History Documentary: the land of Count Dracula, the historical Transylvanian-born Voivode Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia. Romania - Wild Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania. The documentary "Wild Carpathia" explores the magnificent Carpathian foothills.
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| Portrait of Vlad III Dracula, the Impaler. |
Already in 1958, Cecil Kirtly proposed that Count Dracula
shared his personal past with the historical Transylvanian-born Voivode Vlad
III Dracula of Wallachia, also known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Țepeș.
Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond
McNally in 1972, this supposed connection attracted much popular attention.
Historically, the name "Dracula" is the given name
of Vlad Ṭepeș' family, a name derived from a secret fraternal order of knights
called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of
Hungary and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor) to uphold Christianity and defend
the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was
admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks
and was dubbed Dracul (Dragon) thus his son became Dracula (son of the dragon).
From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of
Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol.
Stoker came across the name Dracula in his reading on
Romanian history, and chose this to replace the name (Count Wampyr) that he had
originally intended to use for his villain. However, some Dracula scholars, led
by Elizabeth Miller, have questioned the depth of this connection as early as
1998. They argue that Stoker in fact knew little of the historic Vlad III except
for the name "Dracula". While having a conversation with Jonathan
Harker in Chapter 3, Dracula refers to his own background, and these speeches
show elements which Stoker directly copied from Wilkinson's book.[citation
needed] Stoker mentions the Voivode of the Dracula race who fought against the
Turks after the defeat of Cossova, and was later betrayed by his brother,
historical facts which unequivocally point to Vlad III, described as
"Voïvode Dracula" by Wilkinson:
Who was it but one of my own race who as Voivode crossed the
Danube and beat the Turk on his own ground? This was a Dracula indeed! Woe was
it that his own unworthy brother, when he had fallen, sold his people to the
Turk and brought the shame of slavery on them! Was it not this Dracula, indeed,
who inspired that other of his race who in a later age again and again brought
his forces over the great river into Turkey-land; who, when he was beaten back,
came again, and again, though he had to come alone from the bloody field where
his troops were being slaughtered, since he knew that he alone could ultimately
triumph! (Chapter 3, pp 19)
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