Vlad the Impaler: A Life From Beginning to End
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About this ebook
The character Count Dracula is well-known throughout the world. He is a dark, seductive, pale man wearing a cape. His gaze is quite literally captivating, and he has the strength of ten men. The story, written by Bram Stoker in 1897, has been retold hundreds of times, but is there a historical figure upon whom the character is based? Is there really a Dracula? Many scholars argue that Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler, is the real Dracula. He was known in western Europe for his cruelty, most especially his penchant for impaling his victims. He is said to have killed somewhere between 40,000 and 100,000 people during his crusade to stop the Ottoman Empire from expanding into eastern Europe. He was equally harsh on the people he ruled and is said to have taken great pleasure in torturing his victims.
Inside you will read about...
✓ Vlad's early life and family
✓ Rise to power: Vlad's first reign
✓ War with the Ottomans, Vlad's main reign
✓ Vlad's imprisonment, third reign, and death
✓ Vlad Dracula's legacy
✓ Vlad the Impaler in fiction: Count Dracula
His story, however, is much more complicated than the oft-reported details of his atrocities would imply. He lived in a time of conflict where many were equally as cruel, and he is viewed as a hero in Romania where he is remembered as a protector of his people. This eBook tells the story of his life and times, and discusses his connection to the fictional Count Dracula, in a succinct, compelling manner, which makes for an entertaining read that is packed with historical information.
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Reviews for Vlad the Impaler
6 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book!
He was a great fighter against Otoman Empire.
Book preview
Vlad the Impaler - Hourly History
Introduction
Movie lovers know the character well: a tall, dark, handsome man, dressed in a black cape, with a penetrating, seductive gaze. Women can’t resist him and men can’t best him. He is as alluring as he is lethal. He is Count Dracula, and he is world-renowned. Irish author Bram Stoker wrote the book Dracula in 1897, but where did Stoker get his inspiration? Is there any basis in fact to the story? Incredibly, in this case, the truth may, in fact, be stranger than fiction.
Stoker drew his inspiration, and the name Dracula, from Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia. Wallachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania situated to the north of the Danube River and south of the southern Carpathian mountain range. Vlad III wrote his name as Wladislaus Dragwyla, but his Romanian patronymic is also written variously as Dragkwlya, Dagulea, Dragolea, and Drăculea. He was the son of Vlad II Dracul. Dracula, with the a
on the end, is the diminutive form of Vlad’s father’s name. The name, Dracul, was given to Vlad II in 1431, the year of his infamous son’s birth, upon his induction into the Order of the Dragon, a monarchical chivalric order established in 1408 by the King of Hungary, Sigismund, to protect Christianity in Eastern Europe. The word drac
originally meant dragon, but in modern Romanian, it means devil.
Unlike his fictitious counterpart, who is often portrayed as tall and handsome, Vlad III Dracula was described as a short man who was stocky and strong. He was said to have a long, straight nose, a thin face, and green eyes with bushy, menacing eyebrows. He wore a mustache and had swollen temples that increased the bulk of his head. He also reportedly had a thick neck. His appearance, like his behavior, has also been described as cruel.
By most accounts, Vlad III Dracula, who was also known as Vlad Țepeș which in Romanian means impaler,
was born in Sighişoara, a Voivodeship of Transylvania in what was then the Kingdom of Hungary, but today is part of Romania. He was born in the winter of 1431 in either November or December; the exact date is unknown. His main reign as Prince of Wallachia lasted from 1456 to 1462, a period which coincided with the Ottoman wars in Europe, and more specifically, with the conquest of the Balkans. He had ruled in 1448 after his Turkish allies attempted to install him as Prince, but that coup was short-lived, lasting only two months. He would also rule again beginning in November of 1476, but that too would last just a little over a month, at the end of which he is presumed to have died.
It was during the war with the Ottomans (Turkish Muslims) that Vlad III paradoxically earned both a reputation for cruelty, which gave rise to the moniker Vlad the Impaler, and his revered status as a folk hero for