[72] In response, Vlad "ransacked and tortured" some Saxon merchants, according to a letter that Basarab Laiotă (a son of Dan II of Wallachia)[73] wrote on 21 January 1459. [42] He promised to protect them in case of an Ottoman invasion of Transylvania, but he also sought their assistance if the Ottomans occupied Wallachia. [197] A figure similar to Vlad is one of the witnesses of Christ in the Calvary in a chapel of the St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.[197]. Vlad the Impaler was a 15th century Prince of Wallachia who lived during a time of Ottoman (Muslim) expansion into Europe. Vlad's reputation for cruelty and his patronymic inspired the name of the vampire Count Dracula. [93][94] Outnumbered by the enemy, Vlad adopted a scorched earth policy and retreated towards Târgoviște. It's also possible, he said, that Vlad the Impaler was born in Târgovişte, which was at that time the royal seat of the principality of Wallachia, where his father was a \"voivode,\" or ruler. [88], Having learnt of Vlad's invasion, Mehmed II raised an army of more than 150,000 strong, that was said to be "second in size only to the one"[89] that occupied Constantinople in 1453, according to Chalkokondyles. Vlad went to Transylvania to seek assistance from Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, in late 1462, but Corvinus had him imprisoned. [60], Ladislaus Hunyadi's younger brother, Matthias Corvinus, was elected king of Hungary on 24 January 1458. [5][6] Diplomatic reports and popular stories referred to him as Dracula, Dracuglia, or Drakula already in the 15th century. He inflicted this type of torture on foreign and domestic enemies alike: notably, as he retreated from a battle in 1462, he left a field filled with thousands of impaled victims as a deterrent to pursuing Ottoman forces. in English from Illinois State University in 2005. [180] According to an opinion poll conducted in 1999, 4.1% of the participants chose Vlad the Impaler as one of "the most important historical personalities who have influenced the destiny of the Romanians for the better". Vlad is a notorious ruler who wanted full power of the country , and would stop anyone or thing that got in his way . [124] Báthory's forces captured Târgoviște on 8 November. [10] The Ottoman writer Tursun Beg referred to him as Kazıklı Voyvoda (Impaler Lord) around 1500. [158] Almost half of the anecdotes emphasize, like the German stories, Vlad's brutality, but they also underline that his cruelty enabled him to strengthen the central government in Wallachia. Getty. [104] Radu sent messengers to the Wallachians, reminding them that the sultan could again invade their country. A team of Estonian scholars believe they have finally discovered the long-lost location of Vlad the Impaler, the 15 th century Prince upon which Bram Stoker based his 1897 gothic novel ‘Dracula’. [171] In other villages of the region, the donation is attributed to the legendary Radu Negru. [152], The stories about Vlad's plundering raids in Transylvania were clearly based on an eyewitness account, because they contain accurate details (including the lists of the churches destroyed by Vlad and the dates of the raids). Richard Pallardy received a B.A. [48] After John Hunyadi died on 11 August 1456, his elder son, Ladislaus Hunyadi became the captain-general of Hungary. [153] However, the stories emphasizing Vlad's cruelty are to be treated with caution[155] because his brutal acts were very probably exaggerated (or even invented) by the Saxons. [143] Münster also recorded Vlad's "reputation for tyrannical justice".[143]. 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