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The Historical Dracula
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)
All Text Rights Reserved.
"The Historical Dracula" is Copyright © Ray Porter, 1992
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