Every horror lover has heard of such a legendary personality as Vlad Tepes. For many people, his image evokes associations with creepy mystical creatures who are afraid of sunlight, feed on human blood and are able to transform people into their own kind. However, the question of why exactly a public figure, ruler Vlad the Impaler became the prototype for such a famous character in world horror films as Count Dracula?
Most historians tend to think that this cannot be considered a coincidence, and some fragments of the life of this prince fully indicate this.
Vlad Tepes was born in 1431 on the territory of modern Romania. He inherited his name from his father Vlad the Second. Almost no data has been preserved about the mother today, but the fact has been established that the Tepes were a wealthy family, since the grandmother of the newly-made prince belonged to the noble family of Bathory, who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary.
From an early age, he was prepared for a difficult account. As you know, in the 15th century, the Wallachian principality fell under the oppression of the Turks. As a kind of tribute, it was customary to give small children to the Turks as hostages. Fate did not save the little prince from such an evil gift, therefore, together with the rest of the children, Vlad Tepes lived for four years in a foreign land as a hostage.
One can only guess what torment the twelve-year-old boy suffered there, since upon his return he became more cruel, nervous and quick-tempered. But despite this, at the age of seventeen, he even tried to rule the principality, but after two months he was removed from the throne. Only in 1456 he found his home and became the head of the principality of Wallachia. They called him Vlad III.
Despite the fact that his reign lasted only six years, for the people living in the territory of this principality, these years seemed like a bloody eternity.
Historical records indicate one interesting fact. The crime rate during the reign of Vlad III was practically zero. In the center of the capital of the principality, a goblet made of pure gold was installed. Each traveler could drink water from it for free. There was never a guard near him. It seemed that everyone could safely take him to their home. But none of the local residents even tried to do this.
Martial law with Turkey reached its climax when the Turks decided to put Radu Tepes, Vlad's brother, at the head of the army, in order to overthrow the latter from the throne. Vlad III had to retreat and turn to the Hungarian monarch for help, with whom he always had the most friendly and warm relations. However, Matthias Corvin ordered Vlad III to be imprisoned and found guilty of high treason.
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It is worth noting that many historians believe that Vlad Tepes received his famous nickname Count Dracula already during his reign. Translated, this means "son of the dragon." His father was once a member of the Knightly Order of the Dragon and was considered the elite of Hungarian society.
After the death of such a legendary personality, the name of Vlad Tepes ceased to be patriotic, although in many ways his actions were really guided by the wishes of the common people. But where did mystical rumors about the prince begin to spread?
There is a version that all the gossip about the mystical gift of the princes came from the royal court of Hungary. The mystery of the prince's grave complements the whole picture, since today his body has not been found. Superstitious people claim that his decapitated body gained a second life, feeding itself with the pure blood of innocent people.
Of course, not a single mystical version has found its confirmation. Historians are inclined to believe that Vlad Tepes became Count Dracula not only because of the history of his own father, but also because he had a disposition to excessive cruelty in executions. A person could not only be impaled. If you look into the castle of the legendary Vlad Tepes, you can see a whole torture factory in the basement. One device is scarier than the other. It is difficult to imagine that in reality all of them were once used to bring the enemy out into the open, or were used to solve other crimes.
Probably, such uncontrollable bloodlust caused some ideas for people to create a folklore image. Indeed, as far as the fact that Dracula, after his death at night, hunted people and became the right hand of Satan, was mostly an invention of the local population. But the question of whether Dracula really drank blood to preserve his youth, because he wanted to rule forever, remains a dark mystery in the wilds of history.
The only thing that can be believed is that Vlad the Impaler has never been such a fictional creature like the Vampire. And the question of whether he possessed some kind of magical gift will remain a world mystery. In addition, the question of whether Vlad the Tepes used black magic in the performance of his public duty is also not clear. Since his family is associated with the legendary family of the bloody murderer Bathory, it is quite possible to assume that there is still some inexplicable connection in this.
It is worth noting that those tourists who managed to visit the castle of Count Dracula also often say that it is very difficult to stay in this place for a long time. Deterioration of health, weakness and headaches are observed, since the energy field here is very strong for a person.
In general, all the mystical information about Count Dracula remains only at a theoretical level and is unlikely to be solved in the future, since there are no empirical methods that could check all the guesses that have been collected for centuries.