From Issue #5
VLAD DRACULA
An intriguing figure in the fifteenth century
[IMAGE] By Benjamin H. Leblanc
valmont(a)lanzen.net
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.
[IMAGE] 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. Comments may be sent to him at
valmont(a)lanzen.net.
