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
The Case:
For a start, I will give you a rough translation of Dom Calmet's story:
"A priest told me, not so long ago, that while he was
travelling through Moravia, he was invited by Mr. Jeanin, the Canon of the
Cathedral of Olmuz, to accompany him to his village, called Liebava, where he
was officially being sent by the Council of the Bishop to investigate the
case of a certain well known vampire, which had caused much disorder in the
village of Liebava a couple of years ago. A trial was kept, witnesses were
heard, the rules of ordinary justice were kept. The witnesses declared that
an important man who had lived in Liebava had often disturbed the living of
the village during the night, that he had left the churchyard and had
appeared in several houses, about 3 to 4 years earlier. That those painful
visits had come to an end because a Hungarian stranger who was passing
through the village, had told them that he would put an end to the
appearances of the vampire. To keep his promise, he climbed on top of the
tower of the church and waited to see the moment on which the vampire left
from its grave, leaving behind the shroud in which he had been buried, after
which he went on to the village to disturb the villagers. The Hungarian, who
had seen the vampire leave its grave, immediately climbed down from the
tower, grabbed the vampire's shroud and took it back with him to the top of
the tower. When the vampire came back from his round and could not find his
cloths, he shouted at the Hungarian, who signalled that if he wanted his
shroud back, he should come and get it. The vampire started climbing up, but
the Hungarian threw him off the ladder and cut off his head with a spade.
That was the end of the tragedy.
The person who told me this story had seen nothing. Nor he, nor the Canon who
was sent to investigate. They only heard the report of the local villagers,
who were very ignorant, very superstitious, very gullible and prejudiced on
the subject of vampirism."
The Date:
No exact date is given. We are told that the story was supposed to have taken place "about 3 or 4 years earlier". Dom Calmet's book was published in 1751, so it must have taken place a number of years (at least 3 or 4, probably more) before 1751.
The Place:
Olmuz or Olmütz is now called Olomouc and can be found in
the Czech Republic. On a road map ( scale 1 : 600 000) there is a village
called Meste Libavá not far from Olomouc. We might find further information
on a more detailed map.
Here is a link to Olomouc: http://www.olomouc.cz/
Personal Comments:
Obviously, Dom Calmet seems to think that this is an absurd
story. The whole story sounds too much like some sort of fairy tale.
Although, of course, we can not totally exclude the possibility that it may
be founded on things that have really happened, some time, somewhere.
Talking of fairy tales, there is a ballad which has been written by Goethe,
which is called" "Der Todtentanz". Its plot shows a remarkable similarity to
the story from Liebava:
A watchman on top of a church tower looks down on the churchyard at midnight.
He sees how the dead are leaving their tombs. They take off their shrouds and
join in a "Dance of the Dead". The watchman sneaks down, steals one of the
shrouds and climbs back up. After the dance, all the dead put on their
shrouds and go back to their graves. Except for the one whose shroud has been
stolen. The dead man can not enter the church, because the door is covered
with metal crucifixes. So he starts climbing the tower wall. When he has
almost reached the top, the tower clock strikes one. The witching hour is
over and the dead man falls down, much to the relief of the watchman.
Possible Follow-Up:
It would be interesting to find out where Goethe has found
the inspiration for his ballad. An easy (and possible) explanation could be
that he has read Calmet's book. At the same time, it is not unthinkable, that
the story is older than that, and that it has inspired both Goethe and the
villagers of Liebava.
We could try to find out if the old churchtower still exists. If not, perhaps
its image can still be found on a painting or sketch or something. There
could be an episcopal archive in Olmuz which might have the original reports
of Canon Jeanin.
© 1989, 1991, 2007 by Rob Brautigam - NL - Last changed 03 October 2007
Portrait of Dom Calmet based on an old print from my collection
Links last checked 9 July 2007
