VLAD DRACULEA
Many of you probably know of the fantasy figure Dracula created by Bram Stoker in 1896.
Many of you have most certainly seen one of many hundred movies that has been made about him.
This page is dedicated to the real Dracula, the Wallachian Weiwode(Prince)Vlad Draculea. A cruel but fair
ruler who reigned over parts of what today is Romania.
You will find sections below dealing with different
subjects about him. Enjoy!!
The birth of the warlord
Vlad was born in the year of 1431 in a village called
Sighisoara located in the southern parts of Romania. The picture above is taken at present day and shows the house where he was brought to life. Many parts of Sighisoara remains as they were back in the fifteenth century. There is a small plaque outside the building to comemorate the birth of Vlad.
Vlad´s childhood
Wallachia had for a long time been at war with Turkey. At the age of seven Vlad´s father made a pact with the Turkish sultan which restored peace to the land. However the sultan did not trust Vlad´s father who were forced to send Vlad and another son to him. In case Vlad´s father broke his promise the sultan would take the lifes of his sons. Vlad lived with the sultan for some years and developed a sense for war stategy, he learned to speak Turkish and had access to the sultans harem. This was Vlad´s childhood in a nutshell. One might wonder if he would have turned out the way he did if he had not been sent to the Turkes in the first place.
The names of Vlad
There are two names associated with Vlad. So which means what? And Why?
Vlad Draculea:Vlad´s father was called Vlad Dracul. The name Dracul is Romanian for the dragon or the devil. Many misspell his sons name and write Vlad Dracula when ifact it is Vlad Draculea.
The name has an ending (ea) which in Romanian means "son of". In other words Vlad´s name means "Son of the Dragon/Devil".
Vlad Tepes:This is not his real name! This was a nick name his servants gave him because of his favourite way of excecution: impalment. Tepes means the Impaler in Romanian and I think you can figure the rest of it out.
How do people view Vlad?
I guess alot of you who visit this page are familiar to Vlad since there are endless Metal bands who have written lyrics about him. But he is not to well known to the average person. Even though he in proportion killed as many people as Hitler did I don´t think people look at him as the dictator he was and certainly not with the same awe and disgust as Hitler. It might be the fact that much time has passed and people forget or think that the stories of impalement and the other cruelties he performed is just fiction. The Romanian people look at him as a liberator and a great national heroe since he freed the country from the Turks. There are several statues raised in his honour. On of them on picture above.
This is a picture of one of Vlad´s castle. This particular one is mentioned in the Dracula novel.
Pictures
I will update with more facts when I got time to do it. So check back.
