Prince Vlad III (1431–1476) staved off an Ottoman invasion of Walachia and is still regarded as a folk hero in his native Romania for resisting Muslim expansion. Almost everywhere else, however, Vlad is best known for the sadistic punishments he meted out to his enemies and for his notorious surname: Dracula.
The historical namesake of the fictional vampire brought to immortal life by Bram Stoker (1847–1912), the Transylvania-born prince is also widely known as Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad Tepe¸s. His preferred method of disposing of enemies was to slowly impale them; he once supposedly impaled thousands of victims in a single day and then held a feast amidst a field of writhing bodies.
Vlad was the son of Prince Vlad II (c. 1390–1447). The younger Vlad’s surname, Dracula, is derived from the Latin draco, for “dragon,” and referred to his father’s membership in the Order of the Dragon, a group formed to defend the Holy Roman Empire against Ottoman invasion.
In 1447, Vlad’s father and older brother were assassinated by Walachian nobles. He struggled for the next nine years to win control of the principality in a series of wars that established his reputation for ruthlessness. He finally took power in 1456.
In the meantime, the Turks had conquered Constantinople in 1453, bringing a Muslim army to Europe’s doorstep. The sultan then invaded Walachia in 1462. He was met by a gruesome sight: Vlad had impaled 20,000 Ottoman prisoners as a warning to the would-be invaders. The invasion was repulsed, but Vlad was deposed in the same year and spent the next twelve years in prison. He returned to power briefly in 1476, but was killed by the Turks later that year, at age forty-five.
Four centuries later, Stoker ran across Vlad’s name, combined his story with traditional eastern European folk beliefs about vampires, and created the fictional Count Dracula. The novel and subsequent movie adaptations have ensured that the Walachian prince’s name remains synonymous with torture and cruelty.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- Mihnea the Bad (c. 1462–1510), Vlad’s son, succeeded him on the Walachian throne. As the name suggests, Mihnea was not much gentler than his father, and he was said to punish his enemies by cutting off their noses.
- A plan for a vampire-themed amusement park near Vlad’s birthplace in Transylvania was canceled in 2002.
- After his death, Vlad was buried at a secluded monastery on the island of Snagov. His grave was excavated in 1931—and reportedly found to be empty.
