Vlad the Impaler between Downfall and End (1462–1476)
1) 1462: Fall from the Throne and a “War of Nerves” with the Ottoman Empire The peak of Vlad the Impaler’s clash with Sultan Mehmed II was the 1462 campaign, marked by the night attack at Târgoviște. Although the maneuver … Read More
Vlad the Impaler before the throne: the making of a frontier prince
Origins and context Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Țepeș, Vlad III), known in the sources of the time as “Dracula” — meaning “son of Dracul,” after his father Vlad II Dracul — was most likely born in 1431, in Transylvania (often … Read More
Vlad the Impaler, Ruler of Wallachia: power, law, and war (1448; 1456–1462; 1476)
Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Țepeș, or Vlad III), son of Vlad Dracul and a member of the Drăculești branch, ruled Wallachia three times: briefly in 1448, then during his peak years 1456–1462, and again—ephemerally—in 1476. His reputation—somewhere between relentless justiciar … Read More
Dracula in global culture and his connection to Vlad the Impaler
Few fictional characters have seeped so deeply into the global imagination as Dracula. Born in literature in 1897 but fed by thick layers of folklore, social anxieties, and East-European history, Bram Stoker’s vampire became an archetype: the embodiment of dark … Read More