The Source:
Dom Augustin Calmet [1672-1757] :
"Dissertation sur les Revenants en Corps, les
Excommuniés, Les Oupirs ou Vampires, Brucolaques, etc." [1751]
Debure l'Aîné, Paris, 1751 - Volume II
This case, which does get a mention in Dom Calmet's book, is said to have first appeared in a work by Charles Ferdinand de Schertz : "Magia Posthuma", which (according to Dom Calmet) was published in Olmutz in 1706. Thanks to Antoine Faivre, we can correct that. Apparently the book was published in 1704 and the more precise titel is: "Magia posthuma per juridicum illud pro et contra suspenso nonnullibi judicio investigata a Carolo Ferdinando de Schertz, arae salutiferae ubi paciscendum".
The Case:
I will quote Dom Calmet:
"He (de Schertz) reports ... about a shepherd from the village of Blow, close
to the town of Kadam in Bohemia, who appeared several times (after his death)
and who called at several persons, who all died within 8 days. The peasants
of Blow disinterred the corpse of this shepherd and fixed it to the earth
with a long stake that they had put through the corpse. That man, in that
state, made fun of the people who treated him this way, and thanked them for
providing him with a stick to keep away the dogs. That same night, he left
his grave and frightened several people by his presence, and strangled them
worse than he had done before. They called in the executioner, who put him on
a wagon to transport him out of the village to be burned. This corpse cried
out like a madman and moved his feet and hands as if alive; and when he was
again pierced by stakes, he screamed out very loud and gave out very red
blood in large quantities. Finally he was cremated, and this execution put an
end to this spectre."
See Colin de Plancy's page in our Bits and Pieces
section to read his version of this case.
The Date:
Sadly, no date is given, so all we can say is that the case must have taken place somewhere before 1704. Having said that, new material has come available (see under "possible follow-up") which suggests that these things may have happened around 1336.
The Place:
So let us have a look at the location, which is given by Dom
Calmet as "the village of Blow, close to the town of Kadam in Bohemia".
Montague Summers calls it "the village of Blau, near the town of Kodon".
Kadam, Kodon or Kaaden is now called Kadan and can be found some 60, 70
kilometers to the North of the beer town Plzen (or Pilsen). Here are a couple
of links to Kadan: http://www.kadan.cz/
and http://www.volny.cz/kadansko/
It looks like we will need more detailed (and possibly older) maps if we hope
to find the village of Blow or Blau. Jan Perkowski (see under "possible
follow-up") claims that the German name for Blow is "Flahe".
Personal Comments:
This does sound like a most unlikely story, with the corpse pulling out the stake and making cynical remarks and all. It does not necessarily mean that this story is not based on real happenings, but these embellishments do suggest that the actual happenings may have taken place quite some time before.
Possible Follow-Up:
After having written the above, I found that Jan L. Perkowski, in his excellent "The Darkling - A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism", has also had a look at this case and has come up with additional information. For a start he gives us de Schertz's source, which appears to be Abbot Neplach's "Summula chronica tam Romanae quam Bohemicae", compiled between 1355 and 1362. The old chronicle is said to have been reprinted in "Fontes rerum Bohemicae", Prague, 1882. The date of the happenings is given as 1336. This, of course, gives us a better starting point. Let's find Schertz's version of the happenings. Let's find Abbot Neplach's version.
© 1989, 2007 by Rob Brautigam - NL - Last changed 03 October 2007
Links last checked 9 July 2007
