The historical origin of the legend.
From the few Romanian historical figures that have achieved international fame and earned
place with-in the pages of Universal History, fewer gave birth to a fame that grew as the
days passed after their deaths. And of these few only one is still believed to be alive by
many.
Without the need for an introduction, as he has become one of the worlds most well known
figures.
Dracula, Vlad Tepes, the impeller, ruler in Vallachia. Is a man that once was considered a
Hero, and a champion arbitrator of the justice system of Romania.
He defended his fellow Romanians against the Hungarians and Turks (the Hungarians, whom now
reside in the country as our own country-men).
Dracula's' accomplishments to hierarchy as well as government have been if not forgotten
from history, but replaced.
Today the fable and the legend is what we know of Dracula, a manufactured image created by
the Saxons residing with-in Transylvania as well as the royal court of Budapest. Over the
years after his passing, they have diligently worked with-in themselves to polish-off any
credibility towards a Romanian 'Voievode'- Landlord/king. All part of a campaign to create a second
home for the people of Hungary and for the Turkish government to own part of the capital
generated with-in the boundaries of Romania.
Big commercial valences along with the passing of over 500 years and Dracula is a force of
the imagination, departed from the origin of the legend into a vampire in a cloak, sleeping in a coffin in the dungeon of
his castle. It is said that Vlad Tepes is a malefic spirit, a prince of darkness that baths
in the blood of the innocent. It is said that those innocent lives will give this man
immortality. Such was he a beast of a fighter, that his enemies had no choice but to resort
to age-less blasphemy to turn Vlads own people against him.
Selling their souls to Lucifer himself to conquer a man as righteous as David, a man as
crude, organized, powerful, and orchestrated as Stalin, a figure more vicious than Hitler,
yet as witted as Chaplin.
A blood-sucking creation of fear and resourcefulness they turned him into.
This tool of the Ottomans, helped break Romania and sculpt it into the economic prison it is
today.
Chapter 1. Birth of a myth, Death of a man.
At the time of his reign, Romania was going to battle with the Turkish people. Harsh
exemplary punishments were habitual reminders of the cost of fighting, as was the case in
many neighboring countries, tribes and peoples.
The legend of Dracula goes back, of course, even before Tepes, to Prince Vlad Basarab, from
Vallachia. Father.
On February 8th, 1431 in Nuremberg, Germany, a Romanian - German Emperor, Sigismund of
Luxembourg was chairing a tournament.
This tournament was to earn the winner a place with-in the Dragon's Order. Mind you the
feats that needed accomplishment were not of wooing women, or breaking horses. Things that
we can-not talk about openly, because those that know are now the same as those that speak.
It was an order of royalty as well as those with high expectation, and higher regards from
their fellow man.
This was of the early royal family of Romania, presenting themselves to far superior members
of society than is known to the kingdoms of man.
At the time, the August Emperor would dawn the Dragons armor. A green golden sash with a
skill-fully engraving of a Dragon. There cannot be much said about this armor...for now.
Vlad Basarab had the honor of joining the order, and used the Dragons seal for all official
and private matters. More so, he decorated his empire with the Dragons image, and even used
the Dragon on coins to signify that it was the time of the Dragon.
The necklace of the order, of which Vlad Basarab wore, was the effigy of the mythological
Chinese animal (here in Romania of all places) is the first eye catcher. After-which is the
clear tear on the back-side, caused by a sword or any object of that sort. And above the
Dragons emblem is a cross, with two lines of engraving. "O, quam misericors est Deus" as
well as "Piues et Juestus".
Some-how, for those following Vlad Basarab during his reign since 1436, "Oh, how merciful is
god" as well as "Faith-ful and Honest" were misinterpreted.
This mix of ignorance and stubbornness led to the Dragon of an oriental, unknown culture,
they left a fantastical mythology to become non-existent to them, and instead affiliated the
Dragon from the Dragons Order with the Romanian Dragon of fairy tales.
This also may be caused not by ignorance but by a blinding patriotism, who knows?
Latin helped confuse things even more, the Dragon became known as Draco, and those men and
women seen carrying the symbol were called Draculestii (The Devils family). Vlad Basarab
became himself known as Vlad Dracul (Romanian for Devil).
These whom considered their ruler and leader a devil of course were humble farmers, who knew
nothing of the complicated legislation that came along of the introduction of the Dragons
Order. It was some-thing new, and as was the case at the time, anything new, is bad.
Vlad Tepes was the second son of Vlad Basarab and he became very famous. In Romania he was
called 'the devils son' - Dracula. The Turkish people have known him as Seitanoglu (the
devils son) as well as Kaziklu - "the man who breaks on the stake".
The first documentation pertaining to the liaison 'Dracula' is with-in a letter dated April
1459, from a claimant to the throne known as Dan III; "the judges of the region and
councilors of Brasov came along-side the good and old people from Barsa Country, whom
lamented to me, with heavy hearts because of the things done by Dracula our enemy, how
Dracula has not obeyed our king (Matei Corvin, king of Hungary) and he allied himself with
the Turks. As so taught to him by the devil".
This correlation between Dracula and Devil and the callusing with the Turks was used by the
Saxons propaganda stories, as well as Matei Corvins Court as justifications for his
inactivity on the anti-Ottoman front.
Matei Corvin had commissioned the use of 40,000 ducats (sent by pope Pius the second), armed
12,000 soldiers and prepared 10 war ships to fight against Turky. None of these were
actually sent to battle, and the money (the popes money) was put into Matei Corvins pocket.
Tepes - Dracula remained alone with his fleet to fight the Turkish army, and unexpectedly
won. In 1462 after proving his infamy with his people, Vlad Tepes became iron thorns
in the kings thievery hands.
This problem for Matei, was attended to by the propaganda machine from Budapest,
illustrating the victor of this early winter battle as a traitor of Christendom.
A specious letter was used dated January 7th, 1462, it stated how Tepe/Dracula was offering
all his support to the sultan, and was abide to conquer Transylvania and Hungary.
In reality it was a forgery created by Matei Corvin to help support the idea that pope
Pius's investment was really used to combat the Turks and the letter supported the idea that
Matei invested everything in Dracula, who than betrayed the empire.
Nicolas of Modrussa was messenger to the Pius responsible for Budapest, his interpretation
was simple "Dracula, a name the Romania people use for the devil has turned to the Turkish
side". His message to the Catholic hierarchy brought serious doubts about Tepes loyalty for
the common cause of Christendom as well as Orthodoxy with-in the Romanian/Hungarian region.
There was also a strong media campaign, as so would have it. In the late fourteen hundreds
people of West Europe had a deficiency regarding information received from the South-Eastern
part of Europe. This was charged by a strong inclination to sensational, fantastical, and
super-natural....after all the the legends of Dragons and Gods came from further East for a
time and these new stories, were stories of exotic parts of Europe, close to home yet still
past the great island of Crete.
In those days South-East Europe was more or less as Northern Africa (Egypt and the Arabic
sea mostly) was to Northern Europe.
One such publication is 'The German stories about Dracula Voievode". The books succeeded
each other with in quick publication. The first edition being made public in 1488.
And each new edition was less and less favorable to Vlad Tepes.
Touching on the end of the 17th century (IE: 20 years) they had released more than 30 books.
The text of these editons, as well as the miniatures that accompannied them kept a
conjunction between Dracula and Vampire. They accented his sickly predilection for bloodshed
and made sure to mention the cruelest methods for slaughter.
One picture from with-in the pages of these books, shows Dracula sitting calmly on the
battle-field enjoying a lunch, as one of his soldiers hacks bodies to pieces near-by, and as
the dead dry up in the sun on stakes.
Nicolas of Modrussa mentioned Draculas proclivity for the use of cruel punishment as well in
'Historia de bellis Gothorum', here is what he says.
"As the king states, the secretaries of the court have confirmed that 40,000 people, of
various ages, different social status, both male, and female have been grotesquely
slaughtered. By order of Dracula, the crudest tortures have been used in their deaths.
some have been killed by being broken under chariots, others have been skinned and gutted,
others have been killed with the use of stakes and coals, others have just been pierced with
a stake and left to die, whether it be in the head, navel, stomach, chest. Of his cruelty,
he has pierced people straight from their scrota and through towards their mouth. Dracula has
even pierced stakes through mothers breast and killed their children on the same stakes."
Over the many years of history their have been many cruel men, and if we are to say Dracula
is a Devil, than Hitler was the anti-christ, Mussolini was the arch-angel of death and
Kanghis Kan was an alien being from another country cooking and eating humans in a mad feast.. As the Viking have the ritual of blood eagle, there is
strong evidence that man has always been cruel. Taking a small period of time such as this
and focusing on the events that occurred creates a sphere and from their the infinite
imagination can further embellish and create.
To help create the idea that this man was more than just a man, that he was a vampire, their
exists the countess Elisabeth Bathory. She had the grizzly practice of having virgins killed
as so to bath in their warm blood. Her father must have taught her, that it was the best way
to stay beautiful and young. She was not far in time nor location. Elisabeth lived in
Czechoslovakia, in the 16th century. She was believed to be Draculas wife by few than, and
today by many.
Romania does have a strong history regarding vampires, both the physical, and spectra
existence of them. But since the field of paranormal studies is one of little development
and realization, there hasn't been to much documentation that has been taken serious. Along-
side the communist regime which has destroyed everything they considered a threat to their
control of the Romanian people, there is little to go by on what and where vampires have
existed. Heck, the communist regime may have been a ploy to hide vampires with-in the
country and the world ... who knows ?
Their are stories circulated by Austrian soldiers regarding the spectra and vampires with
-in the Banat region and Transylvania region, they are found under the domination of the
Habsburg empire in the time period between 1699 and 1718. The basis of these stories was the
popular customs and traditions practiced from immemorial ages.
Today, in most of the villages in Maramures and surrounding areas of Banat, the villagers
cook a Christmas Eve garlic soup, and they sprinkle diligently the walls of their homes,
their stables, and their farmsteads, as well as any annexes. They grease the animals with
the same soup, and draw signs of protection on them, the sign of the cross.
This protects against both ghost and physical being. Garlic and Cross.
More Austrian stories come from the west region of Vallachia. In 1718 and 1739 this was a
region under Austrian domination. There are military reports of exhumation, natives thought
dead but seen walking at night by their relatives homes. These phantoms (moroi or strigoi in
Romanian) were not the only 'creatures' with-in the military reports. Other reports state
that the sought out strigoi were found in their graves, un-damaged, and when a wooden stake
was thrust through their heart, dark red blood would spill.
These reports went as far as Banat and Transylvania.
With a report as serious as one coming from the offices of a military operation this must
be undisputed proof of Vampirism.
This whole fascination with vampires has turned the wooded Transylvania into an exotic
supernatural and fantastical area, with ruined castles, and dark sad buildings, thought to
always be covered by fog and thick mist, which could be haunted by malefic spirits,
were-wolfs, ghosts, vampires, even I the editor of this book could be half vampire, and half
werewolf.
