The “Real” DraculaThe “Real” DraculaVlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler), AKA PrinceVlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler), AKA Prince

““Dracul": Prince of the Order of the Dragon Dracul": Prince of the Order of the Dragon (Dracul=Dragon, also "Devil")(Dracul=Dragon, also "Devil")

Dates: 1431-1476

Founded 1387 by Holy Roman EmperorWore black cape and dragon insignia medallion

The “Son of the Devil”The “Son of the Devil”

Vlad the Impaler, a.k.a. Vlad III, Dracula, Drakulya,  or Tepes, was born in late 1431, in the citadel of Sighisoara, Transylvania, the son of  Vlad II or Dracul, a military governor, appointed by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund. 

Vlad Dracul was also a knight in the Order of the Dragon, a secret fraternity created in 1387 by the Emperor, sworn to uphold Christianity and defend the empire against the Islamic Turks.  Transylvania, along with Moldavia, and Wallachia, are now joined together as Romania.

The name Dracul can be interpreted in two ways, the first translation from Romanian would be "Dragon", but it sometimes also means "Devil".  Vlad was not called Tepes, which means ""spike" in Romanian, until after his death;  instead, he was known as Vlad Dracula, the added "a" meaning "son of", so essentially, throughout his life, he was known as the "son of the Devil".

A Taste of the OpulentA Taste of the Opulent

While growing up with such a name would normally present problems for most of us, Vlad certainly did not seem to mind, as he really did live up to his title; but before we look upon the exploits of the son, let us learn a bit more about the father. 

In 1436, Vlad Dracul took over the throne of Wallachia, taking up residence in the palace of Tirgoviste.  It was there young Vlad Dracula would get his first taste of the opulent lifestyle, and perhaps also where the beast within would begin to grow. 

Merely two years later, in a strange turn of events, Vlad II betrayed the Order of the Dracul, forming an alliance with the Turks.  He even went as far as allowing Sultan Murad II to keep his two sons, Vlad Dracula, and his younger brother Radu, as "insurance" that he would not plan to strike against the Turks.

His Plotted RevengeHis Plotted Revenge

In the winter of 1447, Vlad Dracul was assassinated in a coup orchestrated by one of his relatives, John Hunyadi, who had devoted his life to fighting the Ottoman Turks, and did not approve of Vlad Dracul's pro-Turkish policy. 

Vlad Dracula was granted his freedom following his father's death, but Radu decided to stay behind.  In addition to learning of his father's demise, Vlad was also told his older brother, Mircea had had his eyes gouged out, and been buried alive by the boyars of Tirgoviste.

While in captivity, Vlad had grown resentful, and vowed to have his revenge. 

Vlad and the Turkish Envoys

The Rightful HeirThe Rightful Heir

The throne of Wallachia, which would have normally been reserved for Vlad Dracula, was now occupied by the boyars. The still teenaged Vlad Dracula, with the help of Pasha Mustafa Hassan' Turkish cavalry, defeated the boyars, reclaiming the throne for a very short period of time, as Hunyadi would soon thereafter appoint Vladislav II to the post. 

Vlad Dracula formed an alliance with Hunyadi, in the hopes of persuading him he was the rightful heir to the throne, but it wasn't until 1456, that Vlad Dracula would make his move, killing his father's murderer, and defeating Vladislav II, to take over as the new ruler of Wallachia. 

In 1569, following an Easter Sunday feast, Vlad Dracula had all the boyar families who had been attending arrested.  Those who were in good health were condemned to a life of slavery, and put to work on the construction of his Poenari Castle on the Arges river.

The Terror BeginsThe Terror Begins

Those who were old and weak were impaled for all to see.  Thus began Vlad the Impaler's reign of blood and terror. 

The CastleThe Castle

Construction of the castle was difficult work, and many of the slaves died in the process.  Many were forced to work naked, for their clothes had fallen off from wear. Needless to say, Vlad Dracula in no way considered these people human beings, and he treated them worse than animals, severely punishing and torturing his captives, whether or not they had done anything to provoke him.  He abhorred weakness of any kind, and was determined to be the ruler of a Kingdom which would only be host to the rich and powerful.  

A Tour of Bram’s CastleA Tour of Bram’s Castle

Genocide in the Genocide in the KingdomKingdom

One day, Vlad Dracula decided to cleanse his Kingdom of those he considered to be lazy and unproductive, those who suffered from illness, a handicap, or were simply born in poverty.  He decreed that no one should go hungry in his Kingdom, and invited all the poor, unfortunate souls who tainted his concept of what society should be to a banquet in the great hall in Tirgoviste.

Once he felt his "guests" had been well fed, not to mention drunk and complacent, Vlad made his appearance, asking them how they would enjoy never having to feel the pain of hunger ever again, or if they wished to never have to worry about anything ever again, to be without a care in the world.

ImpalingImpaling

Of course, their reply was enthusiastic, so he obliged, ordering his men to board up the hall, which was then set ablaze.  No one escaped.  Vlad Dracula's treatment of his own subjects paled in comparison to the atrocities he committed against his enemies, and any who opposed him.  On St. Bartholomew's Day, he impaled 30,000 merchants for disobeying trade laws, having their bodies left to rot outside the city walls as a reminder of what would happen to any who disobeyed him. 

Grotesque RumorsGrotesque Rumors

Rumors abound that Vlad also ate the flesh, and drank the blood of his enemies, often holding dinner parties next to the freshly impaled.  He was very proud of his work, and anyone who showed disdain while looking upon the thousands of putrefying corpses would soon suffer the same fate. 

Vlad liked to arrange the impaled in circular patterns, the length of the stakes determined by the victim's rank; this way, wealthy, or powerful opponents would plainly see they were not above the law.  Impalements were carried out in a variety of ways.

Monstrous TortureMonstrous Torture

During his reign, Vlad Dracula also had people decapitated, had their eyes gouged out, had them skinned alive, boiled, burnt, dismembered, eviscerated, or sometimes just physically disfigured for his own amusement. 

In one particular incident, Turkish ambassadors who had refused to remove their Phrygian caps in his presence were asked why they insulted him in such a manner. When they replied it was because their hats had to remain on their heads according to custom, he graciously honored their tradition by ordering their hats permanently nailed to their heads, never to be removed again. 

TyrannyTyranny

Vlad Dracula's tyranny was such that none dared break any laws in his land, for fear of being punished or killed.  He even had his mistress disemboweled publicly for having lied about being pregnant with his child. 

Vlad enjoyed torturing and killing women, often mutilating their breasts and sexual organs in the process. He is even rumored to have forced mothers to eat their own babies.  In order to impress visiting dignitaries with the efficiency of his methods at promoting order, he had a gold cup placed on display in the center of central square of Tirgoviste, unguarded from any thief that would fancy stealing it during the night.  The cup remained, as no one would have been so foolish as to risk impalement for being caught stealing.

Horrible death by Horrible death by impalementimpalement

Impalement was a particularly horrible way to die, Victims were either impaled from the private parts, but rarely from the mouth, as this usually meant a quicker death. 

The impaled would then be hoisted up, their own weight dragging them down upon the thick stakes, the process sometimes taking several hours.  Vlad Dracula was only referred to as the Impaler sometime after his death, a "title" he would have probably liked to have held during his six year reign, for the number of those who suffered this cruel fate at his hands may number well into the hundreds of thousands.

Powerful, yet not Powerful, yet not infallibleinfallible

Vlad may have been a fearsome conqueror, but he was not infallible.  In 1461, he took on the Turks from the Danube River Valley, but ultimately failed to subdue them, outnumbered by Sultan Mehmed II's army. 

Determined to kill the Sultan, Vlad Dracula staged a nightly raid on his settlement, but he attacked the wrong tent, leaving the Sultan enraged, and vowing revenge.  He ordered his men to invade Wallachia, forcing Dracula's army to retreat towards Tirgoviste. 

Not wanting to leave anything for the Sultan and his army, Vlad destroyed his Kingdom village by village, burning them to the ground, and poisoning their wells.  Furthermore, when the Sultan arrived at Wallachia, he was shocked by finding a virtual forest of the impaled, thousands of dead Turkish prisoners whose bodies were slowly decomposing in the sun, the stench of it all permeating the air.

A jump to her deathA jump to her death

Vlad's time-tested scare tactics had a profound effect on the tired and hungry Sultan and his army.  He abandoned the campaign, but he would later retaliate by sending Vlad Dracula's own brother to pick up where he left off.  Radu and his men pursued Vlad to Poenari Castle on the Arges river. 

Dracula's wife, fearful of being captured by the Turks, jumped to her death from one of the battlement towers. Dracula himself fled through a secret passageway, which he used to get to the mountains.  Seeking refuge in Transylvania, Vlad met with King Matthias Corvinus, but the latter had heard of Vlad's wicked ways, and had him imprisoned at Visegrad, the Hungarian capital. 

IndulgencesIndulgences

Eventually, Vlad Dracula was allowed to come and go as he pleased, since there had been no definite terms for his imprisonment, and so long as he would report to King Matthias on a regular basis. 

He was also given his own dwellings in the palace, far from the musty dungeons.  But Vlad continued to secretly indulge his hunger for blood, and occasionally, one would find small animals such as rats, cats, and even insects, impaled on sticks.  But Vlad had managed to gain the King's confidence, and he was often a guest at the various banquets and social functions at the palace.  He even got married to the King's cousin, Countess Ilona Szilagy, with whom he had two children.

Still Still respected?respected?

For over nine years, Vlad had more or less remained in King Matthias' custody, while his

brother Radu occupied the throne of Wallachia.  But contrary to what one might assume, Vlad Dracula was still somewhat respected by some of his former subjects; after all, he had successfully defeated the

Turks on many occasions, and had managed to create an orderly society, free of crime.  Radu on the other hand, had lost favor with

the Boyars for his concessions to the Ottoman Turks, not to mention King Matthias

himself,  and his treachery to the Order of the Dracul.  The time had come for Vlad to

reclaim his throne, and King Matthias, along with Prince Stefan Bathory of Transylvania,

would join forces with Vlad to overthrow Radu, and more importantly, to defeat the

Turks.

Radu, King of Wallachia

Sanctioned by the Sanctioned by the Vatican?Vatican?

After months of successful attacks on Turkish settlements from Dracula and his 5000 man strong Christian Army, Sultan Mehmed II's forces were sufficiently weakened, but Vlad never had the satisfaction of personally dethroning his brother, for the latter had died of syphilis, and been replaced by Prince Basarab the Old, two years ealier. 

After having subdued, burnt, and of course, impaled thousands of Turks, Vlad and his men returned to Romania.  It is interesting to note that this time around, Vlad's favorite method of killing was officially sanctioned by the Vatican, as he was, after all, impaling the foes of the Catholic Church in the name of God.

Undermanned and Undermanned and ExpectedExpected

Once again, Vlad Dracula occupied the throne of Wallachia, but things would never be the same.  Even if he was officially sanctioned by King Matthias and the Church, many of the Boyars had not forgotten his ruthless ways.   Sultan Mehmed II was restless in his determination to regain power over Wallachia and return Basarab to the throne.

The Boyars, knowing the possible pitfalls of living under Dracula's rule, were perhaps more open to the idea of Basarab's return than they should have been. Word that Sultan Mehmed was organizing his forces in Bucharest reached Prince Stefan's ears, and he asked Vlad Dracula to organize an army to defeat the Sultan's, but of the Boyars joined him, and he found himself in a precarious position he had never been in before, undermanned, and expected by the enemy.

A Boyar

DefeatDefeat

Without the element of surprise on his side, Vlad knew the battle ahead would be difficult.  Furthermore, additional troops promised to him by Prince Stefan failed to show, and Vlad was left with just a few thousand men to combat the Sultan's army, which had grown quite considerably large. 

Vlad Dracula, ever the fearless warrior, fought against overwhelming odds, refusing to accept defeat, but the reality of it all was that they were outnumbered, and would eventually meet their doom. 

There is much speculation as to what happened to Vlad the Impaler in his final battle.  Some say he died at the hands of his own men, as he was mistaken for a Turk while disguised in one of their uniforms, while others say he was killed, and decapitated, his dead body only recognizable by the vestments and medallions he was wearing.

Vlad to Dracula

Vlad the Impaler vs. Vlad the Impaler vs. DraculaDracula

Dracula's cape may have been based on the red and black cape worn by members of the Order of the Dragon.

Killing a vampire by driving a stake through his heart is reminiscent of Impalements.Vlad the Impaler was Transylvanian, as is Stoker's character.Vlad the Impaler lived in a castle, which is also known as castle Dracula, and currently a tourists attraction (although the real castle Dracula lies buried beneath is structure)

While imprisoned, Vlad the Impaler tortured and impaled rodents and insects.  Count Dracula's lackey, Renfield, devours insects in his cell while imprisoned in an insane asylum.Vlad the Impaler is said to have consumed human flesh, and to have drunk human blood. 

Some also speculate that he suffered from a rare allergy that made him lose control when exposed to blood, as well as crave it.

While Vlad the Impaler may not have been one of the living dead, it is believed his allergy to blood caused him to have very pale and swollen face.

Although most movie versions of the Dracula character were without facial hair, Stoker's character was a tall man with aquiline features, sporting a long white mustache, an elderly version of what the real Dracula would have looked like.

Harker recalls a conversation with Count Dracula: "In his speaking of things and people, and especially of battles, he spokeas if he had been present at them all.”

In that same exchange, Dracula explains the origins of his race: "What devil or what witch was ever so great as Attila, whose blood is in these veins?" He held up his arms.

"Is it a wonder that we were a conquering race, that we were proud, that when the Magyar, the Lombard, the Avar, the Bulgar, or the Turk poured his thousands on our frontiers, we drove them back?”

Count Dracula also states that: "Who was it but one of my own race who as Voivode crossed the Danube and beat the Turk on his own ground?"

Van Helsing explains that another way to insure a vampire will not return is to cut off its head.  Vlad the Impaler was rumored to have been decapitated.

Van Helsing also theorizes that: "He must, indeed, have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk."In Francis Ford Coppola's feature film "Bram Stoker's Dracula", actor Gary Oldman is shown wearing an armor sporting the "Order of the Dragon" insignia, and a fair amount of background is given on the Character which was not in the book but is based on the historical Vlad Dracula.

Again, In Coppola's adaptation, Prince Vlad Dracula's wife Elisabeta is shown committing suicide to avoid capture in exactly the same manner as Vlad the Impaler's wife during the capture of his castle by the Turks.

ResourcesResources

http://www.vladtheimpaler.com/default.htm

Vlad the Impaler Resources:

BooksThe Making of a Vampire: Vlad the Impaler, Paracelsus, Rabbi Lowe, St. Gernmain, Dracula -- Alexander Sendrea; PaperbackVlad The Impaler: Blood Prince Of Wallachia -- Dr. Mike Bennighof, John R. Phythyon Jr.; Mass Market PaperbackDracula, Prince of Many Faces His Life and His Times -- R. Radu/McNally Florescu (Author); PaperbackDracula : a biography of Vlad the Impaler, 1431-1476 -- Radu Florescu; Unknown BindingCoppola and Eiko on Bram Stoker's Dracula -- Francis Ford Coppola, et al; HardcoverDracula -- Elizabeth Miller; HardcoverDracula -- Bram Stoker, Leonard Wolf (Introduction); Mass Market PaperbackIn Search of Dracula : The History of Dracula and Vampires -- Radu Florescu (Author), Raymond T. McNally (Author); PaperbackDracula: The Connoisseur's Guide -- Leonard Wolf; PaperbackVlad Tepes : mit si realitate istorica -- Emil Stoian; Unknown Binding

Resources, cont.Resources, cont.

WebsitesRoyalty.nu - Vlad Dracula - Vlad the ImpalerVlad Dracula BiographyVlad Dracula/Tepes - The ImpalerThe Crime Web: Vlad the ImpalerVlad the Impaler: Dracula's Real-life Persona by Joseph GeringerOrder of the DragonDracula's Homepage - Vlad the ImpalerVlad the Impaler 1431-1476Photographs of Vlad TepesThe House of Ice: Vlad Tepes/Dracula/The ImpalerVlad the Impaler (Tepes)Vlad III Tepes: 1431-1476Vlad the Impaler

Resources, cont.Resources, cont.

Movies:

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) -- Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder; DVD Keep CaseBram Stoker's Dracula (Superbit Collection) (1992) -- Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder; DVD Keep CaseTaste the Blood of Dracula (1970) -- Christopher Lee; VHS EnglishDracula (1931) -- Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler; VHS EnglishDracula : The True Story -- VHSIn Search of History:Real Dracula -- VHSThe Impaler - a biographical/historical look at Vlad the Impaler, widely known as Dracula. -- VHS