is is unded curse recent or has it been here?

ok so ive heard a lot of people saying this undead curse is recent and others saying its not. i personally believe its not and why well because one of our friendly npcs says other wise. Who is it, well its Leeroy he was/is an undead and he was sent to lordran by the Way of the White way back when. my proof starts from his grant which says:
"A legendary weapon of the Way of White, granted to an Undead paladin long ago.
This mass of iron can only be lifted by those with inhuman strength, but it is blessed, and very effective against agents of Dark"
notice how it says an undead paladin long ago now if it can be any clearer as to the fact that he was an undead and this curse was present in his time then i dont know what it is but to me thats pretty clear especially for Dark Souls. i also want to point out it says inhuman strength which imo only proves he's an undead as i never seen or heared anyone who is human wielding any big weapons let alone a grant. His shield also points to the curse being around for awhile with its description:
"A legendary weapon of the Way of the White, granted to an Undead paladin long
ago"
"Once blessed with the protection of a white flame, but its
power has all but faded, so that it provides only slight HP recovery"
So we see the same line again stating that this curse was back in time and that he was an undead. now i would like to say that imo the fading of power also says that it has been a long time also because if its as powerful as im imagining it from the text then it would take quite a long time to lose the amount it did. Look at gwyn he's been in the kiln for AGES and has lost a lot of power ( granted though he still has a lot left ). And finally his armor states that not only was he an undead that went to lordran he was the FIRST. only furthering my belief that this curse has been around for a long time because imagine this was in that time and we start getting people like Leeroy who arent dying people can only guess at whats happeninng. So what do they do they send out a member of their cov to the gods in hopes to get answers or find a cure which is why i believe that the Way of the White sent him or he out of his own accord went in search of Nito as he is a Lord over death.Thats up for debate but here is his armors description:
"Long ago, the Way of White produced its first Undead, a paladin in golden armor. With the legendary treasures Grant and Sanctus, Leeroy set out Lordran, Land of the Gods, in the first Undead mission of the Way of White."
with all this i believe that this curse has been around a while and it may have been started by the first flame. But knowing how the souls series is there could be other evidence im missing that supports or goes against this so if you find any for both sides feel free to post and tell your thoughts on this.

How long is "long" ago? A hundred years? A thousand? 10,000?

However, I have to thank you for pointing this out, as it gives me some more evidence to support the theory that the gods AREN'T tyrannical horrors. After all, if they were, why would they send a human undead, the epitome of all they hate, on a suicide mission with some of their legendary treasures?

Alas i was thinking about that earlier but i came to the conclusion that it must be longer than 100 years at least as the way of the white was made by gwyns uncle if i remember correctly. and how he was the first undead sent on a mission though its really guessing for now. ill look at some other things and see if maybe i cant find a more specific amount of time.

It's both.

The First Flame sparked, Age of Fire began, then declined. The first Undead outbreak.

Gwyn Linked the Fire. the First Flame roared back to life, Age of Fire was extended, then declined. The second Undead outbreak.

DE5PA1R is right. Most people seem to forget that This is the second time the Dark has risen to swallow up Lordran. The first time, Gwyn sacrificed himself valiantly to prolong the Age of Fire that he so loved. I find it intriguing if the next chosen undead has to fight the player character in order to further prolong the Age of Fire.