Where did the first vampire originate from?

Answer 1

Dracula

The fictional character of Dracula the Vampire was created in a work by Bram Stoker originally entitled "Vampyre". Bram Stoker's "Dracula", published in 1897 was no doubt based on the real life historical ruler, Prince Vlad Dracula. Prince Vlad himself was, in actuality far more terrifying than the fictional character.

Lineage

Basarab the Great, Warlord Prince of Wallachia circa 1300's. He was a Warrior Prince, (Voivode), leader of various groups of wandering herdsmen and soldiers. He was a member of the ancient line of what would later become the Royal Romanian Court.

Mircea, son of Basarab the Great, was Vlad's grandfather. He also was a Viovode, (or Warrior Prince), protecting his homeland against the Turks.

Dracula's father Basarab was born out of wedlock in 1392 to the latter Prince Mircea and one of his harem of concubines. Desperately facing an approaching Turkish crusade, Hungarian King Sigismund I admitted Basarab into the highly respected and Ancient Order of the Dragon in 1431, despite his illegitimate heritage. The Ancient Order of the Dragon was a society of knights whose principal aim entailed the defense and propagation of Catholicism against "heretics". Foregoing his birth name in honor of this Knighthood, Basarab would thereafter refer to himself, and be referred to, as "Die Dracul", or "The Dragon".

In the Romanian tongue, Dragon is Dracul. Adding an "a" after the name denotes "son of". Thus, the Dragon's next heir, young Prince Vlad, gained an eternal nickname: Dracula.

Vlad Dracula

Prince Vlad Dracula, or "Vlad, Son of the Dragon" was also called "Vlad The Impaler" or "Vlad Die Tepes" by his own people.

This archetypal Prince of torture and death seems to many Western Europeans to be pure evil. To many Romanians, however, he is a charismatic icon of heroism for holding off the Islamic Turks from Christendom. This duality is a large part of his appeal.

During his tenure Prince Vlad killed by the tens of thousands, impaling his victims on a forest of spikes around his castle. He saw even his own subjects as either traitors, would-be traitors or enemies to the security of Romania and the Roman Catholic Church.

Vlad the politician?

Vlad was a Dracul Knight, (Dragon Knight of the Holy Roman See), a Warrior Prince, (Voivode), a smooth politician, and a well mannered and well educated gentleman. He was fluent in Romanian, Latin, German, and Turkish. He was as skilled in the use of both sword and crossbow as he was in the strategy of war. He was also an exquisite horsemaster, prefering to lead from his mount at the head of his attacking army.

Reign of Terror

Prince Dracula's despotic reign lasted from 1456 to 1462. No one was safe from his paranoia. In today's world he would be considered far worse than the genocidal Adolf Hitler. Most of his killings were political, but sometimes he killed indiscriminately. He hanged his victims, stretched them on the rack, burned them at the stake, boiled them alive, but mostly impaled them.

St. Bartholomew's Day

During an outdoor festival of St. Bartholomew at Sibiu, Dracula had 20,000 citizens arrested and spiked in one afternoon. Claiming that they were traitors or supporters of traitors, he had them – men, women and infants – impaled on the outskirts of a neighboring forest. As was his custom, he had his servants draw up a solitary dining table of fine food and wine so that he might enjoy his lunch by watching the tortures at close range. He occasionally had a servant dip his bread in the blood of the dying souls so that he could savor the taste of life.

A Night With The Paupers

A perfect example of the dichotomy that was Dracula is woven into an old Nuremburg legend. It tells us of his sympathy for the downtrodden of his land – the poor, the invalid, the cripple, the infirm. But, this "sympathy" extended to a morbid result. One evening, he invited hundreds of paupers to his dining hall at his castle, treating them to something they had not had in years: a filling meal. After the desserts were served, Dracula and his staff slowly meandered out, leaving only the ragged guests alone in the hall of stone. This is when Dracula's skilled archers shot arrows of fire through the hall's tall windows from outside, igniting the treated tapestries, curtains, carpets and dinner linens into a blaze that erupted into an inferno. While the peasants banged helplessly against the bolted doors, in a room beyond Dracula replied, "The poor unloved creatures, it is best that they leave this world now, on a full stomach."

Answer 2

The myth of the Vampire probably dates back to ancient times. There may be no way to learn where the idea came from.

The most famous vampire myth surrounds a Romanian nobleman named "Vlad the Impaler". He was quite a monster, but wasn't really a blood drinking undead person. The monster of the novel "Dracula" is based on Vlad.

Anne Rice has rewritten Vampire mythology in her own "Vampire Chronicles" novels. Her fictional 1st vampire was an Egyptian queen who confronted a demon spirit. In the story, the spirit tries to "inhabit" her body, but cannot "live" there. The sprirt, in a rage, was able to cut her skin, drawing her blood and feasting on it. The queen is betrayed and assassinated by an advisor during the spirit's attack, and as she dies, the spirit is able to replace her soul and reanimate her body. Hence she becomes the first vampire.

Of course, thats a fictional account of a fictional race of Vampires. Ain't no such thing as a real one.

Answer 3

The myth of vampire was actually born out of a group of real human diseases. These diseases are generally referred to as porphyrias and can included the following skin and neurological systems which have led to the "vampire" myth: photo sensitivity ( sensitive to sunlight), insomnia, receding gums (like fangs). and excessive finger nail growth. The most famous suffer of porphyrias was Vlad the impaler. Who you would know better as, the historical basis for Dracula. In addition to the physical symptoms who also exhibited some of the more"eccentric" behaviors commonly associated with the myth.

Answer 4

There are a lot of theories. One is a demon's essence went into a human, and it became a vampire. Then there are others where a person is bit by a vampire bat and somehow got the qualities of the bat. I guess we'll never know.

Answer 5

There is this theory....
This theory inspired from the Books of Enoch claims that vampires are the offspring of the union between the Watchers (Fallen Angels) and humans. When the Children of the Watchers had consumed all of the food available, they turned to mankind and began to eat their flesh and drink their blood. In another adjunct, vampires are the offspring of the daughters of Eve (female humans) and the Angel of Death sent by God on Earth. Vampires have the mission to control and thwart the demonic offspring of the fallen angels.

Answer 6

The first "Vampire" was Prince Vlad Dracul of Romania. Also known as Vlad the Impaler, he would cruely torture his victims and drink their blood. His last name, Dracul, was changed into Dracula for the first book with vampire in it.

Answer 7

Vampires don't exist. However, Count Dracula did. He didn't have fangs or suck blood to he massacred hundreds of people. He would invite the poor into his castle making them think they were going to be fed a feast and then would kill them. He hated the poor and felt the world should be rid of them.

Answer 8

there actually are people who believe that they themselves are vampires, and that they need to drink blood, however whether they actually are depends on your opinion. as for your question, trywatching discovery channel or something they have stuff about vampires on sometimes.

Answer 9

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/vlad/index_1.html

Answer 10

Nowhere. There isn't such a thing.