Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula was the first major work of fiction about vampires. Stoker used primarily Eastern European vampire lore of the time to create his novel. His studies of vampires, the brutal Romanian royal Vlad Tepes Dracula (or Vlad the Impaler), and Transylvania gave him the information and inspiration to write the book.

Below is a timeline showing the life of Vlad Tepes Dracula, the historical Dracula.

Timeline: The Life of Vlad Tepes III Dracula

Vlad Tepes III Dracula is born November or December 1431 in the Transylvanian city of Sighisoara, the second of three sons between older brother Mircea and younger brother Radu. At the time, Dracula's father, Vlad Tepes II Dracul, was living in exile in Transylvania and attempting to gather support for his planned effort to seize the throne of Wallachia.

Origin of the name Dracula: The "ulea" ending in Romanian means "son of," while "Drac" in Romanian means "devil" or "dragon" (Dracula's father was a member of the order of the Dragon, a position from which he derived his Dracul surname). Dracula can literally be translated as "son of the devil."

Wallachia was an independent province of Romania which was the subject of a constant power struggle between its powerful neighbors, Hungary and Turkey.

Late 1436
Vlad II kills the seated prince and seizes the throne of Wallachia. Dracula begins his formal apprenticeship training for knighthood.

1442
Turkey invades Transylvania, and Vlad II attempts to stay neutral. Hungary successfully repels the invasion, and Hungarian forces drive Vlad II and his family out of Wallachia as punishment for not siding with them.

1443
Vlad II regains his throne with the help of Turkish forces after swearing his loyalty to Turkey and promising yearly tributes to the Turkish Sultan.

1444
Vlad II sends his two younger sons, Dracula and Radu, to Turkey to prove his loyalty. Dracula is about 13.

Hungary launches a counter- invasion against Turkey. Vlad II again tries to stay as neutral as possible. This time the Hungarian forces are decimated.

1444-1448
Dracula and his younger brother Radu spend four years in Adrianople, Turkey as hostages of the Sultan.

1447
Vlad II and his eldest son Mircea (who is buried alive) are murdered, possibly by Hungarian assassins. Hungary names Vlad II's successor to the Wallachian throne.

1448
The Turks do not like having a Hungarian puppet ruling Wallachia, so they decide to free Dracula and give him an army. He is 17 years old. Dracula's brother Radu remains with the Sultan.

Dracula seizes the Wallachian throne, but rules for only two months before fleeing to Moldavia, which was ruled by his cousin, Prince Bogdan. Advancing Hungarian forces may have forced him into exile; it is also possible that he did not want to be a puppet of the Turks after his imprisonment.

1451
Prince Bogdan is assassinated, and Dracula flees the country. At the time, the Hungarian-installed Prince in Wallachia had begun instituting pro-Turkish policies. Dracula offers his allegiance against the Turks to Hungary. The Hungarians accept his offer.

1456
Dracula once again invades Wallachia, this time with the help of Hungarian forces, and successfully takes back his throne.

1456-1462
Main reign of Dracula as Prince of Wallachia. His leadership results in unprecedented unification of the Wallachian people and resistance to the influence of foreigners. His cruel methods of establishing and maintaining order, which often included impaling criminals, enemies, and the like on stakes and putting them on public display, earn him the nickname "Vlad the Impaler" (Vlad Tempes). There are numerous of stories and legends about his atrocities, and it is thought that anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 people were executed during his reign.

1462
Dracula attacks the Turks in an attempt to drive them out of the Danube River valley. The Turkish Sultan retaliates by invading Wallachia with an army three times larger than Dracula's. While much of the Turkish army soon retreats after finding a "forest" of 20,000 impaled Turkish prisoners, one force does not: an army led Dracula's younger brother, Radu. Radu had grown up in Turkey and pledged his loyalty to the Sultan, so the Turks had provided him with an army in hopes that he could seize Dracula's throne.

Many of Dracula's men abandoned him to join Radu, and Radu's army pursued Dracula to his fortress at Poenari. Dracula's first wife throws herself to her death into the river below from the upper battlements rather than surrender. The Turks seized the castle, but Dracula managed to escape through a secret tunnel and fled Wallachia with the help of some peasants who were still loyal to him. He went to the new king of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus, for help, but instead the king had him imprisoned.

1462-1474
Dracula remained in Hungary for twelve years while his brother Radu, known as "Radu the Handsome," ruled Wallachia as a puppet for the Turks. During this time, Dracula was imprisoned for at least four years, but slowly ingratiated himself with the Hungarian royal family and eventually married one of its members (possibly the king's sister), with whom he had a son.

1474-75
Dracula's brother Radu dies. Turkey installs his successor.

1475
Dracula makes another bid for power, invading Wallachia with a mix of Transylvanian forces and Moldavian soldiers sent by another of his cousins. He eventually regains his throne for a third time.

December 1476
The Turks counter attack, and Dracula is killed while fighting near Bucharest. It is thought that Dracula was killed by one of his own men, but it is not known for certain if his death was an accident or an assassination. The Turkish Sultan displayed Dracula's head on a spike in Constantinople to prove that he was dead. His body was buried at Snagov, an island monastery near Bucharest which Dracula had patronized.

1931
An excavation of Dracula's burial site turns up only animal bones and no evidence of Dracula's coffin.