Dracula: The Maniacs Behind The Legend part1

By Reina Desrouleaux

As Halloween is approaching we are all looking forward to its exceptional annual festivities. From haunted houses to parties and dressing up for trick or treating, We all like to dress up as our favorite mythical characters whether its from History, Literature, or pure Fiction.  But only one certain character has managed to stay at the heart of our Folklore for just over a century, and just never seems to get old. He is known as the king of the undead and  a marketing phenomenon in certain countries. He is the great undead Dracula.

As we all like to watch our siblings and friends dress up as Dracula has anyone ever wondered what inspired Bram Stroker to create such a character? a lonely charming demonic gentlemen who is best known for seducing women with just a look. Has anyone ever wondered what would trigger an imagination for such a charmingly evil character? well before I get into the details, let me just say that  some of the details about the inspirations will probably make you very squirmish, and if you dont want to know I suggest you don’t read on.

 Bram Stroker found the name Dracula from one of Europe’s most vicious rulers;   Vlad III Prince of Wallachia also known as Vlad The Impaler ,and Dracula to his people. His name Dracula means ” son of the dragon”, because his father’s name was Dracul which was translated into “dragon”. His father earned the name Dracul after joining the Order Of The Dragon which Vlad also joined at the age of five. This was an order who took a vow to preserve Christianity in Eastern Europe, for this was a time of raids from Muslims who attempted to convert the Christians. After years in exile, Vlad’s father became king of Wallachia, only to be kicked off the throne six years later. The king however secured his place by giving his two sons Vlad and his brother Radu as hostages of the Ottoman Court  (Muslim Turks). While Vlad was being whipped and punished, his brother was accepted into the Ottoman Court. This established Vlad’s deep hatred for the Turks and his brother. On top of it all, he was even angrier at his father for betraying a sacred vow which they both took.

In december of 1447 ,Vlad’s father Along with Vlad’s eldest brother Mircea were both assasinated by a group of Hungarian rebels. Vlad was especially angry because his eldest brother was blinded with hot iron stakes and then buried alive. This unfortunate incident helped Vlad become king of Wallachia. Although his first reign was short lived, he led a small group of his supporters into battle and reconquered his throne where his reign of terror really began.

As soon as Vlad became king, his search for revenge became his number one priority. He searched for the leader of the group suspected of the torture and death of his brother and had them executed. He also executed anyone he believed to have been associated with the group. He allied himself with the future Hungarian king, and made sure the Ottomans knew of his resentment towards them.

In response the Ottomans attempted to overthrow him but failed. This attempt started Vlad’s raging fury. In the winter of 1461, Vlad devastated the area around Serbia and the Black sea.  He took pride in his killings and raids, and made sure he brought prisoners home with him. When he brought his prisoners Vlad had a basement added to his castle, which was a reserved torture area. He wanted his enemies to suffer, so he would have the prisoners impaled. Impalement is the act of slowly killing a living thing. It is a specially brutal method because it left the victims in pain for days and slowly killed them. The gruesome part of it? he liked to watch.

Vlad had 2 favorite methods. One would be to place someone on a table and have the limbs pulled apart. Another is to have a steak driven through the body. I’m not talking about a simple stake to the heart. He would have his executioners insert the stake through the victim’s anus and maneuvered through his body. The stake would usually end at the shoulders , necks, and sometimes through the mouth or head. After the long torturous methods he would have the bodies on the stakes planted in the ground along the Danube river to create a forest of staked bodies. Vlad would actually have dinner in his “forest” while watching his executioners torture the prisoners. He found sadistic pleasure in hearing his enemies’ cries as a way of avenging his childhood. He didn’t give special treatment to women or children either. In fact he would have the babies staked to the mothers. Word of his methods spread through Europe but none believed until armies would be greeted by that forest before they entered Wallachia. Armies with men with a lot more skill and experience who outnumbered Vlad’s men at a ratio of 3:1 would run away at the sight of the “forest”.

This ruler’s sadistic manners earned him the title of one of the most vivious rulers of history. Most of us these days would consider him a monster and a psychopath, but you’d better not call him such a name in Romania. The people of Romania consider Vlad the Impaler a national hero. He took a vow to protect the country and to preserve Christianity and followed through with it, even though his methods of keeping it were pretty brutal and barbaric. This ruler gave Bram Stroker the idea for the name Dracula otherwise, known as the prince of the undead. You want to know where he got the Idea of the vampire? Check out the Article  ” Dracula : The Maniacs Behind The Legend part 2″ which will be coming soon.

 

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_III_the_Impaler

” Vampire Secrets”  aired on the History Channel.

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