Chapter 15 – Traité by Dom Calmet

This chapter is for bookworms!

A proper investigation, whether today or in the past, cannot rely solely on oral information, even if it comes from reliable and trustworthy sources like Father Franz or Doctor van Swieten. Sooner or later, Archduchess Marianne must immerse herself in the contemporary academic knowledge about superstition and folk beliefs — the intellectual background to her investigation. And who better to provide her with such material than Father Franz, himself an avid bibliophile?

One of the most recent academic works of the era was Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenans de Hongrie, de Moravie, &c. by Dom Calmet, first published in Paris in 1752. It was the fruit of thorough scholarly research and remains worth reading even today.

A thrilling episode in chapter XLV recounts the tale of the living-dead Henry, Count of Salm, buried in the Abbey of Haute-Seille. Beginning with Christina of Salm (1575–1627), Marianne’s great-great-great-grandmother, I had to trace the lineage back to the 13th century to find a potential candidate for this case. In 1228, a Henry, son of a Count of Salm, being fatally ill, made a donation to the Abbey for his recovery. The donation did not help, and he died the same year. He was survived by his young son (born before 1228 – died 1294), who inherited the title from his grandfather.

It is fascinating to imagine that a direct bloodline spanning sixteen generations connects Marianne to that potentially apparition-like ancestor!