#eleonore von schwarzenberg

[whatthecrowtold]

#unhallowedarts - "I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side" - Bram Stoker's Dracula

“You reason well, and your wit is bold, but you are too prejudiced. You do not let your eyes see nor your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you. Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are, that some people see things that others cannot? But there are things old and new which must not be contemplated by men's eyes, because they know, or think they know, some things which other men have told them. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all, and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain. But yet we see around us every day the growth of new beliefs, which think themselves new, and which are yet but the old, which pretend to be young, like the fine ladies at the opera.“

(Bram Stoker “Dracula”)

It was a indeed a dark and stormy night, the one in the year without Summer back in 1816, when the Shelleys, Byron and his physician John Polidori sat down to make pop culture history. Cut off from the world, bored witless and full to the brim with laudanum, his lordship challenged the gathered Romantic enfants perdu to lift the burden of ennui with telling ghost stories in the German fashion. And while both Byron and Shelley brought off rather nothing except consuming more narcotics that night, Mary famously began to write “Frankenstein” and Polidori engendered the other treasured dread, the aristocratic, suave, blood sucking king of the undead, the vampire. The myth itself was, of course, centuries old and only two generations before, a downright mass hysteria ran through Europe when repeated cases of vampirism were reported in the Balkans along the Austro-Turkish military border.

Polidori though took the revenant peasant prowling around his former home and sucking the blood of his family, clad him in evening attire and modelled him after the pattern of his employer into a Byronic hero. Polidori’s Lord Ruthven became the ancestor of the 19th and 20th century’s vampires that haunted the imaginations of countless readers and the pages of Gothic literature from the likes of Gogol and Merimee to the infamous penny dreadfuls. One of these featured a creature called “Varney the Vampire” who brought in the fangs and the tell-tale bite marks and Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla” from 1872 gave the myth the structure of a long dead noble á la Coleridge’s “Christabel” haunting a damsel in distress and a group of heroes bringing the creature to bay with the help of ancient lore and occult paraphernalia. The groundwork was laid and along came Bram Stoker.

As a child, Stoker was bedridden until the age of seven, rose as from the dead after his mysterious illness all of a sudden ceased, became a football star at college, graduated in mathematics and ended up a pen-pusher in Dublin Castle. Not satisfied with his lot, naturally, Stoker changed his career to theatre critic at the Dublin Evening Mail, owned by Sheridan Le Fanu, and attracted the attention of the famous actor Sir Henry Irving with a favourable review, the two became friends and Stoker followed Irving to become his manager. Meanwhile he had won the hand of Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty, courted by Stoker’s acquaintance form Trinity College Oscar Wilde as well as a host of other suitors. Stoker would bring these experiences into a literary form in his opus magnum “Dracula” with Sir Henry Irving acting as model for the undead count as Byron did for Polidori 80 years before.

Stoker had never been to Romania, during the 1890s a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but he did a thorough research on his subjects that he would add with iconic effects to the imagery of the literary Gothic, from local legends of the 1750s, the late 15th century Wallachian Prince Vlad III. Drăculea who was famed in western European sources for his cruelty and other inspirations from Central Europe like Princess Eleonore von Schwarzenberg, rumoured to be a vampire during her lifetime at the beginning of the 18th century and already an inspiration for German poet Gottfried August Bürger to his poem “Leonore”. Well-known enough known to Stoker and everyone else who read and wrote Gothic literature.

Pitting his research-wise well founded mythical Count and his ancient evil that bears strong resemblances to the feared syphilis as well as despicable moral liberties against the forces of the modern age, trains, the telegraph, typewriters, repeating rifles and established processes and organised teamwork, based on thorough research. Published in 1897, “Dracula” became an instant success and the standard followed to this day, even if Stoker and “Dracula” act only as powers behind the throne of “Urban Fantasy”.

All artwork above is by John Coulthart from his 2018 take on "Dracula" and nicked from his blog linked below

[count-lero]

Speaking of the hunt, I would love to share one more Schwarzenberg-related story before I go on a small break, tied to the New Year celebrations which are incredibly festive in Russia. :)

This time it will be about grand-grand-parents of field marshal Schwarzenberg: Adam Franz zu Schwarzenberg (1680 - 1732) and Eleonore von Schwarzenberg (nee Lobkowicz) (1682 - 1741). Next to Eleonore you can see a little boy: that’s actually Karl’s grand-father Joseph I zu Schwarzenberg (in whose honour his elder brother was named) (1722 - 1782).

Since I promised to speak more about one particular topic, you can already guess: field marshal’s grand-grand-parents were incredibly passionate hunters (I guess, it actually ran in Karl’s blood)! In the paintings presented below you can see Eleonore in her illustrious attire holding a hunting rifle while her husband Adam wears the ceremonial robes of the Order of the Golden Fleece. 🎖

They were so passionate actually that prince Adam himself once hunted a deer with such immense antlers that his record was clogged in the 21st century only! Also those deer antlers have been preserved to this day in a very curious form: they are actually presented on the back side of the facade of Palais Schwarzenberg in Prague.

That’s extremely original, in my opinion! 🦌

Unfortunately, the hunt became the main reason of prince Adam’s death as well: he was shot dead in 1732… by the emperor of Holy Roman Empire, Charles VI. There he is, the man, the legend *aggressive yelling*!

(Was it some kind of a special entertainment for some emperors in the past, I wonder? Can you say something about that, emperor Napoleon? :/)

During that disastrous hunt, they happened to track down the exact same animal and were accidentally placed on the opposite sides of a field. When a deer jumped out of the bushes, emperor took a shot and hit prince in the stomach. Emperor’s physician tried to save his life but it didn’t work out. After 12 hours of agony prince Adam passed away... 😔

Feeling somewhat guilty, the emperor made his 10-year-old son a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece as well. He grew to become one of empress Maria Theresa’s councillors and earned the rank of imperial prince for his House.

But the main question remains: does the life of a devoted nobleman equal to the most prestigious order in the Empire only…

(As a small finishing touch I bring you today the portrait of Johann I zu Schwarzenberg, prince Joseph’s son and field marshal Karl’s father 🤲🇦🇹)

[synesindri]

what are some of your favorite/most interesting vampire folklore stories? or legends/myths/stories about vampires?

alright, my beautiful, patient anon, let’s talk about vampires >:D

(this is going to be mostly historical accounts, but i’d be happy to talk more loosely about common features of vampire stories or just to spit hot takes or whatever too, just let me know!)

my #1 recommendation is to look into the american vampire folklore tradition from the 18th and 19th centuries. most of these stories are about vampirism spreading within family units. there is usually blood involved, but there is rarely explicit blood drinking (there is nothing consistent about vampire lore...they are very much a ‘i know it when i see it but damned if i can define it’ monster lol) — instead, new england vampires were more about unseen contagion and disease. a great example of this is the story of mercy brown, who is usually mentioned as the “last” “real” new england vampire. i also suggest the article “vampires and death in new england, 1784 to 1892″ by michael bell, if you’re interested in an academic take on this stuff. people (rightly) associate vampires with central and eastern european folklore, but the american stuff is really cool and very creepy, and if you’re interested in weird old vampire stories you might like it!

okay so now skipping actually over to central and eastern europe, there are a number of accounts of “normal” vampire encounters that started getting written up around the 17th-18th centuries that seem like good examples. a few good ones are: petar blagojević (1725), a serbian vampire who killed about 9 people as a vampire and made himself a nuisance to his family; arnold paole (1725), the source of an epidemic of vampirism in his serbian village; “the shoemaker of breslau” (1581) [cw for suicide in this one...a pretty common theme in old vampire folklore], a german revenant/nachzehrer/”ghost” who caused a ruckus in his town post-mortem; and löwenstimm’s account of justina yschkov (1848), a young russian woman suspected of vampirism because of the circumstances surrounding her death (namely, cholera and pregnancy). there’s also joseph pitton de tournefort’s vrykolakas story from greece about watching some people, uhm, deal with (dissect, basically) a vampire. 

i have more if you want them but i think these are some of the best (well, ok, justina’s isn’t that good or easy to find material about but i wanted to include a lady vamp and there aren’t that many of those from this tradition). it’s hard to get really good accounts of these types of vampires because they were mostly peasants from regions that kept changing hands politically. most of the stories got written down by german people cataloging to-them unfamiliar superstitions of people now under their empire’s rule — often first-hand accounts, but definitely with some foreign sensationalist flavor.

a third group of vampires worth talking about are the central and eastern european nobles. it’s funny that vampires have become such a classy monster considering mostly the folklore is about poor working people, but anyway, there are three main notables in this category. most people probably know about vlad iii aka vlad the impaler aka vlad dracul (1428/31 – 1476/77), famous for defending wallachia against the ottoman empire and for, well, impaling a fuckton of people on spikes. another is countess erzsébet báthory de ecsed (1560–1614), who ~allegedly~ held prisoner, tortured, and bathed in the blood of hundreds peasant girls from her lands. finally, and probably least well known of the three, is princess eleonore von schwarzenberg (1682-1741), who was basically just a weird lady whose death made everybody extremely paranoid (to the point that she was not even buried with her family like other people of her rank and lineage usually were! i actually visited the church were they ended up burying her...nice place lol). 

and finally, some older short story/novella recs, because why not? carmilla (1872) by sheridan le fanu is great; the vampyre (1819) by john polidori is less great but still fun (the main character is wonderfully soft and dumb :p); good lady ducayne (1896) by mary elizabeth braddon; dracula’s guest (1897) by bram stoker; luella miller (1903) by mary e. wilkins-freeman; and for the blood is the life (1911) by f. marion crawford. (actually, all of these are in the penguin book of vampire stories edited by alan ryan, which is a great collection btw!) 

(also, weird shout-out to the novel the manuscript found in saragossa (1805) by jan potocki, which is...not about vampires exactly, but is also definitely about vampires imo? i haven’t actually finished reading it and i might not ever but the creepy isolated dreamy vibe is impeccable if you’re into it)

i hope this response makes up for how long it took me to get around to answering you, anon!!

[josefavomjaaga]

Napoleon is in love

On the evening of March 1, 1810, Countess Eleonore »Lorel« von Metternich, wife of the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ambassador Schwarzenberg are invited to a very intimate cercle in the Tuileries. Berthier is still on his way to Vienna to officially ask for Marie Louise’s hand. Lorel later writes to her husband about this occasion:

"[…] the Emperor almost did not leave my side, and spoke unceasingly of his happiness; upon my honour, I believe him to be head over heels in love. I would like the little Archduchess to already be as far as I am. I am no longer afraid of him at all and feel completely comfortable around him. I laugh and chat with him. He said the nicest things to me, by the way: 'You are lovely, Madame de Metternich. It is you who wished this marriage, who brought it about. Consequently, you form my greatest happiness and after you, your spouse. I see that without him, without the knowledge he has of my character, this union would never have taken place. Write this to him. You may say that I am satisfied with him, with the Emperor, with the Empress, simply with all the world. I have no more desire on earth than to please the Archduchess and to shower her with happiness. I love her, I adore her. All the world already loves her here and must love her.' Thus he spoke to me for two hours."

The only thing Napoleon asked for was for somebody to make sure that »her teeth are brushed«. Obviously, one spouse with rotten teeth (Josephine’s were horrible by all accounts) was enough.

It is this ability of Napoleon to talk himself into fake emotions as he saw fit why I find his love letters to Josephine creepy rather than »passionate«.

[sartle-blog]

Art History Tales of Terror: A picture’s worth a thousand scares!

[steenpaal]

Maria Anna of Schwarzenberg - Wikipedia

Princess Maria Anna von Schwarzenberg (25 December 1706 - 12 January 1755) was a Margravine consort of Baden-Baden and Princess of Schwarzenberg by birth. She was the daughter of Prince Adam Franz von Schwarzenberg and Princess Eleonore von Lobkowicz.

She married Louis George, Margrave of Baden-Baden on 18 March 1721. Her future mother-in-law travelled to Vienna in order to seek permission from Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor. Permission was granted and she married on 8 April 1721 at the Český Krumlov Castle[1]

Princess Elisabeth Augusta of Baden-Baden (16 March 1726 – 7 January 1789); married on 2 February 1755 to Count Michael Wenzel of Althann, no issue.

Karl Ludwig Damian, Hereditary Prince of Baden-Baden (25 August 1728 – 6 July 1734); died in infancy.

Georg Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Baden-Baden (11 August 1736 – 11 March 1737); died in infancy.

Princess Johanna of Baden-Baden (28 April 1737 – 29 April 1737); died in infancy.

References[edit]

[synesindri]

i was tagged by @oleander4 — thank you for always tagging me in these things <3

name: eliott

star sign: sagittarius (or ophiuchus if you’re into that)

height: 5′6″/ 167cm

middle name: ~secret~

put your itunes spotify googleplay music on shuffle. what are the first 6 songs that popped up?

sigurdlied - faun

battle for the sun - placebo

this is love - air traffic controllers 

i’d rather burn - blackbriar

lemon eyes - meg myers

the eucharist - flesh field

grab one book nearest to you and turn to page 23. what’s line 17? “His hands keep turning into birds and / Flying away from him.”

ever had a poem or a song written about you? yep!

when was the last time you played air guitar? whenever bohemian rhapsody last came on the radio

who is your celebrity crush? i try to avoid emotional investment in celebrities but listen...harvey guillén...i have feelings for you........

what’s a sound you hate; sound you love? hate: people chewing. love: rain, people humming in other rooms

do you believe in ghosts? not literally

how about aliens? i...yes? but probably not in the “weird little fellows visit earth and abduct people sometimes” way (no shame if you do, i just don’t)

do you drive? unfortunately, yes

if so, have you ever crashed? yes, earlier this year i got rear-ended hard on the highway lol. (it was the first time i’d put an evil eye charm in my car so now i’m like, am i the evil this thing has identified in its vicinity??)

what was the last book you read? last book finished: Good-Bye to All That: An Autobiography by robert graves. 

do you like the smell of gasoline? yepp

what was the last movie you saw? i think it was "Vampire Princess - The Secrets of Nature” (which is an okay documentary about princess Eleonore von Schwarzenberg)

what’s the worst injury you’ve ever had? wiped out on my bike when i was a kid, which resulted in a concussion, a lost tooth, and a lot of good scrapes and bruises!

do you have any obsessions right now? ...What We Do In The Shadows, i guess! RIP! or just vampire history in general, but that’s more of a long-term love affair for me...

do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? depends on the situation. i absolutely do if the person doesn’t try to right the wrong, but if they make a good-faith effort then we gucci~

in a relationship? nah

if you’re reading this consider yourself tagged. say i tagged you. i want to see 👀