Dracula was written by the Irish author Abraham Stoker an 1897. While nearly everyone has heard of Count Dracula, many are not aware that the Count was in fact inspired by a real life historical figure whose horrific (mis)deeds and atrocities overshadow even those of the novel's vampire villain and distinguish him as one of history’s cruelest figures.

Stoker's model was Prince Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad Tepes (pronounced tse-pesh and meaning impaler). Vlad was a fifteenth century prince from the Wallachian province of Romania, bordered to the north by Transylvania and Moldavia, to the east by the Black Sea and to the south by Bulgaria.

Born to nobility in 1431 in a prosperous neighbourhood of the Transylvanian city of Sighisoara, where his house still stands today, much of his early education was looked after by his mother. He was also taught in all the skills of war and peace that were deemed necessary for a Christian knight.

The political system at the time was extremely volatile with Wallachian politics under the influence of it's powerful neighbours. In 1453 Constantinople and the last vestiges of the Byzantine or East Roman Empire, which had blocked Islam's access to Europe for nearly one thousand years, succumbed to the armed might of the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mohamrned the Conqueror. Long before the fall of the Imperial City, the Ottomans had penetrated deep into the Balkans. Wallachia was sandwiched between the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.

Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, the princes of Wallachia, including Dracula, attempted to maintain a precarious independence by repeatedly shifting allegiances between these powerful neighbours. At the same time, constant rivalry within the members of the royal family vying for the throne, meant that assassinations and violence were a normal part of life.

It was against this background that Dracula, on three separate occasions, ascended throne. In between, while he frequently changed loyalties, he also spent several years in prison both in Hungary and as a captive of the Ottoman Turks. It was during his second and longest reign, stretching from 1456 to 1462 that Dracula carried out his most gruesome atrocities.

More than anything else the historical Dracula is known for his inhuman cruelty. Impalement was Dracula's preferred method of torture and execution and was the reason that he was given the additional title of "The Impaler."

Continued: Count Dracula, Page 2 >>>