The legend of the "king of vampires", Prince Dracula is still alive. In Romania, near the Tikhut Pass, there are still dilapidated walls of the Poenari fortress. Locals claim that the spirit of Vlad III still wanders the earth today. He was not accepted by either heaven or hell. And therefore he is forced to wander all over the world, tormented by a thirst for human blood.
During the day, Dracula hides in the ruins of the fortress. At night he goes out and in the light of the moon looks for his victims. Legend has it that the one bitten by the prince at the same moment turns into a vampire, with protruding fangs and small wounds on his neck. But who actually was this formidable prince?..
The neighborhoods of the former castle of the famous prince Vlad III, better known as Dracula, now seem to be quiet paradises. And then, in the 15th century, the locals bypassed this place, so as not to fall into the hands of a cruel ruler.
As soon as a person looked at Prince Vlad, fear gradually took possession of all his thoughts. Indeed, according to historians, he had a terrifying appearance: a narrow face, a long nose, a protruding lower lip, large glass eyes that hid the feelings of the prince.
It was with bulging eyes that people associated the ability of Dracula with the help of a hypnotic effect to induce fear and horror on a prisoner. It seemed that Dracula's gaze penetrates the very soul, and its owner can easily find out everything that a person thinks about. However, many modern scientists believe that such a shape of the eyes may be nothing more than a consequence and one of the signs of Graves' disease, which is often found in residents of mountain villages.
People say: "The face is the mirror of the soul." Indeed, being the ugliest of the three brothers, Vlad was also distinguished by a cruel and independent disposition. The intent, almost unblinking gaze of cold fish eyes, a contemptuously compressed mouth, a narrow, protruding chin - all suggest that Prince Dracula was a vain proud man who hated and despised people.
Not taller than average, Vlad III possessed immense physical strength. So, he could easily swim across the river. In the Middle Ages, there were many large rivers and small streams, but bridges were clearly lacking. A warrior who did not know how to swim well was doomed to death.
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Dracula was also known in the 15th century as an excellent artilleryman. This talent of the prince all the more deserves special attention if we recall the fact that in those days - when small and large wars were fought in almost every country - boys were taught horse riding and shooting from different types of weapons from childhood. Each young man was a masterful master of weapons. Therefore, earning the glory of a magnificent warrior and rider was then not at all an easy thing.
The life and death of Vlad Tepes (Tepes), Dracula, are shrouded in a dense veil of mystery. Local residents claim that the tomb of the bloody prince is in the Snagov monastery. But more recently, historians announced that that grave is a cenotaph, that is, a grave without burial.
The time and place of birth of Vlad III is covered in mystery. According to some sources, he was born between 1428 and 1431. More precise information could not be found. This is due to the fact that at that time the monastery walls could not keep the manuscripts from fire. And since there was an innumerable number of fires at that time, people, written monuments, including documents, often died from them.
The birthplace of Dracula is determined by a relatively small house located on Kuznechnaya Street, located in one of the districts of Sighisoara. It still attracts many tourists traveling in Romania.
Historians are not entirely sure that Vlad III was born in that particular place. However, the surviving documents show that in the 15th century the house belonged to Vlad Tepes' father, Vlad II Dracula. Dracul translated into Russian means "dragon". This means that the old prince was part of the Romanian Order of the Dragon. Members of this organization were once engaged in the forcible conversion of "infidels" to Christianity. By the end of the first quarter of the 15th century, Prince Vlad II already had three sons. But only one of them, Vlad, was able to become famous for centuries.
Poenari Fortress
It must be said that in his youth, Prince Vlad III managed to win over the common people and deserve their love and respect. Indeed, according to the testimony of handwritten sources, at that time he was a real knight of the Middle Ages, a man of honor and duty. He was especially distinguished by his ability to direct the course of the battle. The warriors who fought under the command of the talented commander Vlad Tepesh always won the battle.
Historians of those years remember Dracula as a fairly democratic statesman. He always opposed the capture of Romania by foreigners, as well as the division of his native lands. In addition, he directed the activities of the principality primarily to the development of national crafts and trade. Vlad III paid special attention to the fight against criminals: thieves, murderers and swindlers. At the same time, the most sophisticated and cruel methods of punishment were chosen.
The people's love for Prince Dracula and his extraordinary popularity among the inhabitants of medieval Wallachia are fully justified. Contemporaries remember him as a people's defender, always at war with the boyars, who always oppressed ordinary people. In addition, the military victories won by Vlad III more than atoned for his harshness. Patriotic Romanians were proud of their commander, who knew how to win even in a battle that was clearly doomed to failure.
However, the most important quality of Tepes' character, which determined the well-being of the people, was almost fanatical religiosity. At that time, the church had a strong influence on the life of society. The sovereign, having secured the support of the holy fathers, could confidently count on the obedience of the people under his control. "But what about the incredible cruelty inherent in Dracula?" - you ask.
The answer is simple: then it was considered a common thing to punish severely, and then go to church to atone for sins and thank God for the blessings of life. Meanwhile, the people mourned the executed, not daring to murmur and resist their master - after all, his power was “sacred”. C'est la vie, the French say in such cases.
For its part, the church was also interested in friendship with the princes. In this case, the benevolent ruler could endow the monasteries with land and villages. And in return, he received a blessing from the priest for various deeds and actions (including cruel and bloody). Vlad III usually gave out similar gifts to clergymen after another military victory or in a fit of religious feeling (so that God would forgive sins).
Chronicles testify; wishing to reduce the crime rate in his small state, Prince Vlad Te-pesh did not spare the guilty and used the most severe methods of punishment. His reprisal was not long in coming. The criminal, as they say, was burned at the stake or executed on a chopping block without trial or investigation. The ruler of Wallachia did not spare the Gypsies. A fire or a sword was also waiting for them: according to Tepes, all of them were potential thieves, horse thieves and, moreover, vagrants.
Until now, the content of many gypsy stories boils down to covering those terrible events when Prince Dracula carried out mass executions of gypsies. To some extent, the great ruler of Wallachia achieved the desired result. The chroniclers said that since then the crime in the prince's domain has come to naught. The following example can be cited as confirmation of the words of the medieval historian. If someone found a gold coin on the street, they would never pick it up. This would mean the theft of someone else's property, for which one could pay with his life.
And how many contradictory rumors go around the construction of the Poenari fortress. It turns out that having conceived the construction, Vlad Tepesh ordered to bring to him by force all the pilgrims who came to Tirgovistu to celebrate Easter. After that, he said that the pilgrims would be able to return to their homes only after they had finished building the fortress. People who knew the harsh disposition of the Romanian prince did not argue and enthusiastically set to work, because everyone wanted to return to their homes as soon as possible.
Soon a new castle was built. However, the fortress, built with the help of lies and coercion, did not bring its master good luck and could not protect him during the siege of the Turks. When the Turks captured Poenari in 1462, Prince Dracula was forced to flee from the foreigners. The princess who remained in the fortress did not want to become a prisoner of the victors, as did her husband, who was famous for his incredible cruelty. She threw herself down from the high fortress wall and crashed. In memory of her, only the white stones of the destroyed fortress and the second name of Arges - "the river of the princess", remained.
The Romanian prince Vlad III earned his nickname Tepes (Tepes) because of his own cruelty. Translated into Russian, "tepesh" means "impale". A similar method of execution, borrowed by the Europeans from the Turks, was often used by medieval rulers. In this case, the stake was either driven into the body of the guilty person with strong hammer blows, or the condemned person was literally put on a stake, fortified in the ground. The executioners have mastered this type of execution so much that it cost them nothing to drive a stake into the body of the victim so that she writhed in dying convulsions for at least a week.
It was the method of punishing criminals described above that became Dracula's favorite. With his help, he successfully resolved issues of not only domestic but also foreign policy. The number of people who became victims of such a reprisal of the prince alone is measured in several tens of thousands.
It seemed that Dracula's cruelty knew no bounds. Not only gypsies and captured Turks could be executed, but also any grakhdan of Wallachia who committed a crime. It is in the fear and unwillingness to be on the chopping block or the fire that the secret of the medieval Romanian honesty, mysterious for a modern European, lies. After the news of a new sophisticated execution spread further and further throughout the principality, there were no people willing to try their luck. All citizens preferred to lead a life of sinless righteous people.
It must be admitted that, despite the cruelty, Dracula was a fair judge. For the slightest offense, not only ordinary citizens were punished, but also quite wealthy. The same historical records show that seven merchants were impaled on charges of concluding trade agreements with the Turks. So the acquaintance of Wallachian merchants with the enemies of the Christian faith, "dirty Turks", was tragically cut short in Shesburg.
The chronicle or chronicle, to which the German sources about Dracula go back, were clearly written by the ill-wishers of Tepes and depict the ruler and his life in the most negative tones. It is more difficult with Russian sources. They do not refuse to portray Vlad's cruelty, but they try to give it more noble explanations than the German ones, and they focus their attention so that the same actions in the given circumstances look more logical and not so dark.
Here are a few tales from various sources. It is not possible to verify their authenticity:
A foreign merchant who came to Wallachia was robbed. The merchant submits a complaint to the lord. While the thief is being caught and impaled, with fate, in general, "in fairness" everything is clear, the merchant was thrown by Dracula's order, a purse in which there was one more coin than was stolen. The merchant, finding too much, immediately informs the Tepes about it. He just laughs at this: "Well done, I would not say - you would sit on a stake next to a thief."
Here's another example: Dracula discovers that there are too many beggars in Wallachia. Tepes summoned the poor brethren, fed them to their fill and asked the question: can he still benefit them, do the poor want to be forever free from earthly torments? Of course, they want it, and Dracula goes to meet them: the windows and doors are closed, and the house, along with its Christ-like contents, is burned to the ground. And at the same time, admiring his personality, Dracula notes that, planning to do a good deed, he did two at once: he saved Wallachia from parasites, but the poor - from the sorrows and torments of life.
Another example. Vlad Dracula celebrates merrily, as the ancient Russian author wrote, among the "corpse." The servant who brings the dishes winces. To the question of the ruler "Why?" it turns out that the servant cannot stand the stench. "Resolution" Tepes: "So put the servant higher, so that the stench does not reach him." And the poor fellow writhes on a stake of unprecedented height.
Dracula's "diplomacy" is also remarkable. I propose to read the translation from the Old Russian language: “Dracula had such a tradition: when an inexperienced messenger came to him from the king or from the king and could not give an answer to Dracula's insidious questions, then he impaled the messenger, while saying:“I am not guilty in your death, but either your sovereign, or yourself. Don't put the blame on me. If your sovereign, knowing that you are inexperienced and insane, sent you as an ambassador to me, a wise governor, then your sovereign killed you; but if you personally decided to go, ignorant, then you killed yourself."
An excellent example is the massacre of the Turkish envoys, who, according to the tradition of their country, bowed to Dracula without taking off their hats. Dracula praised this custom, and to further strengthen them in this custom, ordered to nail the caps to the heads of the envoys with nails.
Chroniclers claim that such a cruel disposition of Dracula was brought up in the palace of the Turkish sultan. Each year the prince of Wallachia had to transport a certain amount of silver and timber to Turkey. In order for the prince not to forget about his duty, the sultan ordered to escort the son of Vlad II to his palace. So, twelve-year-old Vlad III ended up in Turkey. It was there that he got acquainted with various methods of punishing guilty and rebellious citizens of the state.
A rare day in Turkey passed without execution. Two stories will help readers imagine the whole picture of the gloomy life in medieval Istanbul.
Once there was a trial of two sons of one of the Romanian princes, who did not pay the tribute on time. For some reason, at the last moment before the execution, the sultan "took pity" and ordered not to impale the boys, but to blind them. At the same time, blinding was then perceived as the greatest mercy.
The second story tells of the theft of cucumbers, vegetables that were considered an exotic delicacy in Turkey. Once the vizier of the Sultan was missing two cucumbers on the garden bed. Then it was decided to rip up the bellies of all the gardeners who worked at the palace. The fifth of them was the cucumber. The Sultan ordered the execution of the culprit on the chopping block. The rest "could go home to their homes."
Having learned about the stay of Vlad III in captivity of the Turkish Sultan, where from day to day he became an eyewitness to the abuse of people, it is not difficult to guess the reasons for his cruel disposition out of hatred of the Turks. What kind of person could grow out of a twelve-year-old boy who lived in that hell, when every day he saw only one thing: human suffering, the death throes of thousands of those executed and the martyrdom of people.
The dependence on the Turkish Sultan was, of course, not to the liking of the freedom-loving Slavs. Father and son - the rulers of Wallachia - firmly believed that someday their principality would free itself from the yoke of Turkey.
Upon his return from captivity, Vlad III planned to free the Vlachs from the power of the Turks by all means. And now, four years after inheriting the princely throne, Tepes announced to the Turks that he did not intend to pay tribute in the future. Thus, a challenge was made to the Ottoman Empire. Then Sultan Murad sent a small detachment to Wallachia, consisting of a thousand horsemen.
However, luck turned away from the Turkish soldiers. They were captured and impaled within one day. And for the Turkish agi, who commanded the punitive detachment, Dracula ordered to prepare even a special stake - with a gold tip.
After Murad learned that his envoys had suffered a shameful defeat, he decided to send a whole army to Wallachia. This was already the beginning of an open war between the Ottoman Empire and Wallachia. The final battle between the Turks and Wallachians took place in 1461. Thanks to the dedication of the Slavs, the Turks were defeated. After that, Prince Vlad 111 went to war against Transylvania, which is adjacent to Wallachia. The Transylvanian nobility (mostly the wealthiest merchants) have long been troubled by the fierce disposition of the owner of the nearby principality.
They decided to get rid of an unpredictable, cruel and wayward neighbor. However, Prince Dracula was ahead of them. Like a terrible hurricane, he swept with his army, sweeping away everything in the way. Romanians still remember the five hundred compatriots executed on Shesburg Square at that terrible time.
Then the victorious prince returned home. However, it was then that his danger lay in wait. Outraged by the atrocities of the Wallachians, the trade elite of Transylvania published a pamphlet on behalf of the author, who wished to remain anonymous. Its content boiled down to a retelling of recent events, the capture of Transylvania by Vlad III, about his atrocities and cruelties. The anonymous poet also added that the Wallachian prince is allegedly going to attack and conquer the Hungarian principality in the near future. King Dan III of Hungary flew into a rage upon learning about the anger and impudence of the Prince of Wallachia, as well as about his intention to seize the state.
After the fortress of Dracula was taken by the Turks, its owner decided to flee to Hungary. Arriving there, he found himself a prisoner of King Dan III. For 12 long years, the Grand Duke of Wallachia languished in prison. It was then that he was able to conquer Dan with his humility and humility. Tepes even converted to Catholicism in order to win over the monarch of the Slavic state.
Finally the heart of the good king of Hungary softened, and he freed the prisoner. Already at large, the prince married the niece of the monarch, and later even gathered a large army of Hungarian mercenaries to go to war against Wallachia and reclaim the throne.
In the fall of 1476, Vlad Tepesh's army approached Wallachia. But, as it later turned out, luck forever left the commander, famous for his military victories. In the very first battle, the Hungarian army was defeated, and Vlad III himself was captured by the Wallachian boyars.
Considering the shameful death at the hands of former subjects, Tepesh fled from captivity and was killed by boyar soldiers. However, other sources claim that death suddenly overtook Vlad III, when he was already sitting on a horse and intended to escape from Wallachia.
Be that as it may, the body of Prince Vlad III Tepesh, Dracula, was subsequently cut by the boyars into many pieces, which were scattered across the field. However, the monks of the Snagov monastery, who more than once received generous gifts from the hands of the sovereign, sincerely loved and pitied the prince, who was martyred. They collected the remains of Dracula and buried them near the monastery.
After the death of the cruel, but just prince, his contemporaries argued more than once about where his soul had ended up: to heaven or to hell. It was from these incessant disputes that the now well-known legend was born, which says that the spirit of the Romanian does not accept either hell or heaven. They say that until now the rebellious soul of Prince Dracula is looking for peace and, not finding it anywhere, wanders the earth in search of more and more victims.