PROTOTYPE DRACULA

PROTOTYPE DRACULA
The hero of the legendary novel by Bram Stoker's vampire Count Dracula had a real prototype. He was not a vampire, in the literal sense of the word, and the ruler of Wallachia, Vlad the bloodthirsty sadist Tepesh, nicknamed Dracula.

Why Stocker relates the story of Dracula, or Vlad Impaler with a vampire? The writer was struck by persistence bloody legend Impaler, he expressed the cruelty and composure Vlad the vampire, because they are to an extent not inherent in man.
Vlad Tepes was born in 1431 in the town of Sighisoara, Transylvania. Received in Baptism the name of Vlad, he was later nicknamed Dracula, as his family coat of arms depicted a dragon (in Romanian Dracul''''). Incidentally, another meaning of the word -''the devil''. Vlad Tepesh was the second son of Vlad II - Prince of Wallachia, and later inherited his father's authority and became Vlad III.
In his youth, Dracula was held prisoner by the Turks, from whom he learned about one of the most painful method of execution - impalement. This barbarous punishment consisted in the fact that the person pierced wooden stake or an iron spike and then plunge them into the ground, leaving the victim pierced agonize in terrible agony.
In 1448, after his father and brother died at the hands of mercenaries, Vlad, who by this time turned, probably not more than 18 years, was placed on the Wallachian throne, but two months later fled to the monastery. Once the bastion of Eastern Christianity, Constantinople fell under the blows of the Turks, Vlad in 1456 returned to the legacy of the Wallachian throne, and began to reign, and began his rule was marked by unprecedented and unparalleled in their cruelty ingenuity.
His six-year reign, Vlad III began with the fact that, invited to the capital of the principality Tygrovishte boyars who participated in a conspiracy against his father, with their families, allegedly for a banquet in honor of his accession to the throne. During the feast Dracula asked whether there were many rulers survived boyars. Having received the answer that many, Vlad shouted angrily that all the princes, which they survived, were killed as a result of them, knights, conspiracies, and ordered the arrest of the guests.
Boyar older (those who may be present at the death of his brother and father, or in any way to change it), Prince Vlad III had Pozal to count. More than 500 people were posazhany on stakes and died a horrible death in front of his palace. Others have gone''on stage''for the 80 miles to the town Poenri, where on a hill above the river, he ordered to build a fortress. After a difficult transition, during which the order of Dracula people never stop to rest, and several years of building a fortress almost all the boyars and their relatives died.
Revenge thus killers father and brother, Vlad Dracula started to reform their country. He believed that all citizens should work for the homeland, and therefore despise not only thieves, but the poor, whom he considered lazy and poor, and sick. And since the nature of the prince was strong, that many of them waiting for the same fate as the traitors, the boyars. Acting on the already proven methods Vlad made a feast in his castle for the poor. ''Do you want all at once forget all your pains, worries and anxiety and illnesses and never and I do not want to feel?''- He asked the drunk guests. They are all course happily replied''Yes.'' Dracula then ordered immediately nailed up boards all windows and doors and set fire to the castle. In the fire killed all the guests! His promise - ever free them from worries and anxieties, - the prince thus fulfilled.
Most of all he loved to plant Dracula guilty to count, which gradually broke the internal organs of human death on the stake was terribly painful and often dragged on for several days. Because of the love of Dracula to this type of punishment Romanians nicknamed him Tepeshom, which means Impaler. Vlad treated executions at stake as an art. Sadist invented for the victims of all sorts of different ways of killing: pierced their stakes in the front, rear, side, across the chest, stomach, navel, groin. Stringing them on poles through the mouth, head down, inventing such ways that a person longer suffering. Inventing different kinds of death for people of different age, sex, location. Prepared to specific pins in the form of geometric shapes, especially liked curved. For some unknown reason people put to death all over the village, spreading the pins of different lengths in a circle on the hillside, placing the headman and other local officials from the top, so that they can out in the last survey the misty eyes his former possessions. A single mass executions he preferred. In this case the pins are placed not anyhow, but in the form of different patterns.
One of the most memorable Dracula's atrocities took place April 2, 1459 in Barashove and resulted from a long-running dispute Vlad with local merchants. At the end of the day the prince's troops began rounding up people on the hill near the chapel on the outskirts of the city. All have close to 20 thousand people, mainly representatives of the local nobility. They watched in horror as the soldiers set fire to their houses, and then started planting the traditional procedure on stakes.
Closer to the night side of the hill into a forest of stakes on which poured streams of blood ran down the heads of those who had no place on the points. During the execution of a local nobleman, as passed, shuddered at the horrible smell and the sight of blood. And Dracula, who had a peculiar sense of humor, plant accident at the highest count to be less bothered unpleasant odors. Himself the prince nor the very sight or smell was not disturbed. Moreover, Dracula especially liked to feast during the execution and perform executions during his peers. He sat at a table laden with food and cups of wine, and enjoy watching the unfortunate twist at stake from the unbearable pain. Watching the anguish of his victims, he would say:''Oh what wonderful moments they have!''
On the count of all imprisoned offenders: and thieves, and women, stand to his men that, and husbands, wives, changing, and merchants, were deceiving customers, and the girls soon lost their innocence, and widows who have violated mourning ... They execute even liars. In those days, often on the count were planted even children.
Women were particularly targeted by this monster. The story that once Dracula met poorly dressed peasant. ''Your wife obviously does not deserve you''- he said. And while the farmer tried to persuade the prince that his wife is quite satisfied with it, he ordered to put her on a stake, and the spouse to find a new woman.
One legend had reported up to now the case with one of his mistresses, who also could not avoid death. Catching a gentleman in a grumpy state, she tried to return it in good humor, telling that she is pregnant. Dracula accused her of lying. Wanting to prove that she cheated him, he drew his sword and ripped open her belly. Legend does not say whether he was right in his surmise.
Dracula has applied for a variety of other types of executions: criminals alive peels off the skin, thrown into boiling water, decapitated, blinded, strangled, hung, cut off noses, ears and genitals. After the executions the bodies in the educational purposes exhibited on public display.
During the most savage of them arranged fights in 1460, the day of St. Bartholomew in a city in Transylvania, was planted on the count of 30 000 people.
With such severe measures Dracula reduced crime in the principality to almost zero. Foreigners who came to Wallachia, honesty surprised locals. At the beginning of his reign, Dracula ordered to put the fountain in the main square of Targoviste golden cup from which the day and night anyone could drink. Cup stood in the town square all six years of his reign, and nobody even dared to think, to steal this very valuable thing.
One day a stranger merchant, knowing about the honesty of citizens and confident in the complete preservation of their money, too lazy to move them out of the cart to the house. In the morning he discovered the theft of several coins and complained to Dracula. Prince immediately ordered to announce the main square, that if the money would not be immediately returned, he orders to raze the city to the land. The next morning the stolen money had already been a merchant. That counted them, and finding even the extra coin, went to the palace and informed the Dracula. He said that probably by mistake he returned for one more coin. The prince said that the thief will be caught and impaled. Merchants said that if he had not mentioned the extra coin, then waited for him to suffer the same fate.
Despite the brutality, the people treated his ruler with respect. With draconian measures Dracula not only to eradicate crime in Walachia, but he defended his people from foreigners, which, without further ado.
Here's a summary of''Chronicle''in the transfer of NM Karamzin:
''I was in Muntyanovskoy ground commander, the Christian Greek faith, his name in Wallachian - Dracula, but in our opinion - the Devil. It is tough and wise was that what the name, and such was his life.
One came to him after the Turkish king, and came in, bowed to his custom, and caps with their heads not removed. He said to them:''Why do so: come to the great ruler and a disgrace to me caused?''They replied:''It's a custom, Sire, we and our land.'' And he said to them:''I want your law to confirm that his firm held.'' And he commanded them to nail caps to their heads of iron nails ...
King very wroth, and went to Dracula War, and attacked him with great force. But he gathered all his host, smote the Turks during the night and broke a lot of them. But not able to overcome his small legion huge army and retreated. And he began to examine all those who came to him from the field: who was wounded in the chest, to pay homage to the Knights and his producer, who's back - that told the stake ...
Then the king went to Dracula Ambassador, demanding a tribute. Dracula paid lavish homage to the Ambassador, and showed him his wealth, and told him:''I'm not only willing to pay a tribute to the king, but with all his army and the wealth I want to go to his office, and as I commanded, so and he will serve ...'' And the king was glad, because at that time was waging war in the east. And immediately sent a proclamation throughout all the cities and all the earth, that when Dracula goes, no one any harm he might have caused, but on the contrary, would meet him with honor. Dracula, gathering all the army, got under way, and was accompanied by his royal bailiffs, and gave him great homage. He's deep in Turkish soil for five days' march, suddenly turned back and began to devastate towns and villages, and a lot of people taken captive and killed, some Turks on stakes planted, plowed through the other two, and burned without mercy and babies. Nothing was left on his way, all the land in the desert has turned, and led the Christians who were there and placed in their own land. And he returned back home, capturing untold wealth, and bailiffs tsarist dismissed with honors, addressing:''Go and tell your king all that have seen: how could, gave him. And if it love it, my office, and yet he is ready to serve, how much strength my will.''
In retaliation for the fact that Dracula in 1462 ousted the Turks from the Danube Valley, Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror invaded Wallachia with a huge army, in numbers triple those valahskuyu army. Dracula was forced to withdraw to the capital. Retreating, he burned the villages and poisoned wells. Going to Targoviste, war Sultan saw horrible scene, known in history as''a forest of trees planted on stakes.'' Before the capital of Wallachia stretched a forest of stakes on which Vlad Dracula ordered Pozal about twenty thousand prisoners Turks!
This is very cruel, even for those days the sight so affected the Turks that they are canceling the planned siege, and immediately retreated from Targovishte. But the Sultan left in Wallachia strong army, led by set Radu, Dracula's younger brother, and told him to overthrow Vlad III. Many boyars, who had been standing behind Dracula Mountain, joined parliament and drove to the castle of Vlad Poenri, the one that was built on the bones of them he hated boyars.
The situation seemed hopeless Dracula. My wife preferred the death of Prince disgrace of captivity, and jumped from a high tower. The Turks seized the fortress, but Vlad managed to escape through a secret underground passage. Becoming a refugee, Vlad Dracula went to the king of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus. But instead of help was arrested and imprisoned in the tower. Only four years later he was allowed to settle in the ordinary home. Wallachia all these years, the rules of his younger brother, a Turkish puppet parliament.
Vlad, meanwhile met with the royal family, married one of the sisters of the Hungarian king and switched to Catholicism. Despite the dramatic changes its position, Vlad was the same Dracula. But now it amusing that instead of people seated on the pins of birds and rats. Once in his yard got a thief. Behind him in the house came the Hungarian police to arrest the offender. In the end, that valahsky prince ordered the execution of police for unauthorized appearance in his home.
After the death of parliament in 1474 the Turkish sultan seated on the throne of a different clan valahskih princes. But after two years of Vlad Dracula, enlisting the help of transilvantsev and Moldovans, invaded Wallachia, and seized the princely throne. But not for long. Wallachia again decided to regain the Turks, and in the battle of Bucharest at the end of December 1475 Vlad Dracula was killed. At that time he was 45 years old. They say that Dracula is killed by own boyars. To persuade the sultan's death sworn enemy, the head of Vlad Dracula, mounted to the spear (other sources - canned in honey), were taken to Istanbul and hung over the gate. The decapitated body of Vlad was buried in Snagovskom monastery, located on the island.
Until now, no one with certainty can not say what the approximate number of people executed Count Dracula. By some estimates, this number is much higher than 100000! One of his subjects, hiding from the wrath of the host in Germany, said there is detail about the atrocities of Dracula. In particular, he said that to preserve his youth and strength of Vlad III (to the article, as Erzhabet Bathory) bathed in the blood of their victims. During the life blood prince Dracula in 1463 in Germany published a book''History of governor Dracula,''which describes in detail all of his fanaticism.
After the release of this German book stories about bloodthirsty Dracula spread widely throughout Europe. The fact that Vlad Dracula liked to bathe in the blood, made him the chief vampire of all time.