenirs -- including garlic-scented candles, sour-cherry "Grandina" brandy and red "Jure Grando" wine -- is also to start soon.
Vampire Soul, Vampire Blade or Vampire Orgasm are some of the cocktails already offered in the bar.
Both Rajko and the watering hole's owner, Robert Hrvatin, express regret that the church has remained completely silent over the issue, saying it might have information on the location of Grando's grave.
Among locals, there are several versions of what is really behind the legend which is passed from one generation to another.
Some say Grando was a thief who proclaimed himself dead in order to further his business, while some even claim the widow invented the demon in order to cover up her lover. Rajko prefers to quote a late, local priest: "It is proof that one has to admit that there were, there are and there will be things which simply cannot be explained." -- AFP
by LAJLA VESELICA
Article source:
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2006-04-24-croatian-dracula-revived-to-lure-tourists
Please vote the article in the database here:
https://www.vampirerave.com/db/entry.php?id=27605
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