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In the year of 1431,Dracula was born in the city of Sighisoara.At this time Vlad
second Dracul was in Transylvania,living his days out in exile.
Vlad Dracul was gathering support for his attempt to retake the throne
from Prince Danesti,Alexandru the first.
In 1431,the house where Dracula was born,which still stands to this very
day,was in a very well-off neighborhood,It was surrounded by Saxon and
Magyar homesteads,and the plush houses of noble men and women!!
Not much is known about his early years,he had an older brother named
Mircea,and a younger brother named Radu.
His mother was a Transylvanian woman of great standing,his schooling was left
to his mother and the rest of her family.
But he learned at an early age how cruel the world really was,his father
had killed his Danesti rival and took the throne of Wallachia for himself.
Dracula had normal training for any boy his age,that came from a noble family.
He had older Boyar for his tutor,who himself had fought the Turks,under
the banner of Enguerrand de Courcy,which was at the battle of Nicolopolis.
He learned all the useful skills of a Christian knight,including war and peace.
The situation in Wallachia was in political turmoil,the Turks had been gaing power,
the Balkan states had surrendered under the horrible carnage that the
Ottoman massacre had brought on!!!
During this time Hungary was reaching it's peak,as it's poilitical regiment
proceeded to gain power,King Mathias Corvinus and his White knight,John
Hunyadi,were extatic at the rise in power so quick,it was not expected,but they
were pleased none the less!!!
Dracula was a pawn of the King and had to be civil with the two upcoming
powers,he was also a member of the Order of the Dragon,and sworn to fight the
unbelievers!!
Even in the time of his father,Mircea the Old,Wallachia was coerced into
paying tribute to the Sultan.
Vlad was a 15th century voivode of the house of Basarab.
Wallachia borders Transylvania and Moldavia,and the surrounding areas
include the Black Sea and Bulgaria.Wallachia was the first political
province to come out of the era of roman rule,which was slowly fading.
One of Dracula's ancestor's was,Basarab the great(he lived from 1310-
1352)the family split into two feuding clans,some of the members stayed
to rule over what was forming into the new province.
In order to understand Dracula and where he came from,you have to under-
stand how the government and society worked as a whole.
the nobles or boyars had the right to elect whomever they thought would
be better for their cause.All candidates came from the ascending ruling
family of the time.Assasination was a midigating factor for the nobles,
for they wanted someone from their family on the throne,therefor many
young men met violent deaths at a young age!!
As i mentioned before the house of Basarab split into two rival familys
Prince Danesti and prince Mircea the old(dracula's grandfather).Dracula
and his father,vlad dracul11,had murdered various members of the house
of Danesti,to prevent them from ruling!!
Dracula ruled Wallachia three different times,he first came to power in
1448,with the help and support of the Turks.He only ruled for two months
because he was driven out by an opposing member of the Danesti clan,with
the support of Hungary.
Dracula remained in exile for several years,before coming back to his home,
in Wallachia.He then sought out the Danesti prince who drove him away,killed
him and took back the throne,with the support of the hungarians!!!
Dracula ruled this time from 1456-1462,in this time he sought out revenge on
the turks,he became well versed in the acts of war,and committed many
evil acts!!!!
Dracula punished his prisoners with various forms of torture,some the
most famous ways were to be impaled apon a wooden stake,the stakes were
arranged in a particular order,mostly in a circle.The higher the stake
was,depended on the rank of the prisoner.He also cutt off their heads
and drank their blood from a golden chalice,which in turn was placed
in the center of town.Noone dare take it,in fear of reprisal from
Dracula himself!!!
Dracula went to Transylvania to ask for help from the king of Hungary,when
a Turkish army had invaded Wallachia. instead of getting the help he wanted
he was imprisoned by the King of Hungary.Mathias Corvinus held him prisoner
for many years,while in prison his brother,Radu,ruled the province of
Wallachia under the guidance of the Ottoman Sultan.When Radu passed away,
Basarab the old was made prince,he was of the clan Danesti.
Dracula reagained the favor of the King of Hungary,in 1476 he invaded
Wallachia with a small group of Moldavians and Wallachians,prince Steven
the Great sent the Moldavians and some transylvanians,under the tutalage
of Prince Steven Bathory.
They had driven out Basarab the old and had taken back the throne,putting
Dracula back in control,that was in 1476.
After Dracula was in control,Prince Stephen Bathory fled back to Transylvania
taking most of the army,Dracula had used to get the throne back.The Turks
invaded Wallachia with a rather large army,Dracula passed away some time
in the night fighting the Turkish army in bucharest in 1476!!!
The Turks cut off his head and sent it to Constinople,where he displayed
his head on a wooden stake,to prove the Dark Prince was dead!!
http://www.eskimo.com/~mwirkk/castle/vlad/vladhist.html
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