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| 1431 - 1476 |
| [ V L A D D R A C U L A ] |
| LINKS |
| BOOKS |
| Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and Times By Radu Florescu and Raymond T. McNally |
| In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires By Radu Florescu and Raymond T McNally |
| Dracula: A Biography of Vlad the Impaler, 1431-1476 By Radu Florescu |
| Vlad Dracula was forever immortalized in the Bram Stocker's novel Dracula. The real person had little in common with the fictionalized character of the same name. The real Dracula was prince of Wallachia, which is now a province of Romania. He was also known as Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler. It is a name that he earned for the sadistic punishment he inflicted on his enemies. He would impale people on tall wooden sticks. They would die a slow painful death. As a child he would impale small animals such as birds and rats in the same fashion. Impaling people was his most common method of execution but he also liked to have people boiled, skinned or buried while they were still alive. He father was named Vlad Dracul. His name Dracul means dragon or the devil. He was a member of an organization called The Order of the Dragon. In this organization members swore to uphold Christianity and defend their land against the Turks. In order to ensure peace between what is now Romania and Turkey Vlad Dracula and his younger brother Radu were taken hostage by Sultan Murad II. They stayed with him from 1442 until 1488.Although they were both hostages they were well taken care of, receiving an education as well as food and shelter. In the year 1447 Dracula's father and eldest brother Mircea were violently murdered by a group of boyars from a city in Wallachia, known as Tirgoviste. Upon his father's death the Sultan freed him and his younger brother. Radu stayed a while longer while Dracula returned home to reclaim his throne. Some time later after battling for power with the help of the Turks and a brief exile in Moldavia Vlad Dracula he began his reign of terror as Prince of Wallachia. The first thing that he set out to do was to avenge the death of his father and his brother Mircea. On Easter Sunday in the year 1459 he enslave the boyars responsible for his father's death as well as their families. He first impaled the older and weaker one and then forced the rest to march over 50 miles to the town of Poenari. Once there he forced them to build a castle under the most violent and brutal conditions. As a ruler he became well know for his cruelties as well as the virtues in which he held in high esteem. One such virtue was the virtue of hard work. He believed everyone should work hard. He hated sloth and idleness. He hated it so much that people who engaged in such behavior were violently punished for it. An example of this can be seen in his treatment of the poor and crippled. He felt that these beggars were slowly sucking out the life and wealth out of his people. So he decided to remedy the problem in one swift action. He invited them all to a great banquet with food and drink. After they had dined and said their praise for Dracula he had the building boarded up and set ablaze, quickly putting an end to poverty in the land. Honesty was also a virtue that Dracula held in the highest esteem. Dishonest people were likely to be impaled. He would also put people to the test to see how honest they really were. A traveling merchant from Hungary was robbed of 160 gold florins while visiting Tirgoviste. The merchant told Dracula of his misfortune. He promised the traveler that he would see to it that by morning all the money would be replaced. Dracula had his servants replace all the gold coins plus on extra coin. In the morning the merchant informed him that the money was indeed returned along with one extra coin. Dracula replied to him by saying had he not mentioned the one extra coin he would have been impaled for his dishonesty. As well as honesty and hard work Dracula also demanded respect from all that came before him. Two foreign ambassadors who came before him refused to remove their hats. They claimed that it was not their custom for them to do so. Dracula was so offended by their action that he had their hats nailed to their heads. These and other events of his life are well known even many years after he once walked the earth. But the events of Vlad Dracula's death are shrouded in mystery. It is believed that he was killed in December of 1476. Most think he was killed in battle or at the hands of an assassins. It is also believed that he was beheaded. The place of his burial is unknown. Many think that he was buried in the monastery of Snagov, but an excavation during the 1930's turned up nothing. This only added to the mystery and intrigue of the man known as the Impaler. Vlad Dracula was both loved and feared by his people. He brought them much terror but also successfully protected them form invaders. He was responsible for thousands of deaths. His Forest of the Impaled struck fear in the hearts of all who came across it. To this day long after his death he is still immortalized as a fearless leader with a talent for torture and a taste for blood. |