Vlad Dracula: An intriguing figure in the fifteenth century
By Benjamin H. Leblanc
M.Sc. Student, Sociology of Religion
University of Montreal, Canada
In less than two years from now the Count will celebrate his 100th
birthday, and many Dracula enthusiasts from all around the world intend to
underline this event. Of course, almost everybody has heard about this
nosferatu: through movies featuring Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee or Gary Oldman;
in several books - among which the recent Vampire Chronicles of Anne Rice; or even in bedtime
stories told to us in our childhood. We all have an idea of who or what the Count is. However, on
the other hand, Vlad Tepes Dracula, the historical figure who inspired Bram Stoker for his novel, is
definitely less known. The centennial of the gothic masterpiece provides us with a good pretext to
dive back into the life of this machiavellian fifteenth century leader - an initiative that will enable us
to better appreciate the work of Stoker.
Vlad Tepes was born in November or December 1431, in the fortress of Sighisoara,
Romania. His father, Vlad Dracul, at that time appointed military governor of Transylvania by the
emperor Sigismund, had been inducted into the Order of the Dragon about one year before. The
order - which could be compared to the Knights of the Hospital of St. John or even to the Teutonic
Order of Knights - was a semimilitary and religious society, originally created in 1387 by the Holy
Roman Emperor and his second wife, Barbara Cilli. The main goals of such a secret fraternal order
of knights was mainly to protect the interests of Catholicism, and to crusade against the Turks.
There are different reasons why this society is so important to us. First, it provides an explanation
for the name "Dracula;" "Dracul," in Romanian language, means "Dragon", and the boyars of
Romania, who knew of Vlad Tepes' father induction into the Order of the Dragon, decided to call
him "Dracul." "Dracula," a diminutive which means "the son of Dracul," was a surname to be used
ultimately by Vlad Tepes. A second major role of this Order as a source of inspiration for Stoker's
evil character is the Order's official dress - a black cape over a red garment - to be worn only on
Fridays or during the commemoration of Christ's Passion.
In the winter of 1436-1437, Dracul became prince of Wallachia (one of the three Romanian
provinces) and took up residence at the palace of Tirgoviste, the princely capital. Vlad Tepes
followed his father and lived six years at the princely court. In 1442, for political reasons, Dracula
and his younger brother Radu were taken hostage by the Sultan Murad II; Dracula was held in
Turkey until 1448, while his brother Radu decided to stay there until 1462. This Turkish captivity
surely played an important role in Dracula's upbringing; it must be at this period that he adopted a
very pessimistic view of life. Indeed, the Turks set him free after informing him of his father's
assassination in 1447 - organized by Vladislav II. He also learned about his older brother's death Mircea was the eldest legitimate son of Dracul - and how he had been tortured and buried alive by
the boyars of Tirgoviste.
At 17 years old, Vlad Tepes Dracula, supported by a force of Turkish cavalry and a
contingent of troops lent to him by pasha Mustafa Hassan, made his first major move toward
seizing the Wallachian throne. But another claimant, no other than Vladislav II himself, defeated
him only two months later. In order to secure his second and major reign over Wallachia, Dracula
had to wait until July of 1456, when he had the satisfaction of killing his mortal enemy and his
father's assassin. Vlad then began his longest reign - 6 years - during which he committed many
cruelties, and hence established his controversed reputation.
His first major act of revenge was aimed at the boyars of Tirgoviste for the killing of his
father and his brother Mircea. On Easter Sunday of what we believe to be 1459, he arrested all the
boyar families who had participated to the princely feast. He impaled the older ones on stakes
while forcing the others to march from the capital to the town of Poenari. This fifty-mile trek was
quite grueling, and those who survived were not permitted to rest until they reached destination.
Dracula then ordered them to build him a fortress on the ruins of an older outpost overlooking the
Arges river. Many died in the process, and Dracula therefore succeeded in creating a new nobility
and obtaining a fortress for future emergencies. What is left today of the building is identified as
Castle Dracula.
Vlad became quite known for his brutal punishment techniques; he often ordered people to
be skinned, boiled, decapitated, blinded, strangled, hanged, burned, roasted, hacked, nailed,
buried alive, stabbed, etc. He also liked to cut off noses, ears, sexual organs and limbs. But his
favorite method was impalement on stakes, hence the surname "Tepes" which means "The
Impaler" in the Romanian language. Even the Turks referred to him as "Kaziglu Bey," meaning
"The Impaler Prince." It is this technique he used in 1457, 1459 and 1460 against Transylvanian
merchants who had ignored his trade laws. The raids he led against the German Saxons of
Transylvania were also acts of proto-nationalism in order to protect and favour the Wallachian
commerce activities.
There are many anecdotes about the philosophy of Vlad Tepes Dracula. He was for
instance particularly known throughout his land for his fierce insistence on honesty and order.
Almost any crime, from lying and stealing to killing, could be punished by impalement. Being so
confident in the effectiveness of his law, Dracula placed a golden cup on display in the central
square of Tirgoviste. The cup could be used by thirsty travelers, but had to remain on the square.
According to the available historic sources, it was never stolen and remained entirely unmolested
throughout Vlad's reign. Dracula was also very concerned that all his subjects work and be
productive to the community. He looked upon the poor, vagrants and beggars as thieves.
Consequently, he invited all the poor and sick of Wallachia to his princely court in Tirgoviste for a
great feast. After the guests ate and drank, Dracula ordered the hall boarded up and set on fire. No
one survived.
In the beginning of 1462, Vlad launched a campaign against the Turks along the Danube
river. It was quite risky, the military force of Sultan Mehmed II being by far more powerful than the
Wallachian army. However, during the winter of 1462, Vlad was very successful and managed to
gain many victories. To punish Dracula, the Sultan decided to launch a full-scale invasion of
Wallachia. Of course, his other goal was to transform this land into a Turkish province and he
entered Wallachia with an army three times larger than Dracula's. Finding himself without allies,
Vlad, forced to retreat towards Tirgoviste, burned his own villages and poisoned the wells along
the way, so that the Turkish army would find nothing to eat or drink. Moreover, when the Sultan,
exhausted, finally reached the capital city, he was confronted by a most gruesome sight:
thousands of stakes held the remaining carcasses of some 20,000 Turkish captives, a horror
scene which was ultimately nicknamed the "Forest of the Impaled." This terror tactic deliberately
stage-managed by Dracula was definitely successful; the scene had a strong effect on Mehmed's
most stout-hearted officers, and the Sultan, tired and hungry, admitted defeat (it is worth
mentioning that even Victor Hugo, in his Legende des Siecles, recalls this particular incident).
Nevertheless, following his retreat from Wallachian territory, Mehmed left the next phase of the
battle to Vlad's younger brother Radu, the Turkish favorite for the Wallachian throne. At the head of
a Turkish army and joined by Vlad's detractors, Radu pursued his brother to Poenari castle on the
Arges river.
According to the legend, this is when Dracula's wife, in order to escape Turkish capture,
committed suicide by hurling herself from the upper battlements, her body falling down the
precipice into the river below - a scene exploited by Francis Ford Coppola's production. Vlad, who
was definitely not the kind of man to kill himself, managed to escape the siege of his fortress by
using a secret passage into the mountain. Helped by some peasants of the Arefu village, he was
able to reach Transylvania where he met the new king of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus. However,
instead of providing some help, Matthias arrested Dracula and imprisoned him at the Hungarian
capital of Visegrad. It was not until 1475 that Vlad was again recognized as the prince of
Wallachia, enjoying a very short third reign. In fact, he was assassinated toward the end of
December 1476.
We do not know exactly why Bram Stoker chose this fifteenth century Romanian prince as a
model for his fictional character. Some scholars have proposed that Stoker had a friendly
relationship with a Hungarian professor from the University of Budapest, Arminius Vambery
(Hermann Vamberger) , and it is likely that this man gave Stoker some information about Vlad
Tepes Dracula. Moreover, the fact that Dr. Abraham Van Helsing mentions his "friend Arminius" in
the 1897 novel as the source of his knowledge on Vlad seems to support this hypothesis. It should
also be kept in mind that the only real link between the historical Dracula (1431-1476) and the
modern literary myth of the vampire is in fact the 1897 novel; Stoker made use of folkloric sources,
historic references and some of his own life experiences to create his composite creature. On the
other hand, it is worth mentioning that Vlad Dracula's political detractors - mainly German Saxons made use of the other meaning of the Romanian word "Dracul" - "Devil" - in order to blacken the
prince's reputation. Could the association of the words "Dragon" and "Devil" in Romanian language
explain an earlier link between Vlad Tepes and vampirism?
Today, as Romania opens itself to the tourism industry, many "Dracula Tours" are being
offered throughout the country. Two months ago, the author of this article attended one of them,
organized by Bravo Group and designed by the Transylvanian Society of Dracula. This particular
Tour includes the most important historical places related with Vlad Tepes, such as 15th century
town of Sighisoara - Vlad's birth place; the Snagov Monastery - where, according to legend, Vlad is
said to have been buried after his assassination; Castle Bran - which has been in the past
erroneously described by officials of the Romanian Tourist Ministry as Castle Dracula; the Poenari
fortress; the village of Arefu - where many Dracula legends are still told; the city of Brasov - where
Vlad led raids against the German Saxons; and, of course, Curtea Domneasca - Dracula's palace
in Bucharest. The Tour also covers the folklorical aspects of the fictional Dracula. For instance, one
will find oneself eating the meal Jonathan Harker ate at The Golden Crown in Bistrita, and sleeping
at Castle Dracula Hotel - built no so long ago on the Borgo Pass, approximately where the fictional
castle of the Count is supposed to be. If you have another trip to the Bahamas planned for next
Christmas and are a fan of Stoker's literary work, maybe should you reconsider your decision?
As for the 100th birthday of the novel, may you celebrate "freely and of your own will!"
Further reading
Florescu, Radu, and Raymond T. McNally. Dracula: A Biography of Vlad the Impaler, 1431-1476. New York: Hawthorn
Books, 1973. 239 pp.
_________. Dracula: Prince of Many Faces; His Life and His Times. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, 261
pp.
Giurescu, Constantin C. The Life and Deeds of Vlad the Impaler. Dracula. New York: Romanian Library, 1969.
McNally, Raymond T., and Radu Florescu. In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires Completely
Revised. 1972. Reprint. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994, 297 pp.
Stoicescu, Nicolae. Vlad the Impaler. Translated by Cristina Krikorian. Bucharest: Romanian Academy, 1978.
Treptow, Kurt W., ed. Dracula: Essays on the Life and Times of Vlad Tepes. East European Monographs, no. 323,
New York: Columbia University Press, 1991. 336 pp.
The Transylvanian Society of Dracula
47 Primaverii blvd.
Buccuresti 1
ROMANIA
tel.: 401-6666195
fax: 401-3123056
This feature appeared in Issue #5 of Journal of the Dark, and was written by Benjamin Leblanc.
20 COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT BRAM STOKER & HIS NOVEL DRACULA
Many misconceptions and downright errors appear both in print and on television documentaries
about Bram Stoker and his famous novel. Here are 20 of the more widespread ones.
Each of the following is either probably wrong or at best just speculation:
1. Dracula originated in a nightmare which Stoker had after eating too much dressed crab.
2. Stoker began writing Dracula in Whitby.
3. Stoker began writing Dracula in Cruden Bay.
4. Stoker was a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn.
5. Stoker was in love with his employer, Henry Irving.
6. Immediately after its publication, Dracula was a phenomenal success.
7. Stoker travelled to Transylvania to do research on vampires.
8. Stoker died of syphilis.
9. Count Dracula is destroyed by having a stake driven through his heart.
10. Count Dracula cannot go out in the sunlight.
11. "Dracula's Guest" was the excised first chapter of Dracula.
12. Stoker's inspiration for the character of Count Dracula was Vlad the Impaler.
13. Slains Castle at Cruden Bay was the inspiration for Castle Dracula
14. Bran Castle (in Romania) was the inspiration for Castle Dracula.
15. Vlad the Impaler's Poenari fortress was the inspiration for Castle Dracula.
16. Hungarian professor Arminius Vambery provided Stoker with much information about
vampires, Transylvania and Vlad the Impaler.
17. Elizabeth Bathory was a major influence on Dracula.
18. "Nosferatu" is a Romanian word for "vampire".
19. Vampire bats are a common phenomenon in the Carpathians.
20. Vampire legends originate in occurrences of porphyria, a rare skin disorder.
There are MANY, MANY more!
Characteristics of the Vampire
Here are the characteristics of Count Dracula as presented by Bram Stoker in his novel Dracula.
Other writers, of course, have altered these to suit their own literary purposes.
Count Dracula possesses the following powers and supernatural traits:
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he is potentially immortal
he survives on the blood of others
he has the strength of twenty men
he can shape-shift into the form of a wolf or a bat
he can appear as mist or elemental dust
he has no reflection in a mirror
he casts no shadow
he has hypnotic power over his victims
he can turn victims into vampires
But on the other hand, he does have limitations:
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he may not enter a household unless he is invited in
he loses his supernatural powers during daylight hours
he must sleep on the soil of his native land
he can cross running water only at the slack or the flood of the tide
he is repelled by garlic and holy symbols (crucifix, holy wafer)
he can be destroyed by driving a stake through his heart and decapitating him
Note:
1. Even though it is indicated throughout the novel that he is to be destroyed with a wooden stake,
this is not how it happens. In the final scene, Harker and Morris dispatch the Count with knives.
2. There is nothing in Stoker's novel to indicate that the vampire can be destroyed by sunlight.
Count Dracula moves about freely in the daytime, though with a reduction in his supernatural
powers. (The "sunlight" motif entered the legend as a result of the 1922 film "Nosferatu".)
from: www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/
Bram Stoker
Ireland and England, 1845 - 1912
"Having some time at my disposal when in London, I had visited the British Museum, and made search among the books and maps in the library regarding
Transylvania; it had stuck me that some foreknowledge of the country could hardly fail to have some importance in dealing with a noble of that country."
- Bram Stoker
Born in the same year as the release of the compilation of the Varney series, young Abraham Stoker was probably
introduced to the concept of vampires at a very young age.
The third of seven children, Abraham was a sickly child, bedridden until approximately age seven. During his long
convalescence he was tended by his mother, a social worker and writer, who, by some accounts, entertained her
young son with horror stories.
Abraham recovered from his debilitating illness, eventually becoming a star athlete in his
college years. With his recovery, it seemed his interest in dark subjects had disappeared as
well. However, while studying at Trinity College, another major influence in his life fell into
place: he attended a performance of "The Rivals", starring a then young stage actor, Henry
Irving. Irving was destined in later years to become an icon of Shakespearean theatre and the
first actor ever knighted by the queen.
Stoker graduated from Trinity College in 1867 with a degree in mathematics, and an abiding
love of the theater. It is widely supposed in literary circles that the reason Stoker initially
turned to civil service rather than a career in theater was for the approval of his father. In
1869, Henry Irving made a second tour of Ireland, and much to Stoker's chagrin, the local
newspaper, "The Evening Mail", chose not to cover his arrival in Dublin. Stoker went
immediately to the newspaper's office, and offered his own review of his idol's performance. From that time forward,
Stoker augmented his day job with night work as a journalist and theater critic for "The Evening Mail".
For the next seven years, Bram Stoker lived for office work by day and for the theater by night. A school friend of
Oscar Wilde, he found himself a frequent guest of Wilde's parents, and traveling in their circle of literary and theatrical
friends. At one of these functions, he was introduced to the beautiful Florence Balcombe. It was said that Stoker and
young Oscar Wilde competed for her affections. It is doubtful that Wilde was competing very hard. Meanwhile, Stoker
polished his writing skills in the realm of fiction, publishing his first short story, The Chain of Destiny, in the Shamrock
Weekly in 1875.
In 1876, Henry Irving returned for a third time to Dublin, now very successful and well on his way to superstardom.
This time, already ensconced in his role as theater critic, Stoker lavished efflusive praise on his idol. Irving was a vain
man; the fawning aspect of Stoker's reviews turned his head, and Bram was invited to dine with his hero in his hotel.
During the meal, a starstruck Stoker continued to heap praise upon Irving, cementing a somewhat parasitic friendship
that was to last for the next 25 years.
After returning to England, Irving purchased the historic Lycium theater, with the intent of centering his newfound
popularity around a boxoffice exclusively his own. Knowing that Stoker had a civil service career in money and
management, he offered Stoker not only management of the theater, but of his own career. It was an offer that Irving
knew his greatest fan could not refuse. With a bright career managing the world's foremost Shakespearean actor
assured, in 1878 Bram Stoker married Florence Balcombe, and set out for England. Before he left, he published his
first novel, The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland, a satirical account of the bureaucratic lifestyle he believed
he was escaping.
Bram Stoker in England
Lyceum life was somewhat of a shock, I think, for Stoker. Expecting perhaps the glamorous life of the theater, he found
instead a marked increase in his bureaucratic life. Theater management required both day and nighttime hours from
Stoker, and Irving was far too egotistic and independent to require allow himself to be 'managed'. Instead, Stoker acted
more as a secretary and 'gofer' to Irving, who proved to be a harsh and angry employer.
The demands of the theater - and its owner - no longer afforded Stoker the time to work in
the field of journalism. Instead, he passed his sporadic free time lost in his own worlds of
fiction. In the twelve years before he began his first draft of Dracula, he had published eight
adventure tales and another novel, The Snake's Pass. None of them were more than
ordinary popular literature, and have all passed fittingly from history's memory.
Dracula was to prove to be an entirely different story. Eventually.
Stoker was not without a dark side; he had earlier published a collection of morbid
children's stories entitled, "Under the Sunset". I have not seen this work, but I have been
given to understand that even in these times the subject matter is inappropriate for young
children.
He began his notes for the story in 1890, a full seven years before publication. He chose
Whitby as his English location, a popular shipping port, and supposedly a favorite vacation
site of his. A ruined cathedral overlooking the ocean there served as the inspiration for the pivotal location of Carfax
Abby. As for the choice of Transylvania and the name Dracula, both came much later, almost as an afterthought
before publication.
As Stoker researched the vampire myth, he was drawn inextricably to the cradle of the vampire myth in Europe, the
Balkans. Prince Vlad Tepes (nicknamed "Dracula", Hungarian for "Son of the Dragon") features quite prominently in
Balkan history, both for his role as defender of the Christian faith against the Turks, and for his legendary cruelty. A
short biography of Vlad Tepes can be found here.
Even the most cursory knowledge of the original Dracula's history explains completely why Stoker chose to rename his
evil antagonist Dracula, rather than stay with the ridiculously obvious name he had originally chose, "Count Wampyr".