17. Jahrhundert

The 17. Jahrhundert appears in the novel as part of Amaury’s long personal past: he recalls difficult times in France during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, before leaving for another continent in search of a fresh start. The reference situates his history across a broad period rather than identifying a single dated event.

Historical placement

Amaury’s account spans both the 17. Jahrhundert and the following century. It does not specify when, within that span, particular hardships occurred, or describe their causes. The centuries function as a wide historical frame for his experience in France and the change of life he later chose.

Amaury’s recollection

Amaury says that he endured difficult times in his homeland before deciding to begin again elsewhere, where his reputation as a rogue and womanizer would not precede him. His recollection connects the period to a personal turning point: leaving France offered the prospect of a new start. He is nearly two hundred years older than Samson, a difference that gives the account the perspective of a vampire whose life reaches back across multiple centuries.

Place in the chronology

The novel presents the 17. Jahrhundert through retrospective character history, not as a sustained historical setting. Its reference to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries establishes the length and depth of Amaury’s past, while leaving the precise events of those years undescribed.