The story of Vlad Tepes is known to everyone. The medieval ruler who inspired Bram Stoker on the famous "Dracula" became famous for his incredible cruelty, bordering, according to legend, with insane mania. The count actually impaled several thousand people, did not disdain torture and was known among the people as a bloody butcher. This did not prevent Tepes from becoming one of the most progressive rulers of his time, doomed to remain in the memory of descendants only as an otherworldly bloodsucker. Here is the real story of the Romanian prince.
Blood on the table
The cruelty of Vlad III remained in legends. But the information that this person drank the blood of his enemies, most likely, does not correspond to reality. Historians have only one document at their disposal (the poem Von ainem wutrick der heis Trakle waida von der Walachaei, published in 1463). Translators continue to argue over the interpretation of the stanza about the subject: either the count ritually dipped a piece of bread in the blood of a defeated enemy, or simply washed his hands with it.
Church connections
The venerable count all his life was in close relations with the Holy See. Pope Pius II personally blessed the outstanding military leader to fight the Turkish invaders, and after the war he maintained friendly correspondence with Vlad. Legends make Tepes almost the main heretic of the continent - but that is why they are legends.
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Mysterious death
One unsuccessful battle cost Vlad III thirteen years of his life. Turkish Pasha, Matvey Corvin, captured the count in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains and released him from captivity only in 1475. The former prisoner immediately won back the lost throne, but ruled the region for a very short time. At the end of 1476, the famous count literally disappeared into thin air. However, two weeks later, the body was found at the walls of the family estate: most likely, Vlad just fell into another Turkish ambush.
Fair ruler
The reign of Vlad Tepes was bloody. However, his general strategy for the development of the region is assessed by modern historians as very promising. The count punished the disloyal with an iron fist, but one of the first rulers of that time began a completely successful struggle against the general poverty of the lower strata of society. Even before the Turkish captivity, Vlad managed to establish fair taxes for all and created an incorruptible body of power - the jury.
Vampire castle
Transylvanian tourism is almost entirely built on the legends of the immortal Vlad, who at the end of his life became a real vampire. Very few tourists know that the count has never lived in the famous Bran Castle - the much-publicized "residence of the bloodsucker." Historians consider Targovishte, the royal headquarters of Wallachia, to be the ancestral home of the Tepes.