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Vlad III Tepes (Dracula) was born in 1431 in Sighisoara, a small town in Transylvania.
He had two brothers, Mircea and Radu.
Little is known about the early years of dracula's life. His early education was left in the hands of his mother, a Transsylvanian noblewoman and her family. His real education began in 1436 after his father succeeded in claiming the Wallachian throne and killing his rival. Dracula learned all the skills of war and peace that were necessary for an Christian knight.
Vlad Tepes II (Dracul) was a member of the Order of the Dragon by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg.
The Order of the Dragon was a knightly order dedicated to fighting the Turks. It's emblem was a dragon, wings extended, hanging on a cross. The dragon was the symbol of the devil and alternative meaning of 'drac' was dragon.
Under this interpretation Vlad II Dracul becomes Vlad II, the dragon and his son, Vlad III Dracula, becomes Vlad III, the son of the dragon/devil.
In 1444, to assure the sultan of good faith, Vlad sent his sons Dracula (vlad III) and Radu as hostages to Andrainople.
Dracula learnt in this period of his life that the boundaries of torture and pain were made by your own lack of fantasy.
Dracula remained a hostage until his father and older brother Mircea were assassinated in 1447/1448.
In 1448, Dracula managed to briefly seize the Wallachian throne with Turkish support. Within two months the Hungarians forced him to surrender the throne and flee to his cousin, the prince of Moldavia.
Dracula remained in exile in Moldavia for three years, until his cousin was assasinated in 1451. Dracula than fled to Transylvania.
In 1456, Dracula invaded Wallachia and reclaimed the throne. He ruled untill 1462.
Most of the atrocities associated with Dracula's name took place in these years.
Impalement was Dracula's preferred method of torture and execution. The height of the spear indicated the rank of the victim. Impalement was by no means his only method of torture. The list of tortures employed by this cruel prince reads like an inventory of hell's tools: nails in heads, cutting off limbs, blinding, strangulation, burning, cutting off of noses and ears, scalping, skinning, exposure to the elements or to wild animals and boiling alive.
The turks finally succeeded in forcing Dracula to flee to Transylvania in 1462.
His first wife committed suicide by leaping from the towers of Dracula's casle into the waters of the Arges River, she rather did this than surrender to the turks.
Dracula was arrested and imprisoned in a royal tower near Buda by the king of Transylvania, Matthias Corvinus. Dracula remained a prisoner for twelve years.
Apparently his imprisonment was none too onerous. He was able to gradually win his way back into the graces of the Hungary's monarch. Dracula maneged to mary a member of the Hungarian royal family (some claim Dracula's second wife was actually the sister of the king) and have two sons. He also changed his religion, he become a catholic.
Dracula's younger brother, Radu, was during this period the prince of Wallachia.
In 1476, Dracula reconquered Wallachia with the help of the prince of Transylvania, Stephen Bathory.
Radu died a couple of years earlier and was replaced by a Turkish candidate, Basarab the old.
After placing DRacula on the throne, Stephen Bathory and Dracula's forces returned to Transylvania, leaving Dracula's tactical position very weak.
Dracula was killed in battle against the Turks near a small town of Bucharest in December of 1476.
Dracul's body was decapitated by the Turks and his head was sent to Constantinople where the sultan had it displayed on a stake as proof that the Impaler was dead. He was buried at Snagov, an island located near Bucharest.