Vlad III Dracula: A Madman and Hero

Vlad III Dracula was considered a hero to some and a madman to others. Vlad ruled as prince, or voivode, of Wallachia, Hungary three times during the mid 1400s A.D. During his second reign, Vlad used several different tactics against the Ottoman Turks and other opponents. He expertly employed psychological and torture techniques; his most famous method was impalement. Vlad’s tactics were unconventional, but proved in keeping Wallachia safe for his people and leading a crusade against the Turks.

Vlad III Dracula, or Vlad the Impaler, was born, in December 1431 A.D., in Sighisoara, Hungary located in what is now the center of modern Romania. Vlad spent a portion of time being educated physically in the Spartan style and by Christian tutors, as their father Vlad II Dracul sought a position higher than military governor. It was during that time that signs of a disturbed young Vlad were first noticed. Radu R. Florescu and Raymond T. McNally in Dracula Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times noted, “local traditions insist that the young boy showed, even at that early stage in life, a morbid curiosity for watching, from his first floor bedroom, criminals being led from the small jail in the Councilmen’s Square to the Jewelers’ Donjon, the usual place of execution by hanging.” In 1436 A.D., Dracul moved his family to Tirgoviste, the capital city of Wallachia, Hungary where he became voivode.

Dracul had also joined a Christian order, called the Order of the Dragon. Dracul was allied with the Muslim Turkish Sultan Murad II, but his loyalty wavered. It is most likely that Dracul was contemplating changing his loyalty due to his new position in the Order of the Dragon, where he had sworn to protect Christianity. Murad took Vlad...

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...e seemed to be effective even against one of history other sadistic leaders, Sultan Mehmed II. During Vlad’s reign as voivode, he provided peasants with a sense of security that still lingers in the hearts of Romanians today.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Florescu, Radu R., and Raymond T. McNally. Dracula Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times. Boston: Black Bay, 1989.

Leblanc, Benjamin H. “Vlad Dracula: An Intriguing Figure in the Fifteenth Century.” Journal of the Dark, no. 5 (n.d.): Accessed November 8, 2013. http://www.htspweb.co.uk/fandf/romlit/specnew/vlad/archive2/leblanc.htm

Miller, Elizabeth. “Dracula: The History of Myth and the Mystery of History.” Journal of the Dark 9 (1996): Accessed November 9, 2013. http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/myth.html

Romano, Will. “Vlad Dracula’s War on the Turks.” Military History 20, no. 4 (2003): 58-65. EBSCOhost.