Count Dracula ~ Vlad Tepes
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
Vlad Tepes
Transylvania was a region where the Hungarian king allowed German people to settle down in the 11th century. In the 15th century, when Dracula was born, Transylvania was one of the richest regions of Europe, which made it one of the main goals of the Turkish invasions.
Vlad’s father, which was the first one to be called “Dracula”, was a warlord, who was set on the throne of the Wallach country (in the south of Transylvania) by Hungarian and Transylvanian rulers, after he swore to protect Christian regions against Turkish Invasions. But he was beaten, and his two sons, Vlad and Raul, were taken to Turkey to force their father to cooperate and send large amounts of silver to Turkey each month.
While Raul became a friend of the Sultan, Vlad used the time to study the Turkish language, Turkish torture methods and Turkish strategy. After his father’s death the two sons could return to Transylvania, Vlad took his father’s place and refused to cooperate with the Sultan. He chose the Danube as a border the Turkish army shall not cross and founded today’s Romanian capital Bucharest as a strategic base.
In his three reigns, he became known as a cruel, but genius warlord, and he remained victorious until he was killed in a battle against his own brother Raul.
THE NAME:
In his lifetime, Dracula was known as Vlad Tepes, where Tepes means “The Impaler”. It was always said that “Dracula” comes from “The Dragon Order”, whose members, like his father, swore to defend the Christian world against Islam, especially the Turkish Invasions. But if you look at any Romanian source or ask local people, you get another answer: “dracul”, in the Romanian language, originally means “the devil” – therefore, Vlad the cruel impaler gave it a whole new meaning.
THE BLOODTHIRSTY:
Vlad Tepes Bran Castle
Vlad was known for his cruelty. There are paintings of him, having lunch while enjoying to see people die on the sticks. It was said that after a great battle there was a whole forest of sticks with impaled Turkish soldiers, which made the Sultan withdraw in horror, although he had the better chances to win the war.
There are also stories about Vlad killing children and drinking their blood in front of their parents. Also, cooking people and solving the poverty problem by burning hundreds of poor in a locked off building.
But, today Vlad Tepes is seen as a Romanian hero. For it was said that he was the only ruler who managed to control the country. It was said that there was a lonely spring in the middle of a forest, where he laid a golden cup so that all wanderers could drink, and that it wasn’t stolen during his whole reign. Although he used cruel methods, it was said that he had a great sense of justice.
HIS DEATH, THE MYTH:
One legend says that Dracula dressed himself as a Turkish soldier to spy on the Turkish troops, and, by accident, was killed by his own soldiers. Raul took his head to Turkey, while his body was buried on a small island in a lake. After that, it was said that paranormal things happened round that lake. For example, once a group of prisoners crossed the bridge to the island, every one tied to his next, when the bridge broke down – none of them survived.
This information about Count Dracula and Vlad Tepes was provided to us by Irmi Meister, who was actually born in Transylvania.
I alredy know about count dracula he was very cruel it was very sad what he did to people
some people say that the tomb of Vlad was found empty
do you belive he is among us?
i think this is actually real and a way beacuse i think that vampires do exist in this world!
Vlad tepes has never been a vampire..
Vlad’s tomb is empty, because his body was sealed in another realm.
PRINCE OF DRACULA
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