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7/30/2019 VLAD TEPES - The Historical Dracula
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Vlad TepesVLAD THE IMPALER
The Historical Dracula
p h o t o g a l l e r y
Vlad ShopBooks, movies,
& merchandise
Transylvania ToursVisit Romania --
the land of Dracula!
Origin of the Name "Dracula"
Historical Background
History of Wallachia Prior to Vlad III
The Life of Vlad III
Atrocities of Vlad Tepes
The End of Vlad III
Historical Evidence
AnecdotesThe Origins of the Vampire Myth
Did Bram Stoker base his novel upon
the Historical Dracula?
Bibliography
Introduction
Most authorities believe the character of Dracula in Bram Stokersnovel was based upon the historical figure Vlad Tepes (pronouncedtse-pesh), who intermittently ruled an area of the Balkans called
Wallachia in the mid 15th
century. He was also called by the names Vlad
III, Vlad Dracula and Vlad the Impaler. The word Tepes stands for
"impaler" and was so coined because of Vlads propensity to punish
victims by impaling them on stakes, then displaying them publicly to
frighten his enemies and to warn would-be transgressors of his strict
moral code. He is credited with killing between 40,000 to 100,000
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people in this fashion.
Origin of the name "Dracula"
King Sigismund of Hungary, who became the Holy
Roman Emperor in 1410, founded a secret fraternalorder of knights called the Order of the Dragon to
uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against
the Ottoman Turks. Its emblem was a dragon, wings
extended, hanging on a cross. Vlad IIIs father (Vlad
II) was admitted to the Order around 1431 because
of his bravery in fighting the Turks. From 1431
onward Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and
later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the
dragon symbol.
Order of theDragon EmblemClick to Enlarge
The word for dragon in Romanian is "drac" and "ul" is the definitive
article. Vlad IIIs father thus came to be known as "Vlad Dracul," or
"Vlad the dragon." In Romanian the ending "ulea" means "the son of".
Under this interpretation, Vlad III thus became Vlad Dracula, or "the son
of the dragon." (The word "drac" also means "devil" in Romanian. The
sobriquet thus took on a double meaning for enemies of Vlad Tepes and
his father.)
Historical Background
To appreciate the story of Vlad III it is
essential to understand the social and
political forces of the region during the 15th
century. In broad terms this is a story of thestruggle to obtain control of Wallachia, a
region of the Balkans (in present-day
southern Romania) which lay directly
between the two powerful forces of Hungary
and the Ottoman Empire.
Europe, circa 1560Click to Enlarge
For nearly one thousand years Constantinople had stood as the
protecting outpost of the Byzantine or East Roman Empire, and blocked
Islams access to Europe. The Ottomans nonetheless succeeded in
penetrating deep into the Balkans during this time. With the fall of
Constantinople in 1453 under Sultan Mohammed the Conqueror, all of
Christendom was suddenly threatened by the armed might of the
Ottoman Turks. The Hungarian Kingdom to the north and west of
Wallachia, which reached its zenith during this same time, assumed the
ancient mantle as defender of Christendom.
The rulers of Wallachia were thus forced to appease these two empires to
maintain their survival, often forging alliances with one or the other,
depending upon what served their self-interest at the time. Vlad III is
best known by the Romanian people for his success in standing up to the
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encroaching Ottoman Turks and establishing relative independence and
sovereignty (albeit for a relatively brief time).
Another factor influencing political life was the means of succession to
the Wallachian throne. The throne was hereditary, but not by the law of
primogeniture. The boyars (wealthy land-owning nobles) had the right to
elect the voivode (prince) from among various eligible members of the
royal family. This allowed for succession to the throne through violentmeans. Assassinations and other violent overthrows of reigning parties
were thus rampant. In fact, both Vlad III and his father assassinated
competitors to attain the throne of Wallachia.
History of Wallachia Prior to Vlad III
Fortress of BelgradeClick to Enlarge
Wallachia was founded in 1290 by Radu Negru (Rudolph the Black). It
was dominated by Hungary until 1330, when it became independent.
The first ruler of the new country was Prince Basarab the Great, an
ancestor of Dracula. Draculas grandfather, Prince Mircea the Old,
reigned from 1386 to 1418. Eventually, the House of Basarab was split
into two factionsMirceas descendants, and the descendants of
another prince named Dan (called the Danesti). Much of the struggles to
assume the throne during Draculas time were between these two
competing factions.
In 1431 King Sigismund made Vlad Dracul the military governor ofTransylvania, a region directly northwest of Wallachia. (Vlad III was
born during this time, in the latter part of 1431.) Vlad was not content to
serve as mere governor, and so gathered supporters for his plan to seize
Wallachia from its current occupant, Alexandru I, a Danesti prince. In
1436 he succeeded in his plan, killing Alexandru and becoming Vlad II.
(Presumably there was an earlier prince also named Vlad.)
For six years Vlad Dracul attempted to follow a middle ground between
his two powerful neighbors. The prince of Wallachia was officially a
vassal of the King of Hungary and Vlad was still a member of the Order
of the Dragon and sworn to fight the infidel. At the same time the power
of the Ottomans seemed unstoppable. Vlad was forced to pay tribute tothe Sultan, just as his father, Mircea the Old, had been forced to do.
In 1442 Vlad attempted to remain neutral when the Turks invaded
Transylvania. The Turks were defeated, and the vengeful Hungarians
under John Hunyadithe White Knight of Hungary--forced Vlad
Dracul and his family to flee Wallachia. In 1443 Vlad regained the
Wallachian throne with Turkish support, but on the condition that Vlad
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send a yearly contingent of Wallachian boys to join the Sultans
Janissaries. In 1444, to further assure to the Sultan his good faith, Vlad
sent his two younger sons--Vlad III and Radu the Handsome--to
Adrianople as hostages. Vlad III remained a hostage in Adrianople until
1448.
In 1444 Hungary broke the peace and launched the Varna Campaign, led
by John Hunyadi, in an effort to drive the Turks out of Europe. Hunyadidemanded that Vlad Dracul fulfill his oath as a member of the Order of
the Dragon and a vassal of Hungary and join the crusade against the
Turks, yet the wily politician still attempted to steer a middle course.
Rather than join the Christian forces himself, he sent his oldest son,
Mircea. Perhaps he hoped the Sultan would spare his younger sons if he
himself did not join the crusade.
The results of the Varna Crusade are well known. The Christian army
was utterly destroyed in the Battle of Varna. John Hunyadi managed to
escape the battle under inglorious conditions. From this moment forth
John Hunyadi was bitterly hostile toward Vlad Dracul and his eldest son.
In 1447 Vlad Dracul was assassinated along with his son Mircea. Mircea
was apparently buried alive by the boyars and merchants of Tirgoviste.
(Vlad III later exacted revenge upon these boyars and merchants.)
Hunyadi placed his own candidate, a member of the Danesti clan, on the
throne of Wallachia.
On receiving news of Vlad Draculs death the Turks released Vlad III
and supported him as their own candidate for the Wallachian throne. In
1448, at the age of seventeen, Vlad III managed to briefly seize the
Wallachian throne. Yet within two months Hunyadi forced him to
surrender the throne and flee to his cousin, the Prince of Moldavia. Vlad
IIIs successor to the throne, howeverVladislov IIunexpectedly
instituted a pro-Turkish policy, which Hunyadi found to be unacceptable.
He then turned to Vlad III, the son of his old enemy, as a more reliablecandidate for the throne, and forged an allegiance with him to retake the
throne by force. Vlad III received the Transylvanian duchies formerly
governed by his father and remained there, under the protection of
Hunyadi, waitng for an opportunity to retake Wallachia from his rival.
In 1453, however, the Christian world was shocked by the final fall of
Constantinople to the Ottomans. Hunyadi thus broadened the scope of
his campaign against the insurgent Turks. In 1456 Hunyadi invaded
Turkish Serbia while Vlad III simultaneously invaded Wallachia. In the
Battle of Belgrade Hunyadi was killed and his army defeated.
Meanwhile, Vlad III succeeded in killing Vladislav II and taking the
Wallachian throne.
Vlad III then began his main reign of Wallachia, which stretched from
1456-1462. It was during this period that he instituted his strict policies,
stood up against the Turks and began his reign of terror by impalement.
The Life of Vlad III (1431-1476)
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Vlad III was born in November or December of
1431 in the Transylvanian city of Sighisoara. At
the time his father, Vlad II (Vlad Dracul), was
living in exile in Transylvania. The house where
he was born is still standing. It was located in a
prosperous neighborhood surrounded by the
homes of Saxon and Magyar merchants and the
townhouses of the nobility.Click to Enlarge
Little is known about the early years of Vlad IIIs life. He had an older
brother, Mircea, and a younger brother, Radu the Handsome. His early
education was left in the hands of his mother, a Transylvanian
noblewoman, and her family. His real education began in 1436 after his
father succeeded in claiming the Wallachian throne by killing his
Danesti rival. His training was typical to that of the sons of nobility
throughout Europe. His first tutor in his apprenticeship to knighthood
was an elderly boyar who had fought against the Turks at the battle of
Nicolopolis. Vlad learned all the skills of war and peace that were
deemed necessary for a Christian knight.
In 1444, at the age of thirteen, young Vlad and his brother Radu were
sent to Adrianople as hostages, to appease the Sultan. He remained there
until 1448, at which time he was released by the Turks, who supported
him as their candidate for the Wallachian throne. Vlads younger brother
apparently chose to remain in Turkey, where he had grown up. (Radu is
later supported by the Turks as a candidate for the Wallachian throne, in
opposition to his own brother, Vlad.)
As previously noted, Vlad IIIs initial reign was quite short (two
months), and it was not until 1456, under the support of Hunyadi and the
Kingdom of Hungary that he returned to the throne. He established
Tirgoviste as his capitol city, and began to build his castle some distance
away in the mountains near the Arges River. Most of the atrocitiesassociated with Vlad III took place during this time.
Atrocities of Vlad Tepes
More than anything else the historical Dracula is
known for his inhuman cruelty. Impalement was Vlad
IIIs preferred method of torture and execution.
Impalement was and is one of the most gruesome
ways of dying imaginable, as it was typically slow
and painful. Click to Enlarge
Vlad usually had a horse attached to each of the victims legs and a
sharpened stake was gradually forced into the body. The end of the stakewas usually oiled and care was taken that the stake not be too sharp, else
the victim might die too rapidly from shock. Normally the stake was
inserted into the body through the buttocks and was often forced through
the body until it emerged from the mouth. However, there were many
instances where victims were impaled through other body orifices or
through the abdomen or chest. Infants were sometimes impaled on the
stake forced through their mothers chests. The records indicate that
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victims were sometimes impaled so that they hung upside down on the
stake.
Vlad Tepes often had the stakes arranged in various geometric patterns.
The most common pattern was a ring of concentric circles in the
outskirts of a city that was his target. The height of the spear indicated
the rank of the victim. The decaying corpses were often left up for
months. It was once reported that an invading Turkish army turned backin fright when it encountered thousands of rotting corpses impaled on
the banks of the Danube. In 1461 Mohammed II, the conqueror of
Constantinople, a man not noted for his squeamishness, returned to
Constantinople after being sickened by the sight of twenty thousand
impaled Turkish prisoners outside of the city of Tirgoviste. This
gruesome sight is remembered in history as "the Forest of the Impaled."
Thousands were often impaled at a single time. Ten thousand were
impaled in the Transylvanian city of Sibiu in 1460. In 1459, on St.
Bartholomews Day, Vlad III had thirty thousand of the merchants and
boyars of the Transylvanian city of Brasov impaled. One of the most
famous woodcuts of the period shows Vlad Dracula feasting amongst a
forest of stakes and their grisly burdens outside Brasov while a nearby
executioner cuts apart other victims.
Although impalement was Vlad Draculas favorite method of torture, it
was by no means his only method. The list of tortures employed by this
cruel prince reads like an inventory of hells tools: nails in heads, cutting
off of limbs, blinding, strangulation, burning, cutting off of noses and
ears, mutilation of sexual organs (especially in the case of women),
scalping, skinning, exposure to the elements or to wild animals, and
burning alive.
No one was immune to Vlads attentions. His victims included women
and children, peasants and great lords, ambassadors from foreign powersand merchants. However, the vast majority of his victims came from the
merchants and boyars of Transylvania and his own Wallachia.
Many have attempted to justify Vlad Draculas actions on the basis of
nascent nationalism and political necessity. Many of the merchants in
Transylvania and Wallachia were German Saxons who were seen as
parasites, preying upon Romanian natives of Wallachia. The wealthy
land owning boyars exerted their own often capricious and unfaithful
influence over the reigning princes. Vlads own father and older brother
were murdered by unfaithful boyars. However, many of Vlad Draculas
victims were also Wallachians, and few deny that he derived a perverted
pleasure from his actions.
Vlad Dracula began his reign of terror almost as soon as he came to
power. His first significant act of cruelty may have been motivated by a
desire for revenge as well as a need to solidify his power. Early in his
main reign he gave a feast for his boyars and their families to celebrate
Easter. Vlad was well aware that many of these same nobles were part of
the conspiracy that led to his fathers assassination and the burying alive
of his elder brother, Mircea. Many had also played a role in the
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overthrow of numerous Wallachian princes. During the feast Vlad asked
his noble guests how many princes had ruled during their lifetimes. All
of the nobles present had outlived several princes. None had seen less
then seven reigns. Vlad immediately had all the assembled nobles
arrested. The older boyars and their families were impaled on the spot.
The younger and healthier nobles and their families were marched north
from Tirgoviste to the ruins of his castle in the mountains above the
Arges River. The enslaved boyars and their families were forced to laborfor months rebuilding the old castle with materials from a nearby ruin.
According to the reports they labored until the clothes fell off their
bodies and then were forced to continue working naked. Very few
survived this ordeal.
Throughout his reign Vlad continued to systematically eradicate the old
boyar class of Wallachia. Apparently Vlad was determined that his own
power be on a modern and thoroughly secure footing. In the place of the
executed boyars Vlad promoted new men from among the free peasantry
and middle class; men who would be loyal only to their prince.
Vlad Tepes atrocities against the people of Wallachia were usually
attempts to enforce his own moral code upon his country. He appears to
have been particularly concerned with female chastity. Maidens who lost
their virginity, adulterous wives and unchaste widows were all targets of
Vlads cruelty. Such women often had their sexual organs cut out or their
breasts cut off, and were often impaled through the vagina on red-hot
stakes. One report tells of the execution of an unfaithful wife. Vlad had
the womans breasts cut off, then she was skinned and impaled in a
square in Tirgoviste with her skin lying on a nearby table. Vlad also
insisted that his people be honest and hard working. Merchants who
cheated their customers were likely to find themselves mounted on a
stake beside common thieves.
The End of Vlad III
Although Vlad III experienced some success in fending off the Turks,
his accomplishments were relatively short-lived. He received little
support from his titular overlord, Matthius Corvinus, King of Hungary
(son of John Hunyadi) and Wallachian resources were too limited to
achieve any lasting success against the powerful Turks.
The Turks finally succeeded in forcing Vlad to flee to Transylvania in
1462. Reportedly, his first wife committed suicide by leaping from the
towers of Vlads castle into the waters of the Arges River rather than
surrender to the Turks. Vlad escaped through a secret passage and fled
across the mountains into Transylvania and appealed to MatthiasCorvinus for aid. The king immediately had Vlad arrested and
imprisoned in a royal tower.
There is some debate as to the exact length of Vlads confinement. The
Russian pamphlets indicate that he was a prisoner from 1462 until 1474.
However, during this period he was able to gradually win his way back
into the graces of Matthias Corvinus and ultimately met and married a
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member of the royal family (possibly the sister of Corvinus) and
fathered two sons. It is unlikely that a prisoner would be allowed to
marry a member of the royal family. As the eldest son was about 10
years old at the point Vlad regained the Wallachian throne in 1476, his
release probably occurred around 1466.
Note: The Russian narrative, normally very favorable to Vlad, indicates
that even in captivity he could not give up his favorite past-time; heoften captured birds and mice and proceeded to torture and mutilate
them. Some were beheaded or tarred-and-feathered and released. Most
were impaled on tiny spears.
Another possible reason for Vlads rehabilitation was that the new
successor to the Wallachian throne, Vlads own brother, Radu the
Handsome, had instituted a very pro-Turkish policy. The Hungarian king
may have viewed Dracula as a possible candidate to retake the throne.
The fact that Vlad renounced the Orthodox faith and adopted
Catholicism was also surely meant to appease his Hungarian captor.
In 1476 Vlad was again ready to make a bid for power. Vlad Dracula
and Prince Stephen Bathory of Transylvania invaded Wallachia with amixed contingent of forces. Vlads brother, Radu, had by then already
died and was replaced by Basarab the Old, a member of the Danesti
clan. At the approach of Vlads army Basarab and his cohorts fled.
However, shortly after retaking the throne, Prince Bathory and most of
Vlads forces returned to Transylvania, leaving Vlad in a vulnerable
position. Before he was able to gather support, a large Turkish army
entered Wallachia. Vlad was forced to march and meet the Turks with
less than four thousand men.
Purported tombof Vlad TepesClick to Enlarge
Vlad Dracula was killed in battle against the Turks
near the town of Bucharest in December of 1476.
Some reports indicate that he was assassinated bydisloyal Wallachian boyars just as he was about to
sweep the Turks from the field. Other accounts have
him falling in defeat, surrounded by the ranks of his
loyal Moldavian bodyguard. Still other reports claim
that Vlad, at the moment of victory, was accidentally
struck down by one of his own men. The one
undisputed fact is that ultimately his body was
decapitated by the Turks and his head sent to
Constantinople where the sultan had it displayed on a
stake as proof that the horrible Impaler was finally
dead. He was reportedly buried at Snagov, an island
monastery located near Bucharest.
Historical Evidence
In evaluating the accounts of Vlad Dracula it is important to realize that
much of the information comes from sources that may not be entirely
accurate. With each of the three main sources there is reason to believe
that the information provided may be influenced by local, mainly
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political, prejudices. The three main sources are as follows: (1)
Pamphlets published in Germany shortly after Vlads death, (2)
pamphlets published in Russia shortly after the German pamphlets, and
(3) Romanian oral tradition.
German Pamphlets1.
At the time of Vlad Draculas death Matthias Corvinus of
Hungary was seeking to bolster his own reputation in the Holy
Roman Empire and may have intended the early pamphlets as
justification of his less than vigorous support of his vassal. It must
also be remembered that German merchants were often the
victims of Vlad Draculas cruelty. The pamphlets thus painted
Vlad Dracula as an inhuman monster who terrorized the land and
butchered innocents with sadistic glee.
The pamphlets were also a form of mass entertainment in a society
where the printing press was just coming into widespread use. The
pamphlets were reprinted numerous times over the thirty or so
years following Vlads deathstrong proof of their popularity.
Russian Pamphlets2.
At the time of Vlad III the princes of Moscow were just beginning
to build the basis of what would become the autocracy of the
czars. Just like Vlad III, they were having considerable problems
with the disloyal, often troublesome boyars. In Russia, Vlad
Dracula was thus presented as a cruel but just prince whose
actions were intended to benefit the greater good of his people.
Romanian Oral Tradition
Legends and tales concerning Vlad the Impaler have remained a
part of folklore among the Romanian peasantry. These tales havebeen passed down from generation to generation for five hundred
years. As one might imagine, through constant retelling they have
become somewhat garbled and confused and are gradually being
forgotten by the younger generations. However, they still provide
valuable information about Vlad Dracula and his relationship with
his people.
3.
Vlad Dracula is remembered as a just prince who defended his people
from foreigners, whether those foreigners were Turkish invaders or
German merchants. He is also remembered as a champion of the
common man against the oppression of the boyars. A central part of the
verbal tradition is Vlads insistence on honesty in his effort to eliminate
crime and immoral behavior from the region. However, despite the more
positive interpretation of his life, Vlad Dracula is still remembered as an
exceptionally cruel and often capricious ruler.
Despite the differences between these various sources, there are common
strains that run among them. The German and Russian pamphlets, in
particular, agree remarkably as to many specifics of Vlad Draculas
deeds. This level of agreement has led many historians to conclude that
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much of the information must at least to some extent be true.
Anecdotes
There are about nine anecdotes that are almost universal in the Vlad
Dracula literature. They include the following:
The Golden Cup1.
Vlad Dracula was known throughout his land for his fierce
insistence on honesty and order. Thieves seldom dared practice
their trade within his domain, for they knew that the stake awaited
any who were caught. Vlad was so confident in the effectiveness
of his law that he laced a golden cup on display in the central
square of Tirgoviste. The cup was never stolen and remained
entirely unmolested throughout Vlad Draculas reign.
The Burning of the Sick and Poor2.
Vlad Dracula was very concerned that all his subjects work and
contribute to the common welfare. He once notice that the poor,
vagrants, beggars and cripples had become very numerous in his
land. Consequently, he issued an invitation to all the poor and sick
in Wallachia to come to Tirgoviste for a great feast, claiming that
no one should go hungry in his land. As the poor and crippled
arrived in the city they were ushered into a great hall where a
fabulous feast was prepared for them. The guests ate and drank
late into the night. Vlad himself then made an appearance and
asked them, "What else do you desire? Do you want to be without
cares, lacking nothing in this world?" When they responded
positively Vlad ordered the hall boarded up and set on fire. Noneescaped the flames. Vlad explained his action to the boyars by
claiming that he did this "in order that they represent no further
burden to other men, and that no one will be poor in my realm."
The Foreign Ambassadors3.
Although there are some discrepancies between the German and
Russian pamphlets in the interpretation of this story, they agree to
the following: Two ambassadors of a foreign power visited Vlads
court at Tirgoviste. When in the presence of the prince, they
refused to remove their hats. Vlad ordered that the hats be nailed
to their heads, such that they should never have to remove them
again.
Note: The nailing of hats to the heads of those who displeased a
monarch was not an unknown act in eastern Europe and by the
princes of Moscow.
The Foreign Merchant4.
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A merchant from a foreign land visited Tirgoviste. Aware of the
reputation of Vlad Draculas land for honesty, he left a
treasure-laden cart unguarded in the street over night. Upon
returning to his wagon in the morning, the merchant was shocked
to find 160 golden ducats missing. Then the merchant complained
of his loss to the prince, Vlad assured him that his money would
be returned. Vlad Dracula then issued a proclamation to the
cityfind the thief and return the money or the city will bedestroyed. During the night he ordered that 160 ducats plus one
extra be taken from his own treasury and placed in the merchants
cart. On returning to his cart the next morning and counting his
money the merchant discovered the extra ducat. The merchant
returned to Vlad and reported that his money had indeed been
returned plus an extra ducat. Meanwhile the thief had been
captured and turned over to the princes guards along with the
stolen money. Vlad ordered the thief impaled and informed the
merchant that if he had not reported the extra ducat he would have
been impaled alongside the thief.
The Lazy Woman5.
Vlad once noticed a man working in the fields while wearing a
caftan (shirt) that he adjudged to be too short in length. The prince
stopped and asked to see the mans wife. When the woman was
brought before him he asked her how she spent her days. The
poor, frightened woman stated that she spent her days washing,
baking and sewing. The prince pointed out her husbands short
caftan as evidence of her laziness and dishonesty and ordered her
impaled, despite her husbands protestations that he was well
satisfied with his wife. Vlad then ordered another woman to marry
the peasant but admonished her to work hard or she would suffer
the same fate.
The Nobleman with the Keen Sense of Smell6.
On St. Bartholomews Day in 1459 Vlad Dracula caused thirty
thousand of the merchants and nobles of the Transylvanian city of
Brasov to be impaled. In order that he might better enjoy the
results of his orders, the prince commanded that his table be set up
and that his boyars join him for a feast amongst the forest of
impaled corpses. While dining, Vlad noticed that one of his boyars
was holding his nose in an effort to alleviate the terrible smell of
clotting blood and emptied bowels. Vlad then ordered the
sensitive nobleman impaled on a stake higher than all the rest so
that he might be above the stench.
Vlad Draculas Mistress7.
Vlad Dracula once had a mistress that lived in a house in the back
streets of Tirgoviste. This woman apparently loved the prince to
distraction and was always anxious to please him. Vlad was often
moody and depressed and the woman made every effort to lighten
her lovers burdens. Once, when he was particularly depressed, the
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woman dared tell him the lie that she was with child. Vlad had the
woman examined by the bath matrons. When informed that the
woman was lying, Vlad drew his knife and cut her open from the
groin to her breast, leaving her to die in agony.
The Polish Nobleman8.
Benedict de Boithor, a Polish nobleman in the service of the King
of Hungary, visited Vlad Dracula at Tirgoviste in September of
1458. At dinner one evening Vlad ordered a golden spear brought
and set up directly in front of the royal envoy. Vlad then asked the
envoy if he knew why this spear had been set up. Benedict replied
that he imagined some boyar had offended the prince and that
Vlad intended to honor him. Vlad responded that the spear had, in
fact, been set up in honor of his noble, Polish guest. The Pole then
responded that if he had done anything to deserve death that Vlad
should do as he thought best. Vlad Dracula was greatly pleased by
this answer, showered him with gifts, and declared that had he
answered in any other manner he would have been immediately
impaled.
The Two Monks
There is some discrepancy in the telling of this anecdote. The
various sources agree, however, as to the basic story. Two monks
from a foreign land came to visit Vlad Dracula in his palace at
Tirgoviste. Curious to see the reaction of the churchmen, Vlad
showed them rows of impaled corpses in the courtyard. When
asked their opinions, the first monk responded, "You are appointed
by God to punish evil-doers." The other monk had the moral
courage to condemn the cruel prince. In the version of the story
most common in the German pamphlets, Vlad rewarded the
sycophantic monk and impaled the honest one. In the version
found in Russian pamphlets and in Romanian verbal traditionVlad rewarded the honest monk for his integrity and courage and
impaled the sycophant for his dishonesty.
9.
The Origins of the Vampire Myth
It is certainly no coincidence that Bram Stoker chose the Balkans as the
home of his famous vampire. The Balkans were still basically medieval
even in Stokers time. They had only recently shaken off the Turkish
yoke when Stoker started working on his novel and the superstitions of
the Dark Ages were still prevalent.
The legend of the vampire was and still is deeply rooted in the Balkanregion. There have always been vampire-like creatures in the
mythologies of many cultures. However, the vampire, as he became
known in Europe and hence America, largely originated in the Slavic
and Greek lands of Eastern Europe.
A veritable epidemic of vampirism swept through Eastern Europe
beginning in the late seventeenth century and continuing through the
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eighteenth century. 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 Augustin Calmet wrote his famous treatise onvampirism in Hungary. It was also during this period that authors and
playwrights first began to explore the vampire myth. Stokers novel was
merely the culminating work of a long series of works that were inspired
by the reports coming from the region.
Did Bram Stoker base hisDraculaupon the historical Dracula?
First Ed. ofDRACULAConstable, 1897
Click to Enlarge
Although it is widely assumed, even among scholars,
that Bram Stoker based his novel upon the historical
figure of Vlad Tepes, there is at least one prominent
scholar who challenges this assumption. Her name isElizabeth Miller, a professor with the Department of
English at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
(http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/owner.htm ) Her
primary argument is that Bram Stoker kept meticulous
notes of his references in creating Dracula, and none
of the references contain specific information about the
life and/or atrocities of Vlad Tepes.
There is fairly strong evidence the two Draculas are connected.
Arguments in favor of this position include the following:
The fictional Dracula and the historical Dracula share the samename. There can be no doubt that Bram Stoker based his character
upon some reference to Vlad Dracula.
Stoker researched various sources prior to writing the novel,
including the Library at Whitby and literature from the British
Museum. It is entirely possible that his readings on Balkan history
would have included information about Vlad Tepes.
Stoker was the friend of a Hungarian professor from Budapest,
named Arminius Vambery, who he met personally on several
occasions and who may have given him information about the
historical Dracula.
Some of the text of Stokers novel provides direct correlations
between the fictional Dracula and Vlad Tepes (e.g., the fighting off
of the Turks--also, the physical description of Dracula in the novel
is very similar to the traditional image of Vlad Tepes.).
Other references in the novel may also be related to the historical
Dracula. For example, the driving of a stake through the vampires
heart may be related to Vlads use of impalement; Renfields
fixation with insects and small animals may have found inspiration
in Vlads penchant for torturing small animals during his period of
imprisonment; and Draculas loathing of holy objects may relate
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to Vlads renunciation of the Orthodox Church.
Professor Miller counters each of these arguments. In particular she
notes the only reference provided by Stoker in his notes that contains
any information about Vlad Tepes is a book by William Wilkinson
entitledAn Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia
(1820), which Stoker borrowed from the Whitby Public Library in 1890
while there on vacation. The book contains a few brief references to a"Voivode Dracula" (never referred to as Vlad) who crossed the Danube
and attacked Turkish troops. Also, what seems to have attracted Stoker
was a footnote in which Wilkinson states "Dracula in Wallachian
language means Devil." Stoker apparently supplemented this with scraps
of Romanian history from other sources. Professor Miller argues that
The Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia is the only known source
for Stokers information on the historical Dracula, and that everything
else is mere speculation.
As far as Stokers acquaintance with the Hungarian professor Vambrey,
Miller notes that the record only documents two meetings between the
two individuals, and there is no evidence that Vambrey ever spoke of
Vlad Tepes, vampires or Transylvania during their visits.
As far as any likeness between the historical Vlad Dracula and
descriptions provided in the novel, professor Miller notes that it is most
likely Stoker drew his description of Count Dracula from earlier villains
in Gothic literature, or even from his own employer, Henry Irving.
In conclusion, Miller makes an assumption of her own: In the novel
Stoker provides thorough historical detail obtained from his various
references. Had he known about the atrocities of Vald Tepes, Miller
argues, surely he would have included such information in his novel.
For a more detailed argument by professor Miller, seehttp://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/kalo.htm .
Bibliography
Most of the information provided on this site was obtained from a
document entitled "The Historical Dracula," by Ray Porter. See
http://www.eskimo.com/~mwirkk/vladhist.html for more information.
Additional information was obtained from the following Web sites:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7545/Dracula.html
http://www.mediaport.org/~eric/dracula/history/history.html
http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/owner.htm
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