In anticipation of the upcoming release of Dracula Untold, below are some interesting facts about the history of Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia: the man whom history has dubbed “Dracula.” Take a look into the history of one of the world’s most notorious monsters.
ABOUT VLAD III, PRINCE OF WALLACHIA: THE REAL DRACULA
1. Vlad III was born in 1431 in Transylvania.
2. As a child, Vlad III and his younger brother were sent by their father as hostages of Sultan Murad II to Constantinople, where they were held for six years and trained in warfare.
3. As Transylvania was located at the center of two empires—those of the Ottoman Turks and the Austrian Hapsburgs—Vlad III lived in a time of constant war.
4. Vlad III’s favorite method of torture was to impale people and leave them writhing in agony for days. This is what earned him the posthumous nickname of Vlad the Impaler (aka Vlad Tepes).
5. His father, Vlad II, belonged to the Order of the Dragon—a secretive organization of Christian knights—which fought the Muslim Ottoman Empire. It was here that Vlad II took to the name Dracul, which means “dragon/devil” in Romanian.
6. Following his father’s death, Vlad III ruled Wallachia and Transylvania from 1448 until his own death in 1476.
7. Following in his father’s footsteps, Vlad III was also inducted into the Order of the Dragon. It was then that he took the name Dracula, which means “son of the dragon/devil” in Romanian.
8. Vlad III was incredibly religious and a steadfast defender of Christianity. He believed that religious charity and a proper burial would erase his sins and allow entry to heaven. To ensure this, he surrounded himself with religious leaders such as priests and monks, in addition to founding five monasteries.
9. Reportedly killed in 1476 fighting the Turks, Vlad III’s head was cut off and displayed in Constantinople for all the city to see and fear.
Dracula Untold hits Australian cinemas on October 2nd.
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