I've seen a lot of people recently are trying to find if Dracula was real. Was he a real person or just a legend ?
Well, to make things clear here are the facts: Vlad III Dracula was a ruler of Wallachia (Southern part of the current Romania) that lived in the 15th century. He was born in Sighişoara in 1431 and took the throne for the first time when he was 17. Here is a detailed presentation of his life.
He died killed in a battle in 1476.
Count Dracula, as people knows him, is a fictional character of Bram Stoker, inspired by the 15-th century bloody ruler. Bram Stoker's novel inspired a long series of movies, and you can see part of the Dracula movies here.
This amatorial documentary aims to present the similarities and differences between Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) and Count Dracula - the famous character of Bram Stoker's book. The movie is done by some kids, but it is pretty amusing and they present well documented data, starting with Vlad's birth in sighisoara, up to his reigns. The most interesting and original part is the one comparing the real Vlad Dracula with Sotker's Count Dracula.
Vlad’s psychological war against the Turks take every possible form and reach its apex with the scene of Târgovişte where Mehmet, a man used to the horrors of an war sees a scene that terrifies him: a field of 20.000 impaled men in front of Vlad's Palace. This gives rise to Vlad’s Turkish nickname: Kaziklu Bey – The Impaler Warlord.
Vlad has retreated into the mountains, in Poienari Castle, from where he runs in Transylvania. He will return on the Wallachian throne for a short period. In 1476 Dracula dies in a battle against the Turks, around Bucharest, but the cause of his death are still unknown. Three are the most probable causes of Vlad Dracula’s death: · he gets killed by a paid man or · he really dies fighting an enemy or · he climbs a small hill to see his army throwing away the Turkish army, as he has the habitude to change clothes , wearing enemy’s clothes. Some of his men did not recognize him and killed him by mistake. Anyway, while his “official” thumb is in Snagov Monastery, a monastery in the middle of a lake, there is no body there. Now there is a mystery to clear out: as mentioned by Matei Cazacu in his book in 1933 a thumb is found with a body that was wearing the purple coat, with golden needlecrafts. The archaeologists (Dinu Rosetti e George Florescu) could easily notice they were facing the thumb of a man wearing a purple or green coat, and they were sure they have seen the true thumb of Vlad Dracula – the Impaler. However, the so documented History Channel didn't mention this and I'm seriously asking myself: "why ?". However we know from historical sources that Dracula has been decapitated and his head sent to the Sultan as a proof of his death. But the Turks were only cutting the skin, therefore letting the skull (cranium).
In 1459 Vlad Dracula engaged in a campaign of terror, so cruel that his name will be remembered over centuries. In fact is in 1457 that he crossed the Carpathians for the first time and punished the Saxons in Mediaş, Sibiu, Braşov. I know no proof that he grouped his troops together in Bran Castle as the documentary mentions. He intended to punish the Saxon merchants in Braşov, medieval Transylvania’s richest and most well defended town. Today’s Braşov gives few clues about the events that unfolded here 550 years ago. What the documentary don’t mention, is that the reason of the attack over the Saxon towns is more complex than simple revenge: they shelter Dan III, pretending Wallachia’s throne. On the Easter week of 1460 Dan III and his troops march through Vlad’s army but gets defeated and gets his head cut off. Vlad‘s attack on the city of Braşov was not an easy one. A huge wall, thick almost 14 feet in some places was surrounding the city. There were bastions at regular intervals. We get acquainted with the medieval fortification system. A multi-level wooden gallery was built on the inner part of the wall. Into the outside walls there are arrow slits and loopholes, that were later been used for canons and for musketry.
Dracula, that grew up in the Saxon town of Sighişoara knows the Saxons very well, as well as them way of fighting. He avoids a frontal attack, instead take them by surprise attacking by night, before they can retread behind the thick walls. Everyone he catches is impaled on the surrounding hills. Thousands died, according to some later Saxon stories. The attack over Braşov inspires the most infamous of the few images of Vlad: the forest of the impaled, with him, Dracula, taking his lunch/dinner in the middle of corpses. However there is proof that he drunk blood or had canibalic acts. Is known the image is an exageration of Germans, that wanted to present Vlad as the Evil in person.
Once Braşov subdued, Vlad turns his attention to the Ottoman Empire. Vlad Dracula is determined to resist the Turks. He concentrates his building efforts on South. He built his palace in Bucharest, on an important commercial route. As the Turks could attack in any moment, he built it in a hurry, with the best specialists available. He took the best stone-masons and approximately 1000 workers to make sure the palace is erected quickly. This is a very functional fortress, opposed to the exotic palace one could expect from Dracula. Later rulers rebuilt and extended it, to reach what we know today as the old court. But hidden in the building’s foundation are clues to its history.
With the country secured by these palaces and castles, Vlad Dracula begins planning for war. In his fortification in Târgovişte he receives a delegation of the Ottomans, claiming for tribute. He refuses to pay the tribute, and ordered the envoys to remove them turbans. When they answer they never remove them turbans he nailed them to them heads so they could really never remove them turbans. After a striking campaign in the winter of 1461 Vlad returns to the safety of his fortification at Târgovişte.
Third part of the documentary made by History Channel about Vlad the Impaler (Dracula).
Well, here today I have a pretty bad Internet connection, therefore I started posting after seeing just a part of the documentary. I thought it starts with what could be considered a mistake, made by many, probably due to the images presented in the German brochures that made Dracula famous in the XV-th century. I'm talking about the shape of the stakes: many historians (like Matei Cazacu, for example, consider the stakes where not sharpen at the top, as presented here and in every image one could see. The technique of impaling was perfected by Vlad and others, therefore the stakes were having a rounded top, so the impaled did not have the internal organs destroyed (that would have lead to a faster death). However, the next seconds give my confidence in History Channel’s documentaries back. Here you can read more about impaling.
The story of building Poienari Castle - the real castle Dracula is presented, with unforeseen images of how the castle looked before. The castle is built on the strategic place, from where the valley going to Vlad's Capital, Târgovişte, can be surveyed, but also the Valley descending from Făgăraş Mountains, that's from the neighbor Transylvania., where the merchants are threatening Vlad Dracula’s grip on power.
Since Vlad need to build to castle swiftly he relies on unconventional techniques and slave labor.
The Castle of Poienari seems to have started during Vlad's father, Vlad Dracul, but Dracula is the one that fortifies it. The Castle not only occupies to whole summit of the Poienari hill, but enlarges it. The walls surrounding the castle, still visible today, give it the strange appearance. The unusual building structure is made up of red brick, sitting on top of gray stone base. The walls are 9 feet thick, just imagine !! This was achieved by using a byzantine construction method: first of all the two external walls were built in brick, then infill the walls with stones. This combination was resulting in an absolutely powerful structure. What tights the walls together, so they made it thru the centuries was the lime mortar –the secret of Poienari castle’s survival in an area that is very close to an earthquake zone – the earthquakes took place in another area in Carpathians, Vrancea, in the Carpathian’s arch, only 200 km away from Poienari. It has the property that it does not completely set, but allows the walls to move, that is very useful in this earthquake situation. Therefore they don’t suffer severe cracks and damages as it would if it were cement. The construction methods used show that master builders must have been involved, as the techniques used are really advanced.
Everything needed to build Poienari Castle was available in the river valley below: sand for mortar, gravel and small rocks for the byzantine wall filler, steady river-stones that formed the castle’s base. When finished , the castle offer an almost perfect security and the control over a key strategic pass in the mountains, between Transylvania and Wallachia.
From the History Channel, the second episode of "The Lost World of Dracula":
It starts with the presentation of Bran Castle, where Vlad Dracula stopped by in 1415. The castle has been modernized by the Romanian Royal Family (remember, Bran Castle belonged to the royal family in the first half of the XX-th century), so its interior is very different from what it was in middle-ages. But, by using floor plans of the castle the experts pieced together how it looked 500 years ago.
Here is a simulated image of Bran Castle, obtained by high class computer simulation. Compare it with a picture of the nowadays Bean Castle and you'll be amazed of how different it is. It was not the gothic castle that we see today, but a strong, secured border castle. Placed of the Transylvanian border with Wallachia, the castle occupies a strategic place. However, building the castle was a huge undertaking. The territory was not allowing easy construction and the first difficulty was getting the stuff on the place. What few people know is that Dracula, in order to build-up his dream (a strong, independent country of Wallachia) , he had started one of the most ambitious building programs in his small country.
Vlad III set his capital city in Târgovişte. Is the place where most of Dracula's atrocities took place. in the XV-th century the rule was pretty very simple in politics: kill or be killed . Vlad's first thought was getting rid of the boyars, that were representing the power in the country, changing the ruling prince upon them wish. The princely court in Târgovişte is strengthened, he build something more imposing than every building erected before. The whole complex was surrounded by walls of 5 feet thick. The construction was made up of cellars. The arches, typical for the byzantine architectural style of building, were constructed using a timber framework and helped creating huge volumes. Once Târgovişte was transformed in a highly secured head-quarter, Dracula had begun exterminating his enemy boyars.
Well, folks, I found another nice History Channeldocumentary about Vlad Dracula the warlord that became known allover Europe. Among other images a scene described as one of the most terrifying landscape in history, a forest of impaled people in front of Vlad's residence in Târgovişte is presented. Also, images from Chindia Tower (The Sunset Tower) in Târgoviste, from Bran Castle or from "one of Eastern Europe's most breathtaking mountain-top castles", from many places in Transylvania or from Bucharest can also be seen. The computer animation is amazing, it really brings back to life the lost world of Dracula.
Sighişoara, the place where Vlad Dracula was born (in 1431) is presented in details, with images and a short history of the town and of it's inhabitants. Vlad's father, Vlad Dracul, has been killed in 1446 together with his son Mircea.
Here is a short anmatorial movie presenting a visit by night to Poienari Castle, the real Dracula's Castle:
According to the legend, Poienari Castle, made up of bricks and stone, has been built by the betraying boyars. During his second reign, after the corronation Vlad called them all and after a party accused them of ruining the country for them own interests and send them to Poienari, to build the defending castle. Copy of images representing this are kept in Chindia Tower, in Târgovişte.
The second part of the documentary about Vlad Dracula presents the reign of Vlad Dracula from his second ascent to the Wallachian throne. Professor Raymond Mc Nally , author, together with Prof. Radu R. Florescu of the book "Dracula - prince of many faces", is a real Dracula expert, as well as Matei Cazacu.
Is presented his revenge over the boyars (that allegedly killed his father and elder brother Mircea); boyars are send to build the castle of Poienari, still considered the real Dracula Castle.
The impaling technique is also presented, however so far I haven't heard of any serious proof that Vlad was putting his bread in the blood of the people he was impaling.
The war of 1462, against the Sultan Mehmed II presents impressive war strategy for that time.
Anyway, let's better watch the documentary:
2. After following the first video here is a proffesional documentary, emphasizing more the myth part of the story around Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad the Impaler), somehow normal considering this is a commercial movie. However I didn't find big errors in the movie, my comments are inside the post.
3. After 1448 Vlad came to Vallachia to take the throne and, taking advantage of the fact that Vladislav II was attacking the turks on the right side of the Danube, together with his protected John Hunyadi. In fact the real reason for Vlad's liberation was, from the Turks' part, to set him as a ruler of Wallachia. His brother Radu the Handsom remained and there are good proof that he became sultan's lover.
4. at min. 1:42 indeed in Chindia Tower in Târgoviste there are some copy of the old designs representing the building of Poienari citadel. I only wish to remind that the capital was in Targoviste by that time, that's why there was a 50miles trek up to Poienari.
5. min 2:26 - he used brutal punishment methods (like impaling) againd Transylvanian merchants but especially agains the transylvanian saxon population that was hospitating and sheltering him rivals for the Wallachian throne.
6. Facts about 1462 are generally accepted but the romanian historians still discuss if the Turks' campaig in Wallachia was a failure or a success. Only an unfortunate confusion made Vlad not killed the sultan. While the turkish army was resting on the left side of the Danube, after hardly passing the Danube in Vidin Vlad attacked by night and, even if he has been spying the turks's camp before he missed sultan's tent and so the opportunity to kill him.
7. At 3:42 we can admire the terrifying figure of Bela Lugosi in the movie Dracula, of 1931, the first official movie about Dracula.
Generally this video respect the historic truth and is a good short presentation of Vlad Dracula's life. I really like it for this and highly recommend it !
While visiting Sighisoara few weeks ago, I took some photo in the town where Vlad III (that later took the name of Vlad Dracula) was born and spent it's childhood !
This is how people was dressed in the XVth century, they are just in front of the house where Vlad Dracula was born:
Stairs are always fascinating me, especially stairs of Sighisoara. Besides the well-known covered stair, going uphill where the schools is, there are equally fascinating.
The Clock Tower of Sighisoara is the symbol of the town and meantime one of the most beautiful medieval buildings in Eastern Europe. Now the clock tower acts as museum and from the top of it one can admire the whole medieval town as well as the surrounding area. Objects from the medieval age, as well as a smal hall dedicated to Hermann Oberth (1894-1989), founder of astronautics adn inventor of the first rocket are to be seen.
This is a pretty annoying movie of youtube, a Turkish (?) guy talking about Dracula's history. While the guy speak a crappy English the interesting thinks are the comments and repsonses
The final part of the movie Dark Prince. The Truth about Dracula presents Vlad fighting his brother Radu in Snagov monastery and initially defeating him. However Radu is not alone and the guards help him. His father-in-low Aron as well as Father Stefan are all there. He is considered Antichrist for fighting his own people and his own religion, however he explains he did never fight God! Betrayed by father Stefan, that Dracula accused has killed his father Vlad Dracul, he finally gets killed by Radu, his own brother. Here I have to mention the movie is fara away from the historic truth, most evidence presents Vlad Dracula's death as on the battlefield, somewhere in the southern part of Bucharest (I'll post more especially about this as it seems to be a lot of controversial about the death of Vlad III Dracula - the place as well as the way he died.
Father Stefan dies by heart attack when he meets Dracula's phantom, the doomed spirit rest undead for etenity:
In 1476 Dracula is given his throne back, after the Hungarian king finds out that the letter sent to him many years ago was a fake. Vlad has to marry his daughter, a roman-catholic. Like that he will have money from the Pope. He accepts and goes back to Wallachia. He finds out that his brother Radu (that remained in history under the name Radu the Handsome. He give the noblemen the privileges back and made Aron (Dracula's father-in-low and betrayer) the chief advisor. After many years of absence he finally gets to see his son, Vlad, and give him his ring, the ring that belonged to Vlad Dracul. He gets excommunicated by the Orthodox Church. He did not renounce Catholicism, as this would mean missing support of the Pope and the Hungarian King.
Vlad III finds out from father Stefan where his brother Radu is, he goes there to meet him and they start fighting.
Vlad fights against the Turks, he gets almost killed. But he is saved by this best man, Bruno, right-hand of Dracula. They all believe they'll die, but he wakes up and is interesting his answer when he is said his men truely believe that he is returned from the death: "-Some of the weaker minded, yes !"
Even his wife thinks he is dead when seing him nearby. Similar to the Shakespearean story of Romeo and Juliet she killed herself throwing herself from the edge of the Castle (the story with the castle is less probable to be true, is should have been only the castle of Poienari, as presented in the movie, however is hardly supposable they were still leaving that castle by that time).
With the help of Aron, Lidia's father, that Vlad saved life years ago due to a promise made to her wife, Dracula's brother Radu the Handsdom send a fake letter to the Hungarian King, specifying that Dracula was asking for help agains Hungary. He gets imprisoned untill 1476, when he gets released.
On August, 11, 1456 John Hunyadi dies by the pest epidemic that was transmitted from the Turks to the Christians predators of cadavers. On his funeral tomb in the Cathedral of Alba Iulia one could read “the World’s Light is off".
Vlad take advantage of this and, inspired also by the Halley comet that was visible in Europe for one month, starting with June, 8th, 1456, he grouped his men, cross the Carpathians and conquered Wallachia’s throne.
Vladislav II, surprised, opposed only a weak resistance and was betrayed by his men. He run away and was caught and killed on August, 20, near Târgşor, an important town of the medieval Wallachia, 60 km North to Bucharest, now disappeared. He was buried in Dealu Monastery, near Târgovişte. The place where Vladislav II was killed may be the church that he erected here in Târgşor. However five years later, Dracula erected another church in Târgşor, church that was finished on June, 24, 1461. This might be as a sign of requiring forgiveness for killing Vladislav. Here are some remaining of the old church in Targsor, photo taken by myself two weeks ago:
Photo(c): Radu Cernea, April 2007, Târgşor, Romania.
Vlad justifies his way of leading Wallachia. He is willing to pay any cost for the justice and for making it a better country, even the cost of his soul going to burn in hell ! Impaling people was the most efficient way of making them do them duties. Considered a monster by this wife, he still consider the fear the best way of leading a country.
Vlad kills the Turkish delegation come to ask for the tribute, he is decided to never pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire anymore ! Vlad sends his wife, terrified by his attrocities and almost gone mad, to the nunnery of Braila.
Of course a huge Ottoman army passes the Danube and attacks Wallachia shortly after that.
Part 5 of "The Dark Prince" (The true story of Vlad the Impaler) presents one of the first battles of Vlad agianst the turks, but also his meeting with his younger brother Radu, that betraded his country to ally the Turks.
Also scenes of the normal city-life of medieval towns (is seemst o be shot in Sighisoaa, in the middle of Transylvania, not in Târgoviste, the capital of Wallachia, but let's consider this just a small detail). His wife Lidia is horrified by his attrocities, meantime she seems to understand that's the only way the country could be led.
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