The name of
Dracula, rings a bell for many people. The legendary vampire, who was the main protagonist
of Bram Stoker’s book of the same name, became an instantly popular character. There
have been hundreds of books and movies about the bloodthirsty vampire and still
continues to have a cult following. Many people believe that Dracula was a real
person. This is partly true. When Bram Stoker wrote his book, he based the main
character on a bloodshirty tyrant king, named Vlad the Third, better known as
Vlad the Impaler.
He was the
prince of Wallachia, a kingdom which was located in Romania, among the
mountains. His grandfather inducted his whole lineage into the order of the
Dragon. This was proposed by the Vatican, to restrict the Muslim kings from
entering Europe. The descendants in this order, were given the surname Dracul,
which literally meant son of Dragon.
Vlad III’s
father was a brave fighter and his armies clashed with that of the Ottoman
king, Sultan Murad II, who was trying to expand into Europe. The Sultan, called
his father along for a diplomatic meeting, and only after arriving there, they realized
that it was a trap. The Sultan took captive of both Vlad III and his brother
Radu. The Sultan let go of the elder Vlad and kept the boys. The Sultan wanted
to train these boys according to his culture. He believed that with enough
training, the successor of Vlad II would be under his control, and the kingdom
of Wallachia would fall under his control, without even fighting a war.
This was a
gross miscalculation and when Vlad III took over, he immediately showed his
true colours. He took control of the kingdom by a military campaign. His father
had struggled with the boyars before, and after he took over the kingdom he
decided to take care of that. He invited them all to a banquet in the forest
and he had them impaled one by one. Those who accepted his authority would
stay.
He was a
terrible administrator as well. He once decided to get rid of all the sick and
poor in Wallachia, by impaling them. He did not like his authority to be
questioned and he made it very clear to his people. Anybody who went against
his authority would in turn be impaled. He stopped paying taxes to the Ottamans
as well.
Vlad was
also a skilled warrior. When the Ottomans were marching up to fight him, they
stopped to take refuge in the forests. Vlad’s soldiers attacked, wearing the
same uniforms as them, creating a mass confusion. After that, he impaled the
prisoners of war and left them on the hill leading to Wallachia as a warning to
the invaders.
His efforts
were celebrated by Pope Pius II as well. However, after all the gruesome acts
he had commited, Sultan Mehmed decided to end things once and for all and he
ended up driving Vlad into exile. He claimed his throne back after a short
while, but again he was killed while he was marching into battle with the
Ottomans.
His stories
have made him a popular figure among historians. It is also said that during
his tyrannical rule, he impaled close to a million people.
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