Sighisoara, in Transylvania (now known as
northern Romania) in 1431 and later came to
rule the area of southern Romania known as
Walachia. The word "Tepes" [te - PEZH] in
Romanian means "impaler", and Vlad was so
named because of his penchant for
impalement as a means of punishing his
enemies. Impalement was a particularly
gruesome form of execution, wherein the
victim was impaled between the legs - to put
it politely - upon a large, sharpened stake
three to four inches thick. Vlad enjoyed mass
executions, where several victims were
impaled at once, and their stakes hoisted
upright. As they hung suspended above the
ground, the weight of their bodies would
slowly drag them downwards, causing the
sharpened end of the stake to pierce their
internal organs. In order to better enjoy
these mass spectacles, Vlad routinely
ordered a banquet table set up in front of his
victims, and would enjoy a leisurely supper
amid the pitiful sights and sounds of the
dying.
subjects also respected him because of the fierce campaigns he
waged against the Turks. He was respected as a warrior and stern
ruler who tolerated no crime against his people, and during his reign
erected several monasteries. However, despite Vlad's political
ambition, the turbulent political atmosphere of the times took its toll
on his reign. He was overthrown twice (he ruled for a brief period in
1448, again from 1456-1462, and for only a matter of weeks in the
years of his death in 1476.) Ultimately, he died violently (according
to rumour, at the hands of one of his men, who was actually a Turkish
spy). He was buried on the island at Snagov.
Transylvania. He actually had two castles and a Palace, all in
Walachia. His primary Castle lies in ruins in Tirgoviste, in the
Alges Valley of the Northern Walachia province of modern
Romania; the restored Castle Bran, very close to the provicial
border with Transylvania, was more of a trading post among
Vlad's estates; and the remains of his Palace in Bucharest
(the city he founded and named).
(ransacked) tomb of Vlad the
Impaler, under the monastery in
Snagov.
(fictional? I don't know) as given
by Jeanne Kalogridis. Click on the
image below, for full page viewing.
(among other sources) Family Dracul novelist Jeanne
Kalogridis, whose expertise is attributed to Dracula
researchers Radu Florescu and Raymond MacNally, and
their exhaustive works of research contained in the
books IN SEARCH OF DRACULA, and DRACULA: PRINCE
OF MANY FACES.
