Vlad III the Impaler, The Historical Dracula Part 2

His Romanian surname Draculea, is derived from his father's title Dracul, meaning 'son of Dracul'.[3] (see Vlad II Dracul); the latter was a member of the Order of the Dragon created by Emperor Sigismund. The word "dracul" means "the Devil" or "demon" in modern Romanian but in Vlad's day also meant "dragon", and derives from the Latin word Draco, also meaning "dragon".[citation needed].

The old Romanian word for serpent (Cf. drac) is nowadays the most common and casual reference to the devil — while the people of Wallachia did give Vlad II the surname Dracu (Dracul being the more grammatically correct form), any connection with a dark power was most likely coincidental. .[citation needed]. His son Vlad III would later use in several documents the surname Draculea. Through various translations (Draculea, Drakulya) Vlad III eventually came to be known as Dracula (note that this ultimate version is a neologism).

The reputation of Vlad Tepes was considerably darker in Western Europe than in Eastern Europe and Romania. In the West, Vlad III Tepes has been characterized as an exceedingly cruel madman. The number of his victims ranges from 40,000 to 100,000.[11] Much of the information about his atrocities and cruelty comes from the German stories written about him, which were for the most part politically, religiously and economically inspired propaganda against Vlad Tepes. Although some of the stories have some basis in reality, most of them are either fictional or exaggerated. According to the German stories the number of victims he had killed was at least 80,000. In addition to the 80,000 victims mentioned he also had whole villages and fortresses destroyed and burned to the ground.[12] These numbers are most likely exaggerated. For example in one episode in the German stories Vlad impaled 600 merchants from Brasov and confiscated all their goods. A document written by Vlad's rival Dan III in 1459 mentions that forty one merchants were impaled.[13] It is highly unlikely that a rival of Vlad's would have reduced the number of Vlad's victims.

The atrocities made by Vlad in the German stories include impaling, torturing, burning, skinning, roasting, and boiling people, feeding people human flesh (their friends or relatives), cutting off limbs, drowning, and nailing of hats to the heads of people. His victims included men and women of all ages, religions and social classes, children and babies. The exaggeration of cruelties in the German stories is quite clear when compared to the Russian or the Romanian stories about Vlad Tepes from which the meaningless violence and cruel atrocities are almost absent. The exaggerated and propagandistic view is especially clear in one sentence in the stories: He caused so much pain and suffering that even the most bloodthirstiest persecutors of Christianity like Herodes, Nero, Diocletius and all other pagans combined hadn't even thought of.[14]

His post-mortem moniker of Tepes (Impaler) originated in his preferred method for executing his opponents, impalement — as popularized by medieval Transylvanian pamphlets. In Turkish, he was known as "Kazikli Voyvoda" (pronounced [k?z?k'??]) which means "Impaler Prince". Vlad was referred to as Dracula in a number of documents of his times, mainly the Transylvanian Saxon pamphlets and The Annals of Jan Dlugosz.
Vlad Dracula was killed in battle against the Turks near the town of Bucharest in December of 1476. Some reports indicate that he was assassinated by disloyal Wallachian boyars just as he was about to sweep the Turks from the field. Other accounts have him falling in defeat, surrounded by the ranks of his loyal Moldavian bodyguard. Still other reports claim that Vlad, at the moment of victory, was accidentally struck down by one of his own men. The one undisputed fact is that ultimately his body was decapitated by the Turks and his head sent to Constantinople where the sultan the recent conqueror of Constantinople Mohammad Al Fatih (Mehmet II) had it displayed on a stake as proof that the horrible Impaler was finally dead. He was reportedly buried at Snagov, an island monastery located near Bucharest.

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[AussiePersian]

@quietwarvictim So he is a hero because instead of allowing the Muslim Turks to torture and kill the Romanian people he did it himself? No offence but that is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard. Personally if someone was going to shove a greased pole up my anus I'm not really going to take comfort from the fact that it is a 'Christian' rather then Muslim.

[quietwarvictim]

I cannot deny that he was a madman, But so is osama bin ladin. Vlad kept the insane muslims trying to force their mad stone age ways on everyone out of Europe. He did what was necessary to deal with scumbags who are so insane that they send their OWN children out to commit suicide while trying to kill others as well. He kept the insane muslims in their rightful place. In Turkey. He stopped the insane spread of islam. He learned his tactics from the mad muslim barbarians themselves.

[AAWACKS]

@lion3p0 I'm glad there is people like you that think and don't buy any shit.

[AAWACKS]

What you western people know about him are myths invented by the Transylvanian merchants.Impaled the old people and the children ? Seriously ? How stupid can you be to say smth like that ? Vlap Tepes was not how these so-called intellectuals describe him ! These western i-know-how-its-been people ! He didn't impale his people, he impaled thiefs and traitors ! And he impaled the nobility because they disobeyed his orders ! Don't forget He was the voivode, not the others.Discovery did this ? shit.

[AAWACKS]

@AussiePersian He didn't kill any Romanian, he impaled thief and traitors.

[lion3p0]

Alot of this is total bullshit, He did impale people, make no mistake but for crimes, serious ones that would've meant death in other emerging nation states so he was not a stand out, he didn't drink blood, he didn't murder women or children, it was terror yes, threat of force without actually doing it and the people he did execute deserved it, the common man loved him because he gave them liberty from tyrants, not Muslim nor Christian, but foreign tyrants

[0mac84]

Vlad's my hero... Haha what sick bastard

[R0CKT0THEBEAT]

Hi,cine pote sa-mi spuna care este acest castel din film,ca as vrea sa vizitez ruina...ms mult

[monjiaitaly]

@quietwarvictim hahahaha your a simpleton

[gothless]

@quietwarvictim Mad stone age?... Byzantium was defeated by what was a modern weaponry at that time... Now at that time, London was a stone age compared to Istanbul....

[jimv2011]

As the God Damned Romans perfected crucifixion as a torture execution, so the God Damned Turks perfected impalement as a torture execution. Victim lying face down on ground, stake into ass, forced through body out at shoulder by pounding with mallet or by soldiers pulling on ropes tied to legs.

[TheLogicStick]

They also would be shot by Romanians today if they said this bullshit in public.