The name " Dracula " is often synonymous with the term " vampire " . Just what is a vampire ? According to The American Heritage ® Dictionary ( fourth edition by Houghton Mifflin Company ) , a vampire portrayed as one of the following :
A living corpse that is believed to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping people .
Person , such as an extortionist , who preys on others .
A vampire bat .
Prince Vlad Dracula was born in Schäßburg ( now called Sighisoara ) , a small town in Transylvania ( now known as northern Romania ) in 1431 . The house where he was born , is still standing intact in Sighisoara . It is a fortress , but only modest three-story home .
He was named after his father Vlad Dracul , who became members of the Order of the Dragon . This is an order established by the Holy Roman Emperor to defeat the purpose of Turkey, which is trying to conquer Europe at the time . The name " Dracul " which means dragon or devil , was taken by his father , when he joined the Order , the same year the prince Vlad was born . He later added the name of his son -a , which means " Son of the Dragon " . But as the young prince grew older , he became better known as the " Son of Satan " .
His father ruled over the territory of Romania known as Wallachia South , and to maintain his power , he had to ally with powerful people . But he is a master very reliable, which is constantly changing its allies . To begin with he was against Turkey , then he suddenly changed policy and join them for a short time . This behavior may not be relied upon is the reason why the Sultan of Turkey ordered the arrest of his two sons , Prince Dracula and his sister .
1447 Prince Vlad Dracula 's father was killed by some of his own , and the year after , the prince , now seventeen , was released from prison . He was sent back home to rule Wallachia , but in return he had to obey the Sultan in Constantinople . But he was ousted , by a rival and had to flee , before he can claim the throne in 1456 back again . The first thing he did , was to build a fort for safety . With the help of a few hundred noble family was arrested in his country , who had worked as slaves simply, he got to build his stronghold high in the mountains , close to the northern city of Wallachia Tirgoviste .
Now six years after the terror begins . First he avenge his father's death , then he got rid of all his enemies in the massacre of the infinite. Several thousand people were killed in Wallachia and neighboring countries . But the prince Dracula is not just killing people , he likes to see them suffer . His favorite method of torturing someone to death , was impalement .
Impalement of the execution is terrible . Victim stabbed in the leg with pole sleeves for adult male sharp edges , then lift straight up . The body weight will begin to drag them down , causing a sharp tip to pierce their internal organs with very slow . Vlad especially enjoyed mass executions , where several victims were impaled at once . In order to better enjoy the brutal acts , Vlad would place victims impaled , in front of the table and then will enjoy the sounds of people will die . It was a very brutal act , which earned the nickname " Tepes " , which in Romanian means " Impaler " .
It is thought that Prince Vlad Tepes was responsible for the deaths , more than a hundred thousand people in a few years . This figure , is including twenty- five thousand men , who died from impalement .
At 1462, because of his enemies , Vlad Tepes had to flee again . He fled to Hungary , the Transylvania Alps , with the hope of getting help from the Hungarian king Corvinus . But instead of getting some sort of help , he was convicted on a false accusation to imprisonment for twelve years . When he was released , he married the sister of the King of Hungary , and in November 1475 , he finally got help to get back in control of Wallachia .
But just a month later , Dracula was killed in battle against the Turks near Bucharest . After his death , fear and no doubt a brave soldier and then beheaded . Just to make people believe that he really is dead , his head was displayed in Constantinople . Then his body was buried in a monastery near Snagov in Romania . In a book titled " Dracule " , from 1488, was written only thirteen years after Vlad the Impaler died , he descried as a vampire !
A writer named Bram Stoker wrote a number of short stories and novels , but Bram Stoker mainly remembered for only one, the story of a vampire 's " Dracula " . Dracula was originally published in 1897 . Dracula was an immediate success , and is one of the most famous horror stories and the most popular ever written .
Source : Americana Encyclopedia, Prince Vlad III
Americana Encyclopedia, Bram Stoker (Writer/Novelist)
