Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431–1476), more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler Romanian: Vlad Țepeș or simply as Dracula, was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462.Historically, Vlad III is best known for his resistance against the Ottoman Empire and its expansion and for the impaling of enemies.
Vlad III is believed to have inspired the association of his name to that of the vampire Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.
His Romanian surname Drăculea (also spelled "Drakulya"), by which Vlad was referred to in several documents, is in reference to his father, Vlad Dracul who was a proud member of the monarchical chivalric order for selected nobility with a latin name "Societas Draconistrarum" meaning the Order of the Dragon. A member of this order would be referred to as Dracul, a noun of the Latin word Draco, meaning "dragon" (which was derived from the Greek word Δράκων (Drákōn)). A son of Dracul would then be called Dracula. The emblem of the order was a dragon incurved into the form of a circle. In Romanian language, the word Dracul also has the meaning "devil" which sometimes leads to mistranslation of Dracula's name. In the bible, the devil is also called the dragon - great dragon and the snake.
Last edited:
