Many modern readers know Count Vlad Dracula solely from Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" and the film of the same name. But the story of the real Dracula is much worse than literary fiction!
The Romanian ruler Vlad III, better known as Dracula (1431-1476), came from the family of Basarab the Great, ruler of Wallachia (1310-1352), who defended the independence of his state in a difficult struggle.
Vlad III's father, Vlad II, seized the throne in 1436, overthrowing his cousin with the support of the Hungarian king Sigismund of Luxembourg.
By the way, even before his ascension to the throne, Vlad II joined the Order of the Dragon, founded by the same Sigismund, and received the nickname “Dracul”. The word "Dracul" in Romanian means not only "devil", but also "dragon". Vlad III adopted the nickname Dracula, which, accordingly, means “Son of the Dragon,” or “Son of the Devil.”
To say that Vlad III was a handsome man is to greatly embellish the reality. He had bulging eyes (probably a sign of Graves' disease), a protruding chin and a protruding lower lip. According to legend, Vlad Dracula had a hypnotic gift and could see right through people.
In those turbulent times there was a war with the Turks. While still children, Vlad Dracula and his brother Radu the Handsome were captured, or rather, they were given away by their own father as a guarantee of peace. There, while still very young, Vlad witnessed several terrible executions, which apparently had an impact on his entire future life.
When Vlad III finally took the throne of Wallachia in 1452, difficult times came for the entire people. Dracula was distinguished by great cruelty both towards his subjects and towards the captured Turks, with whom the war did not stop.
During the reign of Vlad III, order reigned in the country, although it was established by cruel methods. For example, Dracula ordered the execution of any thief, regardless of how much or what he stole.
Dracula's favorite form of execution was impalement. For this, Vlad III received the nickname Tepes (in other translations - Tepes or Tapisha), which literally meant "impaled".
Vlad impaled not only criminals and captured Turks, but also gypsies, whom he strongly disliked, considering (though not without reason) horse thieves and slackers.
Of course, Dracula never drank the blood of his victims, preferring less exotic food. But he loved to dine in the so-called “gardens of death” - places where there were a huge number of stakes. Of course, they are by no means empty. At the same time, the smell of decaying corpses and the groans of the dying did not spoil Vlad’s appetite at all!
Dracula was more than just a sadist. His cruel punishments had some political meaning. For example, when the envoys of the Turkish court dared not to remove their headdresses in his presence, he ordered the turbans to be nailed to their heads, which was undoubtedly a defiantly bold demonstration of independence.
No matter what, Dracula was a deeply religious man. During his reign, he donated a huge amount of land and villages to the monasteries. And the piety of Vlad III bordered on fanaticism, without at all moderating his cruelty.
Vlad built himself a personal stronghold - the Poenari fortress. By the way, the fortress was built practically by slave labor of pilgrims who gathered in Tirgovist from surrounding villages for the Easter holiday. But in 1462 the Turks destroyed Poenari, forcing Dracula to flee.
His wife, who did not want to fall into the hands of invaders even more cruel than her husband, threw herself off a cliff into the river, later called the “Princess River” - Argesa. Bran Castle was only a temporary refuge, a kind of observation and border point for Vlad the Impaler.
Dracula fought hard against the boyars, strengthening his own one-man rule. So, one day he invited several hundred boyars to a feast, at the end of which he impaled them all. The country was horrified, but, paradoxically, the authority of Vlad III increased, reaching almost fanaticism.
However, in 1462, Vlad was overthrown by his own brother, Radu the Beautiful, and imprisoned. But even there the cruel prince did not change his own preferences. If in freedom Dracula impaled people, watching with pleasure their torment, then in captivity he had fun with mice and birds.
Vlad the Impaler was killed in 1479 under unclear circumstances. Whether it was one of his subjects who could not bear the count’s cruelty, or whether the Turks tracked him down, no one can say with certainty.
Dracula was pierced with stakes and his head was cut off, which was sent to the Turkish Sultan as a present. Vlad was buried in the Orthodox Snagov monastery, but when, centuries later, his supposed grave was opened, his body was not found there. However, another grave was discovered next door with a skeleton in rich clothes. However, it cannot be argued that Count Vlad III Tepes actually rested in the grave.
Despite Dracula's cruelty, people began to perceive him as a vampire only after Bram Stoker's novel. It is known that Stoker was based on real materials, for example, on the letters of Vlad III himself and some church manuscripts.
However, many things were conjectured by the author.
By the way, the way Tepes was killed is very similar to the way vampires were killed! According to legend, a vampire must be pierced with a stake and his head cut off. This is exactly what the killers did to their victim!
Dracula (Vlad the Impaler)
Vlad III Basarab, known as Vlad Dracula and Vlad the Impaler. Born in 1431 in Sighisoara (Transylvania) - died in 1476 in Bucharest (Wallachia). Prince (sovereign) of Wallachia in 1448, 1456-1462 and 1476.
Vlad III Basarab, better known as Vlad Dracula, was born in 1431 in the city of Chessbourg (now Sighisoara) in Transylvania.
Father - Vlad II Dracul, Wallachian ruler (1436-1442, 1443-1447), second son of Mircea the Old from the Basarab dynasty. He received the nickname “Dracul” (from Roman dracul - dragon/devil), since 1431 he was a knight of the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxemburg, emperor and Hungarian king. The knights of the order wore medallions and pendants with the image of a golden dragon curled into a ring, and Vlad II, when knighted in 1431, also received a medallion (order) with a dragon from the hands of the king. Having become ruler of Transylvania in 1436, Vlad II placed the image of a dragon on the gold coins that he minted in his own name and with which he forcibly replaced the previous money, as well as on his personal seal and his heraldic shield.
Mother - Vasilika.
Vlad III inherited the nickname from his father.
The date of birth of Vlad III Dracula is not precisely established. Historians suggest that he was born between 1429-1430 and 1436, probably in Chessbourg (now Sighisoara). The time of Vlad's birth is calculated based on the age of his older brother Mircea (it is known that in 1442 he was 13-14 years old) and data on the time of the first reign of Dracula, which occurred in November 1448, when Dracula ruled without a regent, and therefore , was an adult at that time.
In his youth, Vlad III was called Dracul. However, later - in the 1470s - he began to indicate his nickname with the letter “a” at the end, since by that time it had become most famous in this form.
It is believed that "Dracula" in Romanian means "son of the dragon", but Romanian historians deny that the "a" at the end could give the word additional meaning compared to the word "Dracul".
As for the nickname Tepes, it appeared 30 years after Vlad’s death. This was a translation of the nickname received by the prince from the Turks and sounded like Kazykly (Turkish Kazıklı from the Turkish word kazık - “stake”).
During his lifetime, Vlad III was not called the Impaler either in Wallachia, or in Hungary, or in others European countries. This nickname first appears in Wallachian documents on January 21, 1506, where it is said “Vlad the Voivode, who is called Tepes.” The nickname "Tepes" comes from the Romanian țeapă, meaning "stake".
Vlad Dracula (documentary)
From 1431 to the summer of 1436, Vlad III Dracula lived in Sighisoara, in Transylvania.
In the Middle Ages, Transylvania belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary, but now the house in which Dracula lived with his father, mother and older brother is located in Romania at the address: Sighisoara, st. Zhestyanshchikov, 5.
The house contains a 15th-century fresco depicting Dracula's parents. It is also known that Dracula's father used this house as a mint between 1433 and 1436, where he minted gold money with the image of a dragon, for which he received the nickname, which his son later inherited.
In the summer of 1436, Dracula's father took the Wallachian throne and, no later than the autumn of that year, moved his family from Sighisoara to Wallachia.
Between August 1437 and August 1439, Dracula had another brother, Radu.
Around this time, Dracula's mother died, after which his father married a woman named Coltsuna from Braila. Koltsuna became the mother of another brother of Dracula - he later became known as Vlad the Monk.
In the spring of 1442, Dracula's father quarreled with Janos Hunyadi, who was the de facto ruler of Hungary at that time, as a result of which Janos decided to install another ruler in Wallachia - Basarab II.
In the summer of 1442, Dracula's father Vlad II went to Turkey to Sultan Murat II to ask for help, but was imprisoned for treason, where he was forced to stay for 8 months. At this time, Basarab II established himself in Wallachia, and Dracula and the rest of his family were in hiding.
Dracula in Turkey:
In the spring of 1443, Dracula's father returned from Turkey with Turkish army and removed Basarab II. Janos Hunyadi did not interfere with this, as he was preparing for a crusade against the Turks. The campaign began on July 22, 1443 and lasted until January 1444.
In the spring of 1444, negotiations began for a truce between Janos Hunyadi and the Sultan. Dracula's father joined the negotiations, during which Janos agreed that Wallachia could remain under Turkish influence. At the same time, the Sultan, wanting to be sure of the loyalty of the “Wallachian governor,” insisted on a “pledge.” The word “pledge” meant that the sons of the “voivode” should come to the Turkish court - that is, Dracula, who was 14-15 years old at that time, and his brother Radu, who was 5-6 years old.
Negotiations with Dracula's father ended on June 12, 1444. Dracula and his brother Radu traveled to Turkey no later than the end of July 1444.
Dracula, while in Turkey in 1444-1448, experienced a serious psychological shock, which left an imprint on his personality. In particular, M. Mihai writes that Dracula returned to his homeland as a “complete pessimist,” however, in various publications the reason for the change in Dracula’s character and the life of Dracula of that period are presented differently. Some authors write that in Turkey Dracula received death threats. Others report the opposite - that during his stay in Turkey, Dracula was not subjected to either physical or psychological violence from the Turks. Matej Kazaku even claims that the principles of organization of the Turkish state and society made a very favorable impression on Dracula.
There are two popular statements. The first is that in Turkey Dracula was tortured or tried to convert to Islam, and therefore the character of Dracula changed. The second popular claim is that the changes in Dracula's character are related to the sexual harassment of the heir to the Turkish throne, Mehmed, against Dracula's brother.
Regarding torture and inducement to Islam historical sources they say nothing, and only one medieval author talks about the relationship between Mehmed and Radu - the Greek historian Laonikos Chalkokondylos - but he dates these events to the early 1450s, that is, to the time when the character of Dracula had already undergone changes. Thus, the only event of the period 1444-1448 that could seriously affect Dracula was the death of Dracula’s loved ones - his father and older brother - in December 1446. The death occurred as a result of a coup d'etat carried out by the Hungarians.
In July 1444, when Dracula's father took his sons to the Sultan, the Turks and Hungarians signed the final version of the truce agreement for 10 years, but already on August 4, the Hungarians began preparing a new crusade.
In September, the troops of Janos Hunyadi entered Turkish territory. On November 10, 1444, a decisive battle took place between the Crusaders and the Turks near the city of Varna. Victory went to the Turks, and Janos Hunyadi fell into the hands of Dracula's father and stayed with him for about a month, after which he left without hindrance.
In the summer of 1445, Dracula's father Vlad II, wanting to make peace with Hunyadi, agreed that Wallachian warriors take part in a small military operation against the Turks, which lasted from July to October. The Giurgiu fortress near the Danube was captured, but this did not improve relations with the Hungarians. In addition, Vlad II banned the circulation of Hungarian coins in Wallachia. In November-December 1447, János Hunyadi marched into Wallachia to overthrow Vlad II Dracul. By order of Hunyadi, Dracula's father was beheaded, and Dracula's older brother was buried alive.
The Sultan, having learned about this, began to prepare for a new war with the Hungarians. The decisive battle took place in Serbia on the Kosovo field on October 17-19, 1448. Victory again went to the Turks, after which in November 1448, Dracula, with the help of the Turks, became a Wallachian prince, replacing the Hungarian protege Vladislav.
First reign of Dracula:
In the autumn of 1448, Dracula, together with Turkish troops lent by the Sultan, entered the Wallachian capital - Targovishte. When exactly this happened is not known exactly, but there is a letter from Dracula dated October 31, where he signs himself as “voivode of Wallachia.”
Immediately upon ascending the throne, Dracula begins an investigation into the events surrounding the deaths of his father and brother. During the investigation, he learns that at least 7 boyars who served his father supported Prince Vladislav, for which they received various favors.
Meanwhile, Janos Hunyadi and Vladislav, who lost the battle on Kosovo, arrived in Transylvania. On November 10, 1448, János Hunyadi, while in Sighisoara, announced that he was launching a military campaign against Dracula, calling him an “illegitimate” ruler. On November 23, Janos was already in Brasov, from where he moved with the army to Wallachia. On December 4, he entered Targovishte, but Dracula had already left by then.
Historians do not have exact data on where Dracula went immediately after leaving Targovishte. It is known that he eventually ended up in Moldavia, but his appearance in Moldavia in November 1448 could have been dangerous for Dracula, since there was a Hungarian military commander subordinate to Janos Hunyadi there. This military leader supported Prince Peter II, who was married to one of Janos Hunyadi's younger sisters, but Peter died suddenly, and the Hungarians remained in Moldavia to prevent it from coming under Polish influence.
The situation changed after March 1449, when Prince Alexander, Dracula's cousin, sat on the Moldovan throne, supported not by Janos, but by the Polish king. According to other sources, Alexander began to rule as early as November 1448, displacing Peter, who died only in 1452.
On October 12, 1449, Prince Bogdan II established himself on the Moldavian throne, with whose son, the future Moldavian prince Stefan the Great, Dracula was friendly, but Dracula’s position at the Moldavian court became difficult, since Bogdan entered into negotiations with Janos Hunyadi.
On February 11, 1450, Bogdan issued a letter in which he submitted himself completely to Janos and promised to be “a friend of his friends and an enemy of his enemies,” but this did not lead to the expulsion of Dracula from Moldavia.
On July 5, 1450, Bogdan confirmed the agreement with Janos with a new letter, where the same conditions were set out in more detail - including the condition that Hunyadi must provide military assistance to the Moldavian prince, and, if necessary, provide political asylum.
Contrary to the agreement, in the fall of 1450 Bogdan did not receive help from Hungary against the Poles. However, his son Stefan was able to obtain asylum on Hungarian territory, in Transylvania, after Bogdan was killed by the new Moldavian prince Peter Aron in October 1451.
Dracula traveled to Transylvania with Stefan, and in February 1452 he was expelled from there by order of Janos Hunyadi.
In a letter to the residents of Brasov dated February 6, 1452, Janos speaks of his intention to deprive Dracula of the opportunity to live not only in Transylvania, but also in Moldavia. However, Dracula returned to Moldavia, where at this time his cousin Alexander came to power again.
In February 1453, Janos Hunyadi concluded the same agreement with Alexandrel as he had with Bogdan. Alexandrel promised to submit to Janos and marry his granddaughter, but the agreement was not fulfilled.
Dracula left Moldavia only in May 1455, when Prince Alexandrel was overthrown by Peter Aron, who several years earlier (in the fall of 1451) killed Bogdan.
In 1456, Dracula was in Transylvania, where he gathered an army of volunteers to go to Wallachia and retake the throne.
At this time (from February 1456) a delegation of Franciscan monks led by Giovanni da Capistrano was in Transylvania, who also collected a volunteer army to liberate Constantinople, captured by the Turks in 1453. The Franciscans did not take Orthodox Christians on the campaign, which Dracula took advantage of, attracting rejected militias into his ranks.
Also in 1456, an assassination attempt was made on Dracula in the town of Joaju in southwestern Transylvania. The initiators were Janos Gereb de Wingard, who was a distant relative of Janos Hunyadi, and Nicolae de Vizacna, who was in Hunyadi’s service.
In April 1456, a rumor spread throughout Hungary that a Turkish army led by Sultan Mehmed was approaching the southern borders of the state and would march on Belgrade.
On July 3, 1456, in a letter addressed to the Transylvanian Saxons, János Hunyadi announced that he had appointed Dracula as protector of the Transylvanian regions.
After this, Janos, already a day and a half away from Belgrade, began preparing to break the Turkish blockade, the ring of which closed on July 4. The militia, collected by the Franciscan monk Giovanni da Capistrano, also followed Belgrade, which was initially supposed to go to Constantinople, and Dracula’s army stopped on the border of Transylvania with Wallachia.
The Wallachian prince Vladislav, fearing that in his absence Dracula might take the throne, did not go to the defense of Belgrade. On July 22, 1456, the Turkish army retreated from the Belgrade fortress, and in early August, Dracula's army moved to Wallachia. Dracula was helped to gain power by the Wallachian boyar Mane Udrische, who went over to his side in advance and persuaded several other boyars from the princely council under Vladislav to do the same.
On August 20, Vladislav was killed, and Dracula became a Wallachian prince for the second time. 9 days earlier (August 11), Janos Hunyadi died of the plague in Belgrade.
Second reign of Dracula:
Dracula's second reign lasted 6 years and became widely known outside Wallachia.
After coming to power for the second time, Dracula continued to investigate the circumstances of the death of his father and older brother. As a result of the investigation, more than 10 boyars were executed. Some sources claim that the number of those executed ranged from 500 to 20,000 people, but historians have not found evidence to support this information.
To announce the verdict to the boyars, Dracula first invited them to a feast. Romanian chronicles connect this feast with the Easter holiday, so the event was called "Easter" execution of the boyars.
Researchers do not have a consensus on the date of execution. There is reason to assert that the execution took place no later than April 1457. Romanian historian N. Stoicescu says the execution "supposedly" took place in 1459. Historian Matej Cazacu gives the date as March 25, 1459.
In 1957 there was Trek to Transylvania.
The main reason Dracula's campaign in Transylvania began with the actions of noble residents of Sibiu. This city was patronized younger brother Dracula, Vlad the Monk, who claimed the Wallachian throne.
In a letter dated March 14, 1457, sent to Sibiu, Dracula complained that two noble citizens who supported Vlad the Monk had been promised in advance income from two large Wallachian customs houses. The letter also contains an accusation that the residents of Sibiu helped the servants of Janos Hunyadi organize an assassination attempt on Dracula, which took place in the city of Joaju. In the same letter, Dracula says that the inhabitants of Sibiu are pushing Vlad the Monk to hostile actions.
Soon after sending the letter, Dracula set out on a campaign against Sibiu, as well as Brasov, since one of the organizers of the assassination attempt, Nicolae de Visacna, came from Brasov.
During the campaign, the following villages were devastated: Kastenholz (German Kastenholz - modern Kasholz near Sibiu), Neudorf (German Neudorf - modern Nou Romyn near Sibiu), Holzmengen (German Holzmengen - modern Hosman near Sibiu), Brenndorf (German Brenndorf - modern Bod near Brasov), as well as other villages in Burzenland (German: Burzenland - that was the name of all the lands of Brasov in general).
From the lands of Brasov, the Wallachian army immediately moved to Moldova to help Dracula's friend Stefan, the future Moldavian prince Stefan the Great, ascend to the throne.
Dracula and Brasov:
Relations with Brasov largely shaped the image of Dracula in the eyes of his contemporaries. It is these relations that are devoted to the largest part of the German pamphlet of 1463 and the largest part of Michael Beheim’s poem “On the Villain...”, written several years later. A real basis for data literary works were inspired by the events of 1456-1462.
In 1448, having taken the Wallachian throne for the first time, Dracula received an invitation to visit Brasov, but replied that he could not come, since the invitation came from Nicolae de Visacna, subordinate to Janos Hunyadi. In 1452, the people of Brasov, on the orders of Janos Hunyadi, expelled Dracula from their lands, who had arrived there with Stefan from Moldavia. In 1456, Janos Hunyadi sent a letter to all Saxon cities in Transylvania, including Brasov. The letter said that the Saxons should accept Dracula, who is tasked with protecting them from a possible attack by the Turks, and the Saxon warriors should go to Janos to defend Belgrade.
Having come to power in the summer of 1456, Dracula continued to build relations with the Saxons. At the beginning of September 1456, 4 representatives from Brasov arrived in Targovishte. They acted as official witnesses as Dracula took an oath of vassalage to the Hungarian king Laszlo Posthumus.
The text of the vassal oath specifically stipulated relations with the Brasovites:
1. Dracula received the right to come to the territory of Hungary and to the people of Brasov in search of political asylum, as well as “for the sake of expelling enemies”;
2. Dracula pledged to “stand on the defensive against the Turks” and other “enemy forces,” but if serious difficulties arose, he expected Hungary and the Brasovians to provide him with assistance;
3. Brasov merchants received the right to freely come to Wallachia, but had to pay a fee.
At the same time, a Turkish envoy arrived in Targovishte, which is why Dracula was forced to give the Brasovians an explanation about the goals he pursues in negotiations with the Turks.
In December 1456, László Hunyadi, the eldest son of János Hunyadi, sent a letter to the Brasovians, accusing Dracula of disloyalty to the Hungarian crown and breaking certain promises made before coming to power. Laszlo also ordered the Brasovians to support the contender for the Wallachian throne Dan and break off relations with Dracula, but the Brasovians carried out only the first part of the order, since in March 1457 Laszlo Hunyadi was executed by the Hungarian king Laszlo Postumus.
In March 1457, Dracula devastated the outskirts of Brasov when he walked from the lands of Sibiu to Moldavia, wanting to help his friend Stefan take the Moldovan throne.
By 1458, Dracula's relations with Brasov had improved. In May, Dracula sent a letter to the people of Brasov with a request to send craftsmen and said that he “paid the money for the work of the previous masters in full and honestly, and also allowed (everyone) to return peacefully and freely.” In response to the letter, the Brasov administration sent 56 more people to Dracula.
Historians also attribute an undated letter to this period, where Dracula informs the city administration of Brasov that “as a sign of respect” he gives them several oxen and cows.
In the spring of 1459, relations became tense again. On April 2, the pretender Dan, who was still hiding in Brasov, noted in a letter that the Brasovians “complained” to him about Dracula. Dan writes that the Brasov merchants, who “peacefully” arrived in Wallachia, were robbed and “killed by Dracula, impaled on stakes.” Then Dan, believing that he would soon become a Wallachian prince, allowed the Brasovites to confiscate the goods of the Wallachian merchants stored in Brasov as compensation for the damage they had suffered. The letter also says that Dracula burned or impaled 300 Brasov youths who were studying the language in Wallachia.
However, the story of the burning, told by Dan, has much in common with the biblical story of three Jewish youths who “learned books and language” at the court of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, and then, by order of the king, were thrown into the fire.
In April 1460, a battle took place between the troops of Dracula and Dan. Dan lost, was captured, and then executed. By April 22, news of this reached the Hungarian royal court. The story of a certain Blasius (Blaize, Blazey), who lived at court, has been preserved. The letter reports that Dracula ordered Dan's men, who had already been killed in battle, to be impaled. Dracula also ordered that all the women who followed Dan’s army and were caught be impaled (according to researchers, these were prostitutes who served Dan’s army). Infants were tied to their impaled mothers. Dana Dracula allowed the seven surviving warriors to leave with their weapons, taking an oath from them not to fight him again.
On April 28, 1460, Janos Gereb de Wingart, who in 1456 staged an unsuccessful attempt on Dracula’s life, sent a letter to the Brasovians, convincing them that Dracula had entered into an alliance with the Turks and would soon come to plunder the Transylvanian lands together with the Turkish army. Janos Gereb's accusations were not confirmed.
On May 26, 1460, Nicolae de Visacna, who also participated in organizing the assassination attempt on Dracula, sent a letter to the Brasovians, inviting them to continue arresting Wallachian merchants.
In June 1460, Dracula sent his “special adviser” named Vojko Dobrica to Brasov to finally resolve the issue of handing over the defectors who were hiding in the city. In a letter dated June 4, Dracula promised that after the Brasovites handed over the defectors, peace negotiations would begin.
In July 1460, Dracula regained control of Fagaras, previously “occupied” by the supporters of Dan III. A German pamphlet from 1463 states that during the operation to recapture Fagaras, massacres of civilians were carried out (Dracula ordered “women, men and children to be impaled”). However, in a letter to Brasov, written shortly before the campaign, Dracula himself expresses fears that the Brasov warriors could “cause evil” in Fagaras. A letter from Dracula, written shortly after the campaign, has also been preserved, in which Dracula demands the return of the pigs confiscated by the Brasovians from one of the residents of Fagaras.
In the fall of 1460, the Brasov embassy, headed by the mayor of Brasov, visited Bucharest. The parties agreed that all Wallachian and Brasov prisoners would be released. The terms of peace were also discussed, consisting of three paragraphs and three more articles. These conditions applied not only to the people of Brasov - Dracula entered into an agreement with all the Saxons of Transylvania, as well as with the Székelys.
Dracula's War with the Ottoman Empire:
By the beginning of his reign, Tepes ruled about 500 thousand people. Vlad III fought against the boyars for the centralization of state power. Armed free peasants and townspeople to fight internal and external dangers (the threat of conquest of lands by the Ottoman Empire).
In 1461, he refused to pay tribute to the Turkish Sultan and destroyed the Ottoman administration on both banks of the Danube, from the lower reaches to Zimnitsa.
As a result of the “Night Attack” on June 17, 1462, at the head of only 7,000 soldiers, he forced the 100-120 thousand Ottoman army of Sultan Mehmed II that invaded the principality to retreat, killing up to 15,000 Turks. In the war with the Turkish army he used “scorched earth tactics.”
In order to instill fear in the Turkish soldiers, all captured Turks, on his orders, were executed by impalement - the same execution that was “popular” in Turkey at that time. Mehmed II and the Turkish army were forced to leave Wallachia.
In the same year, as a result of the betrayal of the Hungarian monarch, Matthias Corvinus was forced to flee to Hungary, where was imprisoned on false charges of collaborating with the Turks and spent 12 years in prison.
Death of Dracula:
In 1475, Vlad III Dracula was released from a Hungarian prison and again began to participate in campaigns against the Turks. In November 1475 he was part of Hungarian army(as one of the military commanders of King Matthias, the “royal captain”) went to Serbia, where from January to February 1476 he participated in the siege of the Turkish fortress of Sabac.
In February 1476, he took part in the war against the Turks in Bosnia, and in the summer of 1476, together with another “royal captain” Stefan Bathory, he helped the Moldavian prince Stefan the Great defend against the Turks.
In November 1476, Vlad Dracula, with the help of Stefan Bathory and Stefan the Great, overthrew the pro-Turkish Wallachian prince Lajota Basarab. On November 8, 1476, Targovishte was taken. On November 16, Bucharest was captured. November 26 general meeting The noble people of Wallachia chose Dracula as their prince.
Then the troops of Stefan Bathory and Stefan the Great left Wallachia, and only those warriors who subordinated directly to him (about 4,000 people) remained with Vlad Dracula. Soon after this, Vlad was killed on the initiative of Layota Basaraba, but sources differ in the stories about the method of murder and the direct perpetrators.
Medieval chroniclers Jacob Unrest and Jan Dlugosz believe that he was killed by his servant, bribed by the Turks. The author of “The Tale of Dracula the Voivode,” Fyodor Kuritsyn, believes that Vlad Dracula was killed during a battle with the Turks by a group of people who allegedly mistook him for a Turk.
Personal life of Vlad Dracula:
From an unknown woman he had a son, also Vlad.
He was married to Ilona Sziladyi, who was cousin Hungarian King Matthias. Before him, Ilona was married for 10 years to a Slovakian whose name was Vaclav Szentmiklosi-Pongratz. She had no children from her first marriage.
He got married immediately after leaving prison.
The marriage was so-called. mixed (lat. matrimonia mixta), meaning that the bride and groom belonging to different branches of Christianity get married, but no one changes their faith. The wedding of Dracula and Ilona took place on Catholic rite. They were married by a Catholic bishop. The approximate date of the wedding is early July 1475.
The marriage produced two sons: Mikhnya Zloy and Mikhail.
Ilona Szilagyi - Dracula's wife
Vlad III Tepes became the prototype of Count Dracula, a vampire, the main character and main antagonist of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897). As the archetypal vampire, Dracula has appeared in numerous works of popular culture, even those not directly related to Bram Stoker's novel.
Some scholars of Stoker's work believe that fictional Dracula should not be identified with the Wallachian ruler, although in the novel itself there is a disclaimer about a possible identity, and in some films this subtlety is completely ignored.
The character of the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker gave rise to many dramatizations, film adaptations, as well as various sequels - various sons and daughters of Dracula, his vampire rivals and other characters associated and generated by the image of Dracula appeared: Count Mora, Count Orlok, Count Alucard, Count Yorga Blackula and etc.
It is generally accepted that the very first film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula” is a film shot in 1920, presumably in Yalta, by director Yuri Ivarono and cameraman Igor Mallo. The film was considered lost for a long time, but in 2013 a strange video was published on YouTube, which, according to the author, is a fragment of that same Russian silent film. There is also a note about a silent film evening in Dmitrovgrad in October 2014, where a restored 1920 film about Dracula was shown.
Dracula in the movies:
1920 - Dracula - the very first film adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. The film was shot in Crimea by director Turzhansky;
1921 - Dracula - a film by Hungarian filmmakers;
1922 - Nosferatu. Symphony of Terror - starring Max Schreck, directed by Friedrich Murnau;
1931 - Dracula - the first Dracula film in the Universal Pictures horror film series, starring Bela Lugosi;
1931 - Dracula - Spanish-language version starring Carlos Villar, in detail mostly reminiscent of the film with Bela Lugosi;
1936 - Dracula's Daughter - a film from the Universal Pictures vampire series starring Gloria Holden;
1943 - Son of Dracula - a film from the Universal Pictures vampire series starring Lon Chaney Jr.;
1943 - Return of the Vampire - directed by L. Landers;
1944 - House of Frankenstein - John Carradine's Dracula becomes part of a group of monsters meeting at the same time and place;
1945 - House of Dracula - the last serious film from Universal Pictures about Dracula, again played by John Carradine;
1948 - Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein - one of the first experiments with the genre, where elements of horror are intertwined with elements of comedy. Starring Bela Lugosi;
1953 - Dracula of Istanbul - Turkish adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel;
1958 - Dracula (Horror of Dracula) - the first film in the series about Dracula from the Hammer Horror studio, played by Christopher Lee;
1960 - Brides of Dracula - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1965 - Dracula: Prince of Darkness - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1966 - Dracula - short 8-minute film;
1966 - The Death of Dracula - short 8-minute film;
1967 - Ball of the Vampires - director Roman Polanski, Ferdie Main - Count von Krolock;
1968 - Dracula Rises from the Grave - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1968 - Count Dracula - film by Jesus Franco;
1970 - Taste the Blood of Dracula - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1970 - Scars of Dracula - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1970 - Princess Dracula;
1972 - Dracula, year 1972 - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1972 - Blackula - a film in which an African prince turns into a vampire as a result of the machinations of Dracula;
1972 - Dracula's Daughter;
1972 - Dracula vs. Frankenstein is a 1972 Franco-Spanish film. Starring Howard Vernon;
1973 - The Satanic Rites of Dracula - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1974 - Dracula - film directed by Dan Curtis and starring Jack Palance;
1974 - Blood for Dracula - Andy Warhol's Dracula. Starring Udo Kier;
1976 - Dracula - father and son;
1977 - Count Dracula - a film produced by the BBC starring Louis Jourdan;
1978 - Nosferatu - Phantom of the Night - a remake of the classic Murnau film, directed by Werner Herzog. Starring Klaus Kinski;
1979 - Dracula - a film in the gothic-romantic tradition. Starring Frank Langella;
1979 - Love at First Bite - romantic comedy starring George Hamilton;
1979 - Gospodar Vlad - film based on historical facts, displays real life Wallachian ruler Vlad III Basarab;
1980 - Death of Dracula;
1985 - Fraccia vs. Dracula - black comedy. Starring Edmund Purdom;
1989 - Widow of Dracula;
1990 - Dracula: The Series;
1991 - Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat - a comedy western about a ghost town inhabited by vampires;
1992 - Bram Stoker's Dracula - film starring Gary Oldman as Dracula;
1993 - Dracula Risen;
1994 - Nadya - in the role of Dracula Peter Fonda;
1994 - Dracula - Italian porn film directed by Mario Salieri;
1995 - Dracula: Dead and Loving - a parody directed by Mel Brooks and starring Leslie Nielsen as Dracula;
2000 - Dracula 2000 - modern version classic plot. In the role of Dracula - Gerard Butler;
2000 - Bloody Wedding. Altar of Roses is a silent musical film starring Japanese darkwave band Malice Mizer, slightly modified from the plot of Stoker's novel. The role of Dracula is played by Kukizdawa Yuki, Van Helsing - Hiroki Koji;
2000 - Prince Dracula: The True Story - film directed by Joe Chappell. In the role of Dracula - Rudolf Martin;
2000 - Buffy vs. Dracula - episode of the series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”;
2002 - The Return of Dracula - an Italian film in which the action is moved to modern times;
2002 - Dracula, Pages From a Virgin's Diary - silent choreographic interpretation by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet;
2003 - Dracula 2: Ascension - continuation of the film Dracula 2000. Starring Stephen Billington;
2003 - I Dream of Dracula;
2004 - Van Helsing - an action movie that very freely uses elements of the novel. Richard Roxburgh as Dracula;
2004 - Blade 3: Trinity - the third film adaptation of the comic book about the vampire hunter Blade. The main villain is the vampire Drake, "Dracula" being one of his names;
2004 - Dracula 3000 - science fiction film with horror elements;
2005 - Dracula 3: Legacy - continuation of the films Dracula 2000 and Dracula 2: Ascension. Starring Rutger Hauer;
2005 - Lust For Dracula - lesbian surreal interpretation;
2005 - Way of the Vampire - Dracula (Paul Logan) dies at the beginning of the film;
2006 - Dracula - third BBC version starring Marc Warren and David Suchet as Van Helsing;
2006 - A Visit from Dracula's Family - a black comedy starring Harry Huys;
2008 - The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Cup - an adventure film with fantasy elements. Dracula (Bruce Davison) is the main antagonist, hiding under the guise of an ordinary person;
2011 - In Search of Truth: The True Story of Count Dracula;
2012 - Dracula 3D - film in 3D format, classic adaptation. Directed by Dario Argento, starring Thomas Kretschmann;
2013-2014 - Dracula - horror and drama series with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Alexander Grayson / Dracula;
2014 - Dracula - a film that tells the story of Dracula's transformation into a vampire. The main role was played by Luke Evans.
There are quite a few theories and legends about the origins of vampires. One of them says that they are descendants of Cain, who became the first biblical murderer of his own brother. But all this is speculation about the main version. Until now, not everyone knows that the origin of the vampire is directly related to the name of Vlad the Impaler, a Romanian governor of the 15th century, later the ruler of Transylvania. He is the very famous Count Dracula!
The Count is a real national hero of Romania and a crime fighter. Its history goes back to medieval Transylvania...
The story of Count Dracula
Bloodthirsty ruler
Vlad the Impaler was the ruler of Transylvania (a region located in northwestern Romania) from 1448 to 1476. His favorite pastime was sadistic torture of enemies and civilians, including one of the most terrible ones - piercing the anus. Because Vlad the Impaler loved to impale living people, he was nicknamed Vlad the Impaler. However, his most cruel atrocity lay elsewhere: once the Romanian governor invited him to his castle (in which, in fact, he carried out all the torture - see photo below) to a dinner party a large number of beggars. When the poor fellows were eating peacefully, Count Dracula locked them in a room and set them on fire. In addition, the chronicle describes a case when this sadist ordered his servants to nail their hats to the heads of Turkish ambassadors only because they refused to take them off in front of the ruler.
Such atrocities left their mark on the personality of this ruler. Count Dracula became the prototype for the hero of the novel of the same name, written Why was Tepes unusually cruel? Why did he keep all of Transylvania in fear, confusing and confusing all European monarchs? More on this later.
The insidious and cruel Count Dracula
Transylvania is his birthplace. "Dracul" (Dragon) - nickname. At the age of 13, the son of the Wallachian governor Vladislav II was captured by the Turks and was held hostage for almost 4 years. It was this fact that influenced the psyche of the future ruler. He was described as an unbalanced person with many strange habits and strange ideas. For example, Count Dracula was very fond of eating at the site of the execution of people or a recent fatal battle. Isn't it strange?
Tepes received the nickname "Dragon" due to the fact that his father had membership in the elite Dragon, which was created by Emperor Sigismund in 1408. As for the title - Vlad III, he should be called a ruler, not a count, but such a naming is arbitrary. But why is this particular ruler considered the progenitor of vampires?
It's all about Tepes's extraordinary passion for bloodshed, for inhuman torture and murder. Then it becomes unclear why the Russian Tsar - Ivan Vasilyevich - was nicknamed "The Terrible"? He should also be dubbed a vampire, because it was he who drowned Ancient Rus' in the blood in the literal sense of the word. But that is another story...
Vlad III, also known as Vlad the Impaler or simply Dracula, was a legendary military prince of Wallachia. He ruled the principality three times - in 1448, from 1456 to 1462 and in 1476, during the beginning of the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. Dracula became a popular folklore character in many Eastern European countries thanks to his bloody battles and protection Orthodox Christianity from the Ottoman invasion. And at the same time he is one of the most popular and bloody figures in the history of pop culture. The blood-chilling legends about Dracula are known to almost everyone, but what was the real Vlad the Impaler like?
1. Small Motherland
The real historical prototype of Dracula was Vlad III (Vlad the Impaler). He was born in Sighisoara, Transylvania in 1431. Today on his former place birth, a restaurant was built, which annually attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world.
2. Order of the Dragon
Dracula's father was called Dracul, which means "dragon". Also, according to other sources, he had the nickname “devil”. He received a similar name because he belonged to the Order of the Dragon, which fought the Ottoman Empire.
3. Father was married to the Moldavian princess Vasilisa
Although nothing is known about Dracula's mother, it is assumed that his father was married to the Moldavian princess Vasilisa at the time. However, since Vlad II had several mistresses, no one knows who Dracula's real mother was.
4. Between two fires
Dracula lived in a time of constant war. Transylvania was located on the border of two great empires: the Ottoman and Austrian Habsburgs. As a young man he was imprisoned, first by the Turks and later by the Hungarians. Dracula's father was killed, and his older brother Mircea was blinded with red-hot iron stakes and buried alive. These two facts greatly influenced how vile and vicious Vlad later became.
5.Constantine XI Palaiologos
It is believed that the young Dracula spent some time in Constantinople in 1443 at the court of Constantine XI Palaiologos, a legendary character in Greek folklore and the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Some historians suggest that it was there that he developed his hatred of the Ottomans.
6. Son and heir Mikhnya is evil
It is believed that Dracula was married twice. His first wife is unknown, although she may have been a Transylvanian noblewoman. She bore Vlad a son and heir, the evil Mikhny. Vlad married a second time after serving his prison sentence in Hungary. Dracula's second wife was Ilona Szilágyi, the daughter of a Hungarian nobleman. She bore him two sons, but neither of them became a ruler.
7. Nickname “Tepes”
The nickname “Tepes” translated from Romanian means “piercer”. It appeared 30 years after Vlad's death. Vlad III earned his nickname “Tepes” (from the Romanian word țeapă 0 - “stake”) because he killed thousands of Turks in a gruesome way - impalement. He learned about this execution back in adolescence, when he was a political hostage of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople.
8. The worst enemy of the Ottoman Empire
It is believed that Dracula is responsible for the deaths of more than one hundred thousand people (most of them Turks). It made him worst enemy Ottoman Empire.
9. Twenty thousand rotting corpses frightened the Sultan
In 1462, during the war between the Ottoman Empire and Dracula's Wallachia, Sultan Mehmed II fled with his army, horrified by the sight of twenty thousand rotting Turkish corpses impaled on stakes on the outskirts of Vlad's capital, Targovishte. During one battle, Dracula retreated into the nearby mountains, leaving behind him imprisoned prisoners. This forced the Turks to stop their pursuit, since the Sultan could not stand the stench of decaying corpses.
10. Birth of a legend
Impaled corpses were usually displayed as a warning to others. At the same time, the corpses were white because the blood completely flowed out of the wound on the neck. This is where the legend came from that Vlad the Impaler was a vampire.
11. Scorched earth tactics
Dracula also became known for the fact that during his retreat, he burned villages along the way and killed all the local residents. Such atrocities were committed so that the soldiers of the Ottoman army had no place to rest and so that there were no women whom they could rape. In an attempt to cleanse the streets of the Wallachian capital Targovishte, Dracula invited all the sick, vagabonds and beggars to one of his houses under the pretext of a feast. At the end of the feast, Dracula left the house, locked it from the outside and set it on fire.
12. Dracula's head went to the Sultan
In 1476, 45-year-old Vlad was eventually captured and beheaded during the Turkish invasion. His head was brought to the Sultan, who put it on public display on the fence of his palace.
13. Remains of Dracula
It is believed that archaeologists who were searching for Snagov (a commune near Bucharest) in 1931 found the remains of Dracula. The remains were transferred to the historical museum in Bucharest, but later they disappeared without a trace, leaving the secrets of the real Prince Dracula unanswered.
14. Dracula was very religious
Despite his cruelty, Dracula was very religious and surrounded himself with priests and monks throughout his life. He founded five monasteries, and his family founded more than fifty monasteries over 150 years. He was initially praised by the Vatican for defending Christianity. However, the church subsequently expressed its disapproval of Dracula's brutal methods and ended its relationship with him.
15. Monstrous Ruler
In Turkey, Dracula is considered a monstrous and vile ruler who executed his enemies in a painful way purely for his own pleasure.
16. Transylvanian subculture
Dracula enjoyed enormous popularity in the second half of the twentieth century. More than two hundred films have been made starring Count Dracula, more than any other historical figure. At the center of this subculture is the legend of Transylvania, which has become almost synonymous with the land of vampires.
17. Dracula and Ceausescu
Former Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu (1965 – 1989) used Dracula in his campaign. To be more precise, he referred to Vlad's patriotism in a speech to the Hungarians and other ethnic minorities in Transylvania.
18. There are no vampires in Romania
Contrary to popular belief, vampires are not part of Romanian folklore and the word does not even exist in the Romanian language. The word comes from the Serbian “Vampyr”.
19. “Like frogs”
According to the book In Search of Dracula, Vlad had a very strange sense of humor. The book tells how his victims often twitched on the stakes “like frogs.” Vlad thought it was funny, and once said of his victims: “Oh, what great grace they show.”
20. Fear and the Golden Cup
In order to prove how much the inhabitants of the principality feared him, Dracula placed a golden cup in the middle of the city square in Targovishte. He allowed people to drink from it, but the golden cup had to remain in its place at all times. Surprisingly, during the entire reign of Vlad, the golden cup was never touched, although sixty thousand people lived in the city, most in conditions of extreme poverty.
Over the course of several centuries, the figure of the most famous vampire in the world has become overgrown with a layer of various myths, true and not so true, and our task today is to understand the mysterious appearance of the ominous prince. He is associated with a national hero who fought for justice, a cruel and bloody ruler who knew no mercy, and the well-known image from books and films depicts in the imagination a legendary bloodsucker consumed by passions. For many who followed the popular film adaptations, the blood ran cold from the atmosphere conveying horror, and the vampire theme, shrouded in a flair of mystery and romance, became one of the main ones in cinema and literature.
The birth of a tyrant and murderer
So, the story of Vlad Dracula began at the end of 1431 in Transylvania, when a son was born to the heroic commander Basarab the Great, who famously fought against the Turks. It must be said that this was far from the most beautiful baby, and it is with his repulsive appearance that some historians associate a pathological manifestation of cruelty. The boy, possessing incredible physical strength, with a protruding lower lip and cold, bulging eyes, had unique properties: it was believed that he saw right through people.
The young man, whose biography was full of such terrible stories, after which he even lost his mind, was considered an unbalanced person with many strange ideas. From childhood, his father taught little Vlad to wield weapons, and his fame as a cavalryman literally thundered throughout the country. He swam perfectly, because in those days there were no bridges, and therefore he constantly had to swim across the water.
Order of the Dragon
Vlad II Dracul, who belonged to the elite Draco with strict military-monastic orders, wore a medallion on his chest, like all his other members, as a sign of his membership in society. But he decided not to stop there. At his instigation, images of a mythical fire-breathing animal appeared on the walls of all churches and on coins circulating in the country. The prince received the nickname Dracul, who converts infidels to Christianity, in the order. It translated from Romanian meant “dragon”.
Compromise solutions
The ruler of Wallachia - a small state located between the Ottoman Empire and Transylvania - was always ready for attacks from the Turks, but tried to compromise with the Sultan. So, in order to maintain the state status of his country, Vlad’s father paid a huge tribute in timber and silver. At that time, all princes had duties - to send their sons as hostages to the Turks, and if uprisings broke out against the dominance of the conquerors, then inevitable death awaited the children. It is known that Vlad II Dracul sent two sons to the Sultan, where for more than 4 years they were held in voluntary captivity, which meant the guarantee of a fragile peace, so necessary for a small state.
They say that the fact of being away from his family for a long time and the terrible executions that the future tyrant witnessed left a special emotional imprint on him, which was reflected in his already shattered psyche. Living at the Sultan's court, the boy saw a manifestation of cruelty towards everyone who was obstinate and opposed to power.
It was in captivity that Vlad III Tepes learned about the murder of his father and older brother, after which he received freedom and the throne, but after several months he fled to Moldova, fearing for his life.
Cruelty coming from childhood
Historical chronicles know of an incident when a rebellion was raised in one principality, and in retaliation for this, the ruler’s offspring, who were held hostage, were blinded. For stealing food, the Turks had their bellies ripped open, and for the slightest offense they were impaled. Young Vlad, who was repeatedly forced to renounce Christianity under threat of death, watched such terrible sights for 4 years. It is possible that daily rivers of blood influenced the young man’s unstable psyche. It is believed that life in captivity was the very impetus that contributed to the emergence of bestial cruelty towards all disobedient people.
Vlad's nicknames
Born into the dynasty from which Bessarabia (ancient Romania) was later named, Vlad the Impaler is referred to in documents as Basarab.
But where did he get the nickname Dracula - opinions differ. There are two known versions explaining where the sovereign’s son got this name. The first says that the young heir had the same name as his father, but he began to add the letter “a” at the end to the inherited nickname.
The second version says that the word “Dracul” is translated not only as “dragon”, but also as “devil”. And this is what Vlad, known for his incredible cruelty, was called by his enemies and intimidated local residents. Over time, the letter “a” was added to the nickname Dracul for ease of pronunciation at the end of the word. A few decades after his death, the ruthless killer Vlad III received another nickname - Tepes, which was translated from Romanian as “impaler” (Vlad Tepes).
Reign of the merciless Tepes
The year 1456 marks the beginning of not only the short reign of Dracula in Wallachia, but also very difficult times for the country as a whole. Vlad, who was particularly ruthless, was cruel to his enemies and punished his subjects for any disobedience. All the guilty died a terrible death - they were impaled, which differed in length and size: low murder weapons were chosen for commoners, and executed boyars were visible from afar.
As ancient legends say, the prince of Wallachia had a special love for the groans of those in agony and even held feasts in places where the unfortunate suffered incredible torment. And the ruler’s appetite only intensified from the smell of decaying bodies and the cries of the dying.
He was never a vampire and did not drink the blood of his victims, but it is known for certain that he was an obvious sadist who enjoyed watching the suffering of those who did not obey his rules. Often executions were of a political nature; the slightest disrespect was followed by retaliatory measures leading to death. For example, the Gentiles who did not remove their turbans and arrived at the prince’s court were killed very in an unusual way- driving nails into the head.
The Lord, who did a lot to unify the country
Although, as some historians say, the deaths of only 10 boyars are documented, as a result of whose conspiracy Dracula’s father and his older brother were killed. But legends call a huge number of his victims - about 100 thousand.
If the legendary ruler is considered from the point of view statesman, whose good intentions to liberate his native country from the Turkish invaders were fully supported, then we can confidently say that he acted, guided by the principles of honor and national duty. Refusing to pay the traditional tribute, Vlad III Basarab creates from among the peasants who forces the Turkish warriors to retreat, who have arrived to deal with the disobedient ruler and his country. And all the prisoners were executed during the city holiday.
Fierce religious fanatic
Being an extremely religious person, Tepes fanatically helped the monasteries, donating land to them. Having found reliable support in the person of the clergy, the bloody ruler acted very far-sightedly: the people were silent and obeyed, because virtually all his actions were sanctified by the church. It is difficult to even imagine how many prayers for lost souls were offered to the Lord every day, but the grief did not result in a fierce struggle against the bloody tyrant.
And what is surprising is that his enormous piety was combined with incredible ferocity. Wanting to build a fortress for himself, the cruel executioner gathered all the pilgrims who came to celebrate the great holiday of Easter, and forced them to work for several years until their clothes decayed.
The policy of cleansing the country of antisocial elements
In a short time it eradicates crime, and historical chronicles tell that gold coins left on the street continued to remain in the very place where they were thrown. Not a single beggar or tramp, of whom troubled times there was so much, I didn’t even dare to touch the wealth.
Consistent in all his endeavors, the ruler of Wallachia begins to implement his plan to cleanse the country of all thieves. This policy, as a result of which everyone who dared to steal was given a quick trial and painful death, bore fruit. After thousands of deaths at the stake or the chopping block, there were no people willing to take what belonged to others, and the unprecedented honesty of the population in the middle of the 15th century became a phenomenon that had no analogues in the entire history of the world.
Order in the country through brutal methods
Mass executions, which have already become commonplace, are the surest way to gain fame and remain in the memory of posterity. It is known that Vlad III Tepes did not like gypsies, famous horse thieves and slackers, and to this day it is in the camps that he is called a mass murderer who exterminated a huge number of nomadic people.
It should be noted that everyone who incurred the wrath of the ruler died a terrible death, regardless of their position in society or nationality. When Tepes learned that some merchants, despite the strictest ban, had established trade relations with the Turks, as a warning to everyone else, he impaled them in a huge market square. After this, there were no people willing to improve their financial situation at the expense of the enemies of the Christian faith.
War with Transylvania
But not only the Turkish Sultan was dissatisfied with the ambitious ruler; the power of Dracula, who did not tolerate defeat, began to be threatened by the merchants of Transylvania. The rich did not want to see such an unbridled and unpredictable prince on the throne. They wanted to place their favorite on the throne - the Hungarian king, who would not provoke the Turks, exposing all neighboring lands to danger. Nobody needed the long battle between Wallachia and the Sultan’s troops, and Transylvania did not want to engage in an unnecessary duel, which would have been inevitable in the event of hostilities.
Vlad Dracula, having learned about the plans of a neighboring country, and even conducting trade with the Turks, which was prohibited on its territory, became extremely angry and struck an unexpected blow. The army of the bloody ruler burned the Transylvanian lands, and local residents with social weight were impaled.
Tepes' 12-year imprisonment
This story ended pitifully for the tyrant himself. Outraged by the cruelty, the surviving merchants turned to a last resort - a proclamation for the overthrow of Tepes by means of the printed word. Anonymous authors wrote a pamphlet describing the ruler’s mercilessness, and added a little of their own about the plans of the bloody conqueror.
Count Vlad Dracula, not expecting a new attack, is caught by surprise by Turkish troops in the very castle that the unfortunate pilgrims built for him. By chance, he flees from the fortress, leaving his young wife and all his subjects to certain death. Outraged by the atrocities of the ruler, the European elite was just waiting for this moment, and the fugitive was taken into custody by the Hungarian king, who laid claim to his throne.
Death of the Bloody Prince
Tepes spends 12 long years in prison and even becomes a Catholic for his political reasons. Mistaking the tyrant's forced obedience for submission, the king frees him and even tries to help him ascend to his former throne. 20 years after the start of his reign, Vlad returns to Wallachia, where angry residents are already waiting for him. accompanying the prince was defeated, and the king, not intending to fight with his neighbors, decides to hand over the tyrant to the state that suffered from his atrocities. Having learned about this decision, Dracula runs again, hoping for a lucky break.
However, fortune turned away from him completely, and the tyrant accepted death in battle, but the circumstances of his death are not known. The boyars, in a fit of anger, chopped the body of the hated ruler into pieces, and sent his head to the Turkish Sultan. The monks who remember the good, who supported the bloody tyrant in everything, quietly bury his remains.
When, several centuries later, archaeologists became interested in the figure of Dracula, they decided to open his grave. To everyone's horror, it turned out to be empty, with traces of garbage. But nearby they find a strange burial of bones with a missing skull, which is considered to be the last resting place of Tepes. To prevent the pilgrimage of modern tourists, the authorities moved the bones to one of the islands guarded by monks.
The birth of a legend about a vampire looking for new victims
After the death of the Wallachian sovereign, a legend was born about a vampire who found no shelter either in heaven or in hell. Local residents believe that the spirit of the prince has taken on a new, no less terrible guise and now prowls at night in search of human blood.
In 1897, Bram Stoker’s mystical novel was published, describing Dracula rising from the dead, after which the bloodthirsty ruler began to be associated with a vampire. The writer used real letters from Vlad, preserved in the chronicles, but a large amount of the material was still made up. Dracula appears no less merciless than his prototype, but aristocratic manners and a certain nobility make the Gothic character a real hero, whose popularity is only growing.
The book is considered a symbiosis of science fiction and a horror novel, in which ancient mystical forces and modern realities are closely intertwined. As the researchers say, the conductor's memorable appearance served as inspiration for creating the image of the main character, and many details were borrowed from Mephistopheles. Stoker clearly indicates that Count Dracula receives his magical powers from the devil himself. Vlad Tepes, who has turned into a monster, does not die and does not rise from the grave, as was described in early novels about vampires. The author makes his character a unique hero, crawling along vertical walls and turning into bat, always symbolizing evil spirits. Later, this little animal will be called a vampire, although it does not drink any blood.
Credibility effect
The writer, who has carefully studied Romanian folklore and historical evidence, creates unique material in which there is no author's narration. The book is only a documentary chronicle, consisting of diaries, transcripts of the main characters, which only enhances the depth of the narrative. Creating the effect of genuine reality, Bram Stoker's Dracula soon becomes the unofficial bible of vampires, which details the rules of a world alien to us. And the carefully drawn images of the characters appear alive and emotional. The book is considered to be innovative art, executed in an original format.
Film adaptations
Soon the book will be filmed, and the first actor to play Dracula will be a friend of the writer. His Vlad the Impaler is a vampire with noble manners and good looks, although Stoker described him as an unpleasant old man. Since then, the romantic image of a handsome young man has been exploited, against whom the heroes unite in a single impulse to save the world from universal evil.
In 1992, director Coppola filmed the book, casting famous actors, and he played Dracula himself superbly. Before filming began, the director forced everyone to read Stoker’s book for 2 days for maximum immersion in the images. Coppola used various techniques to make the film, like the book, as realistic as possible. He even filmed footage of Dracula's appearance on a black and white camera, which looked very authentic and frightening. Critics felt that the vampire played by Oldman was as close as possible to Vlad the Impaler, even his makeup resembled a real prototype.
Dracula's castle is for sale
A year ago, the public was shocked by the news that a popular tourist attraction in Romania was being put up for sale. Bran, in which Tepes supposedly spent the night during his military campaigns, is being sold by its new owner for fabulous money. The local government once wanted to buy Dracula's Castle, but now the world-famous place, bringing fabulous profits, is awaiting a new owner.
According to researchers, Dracula never stopped in this place, considered a cult place for all fans of vampire works, although local residents will vie with each other to tell chilling legends about the life of the legendary ruler in this fortress.
The castle, described in great detail by Stoker, only became the setting for a horror novel that has nothing to do with ancient Romanian history. The current owner of the castle refers to his advanced age, which does not allow him to conduct business. He believes that all costs will be repaid in full, because the castle is visited by about 500 thousand tourists.
A real bonanza
Modern Romania makes full use of the image of Dracula, attracting numerous tourist flows. Here they will tell about the ancient castles in which Vlad III the Impaler committed bloody atrocities, even despite the fact that they were built much later than his death. A highly profitable business, based on the unrelenting interest in the mysterious figure of the ruler of Wallachia, provides an influx of members of sects for which Dracula is the spiritual leader. Thousands of his fans make pilgrimages to the places where he was born to breathe the same air.
Few people know the true story of Tepes, taking on faith the image of the vampire created by Stoker and numerous directors. But the history of the bloody ruler, who did not disdain anything to achieve his goal, begins to be forgotten over time. And with the name Dracula, only a bloodthirsty ghoul comes to mind, which is very sad, because the fantastic image has nothing to do with the real tragic personality and the terrible crimes that Tepes committed.