Universal horror and world phenomenon: Count Dracula or Vlad III the Impaler. Vlad Tepes – Count Dracula
Almost six centuries ago, such a person as the Wallachian ruler (prince) Vlad the Impaler appeared in history, and since that time the ominous shadow of his gloomy reputation has been trailing behind him. Sometimes it even seems that we are not talking about a person, but about a real fiend of hell, who, through a misunderstanding, came to earth. For most, he is known as the “terror on the wings of the night,” a bloodthirsty vampire, a dictator who impaled people for the most insignificant offense, and this list can go on for a very, very long time. Vlad the Impaler in the minds of people is a terrible monster, the likes of which had no equal before him. Or maybe... maybe Vlad the Impaler was an ordinary figure for his era, possessing different personal qualities, just among which his cruelty was by no means given the lowest place? All sorts of horror films are being made about Count Dracula and books are being written that chill the blood. There are still heated debates about the identity of this Wallachian prince, many attempts are being made to find out the relationship between myths and reality, fiction and truth in the stories about this person. But almost every time we try to understand Vlad the Impaler and his life, from which we are separated by almost six centuries, then unconsciously, and sometimes even intentionally, new myths and legends are created about Count Dracula.
Who really was Vlad the Impaler, and why did he get the position of the most “main and famous vampire”? Who in reality was the person who became the embodiment of a vampire for millions of moviegoers and readers? In the count's homeland, Romania, he is usually considered a champion of “real justice,” a defender and savior of his homeland. One of the researchers expressed this strange state of affairs as follows: “The well-known Vlad the Impaler, Count Dracula, Wallachian patriot and sadist.”
The mysteries of this personality begin as soon as we try to find out the full name, nickname and title of our hero. Some chronicles with full confidence call the Wallachian prince Vlad III, while others - with no less confidence - Vlad IV. And they are not talking about a son and a father (the serial number of Tepes’s father, who was also called Vlad, varies accordingly), but about one prince. Considering the time that has passed since their death, such discrepancies should be little surprising... But no one confuses the numbers of the much more numerous French Louis kings!
The count's year of birth and date have not been precisely established. Vlad Tepes-Dracula was most likely born in 1431 or 1430 (some researchers even call 1429 or 1428), when the father of the future “vampire”, Vlad Dracul, one of the contenders for the Wallachian throne, with the support of the emperor of the “Holy Roman Empire” Sigismund of Luxembourg, was in Sighisoara, a Transylvanian city near the border with Wallachia.
In popular science literature, the birth of Vlad the Younger is often associated with the moment of his Vlad the Elder’s entry into the Order of the Dragon, where his father was accepted on February 8, 1431, by order of Emperor Sigismund, who then also occupied the throne of Hungary. But in reality, this is either just a coincidence or an attempt by individuals to invent such a coincidence. There are plenty of similar fictional and sometimes real coincidences in the life of Vlad the Impaler-Dracula. Any such coincidence should be treated with great caution.
So, the father of Vlad III, the ruler and prince of Wallachia Vlad II (although according to some historical documents still Vlad III), while in his youth at the court of the emperor of the “Holy Roman Empire”, he actually became a member of the Order of the Dragon, and the order was prestigious - his adherents were obliged to imitate the Christian Saint George in his ongoing struggle with evil spirits, which in those days was associated with the armies of the Turkish Sultan, creeping into Europe from modern Anatolia. It was precisely after his entry into the Order of the Dragon that Vlad’s father received the nickname Dragon (Dracul), which was later inherited by the hero of this story. Moreover, this was the name given not only to Vlad, but also to his two brothers Radu and Mircho. Therefore, it has not yet been established whether such a nickname was associated with the idea of evil spirits or vice versa. As a constant reminder of this vow, the knights wore an image of the dragon that George killed, hanging with outstretched wings and a broken back on the cross.
But here Vlad II greatly overdid it: he not only appeared with the sign of the order in front of his subjects, but also minted coins with the image of a dragon, and he even depicted dragons on the walls of churches under construction. In the eyes of his people, Vlad II looked like a dragon worshiper, and the people adopted the nickname given to him in the order - Vlad Dracul (Dragon). In “The Tale of Dracula the Voivode” the author writes directly: “in the name of Dracula in the Vlash language, and in ours - the Devil. Just as he is evil-wise, as is his name, so is his life.”
There are documents in which this nickname was used by foreign rulers when officially titling Vlad III when he was the ruler of Wallachia. Tepes usually signed documents with the signature “Vlad, son of Vlad” indicating all his possessions and titles, but there are two letters known where he signed “Vlad Dracul”. From this it follows that he bore the name Dracula with pride and did not find it offensive to himself.
The nickname Tepes (Tepes, Tepez or Tepesh - variations are allowed in Romanian transcription), which has such a terrible meaning (in Romanian “Piercer”, “Impaler”, “Impaler”), was not used by Romanians during his lifetime. But even before Vlad’s death, the Turks used it. In Turkish sound this nickname sounds like “Kazıkli”. According to the surviving information, it seems that the Wallachian ruler did not object at all to such a nickname. After the death of the prince, the nickname was translated from Turkish and everyone began to use it, and under it Vlad entered world history.
There is a portrait of a formidable “vampire” preserved in the Tyrolean castle of Ambras. But historians have doubts: it is unlikely that he was exactly the way Tepes was depicted by the medieval artist. Vlad's contemporaries admitted that, unlike his brother Rad, called the Handsome, he was not noted for beauty. But he was very strong physically, an excellent swimmer and rider.
But whether he was a feisty sadist or a brave and uncompromising hero who had no right to pity - everyone has their own truth. Let's look at history.
The Principality of Wallachia in those days was that very small state, which, as the wise Lord Bolingbroke noted from “A Glass of Water,” stands no chance if two large ones claim its territory at once. In this case, the interests of Catholic Hungary, which was attacking Orthodoxy, and the Muslim Porte, which was laying claim to world dominion, converged in Wallachia. Wallachia was a region sandwiched between Turkish possessions from the south (especially after 1453, when Byzantium fell, crushed by the Turks) and Hungary from the north.
In addition, hidden behind the back of little Wallachia was rich Transylvania (or Semicity), which belonged to Hungary, where crafts rapidly developed, a branch of the Great Silk Road passed, and self-governing cities founded by the Saxons grew. The Semigrad merchants were interested in the peaceful coexistence of Wallachia with the aggressor Turks. Transylvania was a kind of buffer territory between the Hungarian and Wallachian lands.
The unique geopolitical position of Wallachia, as well as its religious specifics (the people and rulers practiced Orthodoxy) contrasted it with both Muslim Turkey and the Catholic West. This led to extreme instability in military policy. The rulers either marched with the Hungarians against the Turks, or let the Turkish armies enter Hungarian Transylvania. The Wallachian rulers more or less successfully used the struggle of the superpowers for their own purposes, gaining the support of one of them in order to overthrow the protege of the other with the next palace coup. It was in this way that Vlad the Elder (father) ascended the throne, with the help of the Hungarian king, overthrowing his cousin. However, Turkish pressure increased, and the alliance with Hungary achieved little. Vlad the Elder recognized Wallachia's vassal dependence on the Porte.
Such coexistence was achieved according to the traditional scenario for that time: the princes sent their sons to the court of the Turkish Sultan as hostages, who were treated well, but in case of rebellion in the vassal state they were immediately executed. The sons of the Wallachian ruler became such a guarantor of obedience: Radu the Handsome and Vlad, who would earn his not so innocent nickname later.
Meanwhile, Vlad Sr. continued to maneuver between two fires, but in the end he was killed along with his son Mircho either by the Hungarians or by his own boyars.
In addition, when speaking about the horrors inextricably linked with the name of Dracula, one should remember the state of the country and the system of power that existed there. Sovereigns were elected to the throne from the same family, but the choice was not determined by any specific principles of succession to the throne. Everything was decided solely by the balance of power in the circles of the Wallachian boyars. Since any member of the dynasty could have many both legitimate and illegitimate children, any of whom became a contender for the throne (it would have been possible for one of the boyars to put it on it!), the consequence of this was a fantastic leapfrog of rulers. A "normal" transfer of power from father to son was rare. It is clear that when the presumptuous ruler sought to consolidate his powers, terror was put on the agenda, and its targets were both the ruler’s relatives and the all-powerful boyars.
There were terrorist reigns, so to speak, both before and after Vlad III. Why, then, did what happened under him become part of oral traditions and literature as having surpassed everything conceivable and inconceivable, going beyond the limits of the most cruel expediency? The actions of this ruler, widely reproduced in written works of the 15th century, are truly blood-chilling.
The very life of Vlad (in Romanian legends he is also Voivode Tepes) seems to be a constant transition from one extreme situation to another. At the age of thirteen, he was present during the defeat of the Wallachian, Hungarian and Slavonian troops by the Turks in the Battle of Varna, then spent years in Turkey as a hostage given by his father (it was then that he learned Turkish language). At seventeen, Vlad learns about the murder of his father and older brother by boyars from the “Hungarian” party. The Turks free him and place him on the throne.
From Turkish captivity, Vlad returned to his homeland a complete pessimist, fatalist and with the full conviction that the only driving forces politics are served by force or the threat of its use.
He did not last long on the throne for the first time: the Hungarians overthrew the Turkish protege and placed their own on the throne. Vlad was forced to seek asylum from his allies in Moldova. However, another four years pass, and during the next (now Moldavian) unrest, the ruler of this country, a supporter of Vlad, who hospitably received him in Moldova, dies. A new escape - this time to the Hungarians, the true culprits of the death of Dracula's father and brother, and four years of stay in Transylvania, near the Wallachian borders, greedily biding his time.
In 1456, the situation finally turned out favorably for the fugitive ruler. IN Once again Dracula takes the throne with the help of the Wallachian boyars and the Hungarian king, dissatisfied with his previous protégé. Thus began the reign of Vlad the Impaler in Wallachia, during which he became a hero of legends and committed most of his deeds, which still cause the most controversial assessments.
In the fourth year of his reign, Dracula immediately stops paying tribute to the Turks and gets involved in a bloody and unequal war with the Sultan's Porte. To successfully wage any war, and even more so with such a formidable rival, it was necessary to strengthen one’s power and restore order in one’s own state. Tepes began to implement this program in his characteristic style.
The first thing that, according to the historical chronicle, Vlad did when he established himself in the then capital of Wallachia, the city of Targovishte, was to find out the circumstances of the death of his brother Mircho and punish the perpetrators. He ordered his brother’s grave to be opened and became convinced that, firstly, he was blinded, and secondly, he turned over in his grave, which proved the fact of burial alive. According to the chronicle, Easter was just celebrated in the city and all the residents dressed up in their most best clothes. Seeing evil hypocrisy in this behavior, Tepes ordered all the inhabitants to be put in chains and sent to hard labor to restore one of the castles intended for him. There they had to work until their formal clothes turned into rags.
The story sounds psychologically quite reliable, and the document it contains seems trustworthy. This is not a pamphlet written by Vlad's enemies, but a good work compiled by a dispassionate chronicler, and almost simultaneously with the events that took place.
However, let us ask ourselves: is it possible to believe this story described in the chronicle?
Power in Wallachia was seized by Vlad on August 22, 1456, after the reprisal of his rival, whose death occurred on August 20. What does Easter have to do with it, since it was heading towards autumn?
It seems more plausible to assume that these events relate to Vlad’s first accession to the throne in 1448, immediately after the death of his brother. However, then he ruled only two autumn months - from October to early December, that is, there could be no Easter holiday either.
It turns out that we are dealing with a legend that has somehow distorted reality and linked together various incidents that were initially in no way connected with each other. Although, perhaps, some of the details included in the chronicle correspond to reality. For example, the episode with the opening of Mircho’s grave. Such an event could actually happen, as early as 1448, when Tepes became ruler for the first time.
What is certainly confirmed by the mentioned chronicle is the fact that legends about the reign of Vlad the Impaler began to take shape almost immediately with the beginning of this reign. By the way, although all these stories contained descriptions of various cruelties committed by Vlad, their general tone was rather enthusiastic. They all agreed that Tepes was as soon as possible brought order to the country and achieved its prosperity. However, the means that he used in this case cause far from unanimous delight in our time.
Since the second accession of Dracula, something unimaginable has been happening in the country. By the beginning of his reign, there were about 500 thousand people under his rule (including the areas adjacent to Wallachia and controlled areas of Transylvania). In six years (1456-1462), not counting the victims of the war, over 100 thousand were destroyed by Dracula’s personal order. Is it possible for a ruler, even a medieval one, to destroy a fifth of his subjects for such a good living? Even if in some cases one can try to put some rational basis behind terror (intimidating the opposition, tightening discipline, etc.), the numbers still raise new questions.
The origin of the legends about Dracula requires explanation. Firstly, the activities of Vlad the Impaler were depicted in a dozen books - first handwritten, and after Gutenberg's invention, printed, created mainly in Germany and in some other European countries. They are all similar, so they apparently rely on one common source. The most important sources in this case are the poem by M. Beheim (a German who lived at the court of the Hungarian king Matt Corvinus in the 1460s), as well as German pamphlets distributed under the title “On One Great Monster” at the end of the same century.
Another group of collections of legends is represented by manuscripts in Russian. They are close to each other, similar to German books, but in some ways they differ from them. This is an ancient Russian story about Dracula, written in the 1480s, after the Russian embassy of Ivan III visited Wallachia.
There is also a third source - oral traditions that still exist in Romania, both directly recorded by the people and processed by the famous storyteller P. Ispirescu in the 19th century. They are colorful, but controversial as a support for the search for truth. The fairytale element layered in them over several centuries of oral transmission is too great.
Vlad Dracula and Katarina. Love in the shadow of history.
Famous historical figures! And still people! Men and women with all the inherent weaknesses of humanity, and time gives each of them its place in history.
We are starting a series of reports about Lord Dracula...
Cycle one: Love..
"Love is not what you talk about
Love is not what you believe it to be.
Love is the daughter of hell."
Lyrics, Musical Dracula – Dracula's Love
December 1455, Christmas is approaching, and the beautiful Katarina is pulling a large sleigh filled with soldiers' provisions up the hill along high snow, to the highest point of Corona* to the Weavers' Bastion. The kids and her younger brothers and sisters push the sleigh, and Katarina drags and pulls. Vlad Dracula saw all this torment of the young beauty and rushed to the rescue in front of his friends. The soldiers were surprised at his agility, I looked at each other, it was very different from Dracula. Thus began one of our hero's love stories...
Then Katarina was 17, and Dracula was 24. He was young, tall, thin, incredibly attractive, with a jet-black mustache and hair. His eyes looked intense and powerful. There was an expression of instant, deep and obvious interest in his gaze. The stranger bowed and continued to gaze intently with a charming gaze, being in the grip of unexpected feelings. Katarina understood that the only right thing would be to bow silently and go about her business, but everything went according to a different scenario. Perhaps this is how one of the novels could begin, but it was true story with ups and downs, suffering and fears. Vlad the Third fell in love with this young creature at first sight and used all the strategies he knew to conquer. He was ready to fight for her. The icy heart of young Vlad was melted by a young Saxon girl. “When Dracula saw her, he lost his head and completely forgot about all his previous hobbies” B. Krauser.
According to historical documents found by Berta Krauser, a historian from Brasov, “Catarina was born on April 29, 1438. Her father Tomas Siegel was the head of the weavers' guild from Sellegrasse - today st. Castelului, Brasov. Mother, Susanna (nee Fronius) was from the middle class. When Katharina was still little, her father’s house burned down and her impoverished parents, left without a roof over their heads, sent the girl in 1450 to a Franciscan monastery in Mahlrsdorf (Germany). Time passed, contenders for Katarina’s hand began to appear, and after 5 years her father returned her home.
This was the year the girl turned 17 years old. The house where Katarina’s family lived still stands today (Tartler house), once Belaya Street. “Katarina was beautiful, with blond hair braided in long braids, bright blue eyes, everything about her showed her Saxon origin. Suitors wooed her not only from Transylvania and the country of Byrsei, but also from Flanders” B. Krauser
Dracula, in love with Katarina, often walked past the Tartler house, in the ground floor of which there was a weaving workshop where Katarina spent her days working. It is there on Belaya Street that his first attacks of jealousy occur. One evening, while searching for his beloved, Dracula does not find her at home. He decides to wait in one of the dark places... after a while, accompanied by his cousins, the long-awaited Katarina appeared, expecting her second child from the great commander. Tepes is furious... he grabs her and kisses her, the girl breaks out of fear and screams. All this happens in front of a passing priest who rushes to help. They say Dracula hacked him to death on the spot (legend). It was one of the outbursts of rage that ended in bloodshed. The next day, and the events took place in April 1459, Vlad the Impaler impales a group of merchants from the Corona fortress, accusing them of intrigue. During this terrible execution, Tepes hears a rumor that completely infuriates him: they say the merchants' wives carried out massacres in the Siegel family, beat the pregnant Katarina, tied her to the Pillory in the main square (today Piata Sfatului, Brasov), Katarina lost her luxurious braids, which he loved so much. Although Dracula intimidated the local residents that he would burn the entire city if anyone ever raised his hand against his beloved’s family, but in order to save Katarina, he released some of the merchants who did not wait for their stake.
Legend has it that one of the braids was saved and Dracula kept it on a pillow in his closet as a relic. One day, Dracula's wife looked into the closet, which greatly angered her husband, for which she was severely punished. Vlad Tepes wanted to take Katarina as his wife, but the laws of religion did not allow it. Two letters were sent to Pope Pius II asking for an indulgence to dissolve his marriage to his first wife Anastasia Holszanska, granddaughter of the Polish king, but in vain.
Local legends say that in 1462, Dracula's wife Anastasia committed suicide by throwing herself from a high fortress tower into the river. Here it is, the long-awaited freedom, now there are no obstacles to the wedding with Katarina, from whom she already has 3 children: Vladislav “Laszlo”, Katerina and Christian. But the bloody reign of Dracula is approaching an end, imprisonment in Buda, where Matej Korvin, after his release, will marry his relative Elisabeth Korvin Hunyadi, according to historian Krauser (according to other sources - Ilona Nelipik). So Tepes must officially renounce his Katarina, who remained close even after the loss of the throne. During Dracula's imprisonment, two more children were born, Hanna and Sigismund. Dracula took care of his descendants, bequeathing them houses and lands, as evidenced by land records from 1850 families of Draguly, Laszlo or Siegel.
The death of the voivode in December 1476 or January 1477 put an end to his reign and the love between him and Katharina. The beauty of the Korona fortress, at the age of 39, returned to the monastery. After 22 years of love, a house remained in Brasov, where today a kindergarten is located....
“...Love knows no decline or decay.
Love is a beacon raised above the storm,
Not fading in darkness and fog..."
W. Shakespeare
Corona* is the first name of the city of Brasov.
1235 the city of Corona is first documented in the Ninivensis catalog about the existence of a convent of the Premonstratensian Order (Catholic monastic order founded in 1120): "claustrum sororum in Corona, diocesis Cumaniae"
P.S. Psychologists analyzing Dracula's antics came to the conclusion that this was not a healthy feeling for Katarina. Love for her was truly pathological; it provoked attacks of rage, aggression, and uncontrollable anger. At these moments, he crushed and destroyed everything that came to hand. There are allegations that it was the events in Brasov that led to the Saxons creating the image of a bloodthirsty governor.
Vlad Dracula was married three times, to Princess Bathory from the wealthy Transylvanian class, Jusztina Szilagyi, and to Matthias Corvinus' niece Ilona Nelipnik. The marriages produced 5 children, but there were also illegitimate ones... Among Dracula’s favorite women: Ursula from Schossburg / Sighisoara, Erica from Bystrica and Lisa from Hermannstadt / Sibiu. Vlad subsequently found suitors for all his lovers, but not for Katarina. He couldn't afford this...
Your guide to Romania, Irina Ciobanu.
Chassbourg, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary
Bucharest, Principality of Wallachia
2) Ilona Zhilegai
Vlad III Basarab, also known as Vlad Tepes(Rum. Vlad Țepeș - Vlad Kolovnik, Vlad the Impaler, Vlad the Piercer) and Vlad Dracula(Rum. Vlad Drăculea (November or December - December) - ruler of Wallachia in, - and. The nickname "Tepesh" ("Impaler", from Roman. ţeapă [tsyape] - "stake") received for cruelty in dealing with enemies and subjects , whom he impaled. A veteran of the wars against Turkey. The residence of Vlad III was located in Targovishte. Vlad received the nickname Dracula (Son of the Dragon or Dragon Jr.) in honor of his father, who was (since 1431) a member of the elite knightly Order of the Dragon, created by Emperor Sigismund in 1408 members of the order had the right to wear a medallion with the image of a dragon around their necks.Vlad III’s father not only wore the sign of the order, but also minted it on his coins and depicted it on the walls of churches being built, for which he received the nickname Dracul - the Dragon (or Devil).
Biography
As a result of the “Night Attack” on June 17, 1462, he forced the 100-120 thousand Ottoman army led by Sultan Mehmed II to retreat into the principality.
In the same year, as a result of the betrayal of the Hungarian monarch Matthias Corvinus, he was forced to flee to Hungary, where he was imprisoned on false charges of collaboration with the Turks and served in prison for 12 years.
Anonymous German document from 1463
The basis of all future legends about the unprecedented bloodthirstiness of the ruler was a document compiled by an unknown author (presumably on the orders of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary) and published in 1463 in Germany. It is there that descriptions of the executions and torture of Dracula, as well as all the stories of his atrocities, are first found.
From a historical point of view, there is extremely great reason to doubt the accuracy of the information presented in this document. In addition to the obvious interest of the Hungarian throne in replicating this document (the desire to hide the fact of theft by the King of Hungary Matthias Corvinus large amount, allocated by the papal throne for the crusade), no earlier mention of these “pseudo-folklore” stories has been found.
I came to him once from the Turkic poklisariy<послы>, and when she went down to him and bowed according to her custom, and<шапок, фесок>I didn’t take off my chapters. He asked them: “Why did you commit such a shame against the great sovereign and commit such disgrace?” They answered: “This is our custom, sir, and this is our land.” He said to them: “And I want to confirm your law, so that you stand strong,” and he commanded them to nail the caps to their heads with a small iron nail and let them go, telling them: “As you go, tell your sovereign, he has learned to endure that shame from you, we but not with skill, but do not send his custom to other sovereigns who do not want to have it, but let him keep it for himself.”
This text was written by the Russian ambassador to Hungary Fyodor Kuritsyn in 1484. It is known that in his “The Tale of Dracula the Voivode” Kuritsyn uses information from precisely that anonymous source, written 21 years earlier.
Below are some of the stories written by an unknown German author:
- There is a known case when Tepes called together about 500 boyars and asked them how many rulers each of them remembered. It turned out that even the youngest of them remembers at least 7 reigns. Tepes's response was an attempt to put an end to this order - all the boyars were impaled and dug in around Tepes' chambers in his capital Targovishte.
- The following story is also given: a foreign merchant who came to Wallachia was robbed. He files a complaint with Tepes. While the thief is being caught and impaled, the merchant is given, on Tepes’ orders, a wallet containing one coin more than it was. The merchant, having discovered the surplus, immediately informs Tepes. He laughs and says: “Well done, I wouldn’t say it - I wish you were sitting on a stake next to the thief.”
- Tepes discovers that there are many beggars in the country. He convenes them, feeds them to the full and asks the question: “Wouldn’t they like to get rid of earthly suffering forever?” In response to a positive response, Tepes closes the doors and windows and burns everyone gathered alive.
- There is a story about a mistress who tries to deceive Tepes by talking about her pregnancy. Tepes warns her that he does not tolerate lies, but she continues to insist on her own, then Tepes rips open her stomach and shouts: “I told you that I don’t like lies!”
- An incident is also described when Dracula asked two wandering monks what people were saying about his reign. One of the monks replied that the population of Wallachia reviled him as a cruel villain, and another said that everyone praised him as a liberator from the threat of the Turks and a wise politician. In fact, both testimonies were fair in their own way. And the legend, in turn, has two endings. In the German "version", Dracula executed the former because he did not like his speech. In the Russian version of the legend, the ruler left the first monk alive and executed the second for lying.
- One of the creepiest and least believable pieces of evidence in this document is that Dracula liked to have breakfast at the site of his execution or the site of a recent battle. He ordered a table and food to be brought to him, sat down and ate among the dead and people dying on stakes. There is also an addition to this story, which says that the servant who served Vlad food could not stand the smell of decay and, clutching his throat with his hands, dropped the tray right in front of him. Vlad asked why he did this. “I can’t stand it, the terrible stench,” answered the unfortunate man. And Vlad immediately ordered to put him on a stake, which was several meters longer than the others, after which he shouted to the still living servant: “You see! Now you are taller than everyone else, and the stench does not reach you.”
- Dracula asked the ambassadors of the Ottoman Empire who came to him demanding recognition of vassalage: “Why didn’t they take off their hats to him, the ruler.” Hearing the answer that they would bare their heads only in front of the Sultan, Vlad ordered the caps to be nailed to their heads.
Literary and screen image of Dracula
The reign of Dracula had a great influence on his contemporaries, who shaped his image in the folklore tradition of the Romanians and their neighboring peoples. An important source in this case is the poem by M. Behaim, who in the 1460s lived at the court of the Hungarian king Matthew Corvinus; German pamphlets distributed under the title “About One Great Monster” are known. Various Romanian legends tell about Tepes, both directly recorded by the people and processed by the famous storyteller P. Ispirescu.
Vlad III became a literary hero soon after his death: it was written about him in Church Slavonic (which was used as a literary language in Romania at that time), after the Russian embassy of Ivan III visited Wallachia, very popular in Rus'.
The emergence of a connection between the image of Vlad Tepes and Count Dracula is usually explained by the fact that Bram Stoker heard the legend that Tepes became a vampire after death. It is unknown whether he heard such a legend; but there were grounds for its existence, since the killer Tepes was cursed more than once by the dying, and, in addition, changed his faith (although this fact is questioned). According to the beliefs of the Carpathian peoples, this is quite enough for posthumous transformation into a vampire. However, there is another version: after the death of Vlad the Impaler, his body was not found in the grave...
On his instructions, the victims were impaled on a thick stake, the top of which was rounded and oiled. The stake was inserted into the vagina (the victim died almost within a few minutes from excessive blood loss) or anus (death occurred from a rupture of the rectum and developed peritonitis, the person died within several days in terrible agony) to a depth of several tens of centimeters, then the stake was installed vertically. The victim, under the influence of the weight of his body, slowly slid down the stake, and death sometimes occurred only after a few days, since the rounded stake did not pierce the vital organs, but only went deeper into the body. In some cases, a horizontal crossbar was installed on the stake, which prevented the body from sliding too low and ensured that the stake did not reach the heart and other important organs. In this case, death from loss of blood did not occur very soon. Regular option The execution was also very painful, and the victims writhed on the stake for several hours.
Tepes sought to compare the height of the stakes with the social rank of the executed - the boyars were impaled higher than the commoners, thus the social status of the executed could be judged by the forests of those impaled.
Copycats
The dubiousness of the scale of Dracula’s atrocities did not prevent later rulers from “adopting” similar methods of conducting internal and foreign policy. For example, when John Tiptoft, Earl of Worchester, probably having heard a lot about effective "draculistic" methods during diplomatic service at the papal court, began to impale Lincolnshire rebels in 1470, he himself was executed for actions - as the sentence read - "contrary to the laws of this countries".
see also
| in Wikisource | |
Dracula (Vlad the Impaler)
Vlad III Basarab, known as Vlad Dracula and Vlad the Impaler. Born in 1431 in Sighisoara (Transylvania) - died in 1476 in Bucharest (Wallachia). Prince (sovereign) of Wallachia in 1448, 1456-1462 and 1476.
Vlad III Basarab, better known as Vlad Dracula, was born in 1431 in the city of Chessbourg (now Sighisoara) in Transylvania.
Father - Vlad II Dracul, Wallachian ruler (1436-1442, 1443-1447), second son of Mircea the Old from the Basarab dynasty. He received the nickname “Dracul” (from Roman dracul - dragon/devil), since 1431 he was a knight of the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxemburg, emperor and Hungarian king. The knights of the order wore medallions and pendants with the image of a golden dragon curled into a ring, and Vlad II, when knighted in 1431, also received a medallion (order) with a dragon from the hands of the king. Having become ruler of Transylvania in 1436, Vlad II placed the image of a dragon on the gold coins that he minted in his own name and with which he forcibly replaced the previous money, as well as on his personal seal and his heraldic shield.
Mother - Vasilika.
Vlad III inherited the nickname from his father.
The date of birth of Vlad III Dracula is not precisely established. Historians suggest that he was born between 1429-1430 and 1436, probably in Chessbourg (now Sighisoara). The time of Vlad's birth is calculated based on the age of his older brother Mircea (it is known that in 1442 he was 13-14 years old) and data on the time of the first reign of Dracula, which occurred in November 1448, when Dracula ruled without a regent, and therefore , was an adult at that time.
In his youth, Vlad III was called Dracul. However, later - in the 1470s - he began to indicate his nickname with the letter “a” at the end, since by that time it had become most famous in this form.
It is believed that "Dracula" in Romanian means "son of the dragon", but Romanian historians deny that the "a" at the end could give the word additional meaning compared to the word "Dracul".
As for the nickname Tepes, it appeared 30 years after Vlad’s death. This was a translation of the nickname received by the prince from the Turks and sounded like Kazykly (Turkish Kazıklı from the Turkish word kazık - “stake”).
During his lifetime, Vlad III was not called the Impaler either in Wallachia, or in Hungary, or in other European countries. This nickname first appears in Wallachian documents on January 21, 1506, where it is said “Vlad the Voivode, who is called Tepes.” The nickname "Tepes" comes from the Romanian țeapă, meaning "stake".
Vlad Dracula ( documentary)
From 1431 to the summer of 1436, Vlad III Dracula lived in Sighisoara, in Transylvania.
In the Middle Ages, Transylvania belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary, but now the house in which Dracula lived with his father, mother and older brother is located in Romania at the address: Sighisoara, st. Zhestyanshchikov, 5.
The house contains a 15th-century fresco depicting Dracula's parents. It is also known that Dracula's father used this house as a mint between 1433 and 1436, where he minted gold money with the image of a dragon, for which he received the nickname, which his son later inherited.
In the summer of 1436, Dracula's father took the Wallachian throne and, no later than the autumn of that year, moved his family from Sighisoara to Wallachia.
Between August 1437 and August 1439, Dracula had another brother, Radu.
Around this time, Dracula's mother died, after which his father married a woman named Coltsuna from Braila. Koltsuna became the mother of another brother of Dracula - he later became known as Vlad the Monk.
In the spring of 1442, Dracula's father quarreled with Janos Hunyadi, who was the de facto ruler of Hungary at that time, as a result of which Janos decided to install another ruler in Wallachia - Basarab II.
In the summer of 1442, Dracula's father Vlad II went to Turkey to Sultan Murat II to ask for help, but was imprisoned for treason, where he was forced to stay for 8 months. At this time, Basarab II established himself in Wallachia, and Dracula and the rest of his family were in hiding.
Dracula in Turkey:
In the spring of 1443, Dracula's father returned from Turkey with Turkish army and removed Basarab II. Janos Hunyadi did not interfere with this, as he was preparing for a crusade against the Turks. The campaign began on July 22, 1443 and lasted until January 1444.
In the spring of 1444, negotiations began for a truce between Janos Hunyadi and the Sultan. Dracula's father joined the negotiations, during which Janos agreed that Wallachia could remain under Turkish influence. At the same time, the Sultan, wanting to be sure of the loyalty of the “Wallachian governor,” insisted on a “pledge.” The word “pledge” meant that the sons of the “voivode” should come to the Turkish court - that is, Dracula, who was 14-15 years old at that time, and his brother Radu, who was 5-6 years old.
Negotiations with Dracula's father ended on June 12, 1444. Dracula and his brother Radu traveled to Turkey no later than the end of July 1444.
Dracula, while in Turkey in 1444-1448, experienced a serious psychological shock, which left its mark on his personality. In particular, M. Mihai writes that Dracula returned to his homeland as a “complete pessimist,” however, in various publications the reason for the change in Dracula’s character and the life of Dracula of that period are presented differently. Some authors write that in Turkey Dracula received death threats. Others report the opposite - that during his stay in Turkey, Dracula was not subjected to either physical or psychological violence from the Turks. Matej Kazaku even claims that the principles of organization of the Turkish state and society made a very favorable impression on Dracula.
There are two popular statements. The first is that in Turkey Dracula was tortured or tried to convert to Islam, and therefore the character of Dracula changed. The second popular claim is that the changes in Dracula's character are related to the sexual harassment of the heir to the Turkish throne, Mehmed, against Dracula's brother.
Regarding torture and inducement to Islam, historical sources say nothing, and only one medieval author talks about the relationship between Mehmed and Radu - the Greek historian Laonikos Chalkokondylos - but he dates these events to the early 1450s, that is, to the time when the character Dracula has already undergone changes. Thus, the only event of the period 1444-1448 that could seriously affect Dracula was the death of Dracula’s loved ones - his father and older brother - in December 1446. The death occurred as a result of a coup d'etat carried out by the Hungarians.
In July 1444, when Dracula's father took his sons to the Sultan, the Turks and Hungarians signed the final version of the truce agreement for 10 years, but already on August 4, the Hungarians began preparing a new crusade.
In September, the troops of Janos Hunyadi entered Turkish territory. On November 10, 1444, a decisive battle took place between the Crusaders and the Turks near the city of Varna. Victory went to the Turks, and Janos Hunyadi fell into the hands of Dracula's father and stayed with him for about a month, after which he left without hindrance.
In the summer of 1445, Dracula's father Vlad II, wanting to make peace with Hunyadi, agreed that Wallachian warriors take part in a small military operation against the Turks, which lasted from July to October. The Giurgiu fortress near the Danube was captured, but this did not improve relations with the Hungarians. In addition, Vlad II banned the circulation of Hungarian coins in Wallachia. In November-December 1447, János Hunyadi marched into Wallachia to overthrow Vlad II Dracul. By order of Hunyadi, Dracula's father was beheaded, and Dracula's older brother was buried alive.
The Sultan, having learned about this, began to prepare for a new war with the Hungarians. The decisive battle took place in Serbia on the Kosovo field on October 17-19, 1448. Victory again went to the Turks, after which in November 1448, Dracula, with the help of the Turks, became a Wallachian prince, replacing the Hungarian protege Vladislav.
First reign of Dracula:
In the autumn of 1448, Dracula, together with Turkish troops lent by the Sultan, entered the Wallachian capital - Targovishte. When exactly this happened is not known exactly, but there is a letter from Dracula dated October 31, where he signs himself as “voivode of Wallachia.”
Immediately upon ascending the throne, Dracula begins an investigation into the events surrounding the deaths of his father and brother. During the investigation, he learns that at least 7 boyars who served his father supported Prince Vladislav, for which they received various favors.
Meanwhile, Janos Hunyadi and Vladislav, who lost the battle on Kosovo, arrived in Transylvania. On November 10, 1448, János Hunyadi, while in Sighisoara, announced that he was launching a military campaign against Dracula, calling him an “illegitimate” ruler. On November 23, Janos was already in Brasov, from where he moved with the army to Wallachia. On December 4, he entered Targovishte, but Dracula had already left by then.
Historians do not have exact data on where Dracula went immediately after leaving Targovishte. It is known that he eventually ended up in Moldavia, but his appearance in Moldavia in November 1448 could have been dangerous for Dracula, since there was a Hungarian military commander subordinate to Janos Hunyadi there. This military leader supported Prince Peter II, who was married to one of Janos Hunyadi's younger sisters, but Peter died suddenly, and the Hungarians remained in Moldavia to prevent it from coming under Polish influence.
The situation changed after March 1449, when Prince Alexander, Dracula's cousin, sat on the Moldovan throne, supported not by Janos, but by the Polish king. According to other sources, Alexander began to rule as early as November 1448, displacing Peter, who died only in 1452.
On October 12, 1449, Prince Bogdan II established himself on the Moldavian throne, with whose son, the future Moldavian prince Stefan the Great, Dracula was friendly, but Dracula’s position at the Moldavian court became difficult, since Bogdan entered into negotiations with Janos Hunyadi.
On February 11, 1450, Bogdan issued a letter in which he submitted himself completely to Janos and promised to be “a friend of his friends and an enemy of his enemies,” but this did not lead to the expulsion of Dracula from Moldavia.
On July 5, 1450, Bogdan confirmed the agreement with Janos with a new letter, where the same conditions were set out in more detail - including the condition that Hunyadi should provide the Moldovan prince with military assistance and, if necessary, provide political asylum.
Contrary to the agreement, in the fall of 1450 Bogdan did not receive help from Hungary against the Poles. However, his son Stefan was able to obtain asylum on Hungarian territory, in Transylvania, after Bogdan was killed by the new Moldavian prince Peter Aron in October 1451.
Dracula traveled to Transylvania with Stefan, and in February 1452 he was expelled from there by order of Janos Hunyadi.
In a letter to the residents of Brasov dated February 6, 1452, Janos speaks of his intention to deprive Dracula of the opportunity to live not only in Transylvania, but also in Moldavia. However, Dracula returned to Moldavia, where at this time his cousin Alexander came to power again.
In February 1453, Janos Hunyadi concluded the same agreement with Alexandrel as he had with Bogdan. Alexandrel promised to submit to Janos and marry his granddaughter, but the agreement was not fulfilled.
Dracula left Moldavia only in May 1455, when Prince Alexandrel was overthrown by Peter Aron, who several years earlier (in the fall of 1451) killed Bogdan.
In 1456, Dracula was in Transylvania, where he gathered an army of volunteers to go to Wallachia and retake the throne.
At this time (from February 1456) a delegation of Franciscan monks led by Giovanni da Capistrano was in Transylvania, who also collected a volunteer army to liberate Constantinople, captured by the Turks in 1453. The Franciscans did not take Orthodox Christians on the campaign, which Dracula took advantage of, attracting rejected militias into his ranks.
Also in 1456, an assassination attempt was made on Dracula in the town of Joaju in southwestern Transylvania. The initiators were Janos Gereb de Wingard, who was a distant relative of Janos Hunyadi, and Nicolae de Vizacna, who was in Hunyadi’s service.
In April 1456, a rumor spread throughout Hungary that a Turkish army led by Sultan Mehmed was approaching the southern borders of the state and would march on Belgrade.
On July 3, 1456, in a letter addressed to the Transylvanian Saxons, János Hunyadi announced that he had appointed Dracula as protector of the Transylvanian regions.
After this, Janos, already a day and a half away from Belgrade, began preparing to break the Turkish blockade, the ring of which closed on July 4. The militia, collected by the Franciscan monk Giovanni da Capistrano, also followed Belgrade, which was initially supposed to go to Constantinople, and Dracula’s army stopped on the border of Transylvania with Wallachia.
The Wallachian prince Vladislav, fearing that in his absence Dracula might take the throne, did not go to the defense of Belgrade. On July 22, 1456, the Turkish army retreated from the Belgrade fortress, and in early August, Dracula's army moved to Wallachia. Dracula was helped to gain power by the Wallachian boyar Mane Udrische, who went over to his side in advance and persuaded several other boyars from the princely council under Vladislav to do the same.
On August 20, Vladislav was killed, and Dracula became a Wallachian prince for the second time. 9 days earlier (August 11), Janos Hunyadi died of the plague in Belgrade.
Second reign of Dracula:
Dracula's second reign lasted 6 years and became widely known outside Wallachia.
After coming to power for the second time, Dracula continued to investigate the circumstances of the death of his father and older brother. As a result of the investigation, more than 10 boyars were executed. Some sources claim that the number of those executed ranged from 500 to 20,000 people, but historians have not found evidence to support this information.
To announce the verdict to the boyars, Dracula first invited them to a feast. Romanian chronicles connect this feast with the Easter holiday, so the event was called "Easter" execution of the boyars.
Researchers do not have a consensus on the date of execution. There is reason to assert that the execution took place no later than April 1457. Romanian historian N. Stoicescu says the execution "supposedly" took place in 1459. Historian Matej Cazacu gives the date as March 25, 1459.
In 1957 there was Trek to Transylvania.
The main reason for Dracula's campaign in Transylvania was the actions of the noble inhabitants of Sibiu. This city was patronized younger brother Dracula, Vlad the Monk, who claimed the Wallachian throne.
In a letter dated March 14, 1457, sent to Sibiu, Dracula complained that two noble citizens who supported Vlad the Monk had been promised in advance income from two large Wallachian customs houses. The letter also contains an accusation that the residents of Sibiu helped the servants of Janos Hunyadi organize an assassination attempt on Dracula, which took place in the city of Joaju. In the same letter, Dracula says that the inhabitants of Sibiu are pushing Vlad the Monk to hostile actions.
Soon after sending the letter, Dracula set out on a campaign against Sibiu, as well as Brasov, since one of the organizers of the assassination attempt, Nicolae de Visacna, came from Brasov.
During the campaign, the following villages were devastated: Kastenholz (German Kastenholz - modern Kasholz near Sibiu), Neudorf (German Neudorf - modern Nou Romyn near Sibiu), Holzmengen (German Holzmengen - modern Hosman near Sibiu), Brenndorf (German Brenndorf - modern Bod near Brasov), as well as other villages in Burzenland (German: Burzenland - that was the name of all the lands of Brasov in general).
From the lands of Brasov, the Wallachian army immediately moved to Moldova to help Dracula's friend Stefan, the future Moldavian prince Stefan the Great, ascend to the throne.
Dracula and Brasov:
Relations with Brasov largely shaped the image of Dracula in the eyes of his contemporaries. It is these relations that are devoted to the largest part of the German pamphlet of 1463 and the largest part of Michael Beheim’s poem “On the Villain...”, written several years later. The real basis for data literary works were inspired by the events of 1456-1462.
In 1448, having taken the Wallachian throne for the first time, Dracula received an invitation to visit Brasov, but replied that he could not come, since the invitation came from Nicolae de Visacna, subordinate to Janos Hunyadi. In 1452, the people of Brasov, on the orders of Janos Hunyadi, expelled Dracula from their lands, who had arrived there with Stefan from Moldavia. In 1456, Janos Hunyadi sent a letter to all Saxon cities in Transylvania, including Brasov. The letter said that the Saxons should accept Dracula, who is tasked with protecting them from a possible attack by the Turks, and the Saxon warriors should go to Janos to defend Belgrade.
Having come to power in the summer of 1456, Dracula continued to build relations with the Saxons. At the beginning of September 1456, 4 representatives from Brasov arrived in Targovishte. They acted as official witnesses as Dracula took an oath of vassalage to the Hungarian king Laszlo Posthumus.
The text of the vassal oath specifically stipulated relations with the Brasovites:
1. Dracula received the right to come to the territory of Hungary and to the people of Brasov in search of political asylum, as well as “for the sake of expelling enemies”;
2. Dracula pledged to “stand on the defensive against the Turks” and other “enemy forces,” but if serious difficulties arose, he expected Hungary and the Brasovites to provide him with assistance;
3. Brasov merchants received the right to freely come to Wallachia, but had to pay a fee.
At the same time, a Turkish envoy arrived in Targovishte, which is why Dracula was forced to give the Brasovians an explanation about the goals he pursues in negotiations with the Turks.
In December 1456, László Hunyadi, the eldest son of János Hunyadi, sent a letter to the Brasovians, accusing Dracula of disloyalty to the Hungarian crown and breaking certain promises made before coming to power. Laszlo also ordered the Brasovians to support the contender for the Wallachian throne Dan and break off relations with Dracula, but the Brasovians carried out only the first part of the order, since in March 1457 Laszlo Hunyadi was executed by the Hungarian king Laszlo Postumus.
In March 1457, Dracula devastated the outskirts of Brasov when he walked from the lands of Sibiu to Moldavia, wanting to help his friend Stefan take the Moldovan throne.
By 1458, Dracula's relations with Brasov had improved. In May, Dracula sent a letter to the people of Brasov with a request to send craftsmen and said that he “paid the money for the work of the previous masters in full and honestly, and also allowed (everyone) to return peacefully and freely.” In response to the letter, the Brasov administration sent 56 more people to Dracula.
Historians also attribute an undated letter to this period, where Dracula informs the city administration of Brasov that “as a sign of respect” he gives them several oxen and cows.
In the spring of 1459, relations became tense again. On April 2, the pretender Dan, who was still hiding in Brasov, noted in a letter that the Brasovians “complained” to him about Dracula. Dan writes that the Brasov merchants, who “peacefully” arrived in Wallachia, were robbed and “killed by Dracula, impaled on stakes.” Then Dan, believing that he would soon become a Wallachian prince, allowed the Brasovites to confiscate the goods of the Wallachian merchants stored in Brasov as compensation for the damage they had suffered. The letter also says that Dracula burned or impaled 300 Brasov youths who were studying the language in Wallachia.
However, the story of the burning, told by Dan, has much in common with the biblical story of three Jewish youths who “learned books and language” at the court of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, and then, by order of the king, were thrown into the fire.
In April 1460, a battle took place between the troops of Dracula and Dan. Dan lost, was captured, and then executed. By April 22, news of this reached the Hungarian royal court. The story of a certain Blasius (Blaize, Blazey), who lived at court, has been preserved. The letter reports that Dracula ordered Dan's men, who had already been killed in battle, to be impaled. Dracula also ordered that all the women who followed Dan’s army and were caught be impaled (according to researchers, these were prostitutes who served Dan’s army). Infants at the same time tied to the impaled mothers. Dana Dracula allowed the seven surviving warriors to leave with their weapons, taking an oath from them not to fight him again.
On April 28, 1460, Janos Gereb de Wingart, who in 1456 staged an unsuccessful attempt on Dracula’s life, sent a letter to the Brasovians, convincing them that Dracula had entered into an alliance with the Turks and would soon come to plunder the Transylvanian lands together with the Turkish army. Janos Gereb's accusations were not confirmed.
On May 26, 1460, Nicolae de Visacna, who also participated in organizing the assassination attempt on Dracula, sent a letter to the Brasovians, inviting them to continue arresting Wallachian merchants.
In June 1460, Dracula sent his “special adviser” named Vojko Dobrica to Brasov to finally resolve the issue of handing over the defectors who were hiding in the city. In a letter dated June 4, Dracula promised that after the Brasovites handed over the defectors, peace negotiations would begin.
In July 1460, Dracula regained control of Fagaras, previously “occupied” by the supporters of Dan III. A German pamphlet from 1463 states that during the operation to recapture Fagaras, massacres of civilians were carried out (Dracula ordered “women, men and children to be impaled”). However, in a letter to Brasov, written shortly before the campaign, Dracula himself expresses fears that the Brasov warriors could “cause evil” in Fagaras. A letter from Dracula, written shortly after the campaign, has also been preserved, in which Dracula demands the return of the pigs confiscated by the Brasovians from one of the residents of Fagaras.
In the fall of 1460, the Brasov embassy, headed by the mayor of Brasov, visited Bucharest. The parties agreed that all Wallachian and Brasov prisoners would be released. The terms of peace were also discussed, consisting of three paragraphs and three more articles. These conditions applied not only to the people of Brasov - Dracula entered into an agreement with all the Saxons of Transylvania, as well as with the Székelys.
Dracula's War with the Ottoman Empire:
By the beginning of his reign, Tepes ruled about 500 thousand people. Vlad III fought against the boyars for centralization state power. Armed free peasants and townspeople to fight internal and external dangers (the threat of conquest of lands by the Ottoman Empire).
In 1461, he refused to pay tribute to the Turkish Sultan and destroyed the Ottoman administration on both banks of the Danube, from the lower reaches to Zimnitsa.
As a result of the “Night Attack” on June 17, 1462, at the head of only 7,000 soldiers, he forced the 100-120 thousand Ottoman army of Sultan Mehmed II that invaded the principality to retreat, killing up to 15,000 Turks. In the war with the Turkish army he used “scorched earth tactics.”
In order to instill fear in the Turkish soldiers, all captured Turks, on his orders, were executed by impalement - the same execution that was “popular” in Turkey at that time. Mehmed II and the Turkish army were forced to leave Wallachia.
In the same year, as a result of the betrayal of the Hungarian monarch, Matthias Corvinus was forced to flee to Hungary, where was imprisoned on false charges of collaborating with the Turks and spent 12 years in prison.
Death of Dracula:
In 1475, Vlad III Dracula was released from a Hungarian prison and again began to participate in campaigns against the Turks. In November 1475 he was part of Hungarian army(as one of the military commanders of King Matthias, the “royal captain”) went to Serbia, where from January to February 1476 he participated in the siege of the Turkish fortress of Sabac.
In February 1476, he took part in the war against the Turks in Bosnia, and in the summer of 1476, together with another “royal captain” Stefan Bathory, he helped the Moldavian prince Stefan the Great defend against the Turks.
In November 1476, Vlad Dracula, with the help of Stefan Bathory and Stefan the Great, overthrew the pro-Turkish Wallachian prince Lajota Basarab. On November 8, 1476, Targovishte was taken. On November 16, Bucharest was captured. On November 26, the general meeting of noble people of Wallachia elected Dracula as their prince.
Then the troops of Stefan Bathory and Stefan the Great left Wallachia, and only those warriors who subordinated directly to him (about 4,000 people) remained with Vlad Dracula. Soon after this, Vlad was killed on the initiative of Layota Basaraba, but sources differ in the stories about the method of murder and the direct perpetrators.
Medieval chroniclers Jacob Unrest and Jan Dlugosz believe that he was killed by his servant, bribed by the Turks. The author of “The Tale of Dracula the Voivode,” Fyodor Kuritsyn, believes that Vlad Dracula was killed during a battle with the Turks by a group of people who allegedly mistook him for a Turk.
Personal life of Vlad Dracula:
From an unknown woman he had a son, also Vlad.
He was married to Ilona Szilágyi, who was the cousin of the Hungarian King Matthias. Before him, Ilona was married for 10 years to a Slovakian whose name was Vaclav Szentmiklosi-Pongratz. She had no children from her first marriage.
He got married immediately after leaving prison.
The marriage was so-called. mixed (lat. matrimonia mixta), meaning that the bride and groom belonging to different branches of Christianity get married, but no one changes their faith. The wedding of Dracula and Ilona took place according to Catholic rites. They were married by a Catholic bishop. The approximate date of the wedding is early July 1475.
The marriage produced two sons: Mikhnya Zloy and Mikhail.
Ilona Szilagyi - Dracula's wife
Vlad III Tepes became the prototype of Count Dracula, a vampire, the main character and main antagonist of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897). As the archetypal vampire, Dracula has appeared in numerous works of popular culture, even those not directly related to Bram Stoker's novel.
Some scholars of Stoker's work believe that the fictional Dracula should not be identified with the Wallachian ruler, although the novel itself contains a disclaimer about the possible identity, and in some films this subtlety is completely ignored.
The character of the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker gave rise to many dramatizations, film adaptations, as well as various sequels - various sons and daughters of Dracula, his vampire rivals and other characters associated and generated by the image of Dracula appeared: Count Mora, Count Orlok, Count Alucard, Count Yorga Blackula and etc.
It is generally accepted that the very first film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula” is a film shot in 1920, presumably in Yalta, by director Yuri Ivarono and cameraman Igor Mallo. Movie for a long time was considered lost, but in 2013 a strange video was published on YouTube, which, according to the author, is a fragment of that same Russian silent film. There is also a note about a silent film evening in Dmitrovgrad in October 2014, where a restored 1920 film about Dracula was shown.
Dracula in the movies:
1920 - Dracula - the very first film adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. The film was shot in Crimea by director Turzhansky;
1921 - Dracula - a film by Hungarian filmmakers;
1922 - Nosferatu. Symphony of Terror - starring Max Schreck, directed by Friedrich Murnau;
1931 - Dracula - the first Dracula film in the Universal Pictures horror film series, starring Bela Lugosi;
1931 - Dracula - Spanish-language version starring Carlos Villar, in detail mostly reminiscent of the film with Bela Lugosi;
1936 - Dracula's Daughter - a film from the Universal Pictures vampire series starring Gloria Holden;
1943 - Son of Dracula - a film from the Universal Pictures vampire series starring Lon Chaney Jr.;
1943 - Return of the Vampire - directed by L. Landers;
1944 - House of Frankenstein - John Carradine's Dracula becomes part of a group of monsters meeting at the same time and place;
1945 - House of Dracula - the last serious film from Universal Pictures about Dracula, again played by John Carradine;
1948 - Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein - one of the first experiments with the genre, where elements of horror are intertwined with elements of comedy. Starring Bela Lugosi;
1953 - Dracula of Istanbul - Turkish adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel;
1958 - Dracula (Horror of Dracula) - the first film in the series about Dracula from the Hammer Horror studio, played by Christopher Lee;
1960 - Brides of Dracula - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1965 - Dracula: Prince of Darkness - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1966 - Dracula - short 8-minute film;
1966 - The Death of Dracula - short 8-minute film;
1967 - Ball of the Vampires - director Roman Polanski, Ferdie Main - Count von Krolock;
1968 - Dracula Rises from the Grave - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1968 - Count Dracula - film by Jesus Franco;
1970 - Taste the Blood of Dracula - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1970 - Scars of Dracula - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1970 - Princess Dracula;
1972 - Dracula, year 1972 - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1972 - Blackula - a film in which an African prince turns into a vampire as a result of the machinations of Dracula;
1972 - Dracula's Daughter;
1972 - Dracula vs. Frankenstein is a 1972 Franco-Spanish film. Starring Howard Vernon;
1973 - The Satanic Rites of Dracula - a film from the Hammer Horror series;
1974 - Dracula - film directed by Dan Curtis and starring Jack Palance;
1974 - Blood for Dracula - Andy Warhol's Dracula. Starring Udo Kier;
1976 - Dracula - father and son;
1977 - Count Dracula - a film produced by the BBC starring Louis Jourdan;
1978 - Nosferatu - Phantom of the Night - a remake of the classic Murnau film, directed by Werner Herzog. Starring Klaus Kinski;
1979 - Dracula - a film in the gothic-romantic tradition. Starring Frank Langella;
1979 - Love at First Bite - romantic comedy starring George Hamilton;
1979 - Gospodar Vlad - film based on historical facts, displays real life Wallachian ruler Vlad III Basarab;
1980 - Death of Dracula;
1985 - Fraccia vs. Dracula - black comedy. Starring Edmund Purdom;
1989 - Widow of Dracula;
1990 - Dracula: The Series;
1991 - Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat - a comedy western about a ghost town inhabited by vampires;
1992 - Bram Stoker's Dracula - film starring Gary Oldman as Dracula;
1993 - Dracula Risen;
1994 - Nadya - in the role of Dracula Peter Fonda;
1994 - Dracula - Italian porn film directed by Mario Salieri;
1995 - Dracula: Dead and Loving - a parody directed by Mel Brooks and starring Leslie Nielsen as Dracula;
2000 - Dracula 2000 - a modern version of the classic plot. In the role of Dracula - Gerard Butler;
2000 - Bloody Wedding. Altar of Roses is a silent musical film starring Japanese darkwave band Malice Mizer, slightly modified from the plot of Stoker's novel. The role of Dracula is played by Kukizdawa Yuki, Van Helsing - Hiroki Koji;
2000 - Prince Dracula: The True Story - film directed by Joe Chappell. In the role of Dracula - Rudolf Martin;
2000 - Buffy vs. Dracula - episode of the series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”;
2002 - The Return of Dracula - an Italian film in which the action is moved to modern times;
2002 - Dracula, Pages From a Virgin's Diary - silent choreographic interpretation by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet;
2003 - Dracula 2: Ascension - continuation of the film Dracula 2000. Starring Stephen Billington;
2003 - I Dream of Dracula;
2004 - Van Helsing - an action movie that very freely uses elements of the novel. Richard Roxburgh as Dracula;
2004 - Blade 3: Trinity - the third film adaptation of the comic book about the vampire hunter Blade. The main villain is the vampire Drake, "Dracula" being one of his names;
2004 - Dracula 3000 - science fiction film with horror elements;
2005 - Dracula 3: Legacy - continuation of the films Dracula 2000 and Dracula 2: Ascension. Starring Rutger Hauer;
2005 - Lust For Dracula - lesbian surreal interpretation;
2005 - Way of the Vampire - Dracula (Paul Logan) dies at the beginning of the film;
2006 - Dracula - third BBC version starring Marc Warren and David Suchet as Van Helsing;
2006 - A Visit from Dracula's Family - a black comedy starring Harry Huys;
2008 - The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Cup - an adventure film with fantasy elements. Dracula (Bruce Davison) is the main antagonist, hiding under the guise of an ordinary person;
2011 - In search of truth: True story Count Dracula;
2012 - Dracula 3D - film in 3D format, classic adaptation. Directed by Dario Argento, starring Thomas Kretschmann;
2013-2014 - Dracula - horror and drama series with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Alexander Grayson / Dracula;
2014 - Dracula - a film that tells the story of Dracula's transformation into a vampire. The main role was played by Luke Evans.
