Dracula

           Although the first mention of Count Dracula, appears in Bram Stoker's works - "Dracula" (1897), Stoker was not the one who invented this name. The original Dracula lived in the fifteenth century, was  not a count, but a  prince and was no vampire (nor has it ever been popular tradition associated with these beings). His name was Vlad Tepes, and Stoker knew nothing about the historical character, but has found a name in the books he study ("On the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, 1820), where a brief mention of the prince Dracula and its fight   against the Turks. What caught the attention of Stoker  was a note which stated that "Dracula" in Romanian means devil and, although intended to call his character "Count Wampyr", the name "Dracula" was found to be most suitable.
            Over time, historical character has become increasingly confused with the literary one, though it is very likely that Stoker did't used Vlad Tepes as model. Count Dracula was not the first vampire in the history of literature - vampires existed in folklore for hundreds of years, and Stoker used various information about the local legends of Transylvania, as in the English literature of the nineteenth century.
             Dracula was born after the passage to eternity of the romanian prince , a ghost, an image that has been publicized since 1488, starting with those german horror stories, illustrated with wood engravings. 

            Popular legends have finally restored the historical truth. Vlad Tepes has become a living character, right and haloed in glory. Fighting crusaders against the turks, led by John Hunyadi, was disbanded after his death in 1456. But in the winter of 1461 launched a challenge against mighty conqueror of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed II. The Danube campaigns, which lasted up to late summer 1462, have caused a big valve, which brought admiration to all of Europe's strategy and tactics of Vlad Tepes, as well as for his deeds of bravery. Echoes of those battles have been reported from official documents of the time, but historians both russians and germans who have been silent on them, for reasons easy to understand.

Dracula - Vlad Tepes

          Vlad Tepes was born in 1431 in Sighisoara. His father, Vlad Dracul, at that time was governor of Transylvania. Tepes was the grandson of another great Roman prince: Mircea the Elder (1386-1418).
          In the winter of 1436-1437, Vlad Dracul became prince of Wallachia and takes up residence in Targoviste, the capital of the principality. Tepes followed his father and lived six years at the princely court. In 1442, for political reasons, Vlad and his younger brother Radu were taken hostage by the Sultan Murad II and remained in Turkey until 1448 and 1462 respectively. Released after the assassination of his father by Vladislav II, Vlad Tepes learn about the death of his older brother Mircea, who had been tortured and buried alive by the boyars of Targoviste.
          At 17 years old, Vlad Tepes Dracula, supported by the Turks try to conquer the throne of Wallachia, but  another willing, Vladislav II, defeats him. In 1456, Tepes makes a new attempt, this time successful, and now begins his reign (six years) in which he committed many bloody deeds which have brought controversial reputation. His first major act of revenge was to kill the murderers of his father. So, in 1459 he arrested all the boyar families who participated in the assassination - some of them were impaled, while others forced to walk from the capital (Targoviste) to Poenari, where they built a fortress on the ruins of another old outpost above the Arges River. Since most noblemen died in these circumstances, Tepes has created a new group of nobles.
          Vlad Tepes became very popular because of his brutal punishment techniques: wicked were skinned, boiled, decapitated, blinded, hanged, burned, roasted, buried alive or impaled - the latter being the method from which the nickname Tepes.(romanian "teapa" means spike).

          In early 1462, Vlad launched a campaign against the Turks along the Danube, in 1462 managed to get only  victories and that terrify the Turks. To get revenge, Sultan Mehmet decided to invade Wallachia and it transform into a Turkish province. He entered Wallachia with an army three times larger than Tepes's. In these circumstances, and without allies, Vlad was forced to withdraw from Targoviste. Mehmed left the second part of the battle to Vlad's younger brother Radu, the Turkish favorite for the Wallachian throne. It followed Tepes to the castle Poenari , the Arges River. According to legend, this is where Vlad's wife, for not being captured by the Turks, committed suicide by  jumping of a cliff. Vlad, in turn, managed to escape using a secret passageway in the mountain. Helped by some peasants, he took refuge in the village Arefu and came here in Transylvania where he met the king of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus. Insted of helping him, Corvinus imprisoned Tepes at Visegrad. Vlad Tepes stayed for twelve years in Hungary, while his brother Radu ruled Wallachia as a puppet of the Turks. After the first four years, Tepes was allowed to move into a house. To earn the goodwill of the royal family, he married the king's sister (according to some sources). He became a Catholic, which would delight the Catholic Hungarians.
           In 1476 Tepes came  in Wallachia with with help from Moldova and Transylvania. This third reign has lasted several months. Vlad was slain on the battlefield, in a new battle with the Turks. He was beheaded and his head was taken to Constantinople, as a proof of his death. Although there is clear evidence, it seems that Tepes's body was buried at Snagov Monastery near Bucharest.