Following on from my post - Venetian Vampire, comes a bit more from National Geographic News by way of explaining the "brick in the mouth" scenario - and complete with picture:
"Belief in vampires was rampant in the Middle Ages, mostly because the process of decomposition was not well understood.
Since tombs were often reopened during plagues so other victims could be added, Italian gravediggers saw these decomposing bodies with partially "eaten" shrouds, Borrini said.
Vampires were thought by some to be causes of plagues, so the superstition took root that shroud-chewing was the "magical way" that vampires spread pestilence, he said. Inserting objects—such as bricks and stones—into the mouths of alleged vampires was thought to halt the disease. "
How delightful!
"Belief in vampires was rampant in the Middle Ages, mostly because the process of decomposition was not well understood.
Since tombs were often reopened during plagues so other victims could be added, Italian gravediggers saw these decomposing bodies with partially "eaten" shrouds, Borrini said.
Vampires were thought by some to be causes of plagues, so the superstition took root that shroud-chewing was the "magical way" that vampires spread pestilence, he said. Inserting objects—such as bricks and stones—into the mouths of alleged vampires was thought to halt the disease. "
How delightful!
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