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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 ...
- Eupraxia of Moldavia (?)
- Vlad II of Wallachia
- Vladislav II
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
- How did Vlad the Impaler become famous?Vlad was a voivode (prince) of Walachia (part of modern Romania). Surrounded by enemies that included the Hungarians, the Ottomans, his younger bro...
- What was Vlad the Impaler’s childhood like?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...
- How did Vlad the Impaler change the world?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...
- How did Vlad the Impaler die?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...
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In terms of his family tree, Vlad III was the son of Vlad II Dracul, who was the ruler of Wallachia at the time. Vlad III’s genealogy can be traced back to the Basarab dynasty, which played a significant role in the history of Wallachia. However, Vlad III’s claim to the throne was not without controversy, as he was an illegitimate son of ...
From his first marriage, to a Wallachian noble woman, Vlad III apparently had a son, later prince of Wallachia as Mihnea cel Rău (Mihnea the Evil), and another two with his second wife, a relative of Matthias Corvinus of Hungary.
- 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’
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...
May 15, 2019 · Fast Facts: Vlad III. Known For: East European 15th-century rule who was the inspiration for Dracula. Also Known As: Vlad the Impaler, Vlad III Dracula, Vlad Tepes, Dracuglia, Drakula. Born: Between 1428 and 1431. Parents: Mircea I of Wallachia, Eupraxia of Moldavia. Died: Between December 1476 and January 1477.
In return, Vlad II sent two of his younger sons Vlad and Radu to live in the Sultan’s court. In 1447, Vlad III and his eldest son were captured and murdered by their own nobles. It would not be until 1456 before Vlad III Dracula was able to return to Wallachia, and with the Sultan’s support, take over the Principality.
