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Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( Romanian: Vlad Țepeș [ ˈ v l a d ˈ ts e p e ʃ]) or Vlad Dracula ( / ˈdrækjʊlə, - jə -/; Romanian: Vlad Drăculea [ ˈ d r ə k u l e̯a]; 1428/31 – 1476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most important ...
- His Family Name Means “Dragon”
- He Was Born in Wallachia, Present-Day Romania
- He Was Held Hostage For 5 Years
- His Father and Brother Were Both Killed
- He Invited His Rivals to Dinner – and Killed Them
- He Was Named For His Preferred Form of Torture
- He Ordered The Mass Killing of 20,000 Ottomans
- The Location of His Death Is Unknown
- He Remains A National Hero of Romania
- He Was The Inspiration Behind Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’
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The name Dracul was given to Vlad’s father Vlad II by his fellow knights who belonged to a Christian crusading order known as the Order of the Dragon. Dracultranslates to “dragon” in Romanian. In 1431, King Sigismund of Hungary – who would later become the Holy Roman Emperor – inducted the elder Vlad into the knightly order. The Order of the Dragon...
Vlad III was born in 1431 in the state of Wallachia, now the southern portion of present-day Romania. It was one of the three principalities that made up Romania at the time, along with Transylvania and Moldova. Situated between Christian Europe and the Muslim lands of the Ottoman Empire, Wallachia was the scene of a great number of bloody battles....
In 1442, Vlad accompanied his father and his 7-year-old brother Radu on a diplomatic mission in the heart of the Ottoman Empire. However the three were captured and held hostage by the Ottoman diplomats. Their captors told Vlad II that he could be released – on condition that the two sons remain. Believing that it was the safest option for his fami...
Upon his return, Vlad II was overthrown in a coup orchestrated by local war lords known as the boyar. He was killed in the marshes behind his house while his oldest son, Mircea II, was tortured, blinded and buried alive.
Vlad III was freed shortly after his family’s death, however by then he had already developed a taste for violence. To consolidate power and assert his dominance, he decided to hold a banquet and invited hundreds of members of his rival families. Knowing his authority would be challenged, he had his guests stabbed and their still-twitching bodies i...
By 1462, he had succeeded to the Wallachian throne and was at war with the Ottomans. With enemy forces three times the size of his own, Vlad ordered his men to poison wells and burn crops. He also paid diseased men to infiltrate and infect the enemy. His victims were often disembowelled, beheaded and skinned or boiled alive. However impalement came...
In June 1462 as he retreated from a battle, Vlad ordered 20,000 defeated Ottomans to be impaled on wooden stakes outside the city of Târgoviște. When the Sultan Mehmed II (1432-1481) came across the field of the dead being picked apart by crows, he was so horrified that he retreated to Constantinople. On another occasion, Vlad met with a group of O...
Now long after the infamous impalement of Ottoman prisoners of war, Vlad was forced into exile and imprisoned in Hungary. He returned in 1476 to reclaim his rule of Wallachia, however his triumph was short-lived. While marching to battle with the Ottomans, he and his soldiers were ambushed and killed. According to Leonardo Botta, the Milanese ambas...
Vlad the Impaler was an undeniably brutal ruler. However he is still considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian history and a national hero of Romania. His victorious campaigns against the Ottoman forces which protected both Wallachia and Europe have won him praise as a military leader. He was even praised by Pope Pius II (1405-1464)...
It is believed that Stoker based the title character of his 1897 ‘Dracula’ on Vlad the Impaler. However the two characters have little in common. Although there is no concrete evidence to support this theory, historians have speculated that Stoker’s conversations with the historian Hermann Bamburger may have helped provide him with information on V...
Learn about the life and legacy of Vlad III Dracula, the Wallachian ruler who inspired the myth of Dracula. Discover how he earned his nickname, how he fought the Ottomans, and how he met his end.
Apr 30, 2024 · Vlad the Impaler (born 1431, Sighișoara, Transylvania [now in Romania]—died 1476, north of present-day Bucharest, Romania) was a voivode (military governor, or prince) of Walachia (1448; 1456–1462; 1476) whose cruel methods of punishing his enemies gained notoriety in 15th-century Europe. Some in the scholarly community have suggested that ...
- Richard Pallardy
- Vlad was a voivode (prince) of Walachia (part of modern Romania). Surrounded by enemies that included the Hungarians, the Ottomans, his younger bro...
- Vlad was the second son of Vlad II Dracul. When he was 11 years old, Vlad was sent to the court of the Ottoman sultan Murad II as a hostage. His fa...
- Vlad was a minor player during the early period of Ottoman domination of what is today Romania. He likely would have remained a historical curiosit...
- In 1476 Vlad was ambushed by an Ottoman patrol and killed. He was reportedly decapitated, and his head was sent to the sultan in Constantinople as...
- The real Dracula. By most accounts, Vlad III was born in 1431 in what is now Transylvania, the central region of modern-day Romania. However, the link between Vlad the Impaler and Transylvania is tenuous, according to Florin Curta, a professor of medieval history and archaeology at the University of Florida.
- Order of the Dragon. In 1431, King Sigismund of Hungary, who would later become the Holy Roman Emperor, inducted the elder Vlad into a knightly order, the Order of the Dragon.
- Years of captivity. When Vlad II was called to a diplomatic meeting in 1442 with Ottoman Sultan Murad II, he brought his young sons Vlad III and Radu along.
- Vlad the Prince. While Vlad and Radu were in Ottoman hands, Vlad's father was fighting to keep his place as voivode of Wallachia, a fight he would eventually lose.
Apr 9, 2023 · Learn about the historical Vlad III, the prince of Wallachia who inspired Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Discover how he became a feared ruler who impaled and killed thousands of enemies and rivals.
- Natasha Ishak
May 22, 2013 · Learn how Bram Stoker's Gothic novel Dracula was influenced by the 15th-century Romanian prince Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler. Discover the gruesome details of his brutal tactics and his possible connection to vampire folklore.
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Learn about Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure who may have inspired Bram Stoker's vampire novel. Discover his life, deeds, and legacy in this article from Britannica.
