[53] Hunyadi's mother, Erzsébet Szilágyi, and her brother, Michael Szilágyi, stirred up a rebellion against the king. To ensure absolute loyalty and submission among his people Dracula employed a terror tactic he witnessed in captivity, public execution using a foul tactic; Impalement. [32], The Ottomans defeated Hunyadi's army in the Battle of Kosovo between 17 and 18 October. Vlad II took his two younger sons, Vlad III and Radu and journeyed to the Ottoman Empire where they were immediately imprisoned. He was released at the request of Stephen III of Moldavia in the summer of 1475. So, thank you, Mr. Bram Stoker, for having written the novel that may be easily considered the one who changed the “lives” of vampires forever! And then he invented frightening, terrible, unheard of tortures. First of Vlad reigned in Muntenia not Transilvania. "Vlad Țepeș" redirects here. Between 1463 and 1475,Vlad was held captive in Visegrád.

This was obviously in detriment of the Romanian merchants, so Vlad decided to continue taxing the Saxons, so he could support his own people to prosper. [175] The peasants telling the tales knew that Vlad's sobriquet was connected to the frequent impalements during his reign, but they said only such cruel acts could secure public order in Wallachia.

In October, Vlad Tepes and Stephen the Great confirmed their alliance, and they forced Basarab Laiota, who was the Voivode of Wallachia, to flee to the Ottoman Empire, by occupying Bucharest. The rest of Vlad's family, however, fared even worse: His father was ousted as ruler of Wallachia by local warlords (boyars) and was killed in the swamps near Balteni, Wallachia, in 1447. [85][86], After the execution of the Ottoman officials, Vlad gave orders in fluent Turkish to the commander of the fortress of Giurgiu to open the gates, enabling the Wallachian soldiers to break in the fortress and capture it. Whether these events turned Vlad III Dracula ("son of the dragon") into a ruthless killer is a matter of historical speculation. He punished the guilty. Between Walachia and Transylvania, there were also many commercial routes, but the Saxon merchants from Transylvania, supported by Mathias Corvine, the King of Hungary, wanted to be tax-free in Vlad’s country.

[176], Most Romanian artists have regarded Vlad as a just ruler and a realistic tyrant who punished criminals and executed unpatriotic boyars to strengthen the central government. Their love lasted more than 20 years until Vlad’s death, having five children, but they never had the chance to get married. Famous Fangs: Tales of Our Favorite Vampires, The Science of Death: 10 Tales from the Crypt & Beyond. Vlad the Impaler is seen as a hero in some parts of Eastern Europe, for trying to defeat the Ottomans. The exit wound could be near the victim's neck, shoulders or mouth. But whilst in power his death toll reached into the near hundreds of thousands, most of them being innocent human beings (the majority children and elderly). He was killed in a battle with the Ottomans in 1476.

In 1476 on July 26, Mehmed II invaded Moldavia and defeated Stephen the Great at the Battle of Valea Alba. [10], Vlad III is known as Vlad Țepeș (or Vlad the Impaler) in Romanian historiography. He began to fake his approval and admiration towards the Sultan and eventually, the sultan took the two Romanian brothers under his wing. [16] Modern historians identify Vlad's mother either as a daughter or a kinswoman of Alexander I of Moldavia,[13][16][17] or as his father's unknown first wife.

[81] Tursun Beg (a secretary in the sultan's court) stated that Vlad only turned against the Ottoman Empire when the sultan "was away on the long expedition in Trebizon" in 1461. [18] Vladislav II of Wallachia accompanied John Hunyadi, who launched a campaign against the Ottoman Empire in September 1448. Situated between Christian Europe and the Muslim lands of the Ottoman Empire, Transylvania and Wallachia were frequently the scene of bloody battles as Ottoman forces pushed westward into Europe, and Christian Crusaders repulsed the invaders or marched eastward toward the Holy Land.

On the night of June 16, Vlad the Impaler, together with a handful of men, organized a night attack on the Ottoman army.

Bran Castle was never in his possession, and it was used as a fortification, not as a castle for nobility. [114] No documents referring to Vlad between 1462 and 1475 have been preserved. The expression Dracula, which is now primarily known as the name of a fictional vampire, was for centuries known as the sobriquet of Vlad III. ;), who ever wrote this didnt do his home work. Your email address will not be published. [192] For instance, Stoker wrote that Dracula had been of Székely origin only because he knew about both Attila the Hun's destructive campaigns and the alleged Hunnic origin of the Székelys.

[70] Instead, in 1476 Vlad emphasized that he had always promoted free trade during his reign. In September 1448, Vladislav II participated in Hunyadi’s campaign into the Ottoman territory. To consolidate power, Vlad invited hundreds of them to a banquet.

[75][76] Vlad invaded southern Transylvania and destroyed the suburbs of Brașov, ordering the impalement of all men and women who had been captured. [8][9] Dracula is the Slavonic genitive form of Dracul, meaning "[the son] of Dracul (or the Dragon)". I know, it’s shocking from todays perspective, but why do you expect the rest of society to support and feed you?

In some cases, the pole was rounded, not sharp, to avoid damaging internal organs and thereby prolong the suffering of the victim. [169][170] In the early 20th century, Constantin Rădulescu-Codin, a teacher in Muscel County where the castle was situated,[170] published a local legend about Vlad's letter of grant "written on rabbit skin" for the villagers who had helped him to escape from Poienari Castle to Transylvania during the Ottoman invasion of Wallachia. By November 1462, Vlad II had been captured by Czech mercenary commander, John Jiskra of Brandýs, under Corvinus’ orders. [64][65] Michael Szilágyi allowed the boyar Michael (an official of Vladislav II of Wallachia)[66] and other Wallachian boyars to settle in Transylvania in late March 1458. Vlad's victories over the invading Ottomans were celebrated throughout Wallachia, Transylvania and the rest of Europe — even Pope Pius II was impressed. Vlad's reputation for cruelty and his patronymic inspired the name of the vampire Count Dracula.

There are many similarities between Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. But was Vlad indeed a despot? Dan III broke into Wallachia, but Vlad defeated and executed him before 22 April 1460.

[78] Vlad invaded the region around Amlaș and Făgăraș on 24 August to punish the local inhabitants who had supported Dan III. This made him feel like he had the ultimate power, the power over life and death, in his mind, he was like God himself. [7] His name had its origin in the sobriquet of his father, Vlad Dracul ("Vlad the Dragon" in medieval Romanian), who received it after he became a member of the Order of the Dragon. [179][183] Even Vlad's acts of cruelty were often represented as rational acts serving national interest. [117] When a group of soldiers broke into the house while pursuing a thief who had tried to hide there, Vlad had their commander executed because they had not asked his permission before entering his home, according to the Slavic stories about his life. In fact, Romanians remember him as a fair leader, brave and very intelligent so, despite his cruel methods of punishment, he was truly respected by his people. In 1804, Johann Christian Engel, in his book The History of Moldavia and Wallachia, described Vlad as a merciless despot, and many claim that this paper was one of the main sources of inspiration for Bram Stoker and his famous character  Count Dracula. [168], The Cantacuzino Chronicle was the first Romanian historical work to record a tale about Vlad the Impaler, narrating the impalement of the old boyars of Târgoviște for the murder of his brother, Dan. [92][90][91] On the other hand, Mehmed had granted Wallachia to Vlad's brother, Radu, before the invasion of Wallachia, showing that the sultan's principal purpose was only the change of the ruler of Wallachia. Only many bones and jaws of horses. [144] Beheim also accused Vlad of duplicity, stating that Vlad had promised support to both Matthias Corvinus and Mehmed II but did not keep the promise. The most representative story in this regard is that of the famous gold cup from a public fountain that was freely used by everyone but never stolen during Vlad’s leadership. [77] Peace had been restored before 26 July 1460, when Vlad addressed the burghers of Brașov as his "brothers and friends". he obliviously learnt a lot from the Ottoman Turk, how to make as much a mess as possible,and used psychological warfare to recapture what most aristocracy think is theirs to do as they will.All in all a cunning approach, killing two birds at one time,controlling his own people and putting great fear in the Ottoman’s. Even if all those writings meant to discredit Vlad, no one could tell for sure if they are completely false or not.

[1][121] They captured Srebrenica and other fortresses in February and March 1476. The Ottoman army continued their march towards Târgoviște, but when they arrived there, to their surprise, the town was deserted. During negotiations, he also sought the banishment of Wallachia refugees from Brașov. Sometime in 1456, he returned to the pages of history once more by attacking Wallachia with Hungarian support. It is worth noting that Vlad III is NOT reviled but revered in present day Romania as a national hero who saved his fellow Wallachians from the Turks! Follow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+.