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What’s in a name?
Vlad the Second was the father of Vlad the
Impaler. For his bravery in combat on behalf of the
Christian cause, he was accepted into The Order of
the Dragon, a group of knights founded by Sigismund
of Luxemburg in 1387. Because the idea of dragons
was not known to Romanians of those times, they played upon
a word similarity and called Vlad the Second Dracul
- “the Devil”, in Romanian. As for Draculea,
a name that Vlad the Impaler was to frequently use
in his correspondence, it ment “the son of Dracul”,
as “lea” was a common name-ending that ment “son of”.
From law enforcement to drinking blood
The small medieval states that were to later form Romania
were in an almost constant state of chaos. Whether they
were weakend by wars, overrun by Muslim invaders or forced
to pay tribute to stronger neighbours, internal affairs
such as economy or law enforcement were pray to general
indifference and decadence. Against a background of
political instability and general disrespect for the law,
Vlad the Impaler (Tepes in Romanian)
appeared as a just and brave ruler, albeit a particularly
cruel one. He had a draconian view on restoring order, and
preffered the bloodyest possible execution as
a deterrant: he impaled and
mamed more condemned prisoners than any other ruler before
his time.
Some medieval chronicles take a step further and describe
him taking pleasure in senseless sadism. They account for
the legend of a “blood-drinking” ruler, a
metaphor later to be taken literally. These writings are
disputed by sources maintaining that he only killed the
lazyest and most hopelessly dishonest of lawbreakers.
Among them he counted the Transylavanian and German
merchants who regularly ignored his state’s borders and
its commercial laws. Therefore, a common historical theory
states that the stories about his devilish cruelty were
mostly spread through medieval German sources, and were
generally meant to avenge the damage that Vlad the
Impaler caused to German merchants.
Literary fiction seeks historical legend
This was the controversial figure that Bram Stoker stumbled
upon and decided to transform into the Vampire
figure. The theories about how Stoker wrote
his novel and what his sources were are, again, highly
controversial. It is certain, for instance, that he took
the name Dracula from his readings of
Romanian history.
For an extra touch of exoticism, he chose to give this
name to his character, instead of the initial
Count Wampyr, a simple refference to earlier
gothic writings, such as those of Sheridan le Fanou, the
first writer to theorise upon the vampyric. It is unlikely
that Stoker sought further historical
information about Vlad the Impaler, aside from
the name itself. If he had, it is likely that he would
have been pleasantly surprised to uncover the legends of
the ruler’s inhuman cruelty. Yet he does not mention Dracula’s
killings, and at a certain point in the book,
his character claims to be a “Szeckely”, which is
a Hunnic name. Other thories claim that in
creating the vampire figure, Stoker was partly
inspired by the figure of Countess Erzsébet
Báthory, a member of the Hungarian nobility in
the XVIth century. She was famous for her sadism and is
said to have tortured and killed over 700
maids to bathe in their blood, in order
to maintain her beauty. There are, of course, many other
theories regarding this subject, but it is unanimously
accepted that Vlad the Impaler was the
historical figure that inspired Stoker’s
character.
Finally
Whether you’re interrested in the history, the legend, the
literature or the modern cult, you’ll find their rock-hard
basis in the place that started it all: you may visit the
medieval citadel of Sighisoara, Vlad
the Impaler’s birthplace, Bran Castle,
his feared residence and supossedly Stoker’s
inspiration for Dracula’s castle, or Borgo
Pass, the ominously rugged terrain where the
Bloody Count claimed his victims. Or you may
choose to explore the mysterious, and stroll through any
one of the dozens of picturesque villages set against
those breathtaking mountain views to which Bram
Stoker’s book finally begins to do justice.
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