General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> The /Impaler/
REFN: 12149AN
He was Prince Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad Tepes, meaning "Vlad t
he Impaler." The Turks called him Kaziglu Bey, or "the Impaler Prince
." He was the prince of Walachia, but, as legend suggests, he was bo
rn in Transylvania, which at that time was ruled by Hungary.
According to legend, Walachia was founded in 1290 by a Transylvanian nam
ed Radu Negru, or Rudolph the Black. Dracula's grandfather, Prince Mirc
ea the Old, reigned from 1386 to 1418. He fought to keep Walachia independ
ent from the Turks but was forced to pay tribute to them. He and his desce
ndants continued to rule Walachia, but under the suzerainty of the Ottom
an Empire (Turkey).
The throne of Walachia was not necessarily passed from father to son. T
he prince was elected by the country's boyars, or land-owning nobles. Th
is caused fighting among family members, assassinations, and other unpleas
antness. Eventually the royal House of Basarab was split into two factio
ns -- Mircea's descendants, and the descendants of another prince named D
an II. Dan's descendants were called the Danesti.
Mircea had an illegitimate son, Vlad, born around 1390. He grew up in t
he court of King Sigismund of Hungary, first probably as a hostage and lat
er as a page. Sigismund, who became the Holy Roman Emperor in 1410, found
ed a secret fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon to u
phold Catholicism and fight Turkey. Vlad was admitted to the Order, probab
ly in 1431. The boyars of Walachia started to call him Dracul, meaning "dr
agon." Vlad's second son would be known as Dracula, or "son of the dragon
." Dracul also meant "devil." So some of Dracula's enemies called him "s
on of the devil."
Sigismund made Vlad the military governor of Transylvania, a post he he
ld from 1431 to 1435. During that time he lived in the town of Sighisoa
ra or Schassburg. You can still visit the citadel there and even the hou
se where Vlad's son Dracula was born. Today there's a restaurant on the se
cond floor. There's also a mural in the house that may depict Vlad Dracul.
Young Dracula
Dracula was born in November or December of 1431. His given name was Vla
d. He had an older brother, Mircea, and a younger brother, Radu the Handso
me. Their mother may have been a Moldavian princess or a Tranyslvanian nob
le. It is said that she educated Dracula in his early years. Later he w
as trained for knighthood by an old boyar who had fought the Turks.
Dracula's father was not content to remain a mere governor forever. Duri
ng his years in Transyvlania, he gathered supporters for his plan to sei
ze Walachia's throne from its current occupant, a Danesti prince named Ale
xandru I. In late 1436 or early 1437 Vlad Dracul killed Alexandru and beca
me Prince Vlad II.
Vlad was a vassal of Hungary and also had to pay tribute to Hungary's enem
y, Turkey. In 1442 Turkey invaded Transylvania. Vlad tried to stay neutra
l, but Hungary's rulers blamed him and drove him and his family out of Wal
achia. A Hungarian general, Janos Hunyadi (who may have been the illegitim
ate son of Emperor Sigismund) made a Danesti named Basarab II the prin
ce of Walachia.
The following year Vlad regained the throne with the help of the sult
an of Turkey. In 1444 he sent his two younger sons to Turkey to prove h
is loyalty. Dracula was about 13. He spent the next four years in Adrianop
le, Turkey as a hostage.
In 1444 Hungary went to war with Turkey and demanded that Vlad join the cr
usade. As a member of the Order of the Dragon, Vlad was sworn to obey th
is summons. But he didn't want to anger the Turks, so he sent his eldest s
on, Mircea, in his place. The Christian army was demolished at the Batt
le of Varna, and Vlad and Mircea blamed Janos Hunyadi.
In 1447 Vlad and Mircea were murdered. Mircea was killed by the boyars a
nd merchants of the Walachian city Tirgoviste. There are different stori
es about how he died - he