The Man behind the Vampire

[Ammodytes]

The man behind the vampire

Many people know about the mystical land of Transylvania and the demonic creature Dracula. Books, movies, cartoons, all served to create the image of the evil blood sucking night walker, however the source of this legend is far more interesting than the commercial images used today.
Being born in the central part of Transylvania(which is the NV province of Romania), I have learned about the legend of the vampire from a very tender age. During the first years of school I developed a taste for the complex history of my country. Gradually learning the chronological order of the events that shaped these lands I eventually came across the story of one of the greatest medieval rulers of my people: Vlad Tepes (a trage in teapa= to impale; Tepes=Impaler). He is the man who inspired the legend and I would like to tell you a few things about him because I honestly believe that his true story should also be known.
First I would like to explain the background of his coming to power. In the medieval period the land where Romania now stands was divided in 3 smaller states: Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia. In the 11th century Transylvania was conquered by the Hungarian kingdom. In the year 1330 Wallachia became independent after defeating the Hungarian army at the battle of Posada and in 1359 the principality of Moldavia was formed as a defensive mark for the Hungarian border. It became independent after a revolution led by a Romanian warlord from northern Transylvania who moved to Moldavia to escape the suppressing Hungarians in 1364. Dynasties were formed and the two smaller states developed independently from each other, keeping a stretched alliance over the years while Transylvania was firmly embedded in the Hungarian kingdom.
The rise to power of the Ottoman Empire threatened the destruction of the small states and the fall of the Hungarian kingdom. In 1395 a great battle took place in south Wallachia where a numerically inferior Romanian army defeated the Turkish hordes at the battle of Rovine. For a while the border was kept at the Danube with frequent skirmishes on both sides. The Hungarian Kingdom organized crusades and campaigns against the Ottoman Empire, these managed to slow the progress of the Turkish invaders but it couldn’t stop the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Vlad the Impaler was born in Sighisoara (Transylvania) 1431 and was the son of Vlad Dracul(the Devil). The name Dracul was associated with Drăculea meaning Dragon in medieval Romanian. The reason for this was that his father had joined a secret order in medieval Europe, The Order of The Dragon, with the sole porpoise of removing the Ottoman Turks from Europe. His son would also join this order and you can easily see the resemblance between Dracula and Drăculea.
In 1436 Vlad II Dracul became ruler of Walachia and settled his court at Targoviste. By now the small Romanian states were overwhelmed by the Ottoman forces, but they maintained autonomy by paying a large tax to the Turks. Also as another form of constraint all rulers had to send at least one son to the Ottoman court as a hostage. Vlad III was sent there as a hostage in 1442 along with his brother Radu cel Frumos(frumos=handsome). During this time he became pessimistic and closed in conversation. His hate for the Turks grew silently.(To be continued)

[Ammodytes]

In 1447 Vlad II Dracul was assassinated by his treacherous nobles. The Ottoman sultan decided to place Vlad III as a puppet ruler in Wallachia in 1448 as he practically grew at his court. However political groups with certain interests from Wallachia and Hungary exiled Vlad to Moldavia before he could take the rule firmly in his grasp.
In 1456 he managed to return to the throne of Wallachia with help from the Hungarian king.
The state he took under his command had greatly changed from the time of his grandfather Mircea the Old, the ruler who had defeated the Turks at Rovine. Due to constant raids and fighting agriculture was down and trade was practically inexistent. Backstabbers and thieves had great power and the peasants had lost faith in their rulers. Vlad took control with an iron hand. All thieves and traitors caught were immediately executed by impalement, Vlad’s favorite form of execution. He especially took great care to eliminate the nobles who had betrayed his father, he was indeed merciless when it came to executions but this was not unusual for those times. All over Europe this practice was used as a way to affirm the king’s power.
His cruel actions worked, crime almost disappeared from the Romanian state, the peasants where helped with agriculture and even incorporated in Vlad’s standing army, which was unusual for that time.
The cruel regime towards the criminals of the state never stopped during his rule. From his order thousands of people were impaled, making all his political adversaries tremble with fear. Also he realized that trade was being reduced inside the state due to outside German traders from Transylvania. He denied them the right to trade and when they came in front of him to request their rights back he had them all executed in his known stile. Even so the German traders didn’t stop and started a black market to continue their operations. When Vlad learned of this he organized a raid and almost destroyed the home towns of the traders. As a punishment he impaled all the head traders in front of the town gates.
The survivors from the raid fled and started spreading tales and stories that Vlad was in fact the son of the devil and that he drank the blood of the people he killed. They spread these rumors throughout Europe and it was from this that the myth of the vampire started, this was their revenge for the many dead and the ruined business.
A legend from that time tells of a foreign nobleman on his way to Hungary from a long trip through Asia. He had gained many riches and was granted access to Vlad’s court. He went before the ruler and asked him for a special guard to protect his treasure during the crossing of his lands. Vlad replied with a harsh voice:
“You shall leave one chest of gold in the middle of a dark street for an entire week without any guard, and then you shall return to me!”
The nobleman was saddened by this command but he was also afraid not to obey it. He had two henchmen leave the chest unguarded for an entire week on a shady street. During that time he wanted to flee to Hungary without the knowledge of the ruler but he found himself being watched by the palace guards. He feared that he would loose all his goods but there was nothing he could do.
When the week passed his servants went in search of the chest and returned with it the same day, not even a scratch on the lock. The nobleman was awed by this and said to Vlad that he had crossed the world back and forth but never did he see such order in a state. He arrived to Hungary safe without any guard. (To be continued)