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The Legend of Count Dracula

About The Dracul

Vlad Dracul was the father of Vlad The Impaler (1430 - 1477), the person who has been identified as the historical Dracula. He was the illegitimate son of Prince Mircea, the ruler of Wallachia, the area of present-day Romania south of the Carpathian Mountains. His Mother might have been Princess Mara of the Tomaj family of Hungary. He possibly spent a period of his youth at the court of Sigismund I of Luxembourg, the king of Hungary, as a token of faithfulness of Mircea's alliance with Sigismund. Thus, Vlad might have grown up in Buda and in locations in Germany. He married and had a son, also named Mircea.

In 1430 Vlad appeared in Transylvania as an official in charge of securing the Transylvanian border with Wallachia. He resided in Sighisoara, where toward the end of the year his second son, Vlad (later called Vlad the Impaler or Dracula) was born. Shortly after the child's birth, it became known that Sigismund had selected Vlad as his candidate to rule Wallachia. Vlad was invited to Nuremberg to be invested by the Order Of The Dragon.

Now bearing the title of prince of Wallachia, he was unable to secure the throne. He eventually created a powerful alliance by marrying Eupraxia, the sister of the ruler of Muldavia, as a second wife. In 1436 he was finally able to secure the Wallachian throne, and in the winter of 1436-37 he moved to Tirgoviste, the Wallachian capital. He had three other children : Radu, a second son also named Vlad (commonly referred to as Vlad the Monk), and a second son named Mircea.

In 1437, following the death of Sigismund, Vlad Dracul signed an alliance with the Turks, In March 1442 he allowed Mezid-Bey to pass through Wallachia and attack Transylvania. However, the Turkish army was defeated and the Hungarian army pursued Mezid-Bey back through Wallachia and drove Vlad Dracul from the throne in the process. He took refuge among the Turks, with whose help he regained the throne the following year. To secure the new relationship, Vlad Dracul left two sons, Vlad and Radu, in Turkish hands. Then, in 1444, Hungary moved against the Turks. Vlad Dracul, attempting to keep his pledge to the sultan but also aware of his obligations to the Christian Community, sent a small contingent to assist the Hungarian forces. They met with a resounding defeat, which Vlad Dracul and his son Mircea blamed on John Hunyadi, the governor of Hungary. In 1447 Hunyadi led a war against Vlad. The decisive battle was fought near Tirgoviste, and as a result Vlad was killed and Mircea captured by the Romanian boyars (the ruling elite) and tortured and killed.

The year after Vlad Dracul's death his son Vlad Dracula ("son of Dracul") attempted to assume his throne. He was unable to do so until 1456. Soon after becoming prince of Wallachia, he avenged the death of his father and brother.

About The Dracula

Dracula - Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler)

Dracula - Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler)

Vlad the Impaler
(1431 - 1476)

Vlad Dracula was born around the year 1431 in Sighisoara, Transylvanea.

The name Dracula was applied to Vlad during his lifetime. It was derived from Drac, a Romanian word that can be interpreted variously as "devil" or "dragon". Vlad's father had joined the Order of the Dragon, a Christian brotherhood dedicated to fighting the Turks, in 1431, shortly after Vlad's birth. The oath of the order required, among other things, wearing the order's insignia at all times. The name Dracula means son of Dracul or son of the dragon or devil.

In December 1447 Vlad's father was murdered and brother burned alive under the orders of Hungarian governor John Hunyadi with the assistance of the boyars, the ruling elite families of Wallachia. The death of Mircea made Vlad the successor, but with Hunyadi's backing.

Vladislav II, a member of another branch of the family, assumed the Wallachian throne. Vlad tried to claim the throne in 1448, but his reign lasted only a couple of months before he was forced to flee to the neighboring kingdom of Moldavia. In 1451, while he was at Suceava, the Moldavian capital, the ruler was assassinated. For whatever reasons, Vlad then went to Transylvania and placed himself at the mercy of Hunyadi. The alliance between Hunyadi and Vlad may have been possible by Vladislav II's adoption of pro-Turkish policy which alienated Hunyadi. Vlad fought beside Hunyadi, who in the end acknowledged Vlad's claim to the Wallachian throne.

Hunyadi dies of the plague at Belgrade on August 11, 1456. Immediately after that event, Vlad left Transylvania for Wallachia. He defeated Vladislav II and on August 20 caught up with the fleeing prince and killed him. Vlad then began his six year reign, during with his reputation was established. In September he took both a formal oath to Hungarian King Ladislaus V and, a few days later, an oath of vassalage to the Turkish sultan.

Vlad's brutal manner of terrorizing his enemies and the seemingly arbitrary manner in which he had people punished earned him the nickname "Tepes" or "the Impaler" the common name by which he is known today.

At Castle Dracula he was faced with overwhelming odds, his army having melted away. He chose to survive by escaping through a secret tunnel and then over the Carpathians into Transylvania. His wife according to local legend, committed suicide before the Turks overran the castle. In Transylvania he presented himself to the new king of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus, who arrested him. At this time the first publications of stories of Vlad's cruelties were circulating through Europe. Vlad was imprisoned at the Hungarian capital, by 1475 events had shifted to the point that he emerged as the best candidate to retake the Wallachian throne. In the summer of 1475 he was again recognized as the prince of Wallachia. His end came at the hand of an assassin at some point toward the end of December 1476 or early January 1477.

What About Blood Drinking?

Even though Romanian tales of Dracula do not label him a vampire, Radu r. Florescu and Raymond T. McNally have found mention of Dracula drinking the blook of his victims. Dracula often had dinner wile he watched the execution he had ordered, and on one documented occasion, he included the blood of one of the executed in his meal(it is believed that he dipped his bread into it). However, there is not enough available evidence to show that he drank blood at any other time in his life.

If Dracula really did drink blood, it might have been to show his tltimate power over his subjects. Because of the lack of other evidence, Dracula is the least likely candidate for a true mortal blood drinker. Unlike some of those whose descriptions follow, Dracula did not seem to thrive on the act of drinking blood, but rather on tis shedding. He is included in here to show how Stoker's model for a fictional vampire acutally did drink blood, at aleast once. However, Dracula provides another mystery that warrants his inclusion in this book.

Stoker said in his novel(through the medium of Dr. Van Helsing) that Dracula possessed such willpower that combined with the strange occult forces of the land from which he came, he was able to return from the dead as a vampire. That willpower, Stoker mentions, certainly was a trait of the real Prince Dracula, and as for returning from the dead, there is a mystery surrounding Vlad Dracula's death and burial.



Dracula and Other Vampire Beliefs

Belief in vampires and the power of blood is as old as mankind. Early man smeared himself in blood and sometimes drank it. The ancient Chinese, Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans all believed in vampires. The Jewish Talmud tells of Lilith, Adam's disobedient first wife, who was transformed into a monster roaming the night.

In the Americas, the early Indians of Peru believed in devil worshippers who sucked blood from sleeping youths to get their life, while the Aztecs sacrificed victims to ensure the sun would continue to rise, removing the beating hearts from their victims and holding them high in the air.

In Transylvania, with its blend of Hungarian, Romanian, and Gypsy beliefs, belief in vampires has been particularly strong. Orthodox Christians believe the soul does not leave the body for the afterlife until 40 days after burial. When an Orthodox Christian is excommunicated, or converts to another faith, it is said that the earth will not receive his body, forcing him to wander.

Some Mongolian peoples of Central Asia believe in the vampire and a bat god. Since Hungarians migrated to Europe from the steppes of Asia, it is probable they shared this belief. However, vampire bats, which fly at night and suck blood from animals, primarily oxen, are only found in parts of Mexico and Central America.


About Castle of Dracula


As described in the famous novel by Bram Stoker, the castle was near the Borgo Pass. It was reached from Pasul Tihuts, a point near the summit of the crossing, on a road way leading south into the high mountains. The castle sat on a great rock overlooking the surrounding forest which was sliced by several rivers.

The castle was built so that attack was impossible. The large windows were placed above the level that arrows and other objects could not reach.

The most common place to look for the castle would be by the Borgo Pass and in fact there are two castles in that area. The first was built in the 13th century, by the 15th century most of the castle was removed, because of lack of use.

(Looking down from inside Castle Dracula)

Of the two castles that Dacula found, the Castle of Arges was in the more strategic position, possibly the major reason for his choice to rebuild it instead of settling at Poenari. It was located on a precipice overlooking the River Arges.

Vlad's Castle was quite small when compared to either Bran Castle or Hundoara. To the north were the mountains dividing Transylvania and Wallachia, and to the south, a commanding view of the countryside. There were three towers and walls thick enough to resist Turkish cannon fire, with room for 300 people. According to legend, a secret staircase led into the mountain to a tunnel, which in turn, led to a grotto that opened on the bank of the river below the castle.

The Turks attacked and captured the castle in 1462. Vlad escaped north through the mountains, but his castle was severly damaged. It was used by some of his successors as a mountain retreat but it was gradually abandoned.

In 1912 the towers of the castle still stood. On January 13 1913 an earthquake caused the main tower to fall into the river. A second earthquake in 1940 did further damage. In 1970 with a growing interest in Dracula, the Romanian government carried out a partial reconstruction and built a walkway up the mountain side to the entrance of the castle. Castle Dracula can be reached by car and a 45 min walk up the walkway to the entrance.


Bran Castle has often been touted, especially by the Romanian tourist board, as the real Castle Dracula. It is possible that Vlad Dracula visited the castle on occasion in the early 1450's. It has an inner courtyard and a secret underground passageway. A steep winding staircase could take a person to a secret escape route deep inside the mountain. Dracula may have drawn, in part, from his knowledge of Bran Castle when he built his own mountain retreat.
A must see for tourists, Bran Castle is much larger and in much better shape then Castle Dracula. Complete with kitchen, eating area, prison and good security from the courtyard, Bran Castle still stands majestic as it did so many years ago.



http://www.geocities.com/athens/forum/2853/family.jpg

Source : Geocities, Factmonster.com



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