Names The crown of
Wallachia was not passed automatically from father to son; instead, the leader was elected by the
boyars, with the requirement that the Prince-elect be of nominally
Basarab princely
lineage (
os de domn — "of voivode bones", "of voivode marrow"), including
out of wedlock births. This
elective monarchy often resulted in instability, family disputes and
assassinations. Eventually, the princely house split between two factions: the descendants of
Mircea the Elder, Vlad's grandfather; and those of another prince,
Dan II (
Dăneşti faction). In addition to that, as in all
feudal states, there was another struggle between the central administration (the prince) and the high nobility for control over the country. To top it off, the two powerful neighbors of Wallachia, the
Kingdom of Hungary and the
Ottoman Empire, were at the peak of their rivalry for control of southeastern Europe, turning Wallachia into a battle ground.
His father,
Vlad II Dracul, born around 1395, was an illegitimate son of
Mircea the Elder, an important early Wallachian ruler. As a young man, he had joined the court of
Sigismund of Luxemburg,
Holy Roman Emperor and
King of Hungary, whose support for claiming the throne of Wallachia he eventually acquired. A sign of this support was the fact that in 1431 Vlad II was inducted into the
Order of the Dragon (
Societas Draconis in
Latin), along with the rulers of
Poland and
Serbia. The purpose of the Order was to protect
Eastern Europe and the
Holy Roman Empire from
Islamic expansion as embodied in the campaigns of the Ottoman Empire.
Wishing to assert his status, Vlad II displayed the symbol of the Order, a
dragon, in all public appearances, (on flags, clothing, etc.). The old Romanian word for
serpent (Cf.
drac) is nowadays the most common and casual reference to the
devil — while the people of Wallachia did give Vlad II the surname
Dracu (
Dracul being the more grammatically correct form), any connection with a dark power was most likely coincidental. His son Vlad III would later use in several documents the surname
Drăculea. Through various translations (
Draculea,
Drakulya) Vlad III eventually came to be known as
Dracula (note that this ultimate version is a
neologism).
Vlad II finally became prince of Wallachia in 1436. During his reign he tried to maneuver between his powerful neighbors, opposing various initiatives of war against the Ottoman, which finally attracted the irritation of the Hungarian side, who accused him of disloyalty and removed him in 1442. With the help of the Turks (where he also had connections) he regained the throne in 1443 and until December 1447 when he was assassinated by means of
scalping ("scalping", for the Turks, meant cutting the edges of the face and pulling the face's skin off, while the person was still alive and conscious) on the orders of
John Hunyadi,
regent of Hungary.
The identity of Vlad Dracula's mother is somewhat uncertain, the most likely variant being that she was a
Moldavian princess, niece or daughter of Moldavian prince
Alexandru cel Bun. In some sources she is named Chiajna — Princess. Vlad seems to have had a very close relationship with Moldavia: he spent several years there after his father's death; he left with his presumed cousin
Stephen the Great to Transylvania, and helped the latter gain the crown as
Prince of Moldavia in 1457 and was later helped by Stephen to return to the throne of Wallachia in 1476.
Vlad III seems to have had three brothers. The oldest, probably named
Mircea, born before 1430, briefly held his father's throne in 1442, was sent by Vlad Dracul in 1444 to fight in his place during the
crusade against the Turks that ended with the
Varna defeat and met his end along with his father in 1447, presumably being buried alive, possibly alongside his father. Vlad IV, also known as
Vlad Călugarul (Vlad the Monk), was born around 1425 to 1430, and was Vlad's half-brother. Vlad the Monk spent many years in Transylvania waiting for a chance to get the throne of Wallachia, trying a religious career in the meantime, until he became prince of Wallachia (1482). Radu, known as
Radu cel Frumos (Radu the Handsome), the youngest brother, was also Vlad's most important rival as he continuously tried to replace Vlad with the support of the Turks, to which he had very strong connections. Radu seems to have been also favoured by the Turkish Sultan
Mehmed II.
From his first marriage, to a Wallachian noble woman, Vlad III apparently had a son, later prince of Wallachia as
Mihnea cel Rău, and another two with his second wife, a relative of
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary.
Wallachian royalty and family background Biography Vlad was very likely born in the city (a military fortress) of
Sighişoara in
Transylvania, during the winter of 1431. He was born as the second son to his father Vlad Dracul and his mother Princess Cneajna of
Moldavia. He had an older brother Mircea and a younger brother Radu, the Handsome. Although his native country was
Wallachia to the south, the family lived in exile in Transylvania as his father had been ousted by pro-Ottoman boyars. In the same year as his birth, his father, Vlad Dracul, could be found in
Nuremberg, where he was invested into the
Order of the Dragon. At the age of five, young "Vlad" was also initiated into the Order of the Dragon.
Early years Vlad's father was under considerable political pressure from the
Ottoman sultan. Threatened with invasion, he gave a promise to be the
vassal of the Sultan and gave up his two younger sons as hostages so that he would keep his promise.
Vlad suffered much at the hands of the Ottoman, and was locked up in an underground dungeon; however, his younger brother, Radu, caught the eye of the sultan's son. Radu was released and converted to Islam, before being allowed into the Ottoman royal court.
These years were influential in shaping Vlad's character; he was often whipped by his Ottoman captors for being stubborn and rude. He developed a well-known hatred for Radu and for Mehmed, who would later become the sultan. According to McNally and Florescu, he also distrusted his own father for trading him to the Turks and betraying the
Order of the Dragon oath to fight them.
A hostage of the Ottoman Empire Vlad's father was assassinated in the marshes near Bălteni in December of 1447 by rebellious
boyars allegedly under the orders of
John Hunyadi. Vlad's older brother Mircea was also dead at this point, blinded with hot iron stakes and buried alive by his political enemies at Târgovişte. To protect their political power in the region, the Ottomans invaded Wallachia and the Sultan put Vlad III on the throne as his puppet ruler. His rule at this time would be brief; Hunyadi himself invaded Wallachia and ousted him the same year. Vlad fled to Moldavia until October of 1451 and was put under the protection of his uncle,
Bogdan II.
Brief reign and exile Bogdan was assassinated by
Petru Aron, and Vlad, taking a gamble, fled to Hungary. Impressed by Vlad's vast knowledge of the mindset, military and inner workings of the Ottoman Empire as well as his hatred of the new sultan
Mehmed II, Hunyadi pardoned him and took him in as an advisor. Eventually Hunyadi put him forward as the Kingdom of Hungary's candidate for the throne of Wallachia.
In 1456, Hungary invaded
Serbia to drive out the Ottomans, and Vlad III simultaneously invaded Wallachia with his own contingent. Both campaigns were successful, although Hunyadi died suddenly of the plague. Nevertheless, Vlad was now prince of his native land.
Turning tides Vlad's actions after 1456 are well documented. He seems to have led the life of all the other princes of Wallachia, spending most of his time at the court of
Târgovişte, occasionally in other important cities, such as
Bucharest — that he founded, drafting laws, meeting foreign envoys and presiding over important judicial trials. He probably made public appearances on relevant occasions, such as religious holidays and major fairs. As a pastime he probably enjoyed hunting on the vast princely domain, with his more or less loyal friends. He made some additions to the palace in Târgovişte (out of which
Chindia Tower is today the most notable remainder), reinforced some castles, like the one at
Poienari, where he also had a personal house built nearby. He also made donations to various churches and monasteries, one such place being the monastery at
Lake Snagov where he is supposed to have been buried .
The early part of Vlad's reign was dominated by the idea of eliminating all possible threats to his power, mainly the rival nobility groups, i.e. the
boyars. This was done mainly by physical elimination, but also by reducing the economic role of the nobility: the key positions in the Prince's Council, traditionally belonging to the country's greatest boyars, were handed to obscure individuals, some of them of foreign origin, but who manifested loyalty towards Vlad. For the less important functions, Vlad also ignored the old boyars, preferring to
knight and appoint men from the free
peasantry. A key element of the power of the Wallachian nobility was their connections in the
Saxon — populated autonomous towns of Transylvania, so Vlad acted against these cities by eliminating their trade privileges in relation with Wallachia and by organizing raids against them.
Another serious threat to Vlad's power was the anarchical situation (a constant state of war had led to rampant crime, falling agricultural production and virtual disappearance of trade) in which Wallachia was brought since the death of his grandfather Mircea the Elder (1418). Vlad used severe methods to restore some order, as he needed an economically stable country if he was to have any chance against his external enemies.
Vlad III was also constantly on guard against the adherents of the Dăneşti clan. Some of his raids into Transylvania may have been efforts to capture would-be princes of the Dăneşti. Several members of the Dăneşti clan died at Vlad's hands.
Vladislav II of Wallachia was murdered soon after Vlad came to power in 1456. Another Dăneşti prince was captured during one of Vlad's forays into Transylvania. Rumors (spread by his enemies) say thousands of citizens of the town that had sheltered his rival were impaled by Vlad. The captured Dăneşti prince was forced to read his own
funeral oration while kneeling before an open grave before his execution.
Main reign (1456–62) Main article: The Night Attack Personal crusade The exact length of Vlad's period of captivity is open to some debate. The Russian pamphlets indicate that he was a prisoner from 1462 until 1474. Apparently his imprisonment was none too onerous. He was able to gradually win his way back into the graces of Hungary's monarch; so much so that he was able to meet and marry a member of the royal family (the cousin of Matthias) and have two sons who were about ten years old when he reconquered Wallachia in 1476. McNally and Florescu place Vlad III the Impaler's actual period of confinement at about four years from 1462 to 1466. It is unlikely that a prisoner would have been allowed to marry into the royal family. Diplomatic correspondence from
Buda during the period in question also seems to support the claim that Vlad's actual period of confinement was relatively short.
The openly pro-Turkish policy of Vlad's brother, Radu (who was prince of Wallachia during most of Vlad's captivity), was a probable factor in Vlad's rehabilitation. During his captivity, Vlad also adopted
Catholicism. It is interesting to note that the
Muscovy narrative, normally very favorable to Vlad Ţepeş, indicates that even in captivity he could not give up his favorite pastime; he often captured birds and mice which he proceeded to torture and mutilate — some were beheaded or tarred-and-feathered and released, most were impaled on tiny spears.
Apparently in the years before his final release in 1474 (when he began preparations for the reconquest of Wallachia), Vlad resided with his new wife in a house in the Hungarian capital (the setting of the thief anecdote). Vlad had a son from an earlier marriage,
Mihnea cel Rău.
His first wife, whose name is not recorded, died during the siege of his castle in 1462. The Turkish army surrounded
Poienari Castle, led by his half-brother Radu the Handsome. An archer shot an arrow through a window into Vlad's main quarters, with a message warning him that Radu's army was approaching. McNally and Florescu explain that the archer was a former servant of Vlad who sent the warning out of loyalty despite having converted to Islam to get out of enslavement by the Turks. Upon reading the message, Vlad's wife flung herself off the tower into a tributary of the
Argeş River flowing below the castle. According to legend she remarked that she "would rather have her body rot and be eaten by the fish of the Argeş than be led into captivity by the Turks." Today, the tributary is called
Râul Doamnei (the Lady's River).
In captivity See also Battle of Vaslui Around
1475 Vlad the Impaler was again ready to make another bid for power. Vlad and
voivode Stefan Báthory of Transylvania invaded Wallachia with a mixed force of Transylvanians, a few dissatisfied Wallachian boyars, and a contingent of Moldavians sent by Vlad's cousin, Prince
Stephen III of Moldavia. Vlad's brother, Radu the Handsome, had died a couple of years earlier and had been replaced on the Wallachian throne by another Ottoman candidate,
Basarab the Elder, a member of the Dăneşti clan. At the approach of Vlad's army, Basarab and his cohorts fled, some to the protection of the Turks, others to the shelter of the
Transylvanian Alps. After placing Vlad Ţepeş on the throne, Stephen Báthory and the bulk of Vlad's forces returned to Transylvania, leaving Vlad in a very weak position. Vlad had little time to gather support before a large Ottoman army entered Wallachia determined to return Basarab to the throne. Vlad's cruelties over the years had alienated the boyars who felt they had a better chance of surviving under Prince Basarab. Apparently, even the peasants, tired of the depredations of Vlad, abandoned him to his fate. Vlad was forced to march to meet the Turks with the small forces at his disposal, somewhat less than four thousand men.
There are several variants of Vlad III the Impaler's death. Some sources say he was killed in battle against the Ottoman near Bucharest in December of 1476. Others say he was assassinated by disloyal Wallachian boyars just as he was about to sweep the Turks from the field or during a hunt. Other accounts have Vlad falling in defeat, surrounded by the bodies of his loyal Moldavian bodyguards (the troops loaned by Prince Stephen remained with Vlad after Stephen Báthory returned to his country). Still other reports claim that Vlad, at the moment of victory, was accidentally struck down by one of his own men. Vlad's body was
decapitated by the Turks and his head was sent to
Istanbul and preserved in honey, where the sultan had it displayed on a stake as proof that
Kazıklı Bey was dead. He was reportedly buried at a monastery located near Bucharest, yet the exact place of his burial remains unknown, as excavations at
Snagov monastery, usually mentioned as his final resting place, have found no human remains.
Return to Wallachia and death Romanian oral tradition provides another important source for the life of Vlad the Impaler: legends and tales concerning the Impaler have remained a part of
folklore among the Romanian peasantry. These tales have been passed down from generation to generation for five hundred years. Through constant retelling they have become somewhat garbled and confused and they have gradually been forgotten in later years. However, they still provide valuable information about Dracula and his relationship with his people. Many of the tales contained in the pamphlets are also found in the oral tradition, though with a somewhat different emphasis. Among the Romanian peasantry, Vlad Ţepeş was remembered as a just prince who defended his people from foreign aggression, 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. National poet of Romania
Mihai Eminescu wrote the memorable verses
"Unde eşti tu, Ţepeş Doamne, ca punând mâna pe ei, Să-i împarţi în două cete: în smintiţi şi în mişei" (
where are you, lord Ţepeş, to get them and split them into two gangs, fools and rascals"). Vlad's fierce insistence on honesty is a central part of the oral tradition. Many of the anecdotes contained in the pamphlets and in the oral tradition demonstrate the prince's efforts to eliminate crime and dishonesty from his domain. Presidential candidate
Traian Băsescu referred to Vlad Ţepeş and his method of punishing illegalities in his anticorruption discourse during the election campaign of 2004.
However, despite the more positive interpretation, the Romanian oral tradition also remembers Vlad as an exceptionally cruel and often capricious ruler. There are several events that are common to all the pamphlets, regardless of their nation of origin. Many of these events are also found in the Romanian oral tradition. Specific details may vary among the different versions of these anecdotes but the general course of events usually agrees to a remarkable extent. For example, in some versions the foreign ambassadors received by Vlad Ţepeş at Târgovişte are
Florentine, in others they are
Ottoman (McNally and Florescu believe he may have done this to both nationalities at different times). The nature of their offense against the Prince also varies from version to version. However, all versions agree that Vlad, in response to some real or imagined insult (perhaps because they refused to remove them in Vlad's presence), had their hats nailed to their heads. Some of the sources view Vlad's actions as justified; others view his acts as crimes of wanton and senseless cruelty.
Legacy Outside of Romanian folklore the reputation of Vlad Ţepeş is considerably darker. Vlad III Ţepeş has been characterized by some as exceedingly cruel. Impalement was Ţepeş's preferred method of
torture and
execution. His method of torture was a horse attached to each of the victim's legs as a sharpened stake was gradually forced into the body. The end of the stake was 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
anus and was often forced through the body until it emerged from the mouth. However, there were many instances where victims were impaled through other bodily orifices or through the abdomen or chest. Infants were sometimes impaled on the stake forced through their mother's chests. The records indicate that victims were sometimes impaled so that they hung upside down on the stake.
Alleged atrocities Much of the information about Vlad III Ţepeş comes from pamphlets published in the
Holy Roman Empire and chronicles written in
Muscovy. The first known German pamphlet dates from 1488 and it is possible that some were printed during Vlad's lifetime. At least initially, they may have been politically inspired. At that time Matthias Corvinus of Hungary was seeking to bolster his own reputation in the Empire and may have intended the early pamphlets as justification of his less than vigorous support of his vassal. The pamphlets were also a form of mass entertainment in a society where the printing press was just coming into widespread use. Much like the subject matter of the supermarket
tabloids of today, the cruel life of the Wallachian tyrant was easily sensationalized. The pamphlets were reprinted numerous times over the thirty or so years following Vlad's death — strong proof of their popularity. The German pamphlets painted Vlad Ţepeş as an inhuman monster who terrorized the land and butchered innocents with
sadistic glee. The Russian pamphlets took a somewhat different view. The princes of Muscovy were at the time just beginning to build the basis of what would become the
autocracy of the
tsars. They were also having considerable trouble with disloyal, often troublesome boyars. In Muscovy, Vlad was presented as a cruel but just prince whose actions were directed toward the greater good of his people. Despite the differences in interpretation, the pamphlets, regardless of their land of origin, agree remarkably well as to specifics. The level of agreement has led most historians to conclude that at least the broad outlines of the events covered actually occurred.
Vlad's atrocities against the people of Wallachia were usually attempts to enforce his own moral code upon his country. According to the pamphlets, he appears to have been particularly concerned with female
chastity.
Maidens who lost their
virginity,
adulterous wives, and unchaste widows were all targets of Vlad's cruelty. Such women often had their sexual organs cut out or their breasts cut off. They were also often impaled through the
vagina on red-hot stakes that were forced through the body until they emerged from the mouth. One report tells of the execution of an unfaithful wife. The woman's breasts were cut off, then she was skinned and impaled in a square in Târgovişte 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.
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