Arnold Paole: The vampire legend that shook an empire

Blood-sucking vampires have long been a captivating subject in cinema. But what if the plots we see in movies aren’t entirely fictional? Is there any truth behind these persistent legends? Even today, debates continue: some people firmly believe in vampires, while others dismiss the idea as pure myth. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at one historical case that still sparks curiosity. As you read, you’ll get a sense of just how seriously this incident was taken—and how complex the reactions to it were.

Arnold Paole’s Claims

In the early 1700s, a former soldier named Arnold Paole moved to the Serbian village of Meduegna to settle down and acquire land. Like many others, he lived a quiet life, but he had a chilling tale to tell: Paole claimed he had previously been attacked by vampires. According to him, he fought them off and managed to kill them. To protect himself from their return, he said he ate soil from their graves and smeared himself with their blood.

In 1725, Paole died after falling from a cart and breaking his neck. Roughly three weeks after his burial, four frightened villagers claimed they saw Paole wandering around at night. Soon afterward, all four died. Although no clear cause was found, the villagers were disturbed.

They recalled Paole’s vampire story and the strange rituals he used to protect himself. Convinced there was a connection, they exhumed his body forty days after his death. What they found shocked them: his corpse was intact, the skin supple, and fresh blood was leaking from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. His nails, hair, and beard had continued to grow. His clothes and coffin were soaked in blood.

The villagers were now certain: Paole had become a vampire, possibly infected during his earlier encounters. They drove a wooden stake through his heart. Witnesses said the body let out a scream. His remains were then burned. The same procedure was carried out on the four villagers believed to be his victims.

Government Intervention

It seemed the vampire problem in Meduegna was resolved. But five years later, in 1731, 17 more people died over a few weeks under mysterious circumstances. According to various reports, the victims—ranging from 10 to 70 years old—suffered from sharp pains, fever, chest tightness, and violent tremors.

One woman, Stanoska, screamed during the night, claiming a young man who had died recently came into her room and tried to strangle her. She died the next day.

The villagers, terrified, reported the situation to the Austrian military authorities—Serbia was under Austrian control at the time. Fearing an epidemic, the government sent Glazer, an infectious disease specialist, to investigate. After examining the villagers, Glazer found no evidence of disease and concluded that malnutrition was to blame.

But the villagers rejected this explanation, insisting that vampires were to blame. They even threatened to abandon the village. In response, Glazer agreed to open some graves. What he found stunned him: several corpses showed signs of mutilation, while others had blood on their mouths, just like Paole’s corpse years earlier. Glazer wrote to the High Command in Belgrade, urging that the vampire threat be eliminated.

News of the outbreak soon reached Vienna, prompting Emperor Charles VI to send a special commission to investigate. The team included military surgeon Johannes Flackinger, two officers, and two more doctors. Upon their arrival in Meduegna, two more people died. The villagers dug up the graves of previous victims for the commission to examine.

In his official report, Flackinger confirmed that the corpses showed signs of vampirism.

Flackinger ordered the exhumation of all recent burials. Of the 40 bodies examined, 17 were in a state similar to that of Arnold Paole. Each of these corpses was staked through the heart and burned.

Flackinger documented the entire investigation in a report titled Visum et Repertum (“Seen and Discovered”), which he submitted to the Austrian emperor in 1732. The report was widely circulated across Europe and became a bestseller.

Clergy Intervention

The Catholic Church was deeply concerned about the desecration and burning of corpses. According to Church doctrine, Christians must be buried intact to be resurrected on the Day of Judgment. At the request of Cardinal Stambruck, Bishop of Olmütz, the Catholic Church sent Archbishop Giuseppe Davanzati to look into the matter.

Davanzati examined the vampire claims and concluded that the phenomenon was a product of human imagination—or possibly demonic deception. He called for an end to exhumations and urged that people who believed in vampires be given spiritual guidance.

Meanwhile, French monk Antoine Augustin Calmet offered his take on the matter. In his book Treatise on the Spirit and Vampires of Hungary, Moravia, and Silesia, Calmet argued that the issue deserved serious study and suggested that vampires were indeed animated by demonic forces.

Imperial Intervention

The debate only came to an end when Empress Maria Theresa of Austria sent her physician, Gerard van Swieten, to investigate. Van Swieten concluded that vampires did not exist and that the panic was based on superstition.

As a result, the Austrian government issued a decree banning the opening of graves and the mutilation of corpses.

A Broader Pattern

Cases like the one in Meduegna are not unique. Throughout history, similar paranormal or mass hysteria events have occurred. One article, titled People Who Played Themselves to Death and Laughed Themselves to Death: Why Did They Do It?, discusses similar strange and tragic episodes.

At the heart of many of these occurrences lies a common factor: mass psychological breakdowns brought on by intense economic or societal stress. In times of poverty and uncertainty, fear and myth often take root in the public imagination.