The Historical Dracula
THE HISTORICAL DRACULA:
VLAD III TEPES, 1431-1476
- by Ray Porter, 1992
Chapter I:
Historical Background
Most
of the members of this list are probably aware of the fact that when
Bram Stoker penned his immortal classic, _Dracula_, he based his
vampire villain on an actual historical figure. Stoker's model was
Vlad III Dracula (called Tepes, pronounced tse-pesh); a fifteenth
century voivode or prince of
Wallachia of the princely House of Basarab.
Wallachia is a province of Romania bordered to the
 north
by
Transylvania and
Moldavia, to the east by the Black Sea and to the south
by Bulgaria.
Wallachia first emerged as a
political entity during the late thirteenth century from the
weltering confusion left behind in the Balkans as the East Roman
Empire slowly crumbled. The first prince of
Wallachia was Basarab the Great (1310-1352), an ancestor
of Dracula. Despite the splintering of the family into two rival
clans, some member of the House of Basarab continued to govern
Wallachia from that time until well after the Ottomans
reduced the principality to the status of a client state. Dracula
was the last prince of
Wallachia to retain any real
measure of independence.
In order to understand the life of Vlad Dracula it is first
necessary to understand something about the nature of Wallachian
society and politics. The throne of
Wallachia was hereditary but not by the law of
primogeniture; the boyars or great nobles had the right to elect the
voivode from among the various eligible members of the royal family.
As with most elective monarchies during the Middle Ages the power of
the central government tended to be dissipated among the nobility as
various members of the ruling family vied for the throne. Wallachian
politics also tended to be very bloody. Assassination was a common
means of eliminating rivals and many of the voivodes ended their
lives violently and prematurely. By the late fifteenth century the
House of Basarab had split into two rival clans; the descendants of
Prince Dan and those of Prince Mircea the Old (Dracula's
grandfather). These two branches of the royal house were bitter
rivals. Both Dracula and his father, Vlad II Dracul, murdered rivals
from the Danesti upon reaching the throne.
 The
second ascendant fact of fifteenth century Wallachian political life
was the influence of powerful neighbors. In 1453 Constantinople and
the last vestiges of the Byzantine or East Roman Empire, which had
blocked the Islam's access to Europe for nearly one thousand years,
succumbed to the armed might of the Ottoman Turks under Sultan
Mohammed the Conqueror. Long before the fall of the Imperial City
the Ottomans had penetrated deep into the Balkans. Dracula's
grandfather, Mircea the Old, was forced to pay tribute to the sultan
early in the fifteenth century. The Hungarian Kingdom to the north
and west of
Wallachia reached the zenith of its
power during the fifteenth century and assumed Constantinople's
ancient mantle as defender of Christendom. Throughout the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries the princes of
Wallachia attempted to maintain a precarious independence
by constantly shifting allegiances between these powerful neighbors.
Dracula ruled as Prince of
Wallachia on three separate occasions. He first claimed
the throne with Turkish support in 1448. On this occasion he ruled
for only two months (November-October) before being driven out by a
Danesti claimant supported by Hungary. Dracula dwelt in exile for
several years before returning to
Wallachia to kill the Danesti prince, Vladislav II, and
reclaim the Wallachian throne with Hungarian support. Dracula's
second regnal period stretched from 1456 to 1462. It was during this
time that Dracula carried out his most famous military
exploits against the Turks and also committed his most gruesome
atrocities.
In 1462 Dracula fled to Transylvania to seek the aid of the King of
Hungary when a Turkish army overwhelmed
Wallachia. Instead of receiving the assistance he
expected Dracula was imprisoned by the Hungarian king. He remained a
prisoner of Matthias Corvinus of Hungary for several years. For most
of the period of Dracula's incarceration his brother, Radu the
Handsome, ruled
Wallachia as a puppet of the
Ottoman sultan. When Radu died (ca. 1474-1475) the sultan appointed
Basarab the Old, a member of the Danesti clan, as prince.
Eventually, Dracula regained the favor and support of the Hungarian
king. In 1476 he once again invaded
Wallachia. His small force consisted of a few loyal
Wallachians, a contingent of Moldavians sent by his cousin Prince
Stephen the Great of
Moldavia, and a contingent of
Transylvanians under their prince, Stephen Bathory. The allies
succeeded in driving Basarab out of the country and placing Dracula
on the throne (November 1476). However, after Dracula was once again
in control, Stephen Bathory returned to Transylvania taking most of
Dracula's army with him. The Turks soon counterattacked with
overwhelming force. Dracula was killed fighting the Turks near
Bucharest in December of 1476. His head was sent to
Constantinople where the Sultan had it displayed on a stake to prove
that the terrible Impaler was really dead.
Chapter II: What's in a
name?
 There
has been considerable debate among scholars concerning the meaning
of the name "Dracula". The name is clearly related to Dracula's
father's sobriquet "Dracul". Drac in Romanian means devil and "ul"
is the definitive article. Therefore, "Dracul" literally means "the
devil". The "-ulea" ending in Romanian indicates "the son of". Under
this interpretation Dracula becomes Vlad III, the son of the devil.
The experts who support this interpretation usually claim that Vlad
II earned his devilish nickname by his clever and wily political
maneuvering.
The second interpretation of the name is more widely accepted. In
1431 Vlad II was invested with the Order of the Dragon by the Holy
Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. The Order of the Dragon was a
knightly order dedicated to fighting the Turk. Its emblem was a
dragon, wings extended, hanging on a cross. From 1431 onward Vlad II
wore the emblem of the order. His coinage bore the dragon symbol.
The dragon was the symbol of the devil and consequently and
alternate meaning of "drac" was dragon. Under this interpretation
Vlad II Dracul becomes Vlad II, the Dragon and his son, Vlad III
Dracula, becomes Vlad III, the Son of the Dragon.
There is some confusion in the secondary sources concerning
Dracula's exact title. In most of the sources he is referred to as
Vlad III. However, many sources refer to him as Vlad IV or Vlad V. I
am somewhat at a loss to explain this confusion. The lists of
Wallachian princes that I have seen would seem to make the correct
title Vlad III.
 The
only conclusion I have been able to reach is that there is some
confusion in the sources between the various Wallachian voivodes
named Vlad and those named Vladislav. This argument gains credence
when one realizes that Dracula occasionally signed his name as "Vladislaus".
I would welcome an explanation from anyone capable of resolving this
problem.
Chapter III: The Life of
Vlad III Dracula, called the Impaler (1431-1476)
 Dracula
was born in 1431 in the Transylvanian city of
Sighisoara. At that time Dracula's father, Vlad II Dracul,
was living in exile in
Transylvania. Vlad Dracul was in
Transylvania attempting to gather support for his planned effort to
seize the Wallachian throne from the Danesti prince, Alexandru I.
The house where Dracula was born is still standing. In 1431 it was
located in a prosperous neighborhood surrounded by the homes of
Saxon and Magyar merchants and the townhouses of the nobility.
Little is known about the early years of Dracula's life. It is known
that he had an elder brother, Mircea, and a younger brother named
Radu. 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
and killing his Danesti rival. His training was typical of that
common to the sons of the nobility throughout Europe. His first
tutor in his apprenticeship to knighthood was an elderly boyar who
had fought under the banner of Enguerrand de Courcy at the Battle of
Nicolopolis against the Turks. Dracula learned all the skills of war
and peace that were deemed necessary for a Christian knight.
The political situation in
Wallachia remained unstable after Vlad Dracul seized the
throne in 1436. The power of the Turks was growing rapidly as one by
one the small states of the Balkans surrendered to the Ottoman
onslaught. At the same time the power of Hungary was reaching its
zenith and would peak during the time of
 John
Hunyadi, the White Knight of Hungary, and his son King Matthias
Corvinus. Any prince of
Wallachia had to balance his
policies precariously between these two powerful neighbors. The
prince of
Wallachia was officially a vassal
of the King of Hungary. In addition, Vlad Dracul was 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. Even in the time of
Vlad's father, Mircea the Old, Wallachia had been forced to pay
tribute to the Sultan. Vlad was forced to renew that tribute and
from 1436-1442 attempted to walk a middle course between his
powerful neighbors.
In 1442 Vlad attempted to remain neutral when the Turks invaded
Transylvania. The Turks were defeated and the vengeful Hungarians
under John Hunyadi forced Dracul and his family to flee
Wallachia. Hunyadi placed a Danesti , Basarab II, on the
Wallachian throne. In 1443 Vlad II regained the Wallachian throne
with Turkish support, on the condition that he sign an new treaty
with the sultan that included not only the customary annual tribute
but the promise to yearly send contingents of Wallachian boys to
join the sultan's Janissaries. In 1444, to further assure the sultan
of his good faith, Vlad sent his two younger sons to Adrianople as
hostages. Dracula remained a hostage in Adrianople until 1448.
In 1444 the King of Hungary, Ladislas Posthumous, broke the peace
and launched the Varna campaign under the command of John Hunyadi in
an effort to drive the Turks out of Europe. Hunyadi demanded that
Vlad II fulfill his oath as a member of the Order of the Dragon and
a vassal of Hungary and join the crusade against the Turk. The Pope
absolved Dracul of his Turkish oath but 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 conditions that add little glory to the
White Knight's reputation. Many, apparently including Mircea and his
father, blamed Hunyadi for the debacle.
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. Hunyadi placed his own
candidate, a member of the Danesti clan, on the throne of
Wallachia.
On receiving the news of Vlad Dracul's death the Turks released
Dracula and supported him as their own candidate for the Wallachian
throne. In 1448 Dracula managed to briefly seize the Wallachian
throne with Turkish support. Within two months Hunyadi forced
Dracula to surrender the throne and flee to his cousin, the Prince
of Moldavia, while Hunyadi once again placed Vladislav II on the
Wallachian throne.
Dracula remained in exile in
Moldavia for three years, until Prince Bogdan of
Moldavia was assassinated in 1451. The resulting turmoil
in Moldavia forced Dracula to flee to Transylvania and seek the
protection of his family enemy, Hunyadi. The timing was propitious;
Hunaydi's puppet on the Wallachian throne, Vladislav II, had
instituted a pro-Turkish policy and Hunyadi needed a more reliable
man in
Wallachia. Consequently, Hunyadi
accepted the allegiance of his old enemy's son and put him forward
as the Hungarian candidate for the throne of
Wallachia. Dracula became Hunyadi's vassal and received
his father's old Transylvanian duchies of
Faragas
and Almas. Dracula remained in Transylvania, under Hunyadi's
protection, until 1456 waiting for an opportunity to retake
Wallachia from his rival.
In 1453 the Christian world was shocked by the final fall of
Constantinople to the Ottomans. The East Roman Empire which had
existed since the time of Constantine the Great and which for a
thousand years had shielded the rest of Christendom from Islam was
no more. Hunyadi immediately began planning another campaign against
the Turks. In 1456 Hunyadi invaded Turkish Serbia while Dracula
simultaneously invaded Wallachia. In the Battle of Belgrade Hunyadi
was killed and his army defeated. Meanwhile, Dracula succeeded in
killing Vladislav II and taking the Wallachian throne but Hunaydi's
defeat made his long term tenure questionable. For a time at least,
Dracula was forced to attempt to placate the Turks while he
solidified his own position.
 Dracula's
main reign stretched from 1456 to 1462. His capital was the city of
Tirgoviste while his castle was raised some distance away
in the mountains near the Arges River. Most of the atrocities
associated with Dracula's name took place in these years. It was
also during this time that he launched his own campaign against the
Turks. This campaign was relatively successful at first. His skill
as a warrior and his well-known cruelty made him a much feared
enemy. However, he received little support from his titular
overlord, Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary (the son of John
Hunyadi) and Wallachia's resources were too limited to achieve any
lasting success against the conqueror of Constantinople.
The Turks finally succeeded in forcing Dracula to flee to
Transylvania in 1462. Reportedly, his first wife committed suicide
by leaping from the towers of Dracula's castle into the waters of
the Arges River rather than surrender to the Turks. Dracula escaped
across the mountains into
Transylvania and appealed to
Matthias Corvinus for aid Instead the King had Dracula arrested and
imprisoned in a royal tower near Buda. Dracula remained a prisoner
for twelve years. 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 (some of the sources claim Dracula's
second wife was actually the sister of Matthias Corvinus). The
openly pro-Turkish policy of Dracula's brother, Radu the Handsome,
who was prince of
Wallachia during most of Dracula's
captivity probably was a factor in Dracula's rehabilitation. During
his captivity Dracula also renounced the Orthodox faith and adopted
Catholicism. It is interesting to note that the Russian narrative,
normally very favorable to Dracula, indicates that even in captivity
he could not give up his favorite past-time; 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.
The exact length of Dracula's period of captivity is open to some
debate. The Russian pamphlets indicate that he was a prisoner from
1462 until 1474. However, during that period Dracula managed to
marry a member of the Hungarian royal family and have two sons who
were about ten years old when he reconquered
Wallachia in 1476. McNally and Florescu place Dracula's
actual period of confinement at about four years from 1462 until
1466. It is unlikely that a prisoner would be allowed to marry into
the royal family. Diplomatic correspondence from Buda during the
period in question also seems to support the claim that Dracula's
actual period of confinement was relatively short.
Apparently in years between his release and 1474 when he began
preparations for the reconquest of
Wallachia Dracula resided with his new wife in a house in
the Hungarian capital. One anecdote from that period tells how a
Hungarian captain followed a thief into Dracula's house. When
Dracula discovered the intruders he killed the Hungarian officer
rather than the thief. When questioned about his actions by the king
Dracula answered that a gentlemen does not enter the presence of a
great ruler without an introduction -- had the captain followed
proper protocol he would not have incurred the wrath of the prince.
In 1476 Dracula was again ready to make another bid for power.
Dracula and Prince Stephen Bathory of
Transylvania invaded
Wallachia with a mixed force of Transylvanians, a few
dissatisfied Wallachian boyars and a contingent of Moldavians sent
by Dracula's cousin, Prince Stephen the Great of Moldavia. Dracula's
brother, Radu the Handsome, had died a couple of years earlier and
been replaced on the Wallachian throne by another Turkish candidate,
Basarab the Old, a member of the Danesti clan. At the approach of
Dracula's army Basarab and his coherents fled, some to the
protection of the Turks, others to the shelter of the mountains.
After placing Dracula on the throne Stephen Bathory and the bulk of
Dracula's forces returned to Transylvania, leaving Dracula's
tactical position very weak. Dracula had little time to gather
support before a large Turkish army entered Wallachia determined to
return Basarab to the throne. Dracula'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 the Impaler, abandoned him to his fate. Dracula was
forced to march to meet the Turks with the small forces at his
disposal, somewhat less than four thousand men.
 Dracula
was killed in battle against the Turks near the small town of
Bucharest in December of 1476. Some reports indicated that he was
assassinated by disloyal Wallachian boyars just as he was about to
sweep the Turks from the field. Other accounts have Dracula falling
in defeat, surrounded by the bodies of his loyal Moldavian bodyguard
(the troops loaned by Prince Stephen of
Moldavia remained with Dracula after Stephen Bathory
returned to
Transylvania). Still other reports
claim that Dracula, at the moment of victory, was accidentally
struck down by one of his own men. Dracula's 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 Impaler was dead. He was
reportedly buried at
Snagov, an island monastery located
near
Bucharest.
Chapter IV: Atrocities
 More
than anything else the historical Dracula is known for his inhuman
cruelty . Impalement was Dracula's preferred method of torture and
execution. Impalement was and is one of the most gruesome ways of
dying imaginable. Dracula usually had a horse attached to each of
the victim's legs and 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 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 bodily orifices or through the
abdomen or chest. Infants were sometimes impaled on the stake forced
through their mothers' chests. The records indicate that victims
were sometimes impaled so that they hung upside down on the stake.
Death by impalement was slow and painful. Victims sometimes endured
for hours or days. Dracula often had the stakes arranged in various
geometric patterns. The most common pattern was a ring of concentric
circles in the outskirts of the 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 back in 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 corpses rotting outside of
Dracula's capital of
Tirgoviste. The warrior sultan
turned command of the campaign against Dracula over to subordinates
and returned to Constantinople.
Thousands were often impaled at a single time. Ten thousand were
impaled in the Transylvanian city of Sibiu (where Dracula had once
lived) in 1460. In 1459, on St. Bartholomew's Day, Dracula 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 Dracula feasting amongst a
forest of stakes and their grisly burdens outside
Brasov while a nearby executioner cuts apart other
victims. Impalement was Dracula's favorite but by no means his only
method of torture. The list of tortures employed by this cruel
prince reads like an inventory of hell's 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 boiling alive.
No one was immune to Dracula's attentions. His victims included
women and children, peasants and great lords, ambassadors from
foreign powers and 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 Dracula's
actions on the basis nascent nationalism and political necessity.
Many of the merchants in
Transylvania and
Wallachia were Saxons who were seen as parasites, preying
upon the Romanian natives of
Wallachia, while the boyars had proven their disloyalty
time and time again. Dracula's own father and older brother were
murdered by unfaithful boyars. However, many of Dracula's victims
were Wallachians and few deny that he derived a perverted pleasure
from his actions.
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 of 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. Dracula was well aware that many of
these same nobles were part of the conspiracy that led to his
father's assassination and the burying alive of his elder brother,
Mircea. Many had also played a role in the overthrow of numerous
Wallachian princes. During the feast Dracula asked his noble guests
how many princes had ruled during their life times. All of the
nobles present had out lived several princes. One answered that at
least thirty princes had held the throne during his life. None had
seen less than seven reigns. Dracula 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 a castle in the mountains
above the Arges River. Dracula was determined to rebuild this
ancient fortress as his own stronghold and refuge. The enslaved
boyars and their families were forced to labor for months rebuilding
the old castle with materials from another 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 of the old
gentry survived the ordeal of building Castle Dracula.
Throughout his reign Dracula systematically eradicated the old boyar
class of
Wallachia. The old boyars had
repeatedly undermined the power of the prince during previous reigns
and had been responsible for the violent overthrow of several
princes. Apparently Dracula was determined that his own power be on
a modern and thoroughly secure footing. In the place of the executed
boyars Dracula promoted new men from among the free peasantry and
the middle class; men who would be loyal only to their prince. Many
of Dracula's acts of cruelty can be interpreted as efforts to
strengthen and modernize the central government at the expense of
feudal powers of the nobility and great towns.
Dracula was also constantly on guard against the adherents of the
Danesti clan. Some of his raids into Transylvania may have been
efforts to capture would-be princes of the Danesti. Several members
of the Danesti clan died at Dracula's hands. Vladislav II was
murdered soon after Dracula came to power in 1456. Another Danesti
prince was captured during one of Dracula's forays into
Transylvania. Thousands of the citizens of the town that had
sheltered his rival were impaled by Dracula. The captured Danesti
prince was forced to read his own funeral oration while kneeling
before an open grave before his execution.
Dracula's 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 Dracula'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. Dracula had the woman's breasts cut off, then she was skinned
and impaled in a square in
Tirgoviste with her skin lying on a nearby table. Dracula
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.
Chapter V: Anecdotal
Evidence
Much
of the information we have about Vlad III comes from pamphlets
published in Germany and Russia after his death. The German
pamphlets appeared shortly after Dracula's death and, at least
initially, may have been politically inspired. At that time 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. 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 Dracula's death -- strong proof of their popularity.
The German pamphlets painted Dracula 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
Moscow were at that time just beginning to build the basis of what
would become the autocracy of the czars. They were also having
considerable trouble with disloyal, often treasonous boyars. In
Russia, Dracula 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 between the various pamphlets has led most historians to
conclude that at least the broad outlines of the events covered
actually occurred.
Romanian verbal tradition provides another important source for the
life of Vlad Dracula. 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 are gradually being forgotten by the
younger generations. However, they still provide valuable
information about Dracula and his relationship with his own people.
Many of the tales contained in the pamphlets are also found in the
verbal tradition, though with a somewhat different emphasis. Among
the Romanian peasantry Dracula is remembered as a just prince who
defended his people from foreigners, whether those foreigners be
Turkish invaders or German merchants. He is also remembered as
somewhat of a champion of the common man against the oppression of
the boyars. Dracula's fierce insistence on honesty is a central part
of the verbal tradition. Many of the anecdotes contained in the
pamphlets and in the verbal tradition demonstrate the prince's
efforts to eliminate crime and dishonesty from his domain. However,
despite the more positive interpretation, the Romanian verbal
tradition also remembers Dracula 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 verbal 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 Dracula at
Tirgoviste are Florentine, in others they are Turkish.
The nature of their offense against the Prince also varies from
version to version. However, all versions agree that Dracula, in
response to some real or imagined insult, had their hats nailed to
their heads. Some of the sources view Dracula's actions as
justified, others view his acts as crimes of wanton and senseless
cruelty. There are about nine anecdotes that are almost universal in
the Dracula literature.
1. The Golden Cup
Dracula was known throughout his land for his fierce insistence on
honesty and order. Thieves seldom dared practice their trade within
Dracula's domain -- they knew that the stake awaited any who were
caught. Dracula was so confident in the effectiveness of his law
that he placed a golden cup on display in the central square of
Tirgoviste. The cup was never stolen and remained
entirely unmolested throughout Dracula's reign.
2. The Foreign Merchant
A merchant from a foreign land once visited Dracula's capital of
Tirgoviste. Aware of the reputation of Dracula's land for
honesty, he left a treasure-laden cart unguarded in the street over
night. Returning to his wagon in the morning, the merchant was
shocked to find 160 golden ducats missing. When the merchant
complained of his loss to the prince, Dracula assured the him that
his money would be returned and invited him to remain in the palace
that night. Dracula then issued a proclamation to the city -- find
the thief and return the money or the city will be destroyed. During
the night he ordered that 160 ducats plus one extra be taken from
his own treasury and placed in the merchant's cart. On returning to
his cart in the morning and counting his money the merchant
discovered the extra ducat. The merchant returned to Dracula and
reported that his money had indeed been returned plus an extra
ducat. Meanwhile the thief had been captured and turned over to the
prince's guards along with the stolen money. Dracula 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.
3. The Two Monks
There are several versions of this anecdote. In some the two monks
were from a Catholic monastery in
Wallachia or wandering Catholic monks from a foreign
land. In either case Catholic monks would be viewed as
representatives of a foreign power by Dracula. In other versions of
the story the monks were from a Romanian Orthodox establishment (the
native church of
Wallachia). Dracula's motivation
also varies considerably among the different versions of the story.
All versions of the story agree that two monks visited Dracula in
his palace at
Tirgoviste. Curious to see the
reaction of the churchmen, Dracula showed them the rows of impaled
corpses in the courtyard. When asked their opinions of his actions
by the prince, one of the monks 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, Dracula rewarded the sycophantic monk and
impaled the honest monk. In the version found in the Russian
pamphlets and in the Romanian verbal tradition Dracula rewarded the
honest monk for his integrity and courage and impaled the sycophant
for his dishonesty.
4. The Polish Nobleman
Benedict de Boithor, a Polish nobleman in the service of the King of
Hungary, visited Dracula at
Tirgoviste in September of 1458. At dinner one evening
Dracula ordered a golden spear brought and set up directly in from
of the royal envoy. Dracula then asked the envoy why he thought this
spear had been set up. Benedict replied that he imagined that some
boyar had offended the prince and that Dracula intended to honor
him. Dracula then responded that he had, in fact, had the spear set
up in honor of his noble, Polish guest. The Pole then responded that
had he done anything to deserve death that Dracula should do as he
thought best. He further asserted that in that case Dracula would
not be responsible for his death, rather he would be responsible for
his own death for incurring the displeasure of the prince. Dracula
was greatly pleased by this answer and showered the man with gifts
while declaring that had he answered in any other manner he would
have been immediately impaled.
5. The Foreign Ambassadors
There are at least two versions of this story in the literature. As
with the story of the two monks, one version is common in the German
pamphlets and views Dracula's actions unfavorably while the other
version is common in eastern Europe and sees Dracula's actions in a
much more favorable light. In both versions ambassadors of a foreign
power visit Dracula's court at
Tirgoviste. When granted an audience with the prince the
envoys refused to remove their hats as was the custom when in the
presence of the prince in
Wallachia. Angered at this sign of
disrespect Dracula had the ambassadors' hats nailed to their heads
so that they might never remove them.
In the German version of the story the envoys are Florentine and
refused to remove their hats to demonstrate their superiority. When
Dracula asked the ambassadors why they wouldn't remove their hats
they responded that such was not their custom and that they wouldn't
remove their hats, even for the Holy Roman emperor. Dracula
immediately had their hats nailed to their heads so that they might
never come off and had the ambassadors ejected from his court. In
Germany and the West, where the concept of diplomatic immunity was
at least given lip service, this was held to be an act of barbarity
against the representatives of a friendly power.
In the version of the story common in the east, the envoys are
Turkish. When ushered into the presence of the prince, the Turks
refused to remove their Phrygian caps. When questioned they answered
that it was not the custom of their fathers to remove their hats.
Dracula then ordered their hats nailed to their heads with three
nails so that they might never have to break such an excellent
tradition. The envoys were then sent back to the sultan. In the east
this was held to be a courageous act of defiance in the face of the
power of the Ottoman sultan. It should also be noted that the
nailing of hats to the heads of those who displeased a monarch was
not an unknown act in eastern Europe. Apparently this method was
occasionally used by the princes of Moscow when faced by unpleasant
envoys.
6. Dracula's Mistress
Dracula once had a mistress who 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. Dracula was often moody and depressed and the woman made every
effort to lighten her lover's burdens. Once, when Dracula was
particularly depressed, the woman dared tell him a lie in an effort
to cheer him up; she told him that she was with child. Dracula
warned the woman not to joke about such matters but she insisted on
the truth of her claim despite her knowledge of the prince's
feelings about dishonesty. Dracula had the woman examined by the
bath matrons to determine the veracity of her claim. When informed
that the woman was lying Dracula drew his knife and cut her open
from the groin to her breasts while proclaiming his desire for the
world to see where he had been. Dracula then left the woman to die
in agony.
7. The Lazy Woman
Dracula once noticed a man working in the fields while wearing a too
short caftan. The prince stopped and asked the man whether or not he
had a wife. When the man answered in the affirmative Dracula had the
woman brought before him and 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 husband's short caftan
as evidence of her laziness and dishonesty and ordered her impaled
despite her husband's protestations that he was well satisfied with
his wife. Dracula then ordered another woman to marry the peasant
but admonished her to work hard or she would suffer her
predecessor's fate.
8. The Nobleman with the Keen Sense of Smell
On St. Bartholomew's Day in 1459 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, Dracula noticed that one of his
boyars was holding his nose in an effort to alleviate the terrible
smell of clotting blood and emptied bowels. Dracula then ordered the
sensitive nobleman impaled on a stake higher than all the rest so
that he might be above the stench.
In another version of this story the sensitive nobleman is an envoy
of the Transylvanian cities of
Brasov and Sibiu sent to appeal to the cruel Wallachian
to spare those cities. While hearing the nobleman's appeal Dracula
walked amongst the stakes and their grisly burdens. Some of the
victims still lived. Nearly overcome by the smell of drying blood
and human wastes the nobleman asked the prince why he walked amidst
the awful stench. Dracula then asked the envoy if he found the
stench oppressive. The envoy, seeing an opportunity to ingratiate
himself with Dracula, responded that his only concern was for the
health and welfare of the prince. Dracula, angered at the nobleman's
dishonesty ordered him impaled on the spot on a very high stake so
that he might be above the offending odors.
9. The Burning of the Sick and Poor
Dracula was very concerned that all his subjects work and contribute
to the common welfare. He once noticed 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 prince's guests ate and drank late into the
night, when Dracula himself made an appearance. "What else do you
desire? Do you want to be without cares, lacking nothing in this
world," asked the prince. When they responded positively Dracula
ordered the hall boarded up and set on fire. None escaped the
flames. Dracula explained his action to the boyars by claiming that
he did this, "in order that they represent no further burden to
other men so that no one will be poor in my realm."
Chapter VI: Dracula and
the Vampire Myth
 It
is unclear why Bram Stoker chose this fifteenth century Romanian
prince as the model for his fictional vampire. Stoker was friends
with a Hungarian professor from Buda-Pest and many have suggested
that Dracula's name might have been mentioned by this friend.
Regardless of how the name came to Stoker's attention the cruel
history of the Impaler would have readily loaned itself to Stoker's
purposes. The events of Dracula's life were played out in a region
of the world that was still basically medieval even in Stoker's
time. The Balkans had only recently shaken off the Turkish yoke when
Stoker started working on his novel and the superstitions of the
Dark Ages were still prevelent.
Transylvania had long been a part
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but it too had endured a long period
of Turkish domination and its culture was still largely medieval.
The legend of the vampire was and still is deeply rooted in that
region. 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 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. Travellers 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 on vampirism in
Hungary. It was also during this period that authors and playwrights
first began to explore the vampire myth. Stoker's novel was merely
the culminating work of a long series of works that were inspired by
the reports coming from the Balkans and Hungary.
Given the history of the vampire myth in Europe it is perhaps
natural that Stoker should place his great vampire in the heart of
the region that gave birth to the myth. Once Stoker had determined
on a locality Vlad Dracula would stand out as one of the most
notorious rulers of the selected region. He was obscure enough that
few would recognize the name and those who did would know him for
his acts of brutal cruelty; Dracula was a natural candidate for
vampirism. Why Stoker chose to relocate his vampire from
Wallachia to the north in
Transylvania remains a mystery.
The vampire myth is still wide-spread in eastern Europe. Similarly
the name of Dracula is still remembered in the Romanian oral
tradition, but that is the end of any connection between Dracula and
the vampire myth in folklore. Outside of Stoker's novel the name of
Dracula was never linked with the myth of the vampire. Despite his
inhuman cruelty, in Romania Dracula is remembered as a national hero
who resisted the Turkish conquerors and asserted Romanian national
sovereignty against the powerful Hungarian kingdom.
All Text Rights
Reserved.
"The Historical Dracula" is Copyright © Ray Porter, 1992
Attributes and Copyright
This
document, "The Historical Dracula", was originally authored by Ray
Porter and dated April 30, 1992. According to Mr. Porter, it first
appeared as a contribution to the LISTSERV FAQ Vampyres List on the
public IBM VM Mainframe host at Georgetown University – "vampyre-l@guvm".
We have been in contact with Ray lately and have been granted
permission to post his essay on our website. He then went on to say
"I had no idea this little thing would take on such a life of its
own when I wrote it back many years ago". The essay has been used by
a reference in everything from academic papers to a play by a
Romanian playwright. A well done job Ray and worth all the credit!
All rights of this essay are reserved to Ray Porter, if you desire
to contact Ray if you have any questions or wish to reference him
you can do so by email:
ray_porter@alumni.unc.edu or visit
his personal website:
www.unc.edu/~dragon/
The essay was published on the website of
Eskimo North by Matthew L. Wirkkala
in 1997 which is now used as the official website for the essay.
Here is a link to the essay:
www.eskimo.com/~mwirkk/castle/vlad/vladhist.html
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