Vampires Essay Research Paper VampiresWhere did the

Vampires Essay, Research Paper

Vampires

Where did the history of the vampire start? No one really knows where or when the legend of the vampire came about. Although, these legends are very common in many cultures, throughout the decades, people have recorded instances of vampirism. Among these were the Ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romanians (Baumann 5, Mcnally 144). Superstition and Religion have helped to keep this legend alive. According to many documentation s, a vampire is defined by many of the folklore; as a person who has died and been cursed or is unable to put their soul to rest. The undead shall spend the days entombed and the nights to wander in search for blood (Mcnally 146).

One of the most infamous vampires in history during her living years. Was a Countess Elizabeth Bathory born in Transylvania. (1560) A young bride at the age of fifteen her husband Count Ferencz Nadasdy spent most of his time away from the home. (He was a high-ranking officer and was at war most of the time.) Elizabeth was restless and bored during his absence. Keeping herself beautiful and inflicting pain upon her servants became Elizabeth s main passions. She ran the castle with an iron hand (Baumann 20) punishing anyone for the slightest mistake. Elizabeth enjoyed torturing her servants and for many years did all the torturing herself. She loved to beat girls with whips and heavy sticks while screaming abuses at them. There had been many times, when the countess would suddenly attack a girl and bite a piece of flesh out of her checks, arms, or shoulders (Baumann 21). However, the Count was not upset by his wife s barbaric habits. For she was of Noble birth (baumann 21). To him the peasant girls meant nothing and the instances of tortures were not important. She grew more beautiful over the years but after the death of her husband in 1604 (Baumann24), it had a devastating effect on Elizabeth. By the Count dying, it gave her a constant reminder that she was getting older and her looks were beginning to fade. That terrified Elizabeth, she was determined to stay beautiful and by any means possible. One day a young chambermaid was doing her hair and the countess decided that she had done a awful job, out of rage, hit the girl in the face causing blood to splash onto Elizabeth s hand. Elizabeth noticed that when the blood was wiped clean that the places where the blood had splattered made her skin appear more white and healthy. Shortly after, she sought the advice of the sorceress Anna Darvulia. The old witch assured the countess that nothing was better for the skin than the blood of a pretty young girl who was a virgin, and that if she bathed in virgins blood at exactly four o clock every the morning. She would never grow old and would always be beautiful (Baumann 24). The countess followed the witches advice. Although Elizabeth did not carry out the final act, her servant Dorka did (Baumann 23). She would slash a vein or two in the girls arm and catch the blood in a basin. There were nights when the countess would bend over and suck the blood flowing from the severed vein (Baumann 23). Her victims were always young pretty girls no older than eighteen. Nevertheless, the supplies of young pretty girls were beginning to fade. The tales of the bloodbaths in the castle spread from village to village making it more difficult to find girls willing to work as servants. Consequently, Elizabeth had to resort to going to even further villages to retrieve her needs of a young virgins. (Although the stories of Baumann seem drastic, these are true and documented.) Because Elizabeth was a superstitious woman, she took into account the advisement s of the witch. Soon after Anna Darvulia died, she obtained a new sorceress Erza Morova to take her place. Erza told the countess that what she had been doing was not correct and that bathing in the blood of peasant girls was not sufficient. That if she really wanted to keep her beauty, the only thing she could do was bathe in the blood of a noble woman. Elizabeth wanted badly to obtain her beauty; she came up with a plan. Elizabeth invited the daughters of noblemen to her castle to teach them the social graces The trick worked (Baumann 26) twenty-five young beautiful girls were killed not one was left alive. By this time the reverend of the castle was becoming very concerned with Elizabeth s practices. He found a report of the many girls that had been buried. The result of death drained of blood (Baumann 26) The reverend question the countess about the girls and soon a new minister arrived. (Who was much more atiment than the previous reverend.) He refused to bury any of the girls and confronted the congregation with the happenings in the castle. Therefore, Elizabeth had to resort, to dumping the dead bodies around nearby fields and various parts of the castle grounds. When the bodies were discovered the gruesome details were reported to King Matthias. Although the king had heard of the stories, he thought it would be a good idea to investigate. If Elizabeth was a murdering vampire she would have to be punished (Baumann 27). Her cousin Gyorgy Thurzo was sent to investigate to see if these accusations were true and valid. When he confronted her. Elizabeth said, even if these reports were true there was nothing he could do about them (Bauman 28). Shortly after confronting the countess, a commission of inquiry; ordered her servants to take them to the dungeo