Home Articles Medieval The Real Dracula: 10 Facts About Vlad the Impaler Léonie Chao-Fong 07 Mar 2023 Ambras Castle portrait of Vlad III (c. 1560), reputedly a copy of an original made during his lifetime Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons Vlad III Dracula (1431-1467/77) was one of the most important rulers in Wallachian history. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler for the brutality with which he dispensed with his enemies, gaining him notoriety in 15th century Europe. Here are 10 facts about the man who inspired fear and legends for centuries to come. 1. His family name means “dragon” The name Dracul was given to Vlad’s father Vlad II by his fellow knights who belonged to a Christian crusading order known as the Order of the Dragon. Dracul translates to “dragon” in Romanian. In 1431, King Sigismund of Hungary – who would later become the Holy Roman Emperor – inducted the elder Vlad into the knightly order. Emperor Sigismund I. Son of Charles IV of LuxembourgImage Credit: Formerly attributed to Pisanello, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The Order of the Dragon was devoted to one task: the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. His son, Vlad III, would become known as the “son of Dracul” or, in old Romanian, Drăculea, hence Dracula. In modern Romanian, the word drac refers to the devil. 2. He was born in Wallachia, present-day Romania Vlad III was born in 1431 in the state of Wallachia, now the southern portion of present-day Romania. It was one of the three principalities that made up Romania at the time, along with Transylvania and Moldova. Situated between Christian Europe and the Muslim lands of the Ottoman Empire, Wallachia was the scene of a great number of bloody battles. As Ottoman forces pushed westward, Christian Crusaders marched eastward toward the Holy Land, Wallachia became the site of constant turmoil. 3. He was held hostage for 5 years In 1442, Vlad accompanied his father and his 7-year-old brother Radu on a diplomatic mission in the heart of the Ottoman Empire. However the three were captured and held hostage by the Ottoman diplomats. Their captors told Vlad II that he could be released – on condition that the two sons remain. Believing that it was the safest option for his family, Vlad II agreed. The boys were held in a citadel atop a rocky precipice over the town of Eğrigöz, now Doğrugöz in present-day Turkey. A woodcut depicting Vlad on the title page of a German pamphlet about him, published in Nuremberg in 1488 (left); ‘Pilate Judging Jesus Christ’, 1463, National Gallery, Ljubljana (right)Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons During the 5 years of captivity in the fortress, Vlad and his brother were taught lessons in the art of war, science and philosophy. However some accounts state that he was also subjected to torture and beatings, and it was thought that it was during this time that he developed his hated of the Ottomans. 4. His father and brother were both killed Upon his return, Vlad II was overthrown in a coup orchestrated by local war lords known as the boyar. He was killed in the marshes behind his house while his oldest son, Mircea II, was tortured, blinded and buried alive. 5. He invited his rivals to dinner – and killed them Vlad III was freed shortly after his family’s death, however by then he had already developed a taste for violence. To consolidate power and assert his dominance, he decided to hold a banquet and invited hundreds of members of his rival families. Knowing his authority would be challenged, he had his guests stabbed and their still-twitching bodies impaled on spikes. 6. He was named for his preferred form of torture By 1462, he had succeeded to the Wallachian throne and was at war with the Ottomans. With enemy forces three times the size of his own, Vlad ordered his men to poison wells and burn crops. He also paid diseased men to infiltrate and infect the enemy. His victims were often disembowelled, beheaded and skinned or boiled alive. However impalement came to be his killing method of choice, largely because it was also a form of torture. Impaling involved a wooden or metal pole inserted through the genitals to the victim’s mouth, shoulders or neck. It would often take hours, if not days, for the victim to finally die. His reputation continued to grow as he inflicted this type of torture on foreign and domestic enemies alike. In one account, he once dined among a “forest” of spikes topped with writhing bodies. His penchant for impaling his enemies and leaving them to die earned him the name Vlad Țepeș (‘Vlad the Impaler’). In this fascinating discussion with Dan Snow, Cambridge University’s Dr Kate Fleet takes us on a tour of the hugely successful and long lasting empire, and questions how we should view its legacy in the modern era.Watch Now 7. He ordered the mass killing of 20,000 Ottomans In June 1462 as he retreated from a battle, Vlad ordered 20,000 defeated Ottomans to be impaled on wooden stakes outside the city of Târ...