Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431–1476/77) was a member of the House
of Drăculești, a branch of the House
of Basarab, also known as Vlad Drăculea or Vlad Dracula (Old
Church Slavonic: Владъ
Дрьколъ), using his patronymic.
He was posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler (modern Romanian: Vlad Țepeș, pronounced [ˈvlad
ˈt͡sepeʃ]).
He was a three-time Voivode
of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the Ottoman
conquest of the Balkans. His fatherVlad
II Dracul was a member of the Order
of the Dragon, which was founded to protect Christianity in Eastern
Europe. Vlad III is revered as a folk hero in Romania and
Bulgaria for his protection of the Romanians and
Bulgarians both north and south of the Danube.
Following his raids on the Ottomans,
a significant number of Bulgarian common folk and remaining boyars resettled
north of the Danube toWallachia and
recognized his leadership.
As the cognomen "The
Impaler" suggests, his practice of impaling his
enemies is part of his historical reputation. During his lifetime, his
reputation for cruelty spread abroad to Germany and
elsewhere in Europe.
The name of the vampire Count
Dracula in Bram
Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula was
inspired by Vlad's patronymic and
reputation.
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