DRACULA: The name of both the Transylvanian ruler Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) and the infamous vampire of the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker. Dracula was based on the title Dracul, given to Vlad's father, Vlad II, meaning the "Devil" or the "Dragon." (Dracula means simply "Son of Dracul." Its more proper spelling is Draculea.) Dracul was used to describe Vlad II's activities, although there are two historical views as to why it was adopted in popular usage. The first argues that the enemies of Vlad used the term to mean "Devil," thus associating him with evil and diabolism. Another theory postulates that the name came from Vlad's dragon-stamped currency and his membership in the Order of the Dragon, which included the wearing of the dragon symbol on his clothing and on his banners. His son, Vlad III, who became known locally as Tepes, the "Impaler," apparently earned the name by being his father's son and not for any conspicuous crimes. Dracula as a name was probably not used locally, as it did not appear on documents intended for Romanian consumption, even though Dracula was Vlad's preferred signature, Dracul having potentially evil connotations among his people. The name was expedited by foreigners, such as the Venetians, who knew Vlad as Dragulia, in an effort to attach his name to cruelty and wickedness. Virtually forgotten by the West, Vlad came to the attention of Bram Stoker, who was researching Romanian legends for his novel. He found the name perfectly suited his vampire, given the ruler's reputation for bloodthirstiness. There is, however, no link in Romanian folklore between Vlad and vampirism.
VLAD DRACUL: A Wallachian voivode (warlord or prince) (d. 1447), the father of Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler). Dracul was born sometime before 1395, the illegitimate son of Prince Mircea of Wallachia. His reigns lasted from 1436 to 1442 and from the spring of 1443 to 1447. He vacillated between supporting the Hungarians and maintaining neutrality with the Turks, even though he was a member of the Order of the Dragon, which obliged him to aid Christendom. by 1447 the Hungarian ruler Janos Hunyadi decided to end Vlad's reign, marching into Transylvania and laying siege to Tirgoviste, one Dracul's cities. Dracul fled and, like his son, was assassinted in the marshes near Bucharest. Vlad Tepes (b. 1431) eventually claimed the Wallachian throne, earning the title Dracula (son of Dracul) and Tepes (the Impaler). The meaning of the word Dracul is debated by scholars.
VLAD TEPES: Also called Vlad Dracula (1431 - 1476), ruler of
Wallachia, with the title voivode (warlord or prince), Vlad Tepes
(pronounced tse-pesh) acquired a fearsome reputation as a result of his
immense cruelty and the propaganda that was spread throughout Europe to
discredit him in the decades following his death. In Romania, Vlad has
been honored historically as a symbol of nationalism, as the ruler who
defeated the Ottoman Turks and proved independent-minded in the face of
Hungarian ascendancy. He was born in the Transylvanian town of Sighisoara,
son of the formidable Vlad Dracul, Prince of Wallachia (d. 1447). Vlad
and his younger brother, Radu, spent several years as hostages of the Turks,
learning from them firsthand a lesson of terror, humiliation, and oppression.
Briefly in 1448, with the approval of the Ottomans, Vlad claimed power
in Wallachia but was soon overthrown, fleeing to Moldavia and the safety
of the Hungarians.
In 1456 he returned to Wallachia with the support
of the Hungarians, embarking on a reign that lasted until 1462. During
that time Vlad campaigned against the Turks, built Castle Dracula with
slave labor, and massacred thousands of his subjects by a variety of fiendishly
diabolical methods, the most common device being the stake (hence his domestic
title Tepes, the Impaler). By 1462 the wrath of the Ottomans was felt in
Wallachia, and Vlad again fled to Hungary, where King Matthias Corvinus,
fearing the man's restlessness and willpower, imprisoned him. After twelve
years he was allowed his freedom (1474), although it was not until November
1476 that he once more assumed the rank of voivode. His enemies
were far too numerous by that time, and Vlad was killed.
After death, however, Vlad assumed a definitive
role in the legends of Romania, as wild rumors erupted about his demise
and his corpse. His headless body was supposedly buried at Snagov, near
Bucharest, but tales persisted that the grave was empty, Vlad having risen.
Like the German ruler Frederick Barbarossa, it was said Vlad had not died
but had gone into hiding to await the day of his needed return. The triumphs
of this voivode overshadowed his penchant for slaughtering those
around, but grisly tales of his murders were circulating throughout Europe,
published by German pamphleteers.
In searching for a model for his vampire character,
Bram Stoker inevitably stumbled upon the shadowy figure of Vlad, perhaps
coming across the information as early as 1890 and possibly under the influence
of the scholar Arminius Vambery. Vlad fit the mold perfectly: he died under
mysterious circumstances, he was decapitated, his body was apparently never
recovered, and he relished impaling people. Even the name Dracula (or Dracul)
had occult connotations. The associations of Vlad with vampirism were nonexistent,
but Stoker deftly handled that deficiency by declaring outright through
the words of another character, Van Helsing, that Dracula was, in truth,
Vlad Tepes. Thus an ambitious nobleman who had perished some four hundred
years before was catapulted back into the European limelight, once more
the victim of propaganda. Whereas Vlad had earlier been accused of shedding
the blood of innocents, he was now accused of drinking it. Interestingly,
Stoker originally titled his novel The Un-Dead. At the last moment
either he or his publisher changed it to Dracula.
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