Vlad III Dracula: A Madman and Hero

            Vlad III Dracula was considered a hero to some and a madman to others. Vlad ruled as prince, or voivode, of Wallachia, Hungry three times during the mid 1400s. During his second reign, Vlad used several different tactics against the Ottoman Turks and other opponents. He expertly employed psychological and torture techniques; his most famous method was impalement. Vlad’s tactics were unconventional, but proved in keeping Wallachia safe for his people and leading a crusade against the Turks.
            Vlad III Dracula, or Vlad the Impaler, was born, in December 1431 A.D., in Sighisoara, Hungary located in what is now the center of modern Romania. Vlad spent a portion of time being educated physically in the Spartan style and by Christian tutors, as his father Vlad II Dracul sought a position higher than military governor. It was during that time that signs of a disturbed young Vlad were first noticed. Radu R. Florescu and Raymond T. McNally in Dracula Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times noted, “local traditions insist that the young boy showed, even at that early stage in life, a morbid curiosity for watching, from his first floor bedroom, criminals being led from the small jail in the Councilmen’s Square to the Jewelers’ Donjon, the usual place of execution by hanging.”[1] In 1436 A.D., Dracul moved his family to Tirgoviste, the capital city of Wallachia, Hungary where he became voivode.

            Dracul had also joined a Christian order, called the Order of the Dragon. Dracul was allied with the Muslim Turkish Sultan Murad II, but his loyalty wavered. It is most likely that Dracul had contemplated changing his loyalty due to his new position in the Order of the Dragon, where he had sworn to protect Christianity.[2] Murad took Vlad and his younger brother, Radu, captive and held them in Turkey, as insurance that Dracul would not betray him.
            During their imprisonment a wedge was forged between Vlad and Radu. Murad and Muad's son, Mehmed II, had turned Radu against Vlad by favoring Radu. It is also said that Mehmed and Radu had eventually became lovers, while Vlad was mistreated and beaten.[3] Benjamin Leblanc in Vlad Dracula: An Intriguing Figure in the Fifteenth Century suggested, “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.”[4] Vlad may have been mistreated, but he learned from the Muslim tutors in subjects such as military tactics. 
            Vlad and Radu were released from captivity in 1448 A.D., after news of the death of Dracul and their older brother, Mircea. Radu remained with the Turks, because of his relationship with Mehmed. Vlad sought to become voivode of Wallachia in honor of his father. Will Romano in Vlad Dracula’s War on the Turks reported, “the 17-year-old, having vowed to ascend to the throne of his homeland, got backing from the sultan in 1448 for an invasion of Wallachia.”[5] Vlad began in first reign in 1448, which lasted only a couple of months before he was forced to flee. 

            During his second reign, Vlad sought revenge on the boyars, or noblemen, of Hungary who had been responsible for overthrowing and murdering his father and Mircea. On Easter 1459 A.D., Vlad exacted revenge on the boyars, and their families, who had participated in the murder of Dracul. According to Florescu and McNally, the old were impaled outside Tirgoviste, while the young were marched fifty miles and forced to build the Poenari Castle [Castle Dracula], located northwest of Tirgoviste.[6] Vlad’s tactics only grew more violent afterwards.
            Pope Pius II gave Vlad more opportunities to expand his techniques of torture and warfare. Will Romano in Vlad Dracula’s War on Turks stated , in September 1459 A.D. during the Congress of Mantua in Italy, Pope Pius II called for a Crusade in response to the Turkish control of Constantinople.[7] Vlad was one of the only European princes to uphold his vow to the Pope by assembling an army. That vow was to protect Christianity.
            Part of the vow he made meant forming an alliance with the man he had vowed to kill, John Hunyadi, voivode of Transylvania. Vlad had been in a confrontation with Hunyadi, due to his involvement in the death of Dracul and Mircea. Vlad also chose to ally himself with John Hunyadi, because he knew he had to choose a side, or be destroyed. “It would be difficult enough fighting the Turkish army, which would outnumber his own three to one, without having to worry about an attack from the west by the Germans of Transylvania or their allies.”[8] John Hunyadi was the logical choice for an ally, since he was a voivode and fighting against the Muslim Turks.
            Vlad answered the Pope’s call and prepared to face his former captor’s son and recently crowned sultan, Mehmed II. Vlad’s brother, Radu remained an ally of the Turks and accompanied Sultan Mehmed to war. At this point Turkish Sultan Mehmed II was putting together forces to march on Hungry, to follow in his father, Murad II’s footsteps. Mehmed’s goal was to conquer all of Europe and Asia.[9] These events set into motion the man who would become known to the Turks as the “Impaler Prince.”[10]
            Vlad employed a series of torture and murder techniques on his military campaign against the Turks. Leblanc stated, “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.”[11] His most popular choice was impalement, which he utilized in ways to either cause longer lasting pain or instant death. To some, Vlad’s fascination with impalement could be considered a fetish.[12]
            During the summer of 1462 A.D., Mehmed pursued Vlad through Hungry and in response; Vlad implemented a tactic referred to as “scorched earth.” Vlad cleared the land in his path of all life. He took the villagers and livestock into the mountains to safety. As they made their way to safety, they burned the villages and fields, poisoned and diverted the water supply, and set traps.[13] Mehmed’s army starved and thirsted as they followed, while Vlad’s army continued their psychological warfare through small guerrilla style skirmishes.
            Vlad had made his way to Tirgoviste and hid safely behind the city walls. Mehmed had planned to besiege the city, but was emotionally broken from Vlad’s brutal tactics and the scene he witnessed around the city. “In a mile-long ditch surrounding the city, the remains of Turkish prisoners…were rotting away on stakes.”[14] Mehmed had a trench dug around the camp for fear that Vlad might attack them while they slept.[15] Afterwards, Mehmed wanted nothing to do with Tirgoviste, so he and his army fled. Vlad’s horrific tactics had done the job. 
           Radu was left to deal with Vlad following Mehmed’s retreat. Afterwards, Vlad retreated to Castle Poenari, where Radu trapped him. Vlad secretly fled for his life with the aid of the peasants. In November 1462 A.D., Vlad was betrayed by Matthias Corvinus, son of John Hunyadi, and held captive for approximately ten to twelve years.[16] During his time in captivity, Vlad shows his obsession with impalement. Several accounts indicate that Vlad tortured and impaled mice during his time as captive.[17] In 1476 A.D., after Vlad was released from captivity, Corvinus aided Vlad in becoming voivode once again. Two months later Vlad was killed near Bucharest, the current capital of Romania, located in the southern portion of the country. 
            Vlad employed a series of horrible acts throughout his time as voivode, but he kept Wallachia safe during this portion of the Ottoman-Hungarian Wars. Elizabeth Miller in Dracula: The History of Myth and the Mystery of History emphasized, “Romanian folk narratives (still told in villages near his fortress of Poenari) present a very different Vlad: a supporter of the peasants against the treacherous boyars, and upholder of law and order in lawless times, and a valiant defender of his small principality against the might of the Ottoman Empire.”[18] Vlad also successfully prevented the boyar class from becoming too powerful and greedy. Historians often compare him to Robin Hood.[19] Wallachia was so safe that Vlad could leave a golden chalice by a fountain in Wallachia without fear of it being stolen. [20] Perhaps it is this reason that Romanians still consider Vlad to be a national hero. It could also be due to the fierce loyalty of his supporters.

            During Vlad’s second reign his military personnel found him to be inspirational and a leader of peasants. “Dracula’s objectives in using terror at home thus included ending feudal anarchy through the subjugation of the boyar class; preventing disorders wrought by thieves, gypsies, and vagabonds and ensuring the security of merchants and their goods at a time when roads were hazardous, to say the least.”[21] In this way we see Vlad as a capable leader, looking out for the interests of his subjects. It is possible for a man capable of horrific deeds, against those who oppose him, and to still be an effective ruler.

            Vlad’s life circumstances may have created one of the most violent rulers in history. “Estimates range from a minimum of 40,000 victims to a maximum of 100,000, a calculation made by the papal nuncio, the bishop of Erlau, near the end of Dracula’s career in 1475…”[22] He employed many methods of torture and was effective in the use of psychological warfare. Despite his acts, Vlad also maintained peace and prosperity within the principality of Wallachia.

            Insight into Vlad’s childhood may provide factors that created a mass murderer with a fetish for impalement. He tortured and killed his victims, mostly the Turks, in often creative ways. Vlad’s use of psychological warfare seemed to be effective even against one of history's other sadistic leaders, Sultan Mehmed II. During Vlad’s reign as voivode, he provided peasants with a sense of security that still lingers in the hearts of Romanians today.

ENDNOTES

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[1] Radu R. Florescu and Raymond T. McNally, Dracula Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times. (Boston: Black Bay, 1989), 47.
[2] Ibid., 53.
[3] Ibid., 55-57.
[4] Benjamin H. Leblanc, “Vlad Dracula: An Intriguing Figure in the Fifteenth Century,” Journal of the Dark, no. 5 (n.d.), accessed November 8, 2013, 1http://www.htspweb.co.uk/fandf/romlit/specnew/vlad/archive2/leblanc.htm
[5] Will Romano, “Vlad Dracula’s War on the Turks,” Military History 20, no. 4 (2003): 60. EBSCOhost.
[6] Leblanc, “Vlad Dracula, An Intriguing Figure in the Fifteenth Century.”
[7] Romano, “Vlad Dracula’s War on the Turks,” 61.
[8] Florescu and McNally, Dracula Prince of Many Faces, 125
[9] Ibid., 125.
[10] Ibid., 163.
[11] Leblanc, “Vlad Dracula, An Intriguing Figure in the Fifteenth Century.”
[12] Florescu and McNally, Dracula Prince of Many Faces, 163.
[13] Ibid., 143-144.
[14] Romano, “Vlad Dracula’s War on Turks,” 64.
[15] Florescu and McNally, Dracula Prince of Many Faces, 149.
[16] Romano, “Vlad Dracula’s War on Turks,” 65.
[17] Florescu and McNally, Dracula Prince of Many Faces, 163.
[18] Elizabeth Miller, “Dracula: The History of Myth and the Mystery of History,” Journal of the Dark 9 (1996): accessed November 9, 2013. http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/myth.html
[19] Florescu and McNally, Dracula Prince of Many Faces, 99.
[20] Ibid., 103.
[21] Florescu and McNally, Dracula Prince of Many Faces, 103.
[22] Ibid., 167.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Florescu, Radu R., and Raymond T. McNally. Dracula Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times. Boston: Black Bay, 1989.

Leblanc, Benjamin H. “Vlad Dracula: An Intriguing Figure in the Fifteenth Century.” Journal of the Dark, no. 5 (n.d.): Accessed November 8, 2013. http://www.htspweb.co.uk/fandf/romlit/specnew/vlad/archive2/leblanc.htm

Miller, Elizabeth. “Dracula: The History of Myth and the Mystery of History.” Journal of the Dark 9(1996): Accessed November 9, 2013. http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/myth.html

Romano, Will. “Vlad Dracula’s War on the Turks.” Military History 20, no. 4 (2003): 58-65. EBSCOhost.

 
Note from the author: There is a lack of reliable information on the internet regarding Vlad III Dracula, because of the Dracula myth and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The majority of the websites and articles I came across all relayed to the mythical Dracula, not the historical figure. The information in this paper is believed to be true, based on the few peer-reviewed articles and books I found to be credible. There also seems to be a lack of primary sources available over the internet, other than pictures of portraits and coins with Dracula’s likeness. I highly suggest reading Dracula Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times, if you want an in-depth discussion of Dracula, the historical figure. The book provides so much information on who Dracula was, as well as used what seems to be reliable sources which cannot be accessed online.