Hi tom.
I suggested spain specifically because A, it's a long way from eastern
europe, but still possessed the sort of mentality among it's nobility which
would lead to the idea of a vampire lording it in his castle over a bunch of
frightened villagers, (an attitude which didn't change in spain until much
later), and B, sinse up until the 15th century large parts of spain were
under the control of the tirkish empire, ---- who were actually in a lot of
ways more advanced than the west, it also meant wars private armies and
political strife were very common indeed, as well as crusading orders of
knights riding into battle.
No, the mours were not actually vampires of course, indeed in their ships,
their medical technology and their mathematics they were actually far ahead
in thinking of the christians who opposed them, but the idea of a land in
the middle of foreigne rule struck me as perfect vampire teretory.
Having studied history of medicine and philosophy specifically, my view of
the middle ages is a little different, indeed all I've read of Thomas
aquinas paints him as basically someone who was extremely clever at stating
catholic doctrin in convoluted ways (understandable sinse he was a monk
after all), and many of the arguements attributed to him are actually pretty
shallow, and only became prominant because of later, more complex and less
catholic centered versions of the arguements during the enlightenment by
people like spinoza and descarte.
In terms of technological advances, even political advances, the time was
far too ruled over by repeated wars and superstician, which is in fact of
course why we call the period after! the middle ages the renaesance, sinse
only then was there A, enough stability, and B, enough freedom of thought to
start making advances in social and technological matters, ---- not the
least due to rediscovery of griek and roman ideas such as having actual
toilets!
The way I've always understood it, it's actually one of the largest jokes in
british political history that the "magnacarta" which supposedly repealed
serfdom actually had very little impact on the lives or treatment of
peasants at all, and was far more an excuse for various British nobles to
get extra power and independence from the King, thus leading almost directly
into the wars of the roses.
Of course, as you said yourself, all this is a fertile setting for a vampire
game, sinse the idea of an isolated noble with almost absolute power over
their own estate is central to a lot of vampire conceptions, and the lack!
of scientific methodology or explanation makes great grounds for characters
who really use supernatural or magical powers, and a populous who are afraid
of such powers, indeed this is why the dark ages game from whitewolf's
tabletop rpg system is set in the 12 hundreds.
All the best,
Dark.
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