The Real Story of Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) - What is the Dracula Legend

The name Dracula first appeared in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula". Although it seems like a fictional character, the name Dracula has real historical connections.

The Dracula featured in vampire stories is actually Vlad the Impaler, also known as the notorious Kazıklı Voyvoda in history. He earned his name from impaling his enemies on long spikes, and he claimed to have impaled 20,000 Ottoman soldiers during his wars against the Ottoman Empire. This psychopath even nailed the turbans of Ottoman envoys to their heads when they didn't remove them in his presence.

When the Ottoman army conquered Romania, they beheaded Vlad and impaled his head on a spike in Istanbul, parading it through the streets. This is where the legend takes an interesting turn, suggesting that Dracula's body came back to life. It's said that a piece of cloth was found on his face when he was brought to Istanbul, leading to claims that Dracula rose from the dead at night.

Historically, Dracula's roots trace back to the region of Wallachia, located in the middle of the Carpathian Mountains (Transylvania, a name given by the Romans which means "beyond the forests"). This is where Vlad III's, or Vlad the Impaler's, ancestors lived.

Looking further into Vlad's lineage, it's traced back to the 11th century. His family was one of the oldest and most powerful in Wallachia. During the Mongol invasion, as Ottoman Turks arrived in Anatolia, his ancestors sought refuge but ultimately became subjects of the Ottoman Empire. However, Dracula's father, Vlad II (also known as Mircea I), refused to acknowledge Ottoman rule.

So, why is he called Dracula? Vlad II joined the Order of the Dragon, an organization founded by princes from various European royal families in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1431. The main goal was to find allies against the Ottoman Empire. By adopting the dragon symbol as the family crest, Vlad II earned the name "Drakul," meaning dragon in Romanian. Consequently, his sons were referred to as Dracula, meaning "son of the dragon." Thus, Prince Vlad III began to be known by the nickname Drakula from birth.

Here's where the real legend begins. It's said that while receiving education alongside Prince Mehmed (later Fatih Sultan Mehmet), Dracula became blood brothers with him. During this time, Dracula, or Prince Vlad III, experienced constant fear of being killed while in the Ottoman Empire. It's believed that he lost his sanity, becoming sadistic and psychopathic.

In 1448, after supporting the Ottomans in the Second Battle of Kosovo, an attempt was made to make Vlad III the ruler of Wallachia. However, he was defeated by Vladislav II, a Wallachian Voivode supported by Hungary. In 1456, as the Ottoman Empire besieged Belgrade, Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus gave Vlad III an army to defend Wallachia. Exploiting the situation, Vlad the Impaler launched a campaign against Wallachia and killed Vladislav II, becoming the new Wallachian Voivode.

Vlad III held the throne of Wallachia from 1456 to 1462. His first act was to deal with local nobles who had murdered his family and limited his authority. Under the pretext of Easter celebrations, he deceived and captured all the nobles, then imprisoned them. Later, he forced these prisoners to work on the construction of his infamous castle. According to legend, many of their bodies are said to be within the walls of this renowned castle. He personally killed members of the rival Danesti family.

To consolidate his authority, Dracula resorted to terror during his reign. He instilled fear everywhere through his acts of violence, not only in Russia and Turkey, but also in Germany and even the Vatican. Everyone who escaped his realm had horrifying tales to tell. His atrocities against Germans in Transylvania were so extreme that he became the protagonist of horror stories even in his own lifetime. Count Dracula was the central character in tales written about him during that period, and some of these stories have survived to this day.

During the first Wallachian campaign against Vlad the Impaler, the Ottoman army, according to the memoirs of Mahmud Pasha, encountered a gruesome sight as they approached the Wallachian capital, Tirgoviste. They found 5 kilometers of bodies impaled on spikes, about 20,000 in number. The soldiers' psychology was deeply affected, and many lost their sanity, but they pressed on and eventually took the Tirgoviste fortress.

While Dracula may have been insane, he was also highly cunning. Upon examination of Dracula's castle, it was discovered that there was a secret passage connecting the second and third floors. This allowed Dracula to portray himself as someone with mysterious powers, appearing as if he could pass through walls. He held separate meetings on the second and third floors, convincing everyone that they could also pass through the walls.

Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad Tepeş (III. Vlad), is considered a hero in Romanian history. To the extent that in recent years, the Romanian military named a helicopter after him.

In past years, a group of businessmen and scientists approached the Romanian government claiming to have found a cure for vampirism and requested the opening of Dracula's grave. However, the Romanian government stated that the body did not belong to Dracula and rejected the proposal. In Romanian folklore, it is believed that Vlad the Impaler is still alive, wandering in the dark at night, and holding meetings with other immortal men.