Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (Count Dracula)

Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431 – 1476), more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler (Romanian Vlad Tepe? pronounced&_160;['vlad 't?sepe?] or simply as Dracula, was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462.

Historically, Vlad is best known for his resistance against the Ottoman Empire and its expansion  and for the cruel punishments he imposed on his enemies.

Vlad III is occasionally thought to have inspired the association of his name to that of the vampire Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.

His Romanian surname Drakyula (also spelled "Draculea", "Dracula"), by which Vlad was referred to in several documents, means "son of the dragon", in reference to his father, Vlad Dracul, who received that moniker from his subjects because he had joined the Order of the Dragon. Dracul, from the Latin word Draco, meaning "dragon", is derived from the Greek word  (Dracon).

Showing 1 to 2 of 2 Articles matching 'Vlad III the Impaler' in related articles.
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1. Discover the terrifying secret when playing the Dracula PC game
July 19, 2010

This Dracula PC game is a sequel to Bram Stokers novel and for those of you who do not know who the real prince of darkness is the character that became the inspiration for the novel has now been resurrected in this game. Yes Count Dracula did exist and was Prince Vlad III and was also known as Vlad Tepes which means Vlad the impaler. He was born in 1431 in Transylvania and was the son of Vlad the II who was known as Dracul as he belonged to a secret fraternal the Order of the Dragon and hence the name Dracul which means Dragon. The members of this secret order wore special attire that w... (read more)

Author: Barry Basil

2. Roll on Romania: Tripping in Transylvania
December 13, 2007

Transylvania, a region situated in central and western Romania is most famous for its mysterious and spooky fictional resident: Dracula. Though Dracula is a work of fiction, written by the Irishman Bram Stoker, its lead character was based in part on a real life figure: the Transylvanian-born Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia. Vlad ruled parts of Romania during the 1400s and remains a heroic historical character for Romanians due to his defence of the common people against foreign aggressors. However, amongst the English speaking nations of the world, Vlad is most famed for his exceedingly..