Vlad Tepes Cracula Essay, Research Paper
Just who was this peculiar Vlad Tepes Dracula? An explorer of the further
realms of experience, a demon to some and Angel to others. Nevertheless he was
the fifteenth century ruler of Romania. Bram Stoker based his ?Dracula? novel on
Vlad Tepes. His real history is perhaps more interesting than any vampire story.
Vlad was born in 1431 in the town of Sighisoara. He was the second son of
the Prince of Wallachia, Vlad Dracul. Dracul, his father was the ruler of a country
called Wallichia. He was also a member of The Order of the Dragon. This
organization was a group of Slavic rulers and warlords who vowed to uphold the
Christian faith by fighting the Turks. Dracul was unable to secure the throne fully.
He eventually created a powerful union by marrying Eupraxia. Eupraxia was the
sister to the ruler of Moldavia. Vlad Dracul later had an alliance with the Turks
and betrayed his own people by attacking his Wallachia. The Sultan of the Turks
was to take Vlad captive because he couldn?t be trusted. However, he worked it out
so Radu and Vlad his sons would be taken instead. (witchlady7/dracula.html)
Vlad Dracula was taken captive at an early age by the Turks from
1444-1448. They were to be taken to the Sultan Mehemet, while their father Vlad
Dracul bargained to have them released. After being let go his father was
assassinated, which is what prompted Vlad Dracula to commit his first major act of
revenge. (witchlady7/dracula.html)
Vlad had a brutal manor of how he would terrorize his enemies. This is how
he received the nickname of Tepes which means ?the impaler.? This is generally
how he is known today ?Vlad the Impaler.? He went after the boyer family, who he
held responsible for his fathers death. Not only did he go after the boyers, he also
went after the churches. The Orthodox and the Roman Catholic, each were very
powerful in his territory.
Vlad the Impaler used a brutal foreign policy which was more terrorist than a
policy. The merchants of Transylvania were thought to not have been following his
policy and used impalement to enforce his will. He looted the Church of Saint
Bartolomeu, burned a section of Brasov, and Impaled numerous other people. This
raid was pictured in anti-Dracula prints showing him dining among the impaled
bodies. (tvlad_i.html)
A more in depth look into this man?s iniquity would show he is know for his
human cruelty. Impalement was Dracula?s fancied technique of execution and
torture. Impalement is one of the worst ways to die and probably the most ghastly
pain wise. Vlad usually would attach a horse to each of the victims legs and slowly
force a sharpened stake into the body. The stake was generally oiled at the end and
was made sure not to be too sharp. If the stake was too sharp then the victim would
die too quickly. The stake was ordinarily inserted in the body through the posterior
end and was forced through the body until emerging out the victims mouth. There
are other instances where the stakes were inserted in other orifices of the body or in
the abdomen and chest. Small children were impaled on the stakes that were
already forced through their mothers. Some records that were kept at the time
insinuated that the victims were hung upside down from the stakes they were
impaled with. The pain from this was so very painful, and sometimes were endured
for a period of hours or days. He would arrange the stakes in patterns in the
outskirts of town. These shapes were usually concentric circles to make a target.
The height if the stake the victim was on indicated the status or rank of the
individual. (jyu.fi/`karnorr/vlad.html)
This estranged individual had many different tortures that he used like he was
commanding Hell?s torture chamber. Cutting off limbs, nails in heads, blinding,
burning, cutting off noses and ears, strangulation, mutilation of sexual organs,
scalping, skinning, and sometimes boiling alive. So who was immune from this
warlords evil terror? Actually, no one was. He would go after anyone that his
mood suited. Women and children, peasants and lords, ambassadors from foreign
countries and merchants no one was safe. (jyu.fi/`karnorr/vlad.html) To make his
point more clear Vlad would wipe out the old boyer class in Wallachia. They had
repeatedly undermined Dracula?s power. Vlad had finally made it his goal to get
his throne on secure grounds, so he executed the boyers and appointed a loyal group
of peasants to take there place.
During his reign, Vlad moved to Bucharest and built a fortress of the city.
The strong outer walls and the Transylvanian Alps made this city very secure. The
castle however was faced with many difficulties. His army was faded away, and he
decided to escape through a secret tunnel into the Carpathian mountains to
Transylvania. His wife was reported to have committed suicide before the Turks
over ran the castle. Vlad turned himself in to the new king of Hungry, Mattias
Corvinus, who arrested him.
While Vlad was imprisoned at the Hungarian capitol, he seemed to live under
what would be considered comfortable terms. This was about 1466, and by 1475
he appeared to be the next best candidate for the Wallachian throne. In the summer
of 1475 he was once again the prince of Wallachia. Soon after his return to the
throne he moved away with the army to fight in Siberia. When Vlad returned home
he fought against the Turks with the king of Moldavia. The Wallachians Gathered
up their courage and found an assassin to which Vlad would meet the closing to his
fear inspiring reign of terror. His death was in the year 1476, he died at the age of
forty five. In his forty five years he had ended the lives of about 40,000 people.
The highest number of deaths by one person before modern times.
There were many stories associated with Vlad Tepes Dracula as well. These
stories are very commonplace in Europe and were what made him the legend of
who he was. Many feared and scorned him for what he did, the others were
interested in what he did and looked at him as a hero at the time. The first story is
?The Golden Cup.? Dracula was known for his strong justice and punishment,
thieves did not dare practice in his domain. Dracula was so confident in his power
that he placed a golden cup in the town square. Throughout his entire reign the cup
remained untouched. The power to wield must be incredible to not have anyone
steal at all in his land.
?The Lazy Woman? Once Dracula noticed a man working in the field while
wearing a caftan that was too short for him. The prince asked the man if he had a
wife, and the man replied that he had. Dracula brought the woman before him and
asked her what she did during the day. She stated that she would wash, bake, and
sew. The prince pointed out that her husbands caftan was too short and said that is
was evidence of her laziness and dishonesty. The then had the woman impaled on a
stake despite her husband?s protesting. The husband said the he was satisfied with
her and didn?t want that to happen. She was impaled and Dracula ordered another
peasant woman to marry the man. She was forced to work hard as to not end up
like the previous woman. I found this story to be very interesting that he would
have a woman killed for such a trivial thing.
The next story was quite thought inspiring to me. ?The Burning of the Sick
and Poor? Dracula believed that the people all worked for the common good.
When he noticed that the poor were becoming very numbered in his land, he
decided to have a feast in his hall. He said ?No one shall go hungry in my land.? It
was a great feast, the poor and crippled came and ate all they could handle. They
partied late into the night and Dracula made an appearance to them. He asked if
there was anything they wanted, or if they wanted to be free from all cares and have
perfect tranquillity. They all replied yes. So basically he had the hall boarded up
and burned them all to death. None of the people excepted their fiery deaths.
So, why did Bram Stoker choose Vlad Tepes Dracula for his novel? I do not
truly believe that we will ever know. He was friends with a professor from
Buda-Pest, it may have been suggested through him. The vampire myths and stories
were flooded in that area. Maybe he wanted to add a touch a realism to his
character. Vampires were all over the European continent, or if not their stories
were. Vlad was probably the next best thing to a real one.
Bibliography
?The Historical Dracula? by Ray Porter
Http://www.eskimo.com/`mwirkk/vladhist.html
Http://www.jyu.fi/`karnorr/vlad.html
?Vlad Tepes: The True Dracula?
Http://www.vampcastle.com.br.tvlad_i.htm
?Dracula?
Http://members.aol.com/witchlady7/dracula.htm
?History Of Vlad the Impaler?
Http://www.dreamsmith-graphics.com/wizglass/vlad.html
?Vlad Dracula? by Benjamin H. Leblanc
Http://members.aol.com/johnfranc/drac05.htm
?Vlad the Impaler Cont…?
Http://www.darkwing.net/tiger/horror/vamps/vlad3.html
?The History of the Family Dracul?
Http://www.opa.com/vampire/Dracula.html