Vlad III, known as Vlad the Impaler, ruled Wallachia in 1456 and 1462. He was known for his brutal methods of torture, including impaling his enemies. In 1462, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II invaded Wallachia with a large army in response to Vlad stopping tribute payments. Vlad engaged in guerrilla warfare but could not prevent the Ottomans from taking the capital city. He resorted to ambushes and attacks on the Turkish forces until being killed in battle in 1476 while trying to reclaim the Wallachian throne.

1. Sighisoara - Transylvania
revolutionary Hungarian “The House with Antlers”
army led by Josef Bem was has been brought into the
defeated by the Russian army possession of the
Messerschmitt
led by Luders on 31 July Foundation with the help
1849. A monument was of the Romanian
constructed in 1852 to the Government and the town
Russian general Skariatin, council of Sighisoara in
who died in the battle. The April 2000, defrauding
Hungarian poet Sandor Petofi the legitimate heirs, the
descendents
is generally believed to have Leicht-Bacon (with
been killed in the battle, and a English roots), who are
monument was constructed in mentioned in the cadaster
his honor at Albesti in 1897. of Sighisoara as owners
After World War 1 Sighisoara before the communist
passed with Transylvania dispossession of 1950.
urban economy, as well as from Austria-Hungary to the
uring the 12th century,building the fortifications Kingdom of Romania. Central In 2001-2003 the
D German craftsmen and
merchants known as
protecting it. It is estimated
that during the 16th and the
Sighisoara has preserved in an
exemplary way the features of
construction of a Dracula
theme park in the ‘Breite’
the Transylvanian Saxons 17th centuries Sighisoara a small medieval fortified city, nature preserve near
were invited to Transylvania had as many as 15 guilds it has been listed by the Sighisoara was considered
by the King of Hungary to and 20 handicraft branches. UNESCO as a World Heritage but ultimately rejected, due
settle and defend the frontier
The Baroque sculptor Elia Site. Each year, a Medieval to the strong opposition of
of his realm. The chronicler Nicolai lived in the city. The Festival takes place in the old local civil society groups
Krauss lists a Saxon Wallachian prince Vlad citadel in July.The houses and national and
settlement in the actual Dracul(father of Vlad the inside Sighisoara Citadel show international media as well
Sighisoara by 1191. By Impaler (Dracula), who the main features of a as politically influential
1280 it was known by the lived in exile in the town, let craftsmen’s town. However, persons, as the theme park
Latin name of Castrum Sex, minted coins in the city there are some houses which would have detracted from
and by 1298 by the Saxon (otherwise coinage was the belonged to the former the medieval style of the
name of Schespurch resp. monopoly of the Hungarian patriciate, like the Venetian city and would have
Schaesbrich. By 1337 kings in the Kingdom of House and the House with destroyed the nature
Sighisoara had become a Hungary) and issued the Antlers. preserve.g
royal center for the kings, first document listing the
who awarded the settlement city’s Romanian name,
urban status in 1367 as the Sighisoara. The city was the
Civitas de Segusvar.The setting for George I
city played an important Rackoczi‘s election as
strategic and commercial Prince of Transylvania and
role at the edges of Central King of Hungary in 1631.
Europe for several centuries.Sighisoara suffered military
Sighisoara became one of occupation, fires, and
the most important cities of plagues during the 17th and
Transylvania, with artisans 18th centuries.
from throughout the Holy
Roman Empire. The The nearby plain of
German artisans and Albesti was the site of the
craftsmen dominated the Battle of Segesvar, where the

2. Sighisoara - Transylvania
Vlad III the Impaler
“dragon” and derives from the his native country was
Latin word “Draco”, also Wallachia to the south, the
meaning “dragon”. family lived in exile in
Transylvania as his father
The people of
Wallachia gave Vlad II the
surname “Dracul”. His son
Vlad III would later use the
surname “Drãculea” in
several documents. Through
various adaptations
(“Draculea”, “Drakulya”)
Vlad III eventually came to be
referred to as “Dracula”.
His post-mortem had been ousted by
moniker of “Tepes” pro-Ottoman boyars. In the
(“Impaler”) originated in his same year as his birth, his
preferred method for father was living in
executing his opponents, Nuremberg, where he was
continuation... known for the exceedingly impalement, as popularized by vested into the Order of the
cruel punishment he medieval Transylvanian Dragon. At the age of five,
imposed as ruler of pamphlets. In Turkish, he was young Vlad was also
lad III, Prince of
V Wallachia,
commonly known as
more Wallachia; however, the
people of Romania refer to
Vlad as a savior to their
known as “Kazýklý Voyvoda”
which means “Impaler
Prince”. Vlad was referred to
initiated into the Order of
the Dragon. Vlad’s father
was under considerable
Vlad the Impaler (in as “Dracula” in a number of political pressure from the
Romanian Vlad Tepes , or nation and continue to justify documents of his times, Ottoman sultan. Threatened
his method of torture as not mainly the Transylvania with invasion, he gave a
simply Dracula (c.1431 – uncommon for that period in
December, 1476), was a Saxon pamphlets and “The promise to be the vassal of
history. Annals of Jan Dlugosz”. Vlad the sultan and gave up his
Wallachian (present-day
southern Romania) voivde. was very likely born in the two younger sons as
His first reign as crown In the citadel of Sighisoara , hostages so that he would
English-speaking world, Vlad Transylvania in 1431. He was keep his promise. Vlad
prince took place at age 17, the second son of Vlad Dracul developed a well-known
III is perhaps most commonly
during the same year of his known for inspiring the name and Princess Cheajna, hatred for Radu and for
release from Turkish of the vampire in Bram daughter of Alexander the Mehmed, who would later
captivity, in 1448. His main Stocker’s 1897 novel Dracula. Good of Moldavia. Although become the sultan .g
reign took place in 1456 and As prince, Vlad maintained an
ended in 1462. His final independent policy in relation
reign was accomplished with to the Ottoman Empire and
the aid of the Hungarian was a defender of Wallachia
throne in 1476 and he ruled against Ottoman
until his assassination Expansionism. His Romanian
months later within the same surname “Drãculea” means
year. Vlad the Impaler is “Son of the dragon” and is
derived from his father’s title,
Vlad the Dragon (see Vlad II
Dracul); the latter was a
member of the Order of The
Dragon, created in Serbia prior
to the battle of Kosovo (1389),
and re-instituted by Emperor
Sigismund in 1408. The word
“Dracul” means “the Devil” in
modern Romanian but in
Vlad’s day also meant

3. Sighisoara - Transylvania
Vlad III the Impaler
war had led to rampant crime, transgressing his
falling agricultural production, authority impaled.Vlad
and the virtual disappearance of III was constantly on
trade. Vlad used severe guard against the
methods to restore order, as he adherents of the Dãnesti
needed an economically stable clan, and some of his raids
country if he was to have any into Transylvania may
chance against his external have been efforts to
enemies. capture the clan’s
would-be princes. Several
The early part of members of the clan died
Vlad’s reign was dominated at Vlad’s hands.
by the idea of eliminating all Vladislav II of Wallachia
possible threats to his power, was murdered soon after
mainly the rival nobility Vlad came to power in
groups, i.e. the boyars. This 1456. Another Dãnesti
was done mainly by physical prince, suspected to have
elimination, but also by taken part in burying his
reducing the economic role brother Mircea alive, was
the new sultan Mehmed II, of the nobility: the key captured during one of
continuation... Hunyadi pardoned him and positions in the Prince’s Vlad’s forays into
took him in as an advisor. Council, traditionally Transylvania. Rumors
ccording to McNally and
A Florescu, he also
distrusted his own father
Eventually Hunyadi picked
Vlad as the Kingdom of
Hungary’s candidate for the
belonging to the country’s
greatest boyars, were handed
to obscure individuals, some
(spread by his enemies)
say thousands of citizens
of the town that had
for trading him to the Turks throne of Wallachia. of them of foreign origin, but sheltered his rival were
and betraying the Order of the who manifested loyalty impaled by Vlad. The
Dragon’s oath to fight them. In 1453, the Ottomans, towards Vlad. For the less captured prince was
Vlad’s father was under Mehmed II, took important functions, Vlad forced to read his own
assassinated in the marshes near Constantinople after a also ignored the old boyars, eulogy while kneeling
Bãlteni in December 1447 by prolonged siege, thus putting preferring to knight and before an open grave
rebellious boyars allegedly under an end to the final major appoint men from the free before his execution.
the orders of Hungarian regent Christian presence in the peasantry. A key element of Following family
John Hunyadi. Vlad’s older eastern Mediterranean. the power of the Wallachian traditions and due to his
brother Mircea was also dead at Ottoman influence began to nobility was their old hatred towards the
this point, blinded with hot iron spread from this base through connections in the Ottomans, Vlad decided
stakes and buried alive by his the Carpathians, and began to Saxon-populated to side with the
political enemies at Târgoviste. threaten mainland Europe. autonomous towns of Hungarians. To the end of
To protect their political power in Transylvania, so Vlad acted the 1450s there was once
the region, the Ottomans invaded In 1456, Hungary against these cities by again talk about a war
Wallachia and the Sultan put invaded Serbia to drive out eliminating their trade against the Turks, in
the Ottomans, and Vlad III
Vlad III on the throne as a puppet privileges in relation with which the king of
simultaneously
ruler. His rule at this time would invaded Wallachia and by organizing Hungary Matthias
be brief; Hunyadi himself Wallachia with his own raids against them. In 1459, Corvinus would play the
invaded Wallachia and ousted contingent. Both campaigns he had several of the German main role. Knowing this,
him the same year. Vlad fled to were successful, although settlers (Saxons) and Vlad stopped paying
Moldavia until October 1451 and Hunyadi died suddenly of officials of the tribute to the Ottomans in
was put under the protection of the plague. Nevertheless, Transylvanian city of 1459 and around 1460
his uncle, Bogdan II. Vlad was now prince of his Kronstadt who were made a new alliance with
native land.Vlad III’s Corvinus. This angered
Bogdan was actions after 1456 are the Turks, who attempted
assassinated in 1451 by Petru well-documented. to remove him. They
Aron, and Vlad, taking a failed, however; later in
gamble, fled to Hungary. the winter of 1461 to 1462
After the death of his Vlad crossed south of the
Impressed by Vlad’s vast grandfather (Mircea the Elder)
knowledge of the mindset and in 1418, Wallachia had fallen Danube and devastated
inner workings of the Ottoman into a somewhat chaotic the area between Serbia
Empire as well as his hatred of situation. A constant state of and the Black Sea. ” g

4. Sighisoara - Transylvania Vlad III the Impaler
the Bishop of Oradea. Vlad IV
Dracula was a claimant to the
continuation...
Wallachian throne, but never
ruled. The Hungarian branch
n response to this, Sultan
I Mehmed II, the recent
conqueror of
of his descendants married
into nobility off and on, but
none would ever rule
Constantinople, raised an army
of around 60,000 troops and Wallachia. The Romanian
30,000 irregulars and in the branch of his descendants
spring of 1462 headed towards would continue to rule off and
Wallachia. Other estimates for on until 1627, when the last
the army include 150,000 by descendant, Alexandru
Michael Doukas, 250,000 by
Laonicus Chalcond. Mehmed Coconul, would fail to
was greeted by the sight of a produce an heir.Vlad Dracula
veritable forest of stakes on was killed in battle against the
which Vlad the Impaler had Turks near the capital city of
impaled 20,000 Turkish through the window into Vlad’s Diplomatic correspondence Bucharest in 1476. It is said
prisoners. With his army of main quarters, with a message from Buda during the period in that he was decapitated by the
20,000–40,000 men Vlad was warning him that Radu’s army question also seems to support
unable to stop the Turks from Turks and his head sent to
was approaching. McNally and the claim that Vlad’s actual
entering Wallachia and Florescu explain that the archer Istanbul where the Sultan had
period of confinement was
occupying the capital was one of Vlad’s former relatively short. The openly it displayed on a stake as proof
Târgoviste (4 June 1462), so he servants who sent the warning pro-Turkish policy of Radu that the Impaler was finally
resorted to guerrilla warfare, out of loyalty, despite having (who was prince of Wallachia dead. He was reportedly
constantly organizing small converted to Islam to escape during most of Vlad’s buried at Snagov, an island
attacks and ambushes on the enslavement by the Turks. captivity), was a probable
Turks. The most important of monastery located near
Upon reading the message, factor in Vlad’s rehabilitation.
these attacks, The Night Vlad’s wife threw herself from Bucharest. However, it should
During his captivity, Vlad also
Attack, took place on the nights the tower into a tributary of the converted to Catholicism, in be noted that it is unclear who
of June 16–17, when Vlad and Arges River flowing below the contrast to his brother who actually killed Vlad Dracula.
some of his men allegedly castle. According to legend, she converted to Islam. In the When he came to power, Vlad
entered the main Turkish camp remarked that she “would years before his final release in immediately had all the
(wearing Ottoman disguises) rather have her body rot and be 1474, when he began
and attempted to assassinate assembled nobles arrested.
eaten by the fish of the Arges preparations for the reconquest
Mehmed. Unable to subdue than be led into captivity by the The older boyars and their
of Wallachia, Vlad resided
Vlad, the Turks left the country, Turks”. Today, the tributary is with his new wife in a house in families were immediately
leaving Vlad’s half-brother, called Râul Doamnei (the the Hungarian capital. impaled. The younger and
Radu the Handsome, to “Lady’s River”, also called the healthier nobles and their
continue fighting. Despite Vlad Princess’s River). families were marched north
achieving military victories, he Vlad and his first wife
had alienated himself from the had at least one child, a son, from Târgoviste to the ruins of
nobility, which sided with Mihnea cel Rãu, who would rule Poienari Castle in the
The exact length of
Radu. By August 1462 Radu Vlad’s period of captivity is Wallachia 1508 to 1510. After his mountains above the Arges
had struck a deal with the open to some debate, though first wife’s death, Vlad III would River.g
Hungarian Crown. indications are that it was from
Consequently, Vlad was not marry again until after his
1462 until 1474. He was able to imprisonment in Hungary in the
imprisoned by Matthias gradually win his way back into
Corvinus. the graces of Hungary’s 1460s. His second wife, Countess
monarch, and eventually marry Ilona Szilágyi (the cousin of King
His first wife, whose a member of the royal family. Matthias of Hungary) bore him
name is not recorded, died His second wife, Countess Ilona two sons, Vlad IV Dracula and
during the siege of his castle in Szilágyi (a cousin of Matthias), another son whose name is
1462. The Turkish army bore him two sons, Vlad unknown. Neither of his sons by
surrounded Poienari Castle, led Dracula & another son whose
by Radu. An archer having seen name is unknown, who were Ilona Szilágyi would succeed
the shadow of Vlad’s wife about ten years old when he him. The unidentified younger
behind a window, shot an arrow reconquered Wallachia in 1476. son died in 1482 while living with

5. Sighisoara - Transylvania Vlad III the Impaler
continuation... persecutors of Christianity like Herodes, people were impaled at a single time. One
Nero, Diocletian and all other pagans such claim says 10,000 were impaled in
lad was determined to rebuild this combined hadn’t even thought of.”
V ancient fortress as his own
stronghold and refuge. The enslaved
Impalement was
preferred method of torture and
Tepes’s
the Transylvanian city of Sibiu (where
Vlad had once lived) in 1460. Another
allegation asserts that during the previous
boyars and their families were forced to execution. His method of torture was a
labor for months, rebuilding the old castle horse attached to each of the victim’s legs year, on Saint Bartholomew’s Day (in
with materials from another nearby ruin. as a sharpened stake was gradually forced August), Vlad had 30,000 of the
According to tradition, they laboured until into the body. The end of the stake was merchants and officials of the
the clothes fell off their bodies and then usually oiled, and care was taken that the Transylvanian city of Brasov impaled for
were forced to continue working naked. stake not be too sharp; else the victim breaking his authority. One of the most
Very few of the old gentry survived the might die too rapidly from shock. famous woodcuts of the period shows
ordeal of building Vlad’s castle. Normally the stake was inserted into the
body through the anus and was often f Vlad feasting in a forest of stakes and
Throughout his reign, Vlad their grisly burdens outside Brasov, while
systematically eradicated the old boyar orced through the body until it
class of Wallachia. The old boyars had emerged from the mouth. a nearby executioner cuts apart other
repeatedly undermined the power of the However, there victims.
prince during previous reigns and had been were many
responsible for the violent overthrow of instances
wh Vlad Tepes is alleged to have
several princes. Vlad was determined that
his own power be on a modern and committed even more
thoroughly secure footing. In place impalements and other tortures
of the executed boyars, Vlad against invading Ottoman
promoted new men forces. It was reported that an
from among the free invading Ottoman army
peasantry and middle turned back in fright when
class, who would be loyal
only to their prince. it encountered thousands
of rotting corpses
Vlad Tepes’s impaled on the banks
reputation was considerably
darker in Western Europe of the Danube. It has
than in Eastern Europe and also been said that in
Romania. In the West, Vlad III 1462 Mehmed II, the
Tepes has been characterized as a conqueror of Constantinople, a man
tyrant who took sadistic pleasure ere noted for his own psychological
in torturing and killing his enemies. victims warfare tactics, returned to
The number of his victims ranges were impaled
from 40,000 to 100,000. According to through other Constantinople after being sickened
the German stories the number of bodily orifices or through by the sight of 20,000 impaled
victims he had killed was at least the abdomen or chest. Infants corpses outside Vlad’s capital of
80,000. In addition to the 80,000 victims were sometimes impaled on the Târgoviste. Many of the victims were
mentioned he also had whole villages stake forced through their mother’s Turkish prisoners of war Vlad had
and fortresses destroyed and burned to chests. The records indicate that victims previously captured during the
the ground. These numbers are most were sometimes impaled so that they
likely exaggerated. hung upside down on the stake. Turkish invasion. The total Turkish
casualty toll in this battle reached
over 40,000. The warrior sultan
The atrocities committed by Vlad
in the German stories include impaling, Death by impalement was slow and turned command of the campaign
torturing, burning, skinning, roasting, and agonising. Victims sometimes endured for against Vlad over to subordinates and
boiling people, feeding people the flesh of hours or even days. Vlad often had the stakes returned to Constantinople, even
their friends or relatives, cutting off limbs, arranged in various geometric patterns. The though his army had initially
drowning, and nailing people’s hats to most common pattern was a ring of outnumbered Vlad’s three to one and
their heads. His victims included men and concentric circles in the outskirts of a city was better. The German stories
women of all ages, religions and social
classes, children and babies. One German that constituted his target. The height of the circulated first in manuscript form in
account includes the following sentence: spear indicated the rank of the victim. The the late 15th century and the first
“He caused so much pain and suffering corpses were often left decaying for manuscript was probably written in
that even the most bloodthirstiest months.There are claims that thousands of 1462 before Vlad’s arrest.g

6. Sighisoara - Transylvania Vlad III the Impaler
continuation... was skinned and impaled in a square
in Târgoviste with her skin lying on
n addition to the manuscripts and a nearby table. Vlad also insisted
I pamphlets the German version of the
stories can be found in the poem of
that his people be honest and
hard-working. Merchants who
Michel Beheim. The poem called “Von cheated their customers were likely
ainem wutrich der hies Trakle waida to find themselves mounted on a
von der Walachei” (“Story of a stake beside common thieves.The
Bloodthirsty Madman Called Dracula Russian or the Slavic version of the
of Wallachia”) was written and stories about Vlad Tepes called
performed at the court of Frederick III, “Skazakie o Drakule voevode”
Holy Roman Emperor during the winter (“The Tale of Warlord Dracula”) is
of 1463. To this day four manuscripts Ottomans, but because of a conflict with thought to have been written
and 13 pamphlets are found as well as Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor sometime between 1481 and 1486.
Frederick III, he couldn’t afford the
the poem by Michel Beheim. The military support for the fight. Copies were made from the 15th
surviving manuscripts date from the last century to the 18th century, of which
quarter of the 15th century to the year By making Vlad a scapegoat, some twenty-two extant
Corvinus could justify his reasons for not
1500 and the found pamphlets date from taking part in the war against the manuscripts survive in Russian
1488 to 1559–1568. Ottomans. He arrested Vlad and used a archives. The oldest one, from 1490,
forged letter in which Vlad announced his ends as follows: “First written in the
Eight of the pamphlets are loyalty to Mehmed II, as well as horror year 6994 (1486), on 13 February;
incunabula: they were printed before 1501. stories about Vlad, to justify his actions to then transcribed by me, the sinner
The German stories about Vlad Tepes the Pope. In 1462 and 1463, the court in Elfrosin, in the year 6998 (1490), on
consist of 46 short episodes, although none Buda fostered negative stories of Vlad in
of the manuscripts, pamphlets or the poem central and Eastern Europe, and 28 January”. The Tales of Prince
of Beheim contain all 46 stories. All of capitalized on the horrors attributed to Dracula is neither chronological nor
them begin with the story of the old him. The stories eventually changed from consistent, but mostly a collection
governor, John Hunyadi, having Vlad’s propaganda to literature and became very of anecdotes of literary and
father killed, and how Vlad and his brother popular in the German world in the 15th historical value concerning Vlad
renounced their old religion and swore to and 16th centuries. Part of the reason for Tepes. There are 19 anecdotes in The
protect and uphold the Christian faith. this success was the newly-invented
After this, the order and titles of the stories printing press, which allowed the texts to Tales of Prince Dracula which are
differs by manuscript and pamphlet filter to a wide audience. longer and more constructed than the
editions. The German stories were written German stories. It can be divided into
most likely for political reasons, especially In later accounts of these two sections: The first 13 episodes are
to blacken the image of the Wallachian non-chronological events most likely
ruler. The first version of the German text stories, Vlad’s atrocities against the
people of Wallachia have sometimes closer to the original folkloric oral
was probably written in Brasov by a Saxon
scholar. According to some researchers, been interpreted as attempts to enforce tradition about Vlad.The last six
the writer expressed the general feelings of his own moral code upon his country. episodes are thought to have been
the Saxons in Brasov and Sibiu who had According to the pamphlets, he appears written by a scholar who collected
borne the brunt of Vlad’s wrath in to have been particularly concerned them, because they are chronological
1456–1457 and again in 1458–1459 and and seem to be more structured.g
with female chastity. Maidens who lost
1460.
their virginity, adulterous wives, and
Against this political and cultural unchaste widows were all targets of
backdrop, it is quite easy to understand
the hostility towards Vlad Tepes. Vlad’s cruelty. Such women often had
Although there is historic background for their sexual organs cut out or their
the events described in the German breasts cut off. They were also often
stories, some are either exaggerated or impaled through the vagina on red-hot
even fictitious. The Hungarian king stakes that were forced through the
Hunyadi Mátyás, also called Corvinus, body until they emerged from the
also had political reasons for promoting
Vlad’s image as an evil prince. Corvinus mouth. One report tells of the
had received large subsidies from Rome execution of an unfaithful wife. The
and Venice for the war against the woman’s breasts were cut off, then she

7. Sighisoara - Transylvania Vlad III the Impaler
actually knew little about the Prince of Wallachia. Some
have claimed that the novel owes more to the legends about
Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th century Hungarian countess who
allegedly murdered hundreds of her servants.
The legend of the vampire was and still is deeply
rooted in that region. There have always been vampire-like
creatures in various stories from across the world. However,
the vampire, as he became known in Europe, largely
originated in Southern Slavic folklore — although the tale is
absent in Romanian culture. A veritable epidemic of
vampirism swept through Eastern Europe beginning in the
late 17th century and continuing through the 1700s. The
number of reported cases rose dramatically in Hungary and
the Balkans. From the Balkans, the “plague” spread
westward into Germany, Italy, France, England, and Spain.
Travelers returning from the Balkans brought with them
tales of the undead, igniting an interest in the vampire that
has continued to this day. Philosophers in the West began to
study the phenomenon. It was during this period that Dom
Augustine Calmet wrote his famous treatise on vampirism in
continuation... Hungary. It was also during this period that authors and
playwrights first began to explore the vampire legend.
he stories begin with a short introduction and the anecdote Stoker’s novel was merely the culminating work of a long
T about the nailing of hats to ambassadors heads. They end
with Vlad’s death and information about his family. Of the
series of works that were inspired by the reports coming from
the Balkans and Hungary. Given the history of the vampire
19 anecdotes there are ten that have similarities to the German legend in Europe, it is perhaps natural that Stoker should
stories. Although there are similarities between the Russian and
the German stories about Vlad, there is a clear distinction with place his great vampire in the heart of the region that gave
the attitude towards him. The Russian stories tend to give him a birth to the story. Once Stoker had determined on a locality,
more positive image: he is depicted as a great ruler, a brave Vlad Dracula would stand out as one of the most notorious
soldier and a just sovereign. Stories of atrocities tend to seem to rulers of the selected region. He was obscure enough that few
be justified as the actions of a strong ruler. Of the 19 anecdotes, would recognize the name and those who did would know
only four seem to have exaggerated violence. Some elements of him for his acts of brutal cruelty; Dracula was a natural
the anecdotes were later added to Russian stories about Ivan the
Terrible of Russia. candidate for vampirism.
The nationality and identity of the original writer of the
anecdotes Dracula is disputed. The two most plausible Romanian folklore and poetry, on the other hand,
explanations are that the writer was either a Romanian priest paints Vlad Tepes as a hero. His favorite weapon being the
or a monk from Transylvania, or a Romanian or Moldavian stake, coupled with his reputation in his native country as a
from the court of Stephen the Great in Moldova. One theory man who stood up to both foreign and domestic enemies,
claims the writer was a Russian diplomat named Fedor gives him the virtual opposite
Kuritsyn. symbolism of Stoker’s vampire.
It is most likely that Bram Stoker found the name In Romania, he is considered one
for his vampire from William Wilkinson’s book, An of the greatest leaders in the
Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: country’s history, and was voted
with various Political Observations Relating to Them. It is one of “100 Greatest Romanians”
known that Stoker made notes about this book. It is also in the “Mari Români” television
suggested by some that because Stoker was a friend of a series aired in 2006.
Hungarian professor (Arminius Vambery/Hermann His famous contemporary
Bamberger/Ármin Vámbéry) from Budapest, Vlad’s name portrait, rediscovered by Romanian
might have been mentioned by this friend. Regardless of historians in the late 19th century,
how the name came to Stoker’s attention, the cruel history had been featured in the gallery of
of the Impaler would have readily lent itself to Stoker’s horrors at Innsbruck’s Ambras
purposes. However, recent research suggests that Stoker Castle. g

8. Sighisoara - Transylvania Vlad III the Impaler
continuation...
is image in modern Romanian culture has been established
H in reaction to foreign perceptions: while Stoker’s book did
a lot to generate outrage with nationalists, it is the last part
of a rather popular previous poem by Mihai Eminescu,
“Scrisoarea a III-a”, that helped turn Vlad’s image into modern
legend, by having him stand as a figure to contrast with
presumed social decay under the Phanariotes and the political
scene of the 19th century (even suggesting that Vlad’s violent
methods be applied as a cure). This judgment was in tune with
the ideology of the inward-looking regime of Nicolae
Ceausescu, although the identification did little justice to
Eminescu’s personal beliefs.
All accounts of his life describe him as ruthless, but
only the ones originating from his Saxon detractors paint him
as sadistic or insane. These pamphlets continued to be
published long after his death, though usually for lurid
entertainment rather than propaganda purposes. It has largely
been forgotten until recently that his tenacious efforts against
the Ottoman Empire won him many staunch supporters in his
lifetime, not just in modern day Romania but in the Kingdom
of Hungary, Poland, the Republic of Venice, and even the
Holy See, not to take into account Balkan countries. A
Hungarian court chronicler reported that King Matthias “had
acted in opposition to general opinion” in Hungary when he
had Dracula imprisoned, and this played a considerable part
in Matthias reversing his unpopular decision. During his time
as a “distinguished prisoner” before being fully pardoned and
allowed to reconquer Wallachia, Vlad was hailed as a
Christian hero by visitors from all over Europe.
Unlike the fictional Dracula films, there have been
comparatively few movies about the man who inspired the
vampire. The 1975 documentary In Search of Dracula explores
the legend of Vlad the Impaler. He is played in the film by
Christopher Lee, known for his numerous portrayals of the
fictional Dracula in films ranging from the 1950s to the 1970s.
In 1979, a Romanian film called Vlad Tepes (sometimes
known, in other countries, as The True Story of Vlad the
Impaler) was released, based on his six-year reign and brief
return to power in late 1476. The character is portrayed in a
mostly positive perspective though the film also mentions the
excesses of his regime and his practice of impalement. The
lead character is played by Stefan Sileanu. Dark Prince: The
True Story of Dracula, a film released in 2000, tells the life
story of Vlad the Impaler mostly accurately while ending
fictionally with Vlad rising from the grave and gaining eternal
worldly life as supernatural abilities, implying that he has now
become the fictional Dracula. Vlad is played in the film by
Rudolf Martin. Numerous film adaptations of Bram Stoker’s
novel Dracula and original works derived from it have
incorporated Vlad the Impaler’s history into the fictional Count
Dracula’s past, depicting them as the same person, including,
among others: the 1972-1979 comic book series The Tomb of
Dracula from Marvel Comics, the 1973 film Dracula, starring
Jack Palance, and the 1992 film Bram Stoker’s Dracula,
starring Gary Oldman.g