Vlad the Impaler - Biography
1431 - the birth of Vlad
Vlad Dracul (who was the son of Mircea the Old) settled in Sighisoara 1431 -1435, waiting for the right moment to take over his rights of ruler of Valachia. Meanwhile, with the approval of King Sigismund he set up a mint, activity which would make him a rich man, making his way to the throne of Valachia.
During the period he stayed in Sighisoara, two sons were born, Mircea and Vlad (born in 1430-1431), the one who was to wear the name of Vlad the Impaler and the nickname of Dracula.
1436-1442
During the first reign of their father Vlad Dracul (1436-1442), the two sons joined their father in war campaigns. They got used to the knighthood art, to the fight techniques and strategies, but they also got a high instruction from scholar monks belonging to different religious orders, established in the city of Targoviste. During that period, Vlad Dracul had other two sons: Radu (the Beautiful) and Vlad (the Monk).
1442-1448 - Vlad became prisoner
A year after his father succeeded in gaining the throne of Valachia for the second time (1443-1447) Vlad the Impaler Dracula, together with Radu, joining their father in an official visit to Constantinople, were taken prisoners, Vlad Dracul having been accused of having been unfaithful. The father, set free by the Turks, was obliged to leave his two sons in the hands of the Turks, as a guarantee he wouldn’t betray their interests.
1448 - Vlad the Impaler occupies for a short while Wallachia’s throne
In the autumn of 1448, Vlad the Impaler Dracula, only 17 years old, escaped from the surveillance of the Turks, or maybe just let to escape, returned in secret to Valachia, and with the support of the land gentry partisan for the Draculesti ( his family), taking advantage of the absence of the ruler Vladislav II.
1448-1456
Vlad the Impaler as a fugitive in Moldova and Transylvania
1456
In 1456 the battle of Belgrad brought the victory of the Christian Army led by Iancu of Hunedoara over the Turks led by Mahomed II. The defeat of the Turks meant for the ruler of the Valachia their lack of support, well speculated by Vlad the Impaler Dracula, who crossed the Carpathians and defeated the army of Vladislav II in Targusor. His rival Vladislav II and his gentry found their death just in the place where, nine years before, they had tortured his brother Mircea, burying him alive.
1457
In spring of 1457 he supported Stefan the Big in getting the throne of Moldavia. In 1457, he also supported the group Szilagy, sustaining Matei Corvin, in getting the crown of Hungary, in their conflict with the partisans of the king Ladislau V. In 1458, his friend Matei Corvin is crowned King of Hungary.
1459-1460
In 1859 the army of Vlad the Impaler Dracula plundered again the regions of Brasov, Sibiu and Barsei County, staking 41 saxon merchants living in Valachia, and he executed 300 youngsters, sons of Saxon Merchants, sent to hiscountry to learn the language. In 1460 Dan the Young, helped by : Bra$ov, Almas and Barsei County crossed the mountains to get the throne of Vlad the Impaler Dracula. This one welcomed him with his army, defeated him, and executed him as an example by getting him dig his own tomb and assist to his own funeral. Some months later, the army of Vlad the Impaler Dracul acrossed the mountains again to punish those who had helped the unhappy Dan, this way some cities were burned to ground (Sercaia and Mica) and in Almas, many villagers were staked together with the priest who had urged them to treason. All these measures taken by Vlad the Impaler Dracula transformed Valachia into an united, powerful and organized state, and made its people appreciate the just policy, lead to their prosperity.
1460, the 1st of October
Vlad the Impaler comes to an agreement with the city of Brasov that the rest of Transylvanian inhabitants contribute with 4000 soldiers in the fight against the Ottomans;
1461-1462
In the same winter of 1461-1462, Vlad the Impaler Dracula leaded one of his most fiery campaigns, and after attacking and conquering the city of Giurgiu (a Romanian city occupied by the Turks), the army crossed the frozen Danube, defeating the Turkish garrisons and burning the localities ofthe right bank of the river, from Rusciuc to Dobrogea. Of all the Turkish leaders, Mohamed Pasa saved himself, bringing the terrible news to Constantinople.
The end of April 1642, a huge army for those times (comparable to the army that conquered Constantinople, the capital ofthe Byzantine Empire) made of 150 000 people and a strong naval body made of 25 triremes and 150 ships for help in passing the Danube leaded for Valachia in an expedition for the punishment of Vlad the Impaler Dracula. The unusual proportions of the expedition stand for the fear and the respect that the Sultan Mohamed II had for Vlad the Impaler Dracula. On the other side, the army of Vlad the Impaler Dracula counted no more than 30 000 people, and the help from Matei Corvin was late to come.
Together with 7000 soldiers he penetrated the Turkish camp in the middle of the night, provoking a disastrous mess, slaughtering a great number of Turks, making them fight with each other in the chaos, even the sultan MohamedII was about to lose his life in the attack. The Turk chronicler Enveri, facing the attack, wrote about it:” Before dawn, Vlad the Impaler.
Dracula and his troops, with no great losses retired with the same speed they attacked, leaving the enemies to fight each other in the dark .
1462 (prior to the 26th of November)
Left with a little army of brave soldiers, followed by the enemies, Vlad the Impaler Dracula retired in the mountains, in the fortress of Poenari, where from, during a night siege, he left and crossed the mountains to Transylvania to meet Matei Corvin, who had to help him regain his throne and his country, Eventually, by the 26 November 1462, the Hungarian king Matei Corvin arrived in Brasov, and the hope came to life again, the campaign started. A vanguard of Hussite detachments was trusted to Vlad the Impaler Dracula, under the command of the Czech captain Giskra, but suddenly things changed and on the 26 of November 1462 the expedition was stopped, the king Matei Covin giving the news that Vlad was stopped. The reason was the discovery of some letters attributed to Vlad the Impaler Dracula (telling that this one tried to bow down to the Turks and betray the Crown of Hungary and all Christianity) letters presented to Matei Corvin. These were in fact some false letters written by his old enemies, the Saxon merchants.
1476
Vlad the Impaler becomes king of Wallachia for the second time. In the end of 1476 Vlad the Impaler is killed by the Ottomans with the help of traitor boyars.
