On several occasions, particularly on the periphery of the Habsburg Empire during the 17th and 18th centuries, dead people were suspected of being revenants or vampires, and consequently dug up and destroyed. Some contemporary authors named this phenomenon Magia Posthuma. This blog is dedicated to understanding what happened and why.
Thursday, 25 October 2007
Dom Calmet In Memoriam
Today it is 250 years since Augustin Calmet (1662-1757) died. Had he not written a book on revenants and vampires, this blog would probably not have existed.
3 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Calmet is certainly right up there with Summers, in terms of their contributions to vampire research.
He was certainly a thorough scholar of the matters he wrote on, though some might be surprised to know that he wasn't a believer in vampires (despite being regarded as a fence-sitter). He could not justify it within his own philosophies.
As you've noted in other blog entries here, though, it'd be fantastic to have his work re-evaluated again.
You turned up that very interesting discrepancy in your "The spectre Mævia" post. I'd be interested to see what others there are.
For too long, Calmet and Summers have been treated as "gospel" in vampire research. Time for modern researchers to cut their tethers and explore the field a bit more.
Today it is 250 years since Augustin Calmet (1662-1757) died. Had he not written a book on revenants and vampires, this blog would probably not have existed.
3 comments:
Calmet is certainly right up there with Summers, in terms of their contributions to vampire research.
He was certainly a thorough scholar of the matters he wrote on, though some might be surprised to know that he wasn't a believer in vampires (despite being regarded as a fence-sitter). He could not justify it within his own philosophies.
As you've noted in other blog entries here, though, it'd be fantastic to have his work re-evaluated again.
You turned up that very interesting discrepancy in your "The spectre Mævia" post. I'd be interested to see what others there are.
For too long, Calmet and Summers have been treated as "gospel" in vampire research. Time for modern researchers to cut their tethers and explore the field a bit more.
An upcoming anniversary, from a more popular vein: On November 11, 1957, Hammer Films started filming "Dracula", starring Christopher Lee!
That's interesting. I always though the film was released in 1958.
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