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Table of Contents
Dracula
Bead and blood
In the 15th century manuscript “History of the bloodthirsty madman called Dracula”, Michel Beheim describes feasts to which Vlad invited several guests. After the guests had eaten, the host would have them impaled and buckets set out for the blood to drip straight into. The pile driver would calmly finish his dinner while looking at the dying and eat bread dipped in buckets full of fresh blood. 1)
Revenge
At the age of eleven, Vlad was captured by the Turks along with his father and younger brother Radu III the Beautiful. The Turks freed Vlad the Devil and left his sons as hostages. After being released from prison, Vlad III learned that the boyars had plotted and killed his father. Unfortunately, he didn't know which of them had made the decision, so he simply invited 500 people to a lavish party. When dinner was over, Impaler's soldiers rushed into the chamber and killed all the invitees. Each guest was impaled on a blunt stake. Dracula repeatedly held parties where he killed the guests. Everyone knew what an invitation to dinner meant. However, if anyone refused to come, they were killed the moment they declined the invitation. 2)
Dracula
Bram Stoker did not invent the word Dracula, Vlad III liked to be called that. His father Vlad II was a member of a secret society called the Order of the Dragon. He was very proud to belong to this order and changed his name to “Dracul”, which means “dragon” in Romanian. Vlad III was invited to join the Order of the Dragon as a child and changed his name to “Dracula”, which meant “Son of the Dragon”. However, some believe that a better translation is “Son of the Devil”. Whether son of the Devil or the Dragon, it was a great name for someone who killed everyone he met in his path. 3)
Impalement
The ruler took a liking to one form of punishment, and no matter if you committed a serious crime or stole a loaf of bread, the punishment was the same - impaling. 4)
Poisoned wells
Around 1400, Turkish troops constantly harassed certain areas of Wallachia. Dracula got annoyed and sent his soldiers to chase the Turks out. Unfortunately, the Turkish army proved superior and they forced Vlad's troops to retreat. During the retreat, the Impaler burned his villages so that the Turks would have no place to rest and eat. He poisoned the water in wells in order to finish off as many enemies as possible. In order not to give them any satisfaction from the killing, Vlad ordered his soldiers to murder the inhabitants of their villages. 5)