Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler (both mean the same thing).
This prince of Wallachia was born Prince Vlad Dracul II in Transylvania (which was part of Hungary at the time) in Nov. or Dec. 1431. The country of Wallachia was a principality, meaning that it was ruled by a prince, rather than a king. Dracul was a member of The Order of the Dragon (a position from which he derived his surname). The Order of the Dragon was a group of Slavic rulers and warlords who were sworn to uphold the Christian faith by fighting off the advancing Turks of the Ottoman Empire. Warfare was almost continuous in Wallachia and the surrounding areas at that period of history. The throne of Walachia was not necessarily passed from father to son. The prince, or voivode, was elected by the country's boyars, or land-owning nobles. This caused fighting among family members, assassinations, and other unpleasantness. Prince Basarab the Great was the first ruler, then it split in two and one of the new rulers, Mircea, had an illiegitimate son, Vlad, around 1390. Because of his bravery fighting Turks, Vlad was admitted to the Order, probably in 1431. The boyars started to call him Dracul, meaning "dragon." Vlad's second son would be known as Dracula, or "son of the dragon." Dracul also meant "devil." So Vlad's enemies, especially German Saxons, called him "son of the devil."
Interesting fact: members of the Order of the Dragon had a special costume to wear on Sundays. It was a red garment with a black cape over it...that's why the fictional Dracula wears a cape!
Back to Vlad was made a puppet ruler, but he did not like that so he fled and his younger brother was put on the throne in his place. Vlad retook the Wallachian throne by driving his brother out and began his second, and most infamous reign. He established his capital at Tirgoviste - you can still see the ruins of his palace there. And nearby a statue of Vlad Tepes still stands. Ironically, Vlad fought for all Christiandom, backed by the Catholic Church, in his battle against the Turks and the Muslim religion. He is considered an important figure in Romanian history because he unified Walachia and resisted the influence of foreigners, but it's Vlad's cruelty that most non-Romanians remember.
Most of Vlad's victims were killed by impalement. When killing large numbers of peasants, he would drive them in herds over clifsides onto beds of spikes below. He also employed meathods such as boiling, quartering, decapitation, etc. There are many stories of varying levels of authentication about the dire deeds of Vlad durring his second reign. A few of them go as follows:
Once, two ambasadors from the Sultan came with a message for Vlad. When they entered his throne room, he asked them to remove their turbans. It was considered rude to address the prince without taking off one's hat. The Turks, however, took exception to this request. For one thing, Vlad and the Sultan where not on good terms, so insulting him really didn't seem to matter, and just as importantly, the turbans were not just headgear, they were a symbol of the Muslim religion. The Turks refused, not knowing just how serious a mistake it was to insult Vlad. Vlad immediately ordered his guards to sieze them, and then stated that if they were so unwilling to part with the turbans, that they should be nailed to their heads. Vlad then watched in satisfaction as the Turks writhed and screamed as large nails were driven into their skulls.
Just as Vlad reacted violently to insult, he responded very well to flatterey. Once a messenger was sent to Vlad from king Mathias of Hungary. It was unknown what news the messenger brought, but it angered Vlad. Vlad invited the messenger to eat dinner with him personally. Before the meal, Vlad asked the messenger "Do you know why I have asked you here?" The man knew Vlad's reputation, knew he was angry, and saw two soldiers standing behind Vlad, holding a gold tipped spear. Thinking fast, he replied "I do not know, but I know you are a wize and great ruler, and no matter what you command, even if you were to command my death, it should be done." Vlad motioned the soldiers away, and said "Had you not answered so well, I would have impaled you on the spot." He then showered the messenger with gifts, and sent him back to Mathias.
It was also said that there was very little crime under him (especially stealing). He supposedly left a gold chalice(or something) sitting out every day and night in a public square, and it was never stolen; this was due to the fear of punishment. Vlad would look for reasons to punish people, and he supposedly tried to make the punishment fit the crime... He looked upon the poor, vagrants and beggars as thieves. Consequently, he invited all the poor and sick of Wallachia to his princely court in Tirgoviste for a great feast. After the guests ate and drank, Dracula ordered the hall boarded up and set on fire. No one survived. Vlad liked to set up a banquet table and dine while he watched people die. His favorite form of execution was impalement. It was slow; people could take days to die. He liked to impale many people at once, arranging the stakes in fancy designs. Sometimes he would have the stakes heated red hot. Any way he did it - it was gruesome. He impaled men, women, and children.
By 1462, when he was deposed, he had killed between 40,000 and 100,000 people, possibly more. Afterwards he would display the corpses in public so everyone would learn a lesson. It's said that there were over 20,000 bodies hanging outside his capital city at one time (needless to say, they scared off any enemies). The Turks (including his younger brother) did attack eventually. They did not stay long in Targoviste however; they had been greeted by the impaled heads of several of their spies. Before fleeing, Vlad had set fire to the city, rendering it into ruins. The Turks took the city anyway, but after only a few days, Black Plague broke out among the soldiers, and they were forced to retreat out of Wallachia. Vlad was killed while fighting the Turks near Bucharest. The sultan displayed Vlad's head on a pike in Constantinople to prove that he was dead. His body was buried at the island monastery of Snagov, which he had patronized. But excavations in 1931 failed to turn up any sign of his coffin!
He will always be remembered. As a fiend to most, but as a hero to the people of Romania for defending his homeland from the Turks. And it is this man, Prince Vlad Dracul II, the impaler, who was the basis for Dracula the vampire. (keep in mind, the stories about Vlad's cruelty might have been exaggerated by his enemies).
