Everyone has heard of the horror character Dracula, it has been immortalized in print and film. The story was about a vampire named Count Dracula who would go around Transylvania sucking people's blood to stay alive. The character was named after an old Romanian ruler who was no less bloodthirsty: Vlad Dracula, also known as Vlad Die Tepes, which means Vlad "The Impaler." What made Vlad Dracula so infamous and well-known was how he became the ruler of Walachia, what he did while he ruled, and how he was overtaken and killed by Turkey.
Vlad Dracula was born in 1431 in the town of Sighisoara. His father .
was Vlad Dracul, the appointed military governor of Transylvania at the time. (.Real Prince Dracula, N. pag.) He had to pay tribute to Turkey because of an old agreement between Turkey and his father Mircea the Old. During his years as governor Vlad Dracul was secretly gathering up supporters to seize the throne of Walachia from its current ruler, Alexandru I. (Ratiu, N. pag.) They eventually succeeded and Vlad Dracul became Prince Vlad II. Turkey unsuccessfully invaded Transylvania in 1442, and Vlad and his family were driven out (by Hungarians because of Dracul's loyalty to Turkey) and Basarab II took over Walachia. With the help of Turkey, Vlad retook the throne the next year. (.Real Prince Dracula, N. pag.) For political reasons, most likely to prove his loyalty, Vlad Dracula and his brother were held in Turkey for the next few years. In 1447 Vlad Dracul and his eldest son Mircea were assassinated, and Vladislav II was put in charge of Walachia. (LeBlanc, N. pag.) The Turks reaction to this was to release Dracula and appoint him as their candidate for the new Walachian ruler. Dracula briefly succeeded but was overthrown within two months by Vladislav II. Dracula went into exile in Moldovia and left after three years. (.Real Prince Dracula, N. pag.) He went back to Transylvania and asked to be protected by the very person who appointed Vladislav II in the first place, the Hungarian ruler Hundayi.
