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Vlad Dracula Essay, Research Paper

Vlad Dracula was a fifteenth century prince who has been the subject of many horror stories. There is much debate whether Vlad Dracula was a just prince or a crazed tyrant. Entanglement of fact and legend has portrayed him as both a national hero and the prince of darkness.

Wallachian Politics

In order to understand the life of Vlad Dracula, it is first necessary to understand something about the nature of Wallachian society and politics. A Transylvanian named Rudolph the Black founded Wallachia in 1290. Wallachia was dominated by Hungary until 1330, when it became independent. The first ruler of the new country was Prince Basarab the Great, an ancestor of Dracula. (Augustyn p. 12) The throne of Wallachia was hereditary, but not by the law of primogeniture. Instead, the boyars or great nobles had the right to elect the prince from among the various eligible members of the royal family. (Augustyn p. 14) By the late fifteenth century the House of Basarab had split into two rival clans: the descendants of Prince Dan and those of Prince Mircea the old (Dracula s grandfather). These two branches of the royal family were bitter rivals. Both Dracula and his father murdered rivals from the Danesti upon reaching the throne. (Miller p. 64)

Another important fact of the fifteenth century Wallachian political life was the influence of powerful neighbors. Dracula s grandfather, Mircea the Old, was forced to pay tribute to the sultan early in the fifteenth century. (Miller p. 64) The Hungarian Kingdom to the north and west of Wallachia reached the height of its power during the fifteenth century and was a target for the powerful Ottoman Empire. Wallachia was the first step for the Ottomans on their way to conquer the Christian world, so throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the princes of Wallachia attempted to maintain independence by constantly shifting allegiance between the powerful neighbors. (Augustyn p. 20)

Young Dracula

Vlad inherited the name Dracula from his father. Vlad s father, Vlad II, was admitted into a secret fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon to uphold Christianity and defend the Holy Roman Empire against Turkey. The boyars, which were land owning nobles, called him Dracul, meaning dragon. Consequently, Vlad III was called Dracula, meaning Son of the Dragon. Dracul also meant devil. So Dracula s enemies, especially German Saxons, called him son of the devil. Dracula s enemies also called him Vlad Tepes, meaning Vlad the Impaler. (Miller p. 3)

Vlad Dracula was born in 1431 in the Transylvanian city of Sighisoara in modern Romania. At that time Dracula s father was living in exile in Transylvania. Vlad Dracul was in Transylvania attempting to gather support for his planned effort to seize the Wallachian throne from the Danesti Prince, Alexandru I. (Augustyn p. 25) Little is known about the early years of Dracula s life. It is known he had an elder brother, Mircea, and a younger brother Radu. His early education was left in the hands of his mother, a Transylvanian noblewoman. (Miller p. 4) His real education began in 1436 after his father succeeded in claiming the Wallachian throne and killing his Danesti rival. His training was typical to that common to the sons of the nobility throughout Europe. He was trained for knighthood by an old boyar who had fought against the Turks. Dracula learned all the skills of war and peace that were deemed necessary for a Christian knight. (Miller p. 7)

The political situation in Wallachia remained unstable after Vlad II Dracul seized the throne in 1436. The power of the Turks was growing rapidly as one by one the small states of the Balkans surrendered to the Ottoman onslaught. At the same time the power of Hungary was reaching its zenith and would peak during the time of John Hunyadi and his son King Matthius Corvinus. The Hungarian leaders were bitter enemies with the Ottoman Empire. As the prince of Wallachia, Vlad II Dracul tried to walk a middle coarse between his powerful neighbors. (Augustyn p. 22)

In 1442 Vlad attempted to remain neutral when the Turks invaded Transylvania. The Turks were defeated and the vengeful Hungarians under John Hunyadi forced Dracul and his family to flee Wallachia. (McNally p. 34) In 1443, Vlad II regained the Wallachian throne with Turkish support, on the condition that he sign a new treaty with the sultan that included not only the customary annual tribute but the promise to yearly send Wallachian boys to join the Turkish army. In 1444, to further assure to the sultan of his good faith, Vlad II sent his two youngest sons, Dracula and Radu, to Adrianople as hostages. Dracula was about 13. (McNally p. 35-36) While Dracula was a hostage, the boyars and merchants of the Wallachian city Tirgoviste murdered his father and older brother. There are different stories about how he died he may have been tortured and burned, or buried alive. Some say that Hunyadi organized the assassinations. (Kalogridis p. 64)

Since Vlad and Marcea were dead, and Dracula and Rau were still in Turkey, Hunyadi was able to put a member of the Danesti clan, Vladislav II, on the Wallachian throne. (Kalogridis p. 66) The Turks didn t like having a Hungarian puppet in charge of Wallachia, so in 1448 they freed Dracula and gave him an army. He was seventeen years old. Dracula s little brother Radu chose to remain in Turkey. He had grown up there, and apparently remained loyal to the sultan. Dracula successfully overthrew Vladislav II, and became the new Prince Of Wallachia. (Kalogridis p. 66)

Vlad the Impaler

During Vlad s reign as prince of Wallachia, he committed many monstrosities. Impalement was Dracula s preferred method of torture and execution. Dracula usually had a horse attached to each of the victim s legs and a sharpened stake was gradually forced into the body.

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