It seems that vampires has become an infatuation around the globe, but all of these stories originated from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Therefore, I have chosen to write about Vlad Tepes, whom many believe to be the man being Stoker’s book. One of my favorite books is The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova; yes, it is a fiction story, but it does hold some historical value. I found this great website that spoke about Vlad Tepes and the man behind Dracula. http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm
Vlad Tepes went by many names, including the famous Vlad Dracula and Vlad the Impaler. In 1410 a secret order was formed, the Order of the Dragon, to defend the Roman Empire from the Ottoman Turks. Vlad Tepes’ father joined this order and he then became known as Vlad Dracul, since “drac” in Romanian means dragon. Then Vlad Tepes became the “son of the dragon” or better known as Vlad Dracula.
Now, when Vlad Tepes became ruler he caused much bloodshed, during the years 1456-1462. Not only did he cause this bloodshed, but also he did so in the most cruel and unimaginable ways. As previously mentioned, Vlad the Impaler was another name for the famous Vlad Tepes. Impalement was Vlad Tepes’ most common way of slaughtering people. The sharpened stake would normally be forced through one’s “bottom” and out through the mouth, however he did create many alternatives. On the website, one of the most appalling descriptions was the following: “Infants were sometimes impaled on the stake forced through their mother’s chests.” Not only did Vlad Tepes slaughter adults, but also innocent infants and children. It goes on further to state “thousands were often impaled at a single time,” so in other words, many mass murders. To quote the site:
“The list of tortures employed by this cruel prince reads like an inventory of
hell’s tools: nails in heads, cutting off of limbs, blinding, strangulation,
burning, cutting off noses and ears, mutilation of sexual organs (especially in
the case of women), scalping, skinning, exposure to the elements or to wild
animals, and burning alive.”
It is no wonder why an author may create a character like Dracula after reading about Vlad Tepes, however, it is not 100% sure that Bram Stoker did so. Although there are many similarities between the character Dracula and Vlad Tepes, there also many ways to counteract these similarities. Thus, the mystery remains on whether Vlad Tepes is Dracula….
Works cited: http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm
Even if Vlad Tepes was not Bram Stoker's inspiration for Dracula, it is definitely easy to see why people think he may have been. I found your post very interesting because I have never even considered where the vampire-craze originated. The accounts of impalement you mentioned are so grotesque that they sound like they are straight out of a horror film. Although still disgusting, the vampire trait of blood sucking does not seem as gruesome as impalement after reading the accounts of Vlad's actions. The donlinke.com website was very informative, and mentioned that the King of the Turks had Vlad imprisoned from 1462 until 1474. I was surprised that they kept him alive as a prisoner rather than barbarically impaling him.
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