Vampires in the 14th Century

Did you know that traces of beliefs we associate with vampires today can be found even in the Dušan’s Code, one of the most important legal monuments of medieval Serbia?

Article 20 of Dušan’s Code speaks of people who, through “witchcraft,” dug up the dead from their graves and burned their bodies. A village that participated in such practices could be fined, while a priest who took part could lose his priesthood.

What is particularly noteworthy is the fact that such a practice was included in the code of Emperor Dušan, in the 14th century. Beliefs concerning the dead, graves, and the possibility of the deceased somehow returning among the living were evidently part of the folk beliefs of that time.

Also, one more fact: Dušan’s Code is more than a century older than the historical Vlad III Dracula, who lived in the 15th century.

Traces of beliefs that we associate with vampires today can be found in Serbian historical sources even before the time of Vlad Dracula.

@OnReturningtotheOldGods