Vampires in Venice

Ever wonder where the idea of vampires came from? Are vampires a myth or are they real?

The word vampires was not widely used until the 1700′s but the legend goes back farther than that. In the late 1500′s while the plague was sweeping through Europe, it was believed that some victims were coming back from the dead and feeding on healthy people.

Just recently, proof of a vampire exorcism was unearthed in Italy. Reuters.com reported in 2009 that Italian researchers believe that they have found the remains of a female vampire in Venice Italy. The vampire skeleton was found in a mass grave of Venetian plague victims from 1576. The reason the corpse was believed to be a vampire was because it had a brick in its mouth which was believed to stop vampires in the 1500′s.  Matteo Borrini an anthropologist of the university of Venice said the discovery was made on the island of Lazzaretto Nuovo in the Venice lagoon. The island was used as a sanatorium for plague sufferers during the 16th century.

From the period of 1300 to 1700 not much was known about the decomposition of the human body. Gravediggers would reopen a mass grave to put a new body in and they would see a body that was bloated with gas, hair still growing and blood seeping from the mouth. Also the shroud that the corpse was buried in would be decayed by bacteria around the  mouth showing the corpse’s teeth. To the grave diggers and medical people of that time believed the bloated and bloody corpse was proof that the recently deceased was leaving its grave at night and feeding on the blood of the living.

Archeologists believe the corpse found in Venice is proof  that in medieval times a ritual was preformed to exorcise vampires by putting something in there mouth that would keep them from feeding and they would remain in their grave. The use of wooden stakes to stop a vampire didn’t start until the 1800′s.  According to medieval and religious texts, the vampire would slowly eat the shroud covering its mouth which was like mother’s milk to a vampire and led to vampires being called shroud-eaters. Once they ate through the shroud they would suck whatever remaining life force was in the corpses around them. It was also thought that vampires were also able to cast a spell from the grave that would spread the plague and make themselves more powerful.  When the vampire had enough strength she would go out to the streets and feed on the living.

The legend of the vampire has changed a lot over the years. There are stories of vampires going back to the beginning of time, previous to the 1500′s vampires were synonymous with demons. During the 1500′s they were more like witches and used spells that would drain the life force from its victims along with drinking blood. In the 1800′s vampires became more like the blood drinking creatures we know today. While this corpse found in Venice does not prove the existence of vampires it does show that people’s belief and fear in vampires goes back a long way.