Sherry Yielding

Karen Sanders

English 1003

April 9, 2016

Vlad the Impaler and Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Vlad the Impaler was a man who lived in and ruled Wallachia, a territory in modern-day Romania, in the 1400's. There are many differing myths and legends surrounding his life and also, his death. Was Vlad actually a vampire or simply a man with a figurative thirst for blood? Is Vlad really dead? Did author Bram Stoker get the ideas for his novel Dracula from the life story of Vlad the Impaler? Researchers and scholars continue to debate this interesting and dark topic and hunt for any evidence of a link between Vlad the Impaler and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Vlad the Impaler was born Vladislav Basarab, second of four brothers, in the Transylvanian village of Sighisoara sometime between 1430 and 1431. The exact date of his birth is not known; the uncertainties surrounding his birth gave way to gossip and rumor. It is said that on the night both Vlad and his elder brother, Mircea II, were born, the holy statues of the village bled from their eyes and mouths. The priests that witnessed the royal births took it as signs from Go4d. Many of the villagers, however, saw it as mysterious and terrible omens, foreshadowing some unknown evil yet to come.

In 1442, Vlad’s father, Vlad II Dracul, “was required to pay