The Wallachian principality ruled by Vlad III was a borderland sandwiched between the powerful Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1442, his father, Vlad II, made a diplomatic decision to block the Ottoman invasion and protect the safety of the principality. Accordingly, Vlad III, who was about 11 to 12 years old at the time, and his younger brother, Radu, were sent as hostages to the Ottoman Empire. He spent about six years in captivity at the Ottoman court in Edirne and elsewhere. During this period, Vlad III directly learned the empire's advanced military technology, science, and tactics. At the same time, however, he experienced extreme psychological pressure and political ruthlessness as a hostage who was isolated from his homeland and did not know when he would die. The cold experience of this period became the background of his political orientation to become an uncompromising and powerful ruler when he took power later. ⚔️
In 1456, Vlad III finally ascended the throne as the Voivode of Wallachia with the support of Hungary. At that time, Wallachia's internal affairs were at their worst. The ruling power was weakened, and corrupt boyars were constantly plotting treason, assassinating Vlad III's father and brother in accordance with their own interests, colluding with foreign powers. Vlad III carried out a powerful purge to strengthen his royal power and prepare for the re-invasion of the Ottoman Empire. He arrested and executed nobles who opposed him and took away the power of their families. In the process, he was eager to build defense fortresses. A representative example was the large-scale renovation of Poenari Castle, a fortress on a rugged rocky mountain. Vlad III put the nobles who had been his political enemies and their families into the forced labor of building this fortress. Although many people lost their lives due to the harsh construction carried out in the barren mountainous terrain, as a result, he secured a strong outpost to defend against the Ottoman Empire. 🏰
Vlad III, who took control of the inside, declared a head-on confrontation, refusing to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire. In 1462, Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire led a large army and invaded Wallachia. Vlad III, who was at a military disadvantage, avoided a head-on war and countered with scorched-earth tactics and surprise guerrilla warfare to eliminate water and food to be used by the enemy. In particular, the "Night Attack at Târgoviște," in which Vlad III directly led a small elite group to raid the Ottoman camp on the night of June 17, 1462, was a representative tactical victory that inflicted massive damage on the Ottoman army. In this war, Vlad III tactically utilized the brutal punishment of piercing prisoners into wooden stakes. When Mehmed II's army arrived near the capital of Wallachia, a terrible sight unfolded on the road where captured Ottoman prisoners were impaled on stakes. Due to this psychological terror effect, the Ottoman army lost morale, and Mehmed II turned his army and retreated temporarily. This earned Vlad III the nickname "Țepeș" (the Impaler). 🩸
Military resistance was successful, but a political crisis ensued. Mehmed II put forward Vlad III's younger brother, Radu, who grew up in the Ottoman court and had a pro-Ottoman tendency, as a new candidate for the ruler. Wallachian nobles, who revolted against the long war and Vlad III's harsh rule, turned to Radu en masse. Eventually, at the end of 1462, Vlad III, isolated by internal betrayal, fled to Hungary. However, King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary did not treat him as an ally, but rather arrested him and imprisoned him for about 12 years. Released by the diplomatic needs of the Vatican and allies in 1475, Vlad III reclaimed the Wallachian throne for the third time in late 1476. However, he died in a fierce battle with the re-invading Ottoman army shortly after. He was 45 years old at the time. The Ottoman army cut off his head to confirm his death, and the severed head was sent to the capital, Constantinople, and displayed in front of the public. There is no specific public record of how the neck was transported and preserved, only that the head was cut off and sent under escort. 🪓
The records of Vlad III, who disappeared from history, were revived as a novel across centuries. On May 26, 1897, the first edition of Bram Stoker's gothic horror novel Dracula was published in London, England. While researching Eastern European historical documents in the library, Bram Stoker found a chronicle of Vlad III's brutal execution by impalement, along with a footnote stating, "In the Wallachian language, Dracula means devil." Stoker combined these actual historical fragments with the vampire superstitions floating around Eastern Europe at the time and the mystery of the tomb where the body disappeared to create the character of "Count Dracula," a monster of the night. 📖
The publication of the novel Dracula led to the public popularity and commercialization of the modern horror genre. The character of the Count in print gathered topics among readers, and was adapted into various mass media such as plays and silent films, serving as an opportunity for horror literature to settle into a mainstream cultural genre. In conjunction with the growth of the newly emerging movie industry in the early 20th century, Dracula became a central theme of visual horror. 🎬
Copyright disputes also arose due to this public popularity. After Bram Stoker's death in 1912, his widow, Florence Stoker, was managing the copyright of the novel. In 1922, Germany's Prana Film stolen the structure of the novel without permission from the bereaved family to produce and hit Nosferatu, the first vampire silent film. The production company edited the character name to Count Orlok to avoid copyright infringement, but the core conclusion and structure of the plot were identical to the original novel. Florence, the widow, filed a lawsuit seeking damages and a ban on screening in a German court. In 1925, a German court rendered a final ruling recognizing copyright infringement. The movie company went bankrupt due to compensation pressure and litigation costs. The court ordered a disposal to seize and incinerate all Nosferatu films distributed worldwide to protect copyrights. Films inside Germany were actually burned, but some copy films that had leaked abroad before the court order survived and were restored to posterity. ⚖️
His headless torso has long been rumored to have been buried at the Snagov Monastery near Bucharest. When a historical excavation conducted in the 1930s opened the site traditionally believed to be Vlad III's tomb, it was completely empty inside. 🪦
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