Vlad Tepes II & III

Vlad Tepes II d. 1447 { Vlad Dracul }

Vlad Treps was a member of the Order of the Dragon, which obligated him to support and aid the Christindom causes.

In 1447 however, Hungarian ruler Janos Hunyadi ended Vlad's regin by marching into Transylvania and destoying one of Vlad's cities, Tigoviste. Vlad fled from Transylvania, but was caught and assainated in some marshes near Bucharest. His son Vlad Treps III survived to later reclaim the throne.

Vlad Tepes III 1431-1476 { Vlad Dracul, Vlad the Impaler }

Vlad Tepes was born in the Transylvanian town of Sighisoara, son of Vlad Tepes II, Prince of Wallachia. Vlad Tepes II adopted the name of Dracula which means "son of Dracul". Dracula was a member of the Catholic knight organization, Order of the Dragon.

Dracula regained the throne his father, lost in 1448 with the help of the Ottomans. After several years of reigning, he fled because he did not trust the Turks. In 1456 Vlad, with the support of the Hungarians, regained the throne in Wallachia once again.

It was during this reign, that Draculas' cruelty grew. His favorite method of tourture was to impale his victms on long tall spikes. Usually the victims were stripped nude, hoisted above the spike which was rounded off at the top to prolonge the agony. The victim was lowered onto the spike which was thrusted through the rectrum. Variations were used in this method of tourture with victims being impaled through the front, back, side, stomach, breast, navel, and genitals. Vlad impaled people of different ages, sex, and ranks, in different geometrical patterns and heights. As an added touch, he would also drive nails through the head of his victims, or cut off their heads, limbs, noses, ears, and sex organs.

Dracula, by one account had arranged a meeting with some Turks to disscuse a truce. He had them captured and taken to Tirgoviste, his capital, where he ordered them stipped nude and impaled.

Dracula didn't always impale his victims. In one account he belived some foreign students were spies. In Wallachia, 400 foreign students, mainly boys studying language and customs, were called together inside a building. Vlad then had his troops burn the building to the ground while the students were still inside!

One of the most nortorious acts took place on April 2, 1459 at the city of Brasov. At daybreak, Dracula ordered his troops to move in and seize 20,000 men, women, children, and elderly, and ordered them to be taken to a little knoll below the towns church. The troops were then ordered to burn every building to the ground. Nothing was to be left standing, no homes, no shops, no stables. When the burning was completed, Dracula then gave the order, "impalment"!

During this episode, Dracula sat down and enjoyed a hearty meal while the troops set about impaling villagers. At the end of the day, the hills ran red with blood, under a forest of spikes with villagers hung high. Anyone who was lucky enough to escape impalement, had their heads chopped off.

Vlad Dracula was not one to favor rank. During this massacre, a local nobleman complained of the smell of dying bodies. Dracula, noting the mans predicament, had the nobleman impaled on a spike far taller than the others so the man would not have to be bothered by the smell of the dying villagers.

Women became a target of Dracula's wrath. Especialy if the women were unfaithful, unchaised, or unmarried non-virgins. These women recieve harsher punishments by having their gentials cut out, then skinned alive, then exhibited in public as a warning!

The Prince met a peasent couple one day and noted the woman was not suitably dressed. He remarked "Your wife is assuredly the kind who remains idle, She is not worthy of living in my realm!" The peasent man protested that even though she was not well dressed, he loved her just the same! Vlad Dracula did not listen and had her impaled anyway. Dracula found a new wife for the man, who was a more well dressed and proper woman.

Even Vlad Dracula's mistress was not to be spared his wrath. One day he was in a foul mood so she decided to cheer him up with the news that she was pregnant! He said she was lying and would prove it. He took his sword and opened up her belly! No records indicate if she was pregnant.

Dracula was a vain and vile man even in court. When some Turkish sultans came to pay homage to Vlad, they did not take off their turbans. Vlad ask why they dishonoured him by not removing their turbans. The sultans said it was a custom with their rulers in their counrty. Vlad then said he would like to strengthen this custom and then had their turbans nailed to their heads!

In 1462, Vlad Dracula lost his throne, and he spent the next twelve years in a Hungarian prison. Dracula was freed only if he agreed to fight the Otttomans. In 1476 he regained his throne for the last time. Dracula fought his final battle outside of Bucharest. No one knows for sure how he died, but during death is when he began a notable role in history. After his death, his body was decapitated with the head being buried separatly. The body was suppost to be buried at Snagov near Buchrest, but the grave that he was reportedly buried in remains empty today! In Romania, Vlad Tepse is considered a national hero and his castle still exists today in Transylvania.