Dracula spelled Draculaea is one of several nicknames for Prince Vlad IV who lived during the 1400’s. Vlad IV had a cruel father who came to be called Vlad Dracul translated as Vlad the Devil. Draculaea meant son of the devil. A proper name fit for an equally cruel man. The other nickname of Vlad IV is Vlad Tepes. Tepes stands for impaler.
Vlad IV fought invaders trying to overthrow the province he ruled in Walachia. Skilled in fighting he constantly fought the Turks, Saxons from East Germany, and peasants. He would execute his adversaries by impaling them on stakes. Of course Vlad IV was such a gentleman he executed officers on higher stakes compared to plain soldiers in order to showcase their superiority over the average soldier. He put to death over ten thousand Turks following one of his battles.
During one invasion by Saxon soldiers Vlad IV not only killed the captured warriors he sought out civilians to destroy. Three hundred people were burned to death in Brasov and forty-one people were impaled.
Vlad IV would visit his own wounded soldiers. He gave medals to soldiers who had been wounded in the front of their bodies because of their presumed advancement toward the enemy and impaled soldiers with wounds in the back. They were supposedly cowards running away.
Vlad IV must have been easily insulted. Five Turks came visiting without removing their turbans claiming it was their custom not to remove them from their heads. They left with the turbans nailed to their heads.
Poverty became an annoyance for Vlad IV who decided to invite all the unfortunate people to a huge feast. Orphans, Cripples, and Beggars included. After they had eaten he killed them and then claimed to have ended poverty.
The Turks conquered Vlad IV in 1476. They cut off his head and sent it to Constantinople to prove Vlad IV’s demise. Minus a head his body was laid to rest in the Snagov Monastery church.
Years later the tomb was opened and horse bones instead of human bones were found in the coffin. Monastery monks believed they saw the headless body of Vlad IV wandering about on many different occasions.
Snagov Monks in the 1970’s ventured out and tried to find the remnants of Vlad’s body mainly as a tourist attraction. They never found it.
Romania is now what used to be Vlad IV’s Province Of Walachia. He is now celebrated as a hero for fending off outsiders who wished to take control of his Province.
For awhile Romania lured tourists with the Dracula legend by restoring Vlad IV’s main house and doing tours. They sold paintings and Dracula dolls. Dracula plum brandy was made and sold and intense sound and light shows drew crowds, but eventually tourism slowed. Romania stopped promoting Dracula.
Superstition of the walking dead, living in castles atop the Carpathian Mountains in a place now called Transylvania has helped to bring Dracula alive.
He has come to be called Vampire, but in life he was just a man.
Reference:
- Dracula a book written by Bram Stoker and Vampires a book written by Nancy Garden
