Vlad The Impaler
This documentary examines the bloody career of Vlad the Impaler, the 15th-century prince of Wallachia who took no prisoners in his resistance to the spread of the Ottoman Empire. Known as Dracula, he learned the arts of war as a hostage of the Turks, but asserted his independence by working his own disloyal nobles to death and repelling a Turkish invasion by filling the battlefield with 23,000 impaled corpses.
When he came to power, Vlad immediately had all the assembled nobles arrested. The older boyars and their families were immediately impaled. The younger and healthier nobles and their families were marched north from Târgovi?te to the ruins of Poienari Castle in the mountains above the Arge? River.
Vlad was determined to rebuild this ancient fortress as his own stronghold and refuge. The enslaved boyars and their families were forced to labor for months, rebuilding the old castle with materials from another nearby ruin. According to tradition, they labored until the clothes fell off their bodies and then were forced to continue working naked. Very few of the old gentry survived the ordeal of building Vlad’s castle. This documentary is a must for those that like to separate fact from myth.
It has been said before and by me as will. History is written by the winners and the losers are made to look bad. Facts are distorted if even looked at. Lies are perpetrated and manufactured. There is ALWAYS two sides to any story. The losers never get to tell theirs because they are usually killed before they get the chance.
I am not Romanian, not from that part of Europe but Im reading all these Negative comments about Prince Vlad the 3rd, but what I want to say about all the negative comments,
you obviously can't see what he was really doing & I have have ppl I know Closely Tell me that Dracula was a real man & he did Horrible Horrible things!!
impaling people inviting people for Dinner & impaling them too, again really Horrible acts..
I was a child & from That I told this Person I know what I know, I know Things now, that I can say YEH did happend BUT this is WHY !!
yes some Invited Guests to his home where impaled for example revenging his fathers death!
the things he had to do & made himself do, even if these things made him seems crazy,insane.. Mad!!
Had people Gossiping 'Oh the Prince Vlad... I saw Him drink Fresh Blood then impale a Guest from another country etc..' Well Really, Gossip Travels.. That cant do Harm for him!!! because he really didnt hold back did he. so the more Gossip The Better probably!
Prince Vlad was also a great warrior, and He Deserves The Respect from NOT just his people in Romania but Other Europeans too? but I know some will & some wont..
But He Held that Army Back in some really awesome ways and there was JUST a river Between Vlads Lands & the Enemies Army..
he Burnt his lands he destroyed his towns .. and Made sure the Wells stayed FULL but with a special treat of drink it and die from what he had put in the water!! but anything the towns could have Offerd this army, he destroyed and burnt etc but he didnt stop there!
He burnt the land they had too on the other Side, why?
Because he knew a LARGE Army would use the lands all those Lands & Towns for food!!! as they would NEED it, what they going to do if thats not available??? yeah.. again smart.
Other Countries in Europe didn't have to worry about this Army taking Wallachia and The Next Land and so on and enter Other Countries, I mean I have a feeling they would have Kept going until the Last bit of Europe was invaded and taken over.. like why Not? some like to Just keep going & taking out 1 by 1 till all are fallen & the 1 standing at all the end of it Rules.
Also other Rulers in other lands Near by where Equally JUST as Ruthless & killed and did horrible crazy mad stuff that Vlad gets Accused of solely alone.
But I will say there is one thing HE did do BETTER then other Rulers,
He IMPALED people like it was a natural talent no one could compete im sure..
a Forest of impaled Enemies from the Army wanting to invade, a forest of 20,000 to 30,000, and all the other ones he did.. he wins that hands down!
I have Absolutely No Problem saying Prince Vlad the 3rd was a Brilliant man, warrior.. Hero & so much more.
No Doubt, while he was there fighting the Turks, Ottomen Empire? he did all to Protect invasion!! and Not even mentioning The Other Battles he got into!!
But these are simply my Opinions & everyone is allowed them..
Other people Will Agree with my thoughts Of The forever timeless Prince Vlad!
OR
Not AGREE & say what ever they want to aswell.
I just wanna meet the man who played Vlad recently in Dracula Untold! He is so HOT, I dream of him every night:) Please!! Bite me!! LOL!
Love your enemies and they will turn on you, impale your enemies and they will smile from above and thank you for your strength.
Vlad Dracula
@Onefeather- your comment is pretty ignorant because Vlad III Dracul also killed innocent men, women. and children, so having more people like him just because of gang violence is completely ridiculous. Innocent deaths don't verify a cause, and Vlad III Dracul did kill tens of thousands of people in a horrific manner for no other reason but to scare his people into submission and to scare off invaders. He was not evil per say, but he wasn't exactly friendly either, and the world most certainly doesn't need more of him as you say. @Levi- Vlad IIdidn't kill to seek revenge for his father, in fact, his father left him in the hand of Ottomans in exchange for his own freedom. So please educate yourselves before posting ridiculous things like that because it only makes it clear that you don't know anything your talking about, and that makes your point invalid and unnecessary. Thank you!
Maybe this world needs more like him and put a stop to all the crime that goes on and all the gangs.
awesome vlad the impaler is mad gangster
Is there a citation anywhere for this video??
Some of these comments are hilarious and ridiculous.
First of all, Satanists don't believe in "the devil". Or any mythical entity. Satanism is about self empowerment and believing in yourself, controlling your own future and creating a life that is best for you. Without being an indecent person.
The information you get from your preacher is hilarious. People speaking in the name of God are salesmen, selling you fear. You are paying for it with the spiritual freedom you currently lack. Hoping you will be cleansed of the sins you are ashamed of.
I am an insurance agent. there are very similar marketing strategies to bible thumpers. The difference is, I (a satanist)
Help people manage their risk, and help them recover from a catastrophic loss in the event of a minor or major accident. If a tragedy were to occur, I am able to indemnify them or their family. And help them move past it right now. Making sure they have the proper coverage so they dont have to worry if their house burns down, I will make sure there house is rebuilt and they have a place to live in the mean time.
I am a Satanist and I provide REAL help. I dont discriminate against gener, sexual orientation, race or anything. I consider everyone equal unless you give me a reason to lose respect.for you. I dont love everyone, I dislike most people. But unlike christians who say Satanists are so terrible. I never judge anyone, skinny fat, dark, light, gay, straight. We're all pink and 98 degrees on the inside. Get over yourself and go shove that self rightous crucifix up your ass.
Instead of giving people false hope saying, "hi! If you buy my bullshit, you wont go to hell, just love a 2000 year old hippy in a book that was rewritten dozens of times, and never explains any believable proof. Instead just feeding you garbage and expecting you to eat it... enjoy!!". But you are scared, so you believe it, and you buy your spiritual insurance, guarenteeing you a one way ticket up. Just sprinkle some holy water, speak some latin, dunk your head in this sink, worship jesus everyday, confess all of your sins, sing about how powerful an entity that you have never seen... hallelujah! and poof... You're magically forgiven and pardoned from any sins or criminal acts against your fellow humans. Dont forget to pray everynight and thank your imagination for food that was actually only provided by hard work and a paycheck. And wouldn't be there if you didn't physically purchase it.
Ken Ham's best explanation is, "It's written in the bible". As if thay is supposed to solve all of the worlds problem.
You say Satanists are evil? Satanists dont try to brain wash billions of people
While you are researching medieval history, why dont you research the Christian Inquisitions. Then try to find actual historical facts about Satanists that are even half as bad. Not the bullshit the media says to scare more people into believing in a false god.
Vlad the Impaler was a hero and someone like him is needed today to fight ISIS.
Well this documentary was better than any other i have seen on Dracula. But it was still full with non-sense. Christian defender of Europe? That was the biggest joke of them all. Dracula( Vlad Tepes his real name). never lived in Transylvania, he was the chieftain of Wallachia. Transylvania was part of the Hungarian Kingdom up until the end of world war l when it was given to the Romanian king. Hungary was the biggest Christian country in Europe however at the time of Tepes the King of Hungary was in war with the Czech Kingdom in the north the Austrians in the west and the Turks in the south which enabled Vlad Tepes to break into Transyinvania and rob the rich cities( some were saxons, settled there by King Bela IV after the Mongols herds left Hungary in the 13th century). Since the Hungarian army was busy with some serious armies it gave a chance to Dracula to get away with murder. Once King Matyas(1443-90) defeated all his enemies send an army after Dracula. His army destroyed Dracula captured, his land invaded. He was taken to Visegrad ( capitol of Hungary at the time) kept in a cage and showed to guests of the palace like a zoo animal. This is when the documentary says he was exiled. 12 years he was imprisoned when King Matyas pardoned Vlad. He returned to Wallachia promising that he would not rob Transylvania. Only next year he broke his word. The king sent an army after him again. This time he was destroyed with his army. Anyone interested in details about the truth and not fabricated history should read the book " History of Transylvania". About being evil; at this time impaling, skinning alive and such was very common all over Europe.
Great short Doc !!
He was "evil" sure but he also grew up around people who were evil there fore it's what he learned not what he just randomly decided.
He wasn't evil. He was cruel, true, he was a little bit unhuman, true, but he WAS NOT evil. He fought for his country, for his men, and he brought peace to his land.
He empaled the thieves, the murderers, the violators, the criminals, because he wanted to save the pure ones.
He was a warlord, a prince, a ruller, a leader, a warior. It was his job to keep the countrz clean. If this...make him evil, I am the queen of England.
He was excessive, and brutal. the horrors of war don't justify that kind of sadistic behavior.
He killed thousands of people to betray one death (his fathers) and even killed his own people and his allies. To me that's pretty evil.
If you really wish to know about the historical and real prince Vlad, we have to forget all the fantasy - stories about him, just made to earn money. There are enough facts and historical artifacts, letters and so on that show the reality... but reading this costs time and work but most people want to make money fast and so they use the lies and fantasy- stories that are easy to find, because there are a lot and told and changed again and again. So the tall tales grow automatically and hide the truth more and more.
Vlad Tepes- Dracula was cruel, BUT to not forget that a cruel atmosphere dominated Europe in those times, from Russia to France! Even if Vlad Tepes- Dracula is a very popular character in the world, many people really do not really know his true story!
There are a lot of books, articles, web sites, etc, about Prince Vlad, but weak of them treat his deeds according to the historical truth; or worse, present them distorted! When he became ruler of Walachia in the spring of 1456, he found the country in a very bad situation. But his administrative decisions, how he organized the trading, the new boyar's council, the army in Walachia are less known today, as everybody discuss only about the impalement or cruelty!
However, there is very interesting historical documentary ebook to detail the true story of Vlad Dracula as the ruler of Walachia in XV century!
That scene were he invited the noble men to a feast only to slaughter them reminds me of the "Red Wedding" in Song of Ice and Fire - aka Game of Thrones.
I thought I heard this guy was Christian? He's a distugusting Satanist, driven by pure evil. Who cares if he built some crappy old buildings. Unfortunately for christians they've been Hijacked by the satanists who have always taken the 'battle' seriously and have completely taken over ALL Religious groups top heirarchy, ALL royal familys, ALL goverment leaders ALL financiers, etc. The argument isnt about Muslim or christian its God (Good) and Devil (evil), that makes any difference. If your in any doubt about Satanists running the Christian religion take a look at the latest Pope, even my kids were scared of his face - pure evil.
This is pure fantasy.... it is not difficult to read books....he was never called a satanist... but some people, especially the church feared his knowledge because he was a very high educated person. He spoke nine languages fluently and had a big knowledge from years of traveling and his childhood in the ottoman castle egrigoz. Although he was a hostage there, he got a high education abpout all the knowledge in medicine, astronomics and so on, all the knowledge christian medieval people feared. THAT was the point.
He was educated because his grand father was the first powerful ruler of the valachians.
Mircea cel Batrân(The Elder) defeated the turkish armies at Rovine,in open field,that was the first atempt of ottomans to invade Europe.His son Vlad Dracul,the father of Vlad Tepes was never intended to inherit the throne of Valachia. The hate against ottomans was inspired by Mircea to Vlad,and the best way to know your enemy is to learn from him in its own territory,
Mircea The Elder saw in his nephew a ruler even from his childhood.
He defended Europe from an Ottoman invasion...Western Europe countries should say thanks .Be glad you are not a Muslim now....eastern wars defended the glorious West...thats why western countries are now more powerful and more rich .Thats was the only way to seize power by putting fear in the hearts of his enemies..Valachians fought more than 8 centuries of wars and poverty to defend christian Europe...from the Ottoman Empire.So he was a christian a sadistic one ,but a christian.
dude!!!!......
i am 57 and he use to scare the little jesus out of me [the pope]
always thought he looked like a child molester.......and more...you cannot look evil and you are not....period!!! lol...
Enjoyed the history of Vlad. The book Vampires and Vampirism by Montague Summers is a great book if one is looking for research/facts on the vampire and beliefs at different times/ages,he has references to rare source documents.
Considering that Vlad's Wallachian kingdom was tiny compared to the might of the Turkish war machine at that point in History by doing 'radical' things worked in his and his peoples favour after all Larger and more powerful Kingdoms fell to the Turks a lot lot quicker.
It is easy to judge people of the past.
Yes the Turks were very civilised in the calm and peaceful parts of their Empire but like any where and any peoples in ALL history war and conquest were not nice, oh yeah and the MILLIONS of slaves taken by them too.
Civilization and barbarity seem to go hand in hand.
My hero.
Vlad Tepes (Dracula) is considered to be a latter-day Texas hero in Austin, San Antonio and Comanche TX; Romanian history and Texas history have many similarities.
If Vlad's father was assassinated and Vlad fled to Transylvania who bankrolled his army and building project's , where did he receive his education ? There's some important information missing here.
After Dracul was assassinated Vlad was put on the throne for two months by the Ottomans, Vladislav II ousted him from power, he stayed in Murad's Court for awhile, then he took off to Moldavia, stayed with his Uncle, Bogdan II and cousin Stephen of Moldavia. Petru III Aaron, Bogdan's brother, killed Bogdan, Vlad and Stephen fled, relocating to Hungary and were more or less out of the picture for a time, til after the fall of Constantinople. Janos Hunyadi, viceroy of Transylvania and pretty much the head of the Hunyadi clan, made a pact of sorts with Vlad and Stephen, effectively bringing them out of obscurity. Janos sicced Stephen on Petru III, who killed his father Bogdan, and sicced Vlad on Vladislav II, who was becoming a fast friend and vassal to Mehmed II. They mopped the floor with Mehmed's forces, and Vlad rose to the throne for his second and longest rule in Wallachia. That may clear up the missing part.
Yes, and dujring this time between his first rule and second rule he traveled thru the whole world, learned a lot. He was multitalented with languages and had a wide knowledge from that. He met people of different races and religions and he learned, that religion is a means to an end for the government and even the church leaders. ...
I think, this information is here, too.... but: he got education during his time as a hostage, because he was a prince. This was a usual way, because Ottomans liked to take children of kings as hostages to make them later loyal vassals. This was a high education, higher than usual in europe because christian church avoided progress. Before hostage he got his education by private teachers and - of course- his father, later he was at his uncle who gave him education ( Bogdan Voievod, father of Stephan cel Mare) When he died, Janos Hunjadi (Father of king Matthias Corvinus)educated him further on. Hunjadi admired Vlads giftedness. Perhaps one reason for the later hatred of Matthias for Vlad. As a young man Vlad traveled for eight years... supposedly even to Egypt ...to learn more and more, after he lost again the Wallachian throne by treachery after his first re-conquest .
odd... while western Europe was dealing with renaissance, science, discovering the world was a sphere (more or less) and some bigots were burning people for ***whatever-futile-reason-here***, some OTHER dudes were fighting the Turks and tartars holding them at bay so that the the aforementioned DUDES could discover and paint and burn people alive. YES I used DUDES a lot of times because unfortunately history remembers them with pompous names and dedicate whole chapters of history books so I kinda felt like diminishing their importance at least for once. Very few talk about WHO indirectly allowed Europe to become what it today is. Very few realize that had it not been for "blood thirsty tyrants" like Vlad (among others) Europeans could easily be speaking Turkish now. Think about it ;)
Why should we celebrate Europe? Or the West for that matter. You want a day set aside for Mussolini, Hitler, Napoleon, Vlad, Franco, Tito, Bismarck? But what's human flesh anyways? Maybe the world wouldn't have been raped by European 'greatness'. Then again I guess the upside is that the whole world speaks English, which I should be very very proud of! Those 'history' books that talk about those 'dudes' point out that human suffering has come with the cost of tyrant ambitions, so don't think for a second that Vlad was in any way protecting 'Europe' as if Europe is some sort of collective and unified historical entity, when each sub unit has fought and killed each other, let alone considered each other's nations as the 'barbaros'.
why celibrate Europe? could also ask Why not celebrate Europe?, why only mention the bad things and bad people? what about all the great achievements???.
If you only look for s@@t all you will find is s@@t.
Ignorance is bliss they say.
"Why not celebrate Europe"? For one, in response to Andraas as I originally responded to, I don't think that I should be congratulating "blood thirsty tyrants" as he says, so that Europe, as if it were some singular unit, would not be what it is without such tyrants. Such is what I state in my initial comment. Two, searching for "shit" isn't very hard to find when we start with a premise that blood thirsty tyrants make Europe what it is today. Ignorance is bliss when you don't pay attention, in this case especially.
this is a discussion about Prince Vlad who lived in completely different times with a completely other background and another history... he is not in one line with people like Muissolini, Hitler and so on, like every SERIOUS historian knows ...
Good to know that this is purely contextual, with nothing about it extending beyond the so called middle ages. Any "SERIOUS" historian knows that it is not only idiographic history of one place in time that can be talked about, but that comparison is an actual methodological part of a historian's approach as well, the serious one's at least. Why would anyone talk of Europe, without comparing and speaking of temporal period in relation to space? So when Andraas says that Europe, being present Europe, isn't what it is today without tyrants, my inclination is to respond to say I don't think Europe needs such spectacular celebration; this is supported by experiences of the wrath of tyrants both past and present.
Sorry, you can not compare a person of the Middle Ages
with dictators of the 20th century!!!
I totally agree!
I live at 10 kms form Iancu(Ianos) Corvin de Hunedoara
thank to God That finaly we the Romanian people are present in the history and we are not gypsy, I want to Know , the people who made this intresting net site, that in all history people of Romania were present not only in this monent , land of Romania were not ocupied by this or that invasion people ,guarding the history and the language of people you notice that we can there from were came and the latin people .One exemple is just in the description you just made telling about river Arge? in you alfabet, realy its pronouncing argesh like aramaic sh ,lot of names and word are like aramaic its explain how romans in 101 buy the betrade of king of Dac , Decebal (dece baal tell you some thing in aramaic) because they were speaking the same language ,(can you talk to a chinese or muslim to betrade his brothe never) My name of family its write BOANCA but its spoke b"wanca" b short with leter wow from aramaic and in finaly a" with an mute h , i live in italy and people have problems when they have to wright the name its sims like the do not have the leter wow but in stead when they see allready right down the name they do not have problem to expreme corectly just like me , And Vlad Tepes the name of great king is like this Vlhad Tzepesh the h mute insensitive Tz like Pizza leter aramaic TZ and sh final , infact in italy you find a lot in south replacement of leters in words with sh in stead of s (sportello -shportello ,in south and thous from nord use a lot of tz as in pizza instead of c as elettriciti-elettrizzti ) And that why the Romanian people has latin alfabet and lots of latin words we can not understend people from Hungary, Bulgary Ucraine ,Turky but with out prepare any romanian citizen understands quikly italian , spanish , france , english ,And the name of Vlad Tepes tepe romanian means woodstik sharp and in italian dialect zepe is the same thing but if you speak as in norditaly the result is Tzepe more like tz =the .
So do not forget us , we are not coming from gipsy tribes , we are coming from history , we are part of the history just like you .
this is beyond BULLSHIT!...80% of the documantary talks about the buildings and fortresses instead of vlads life and actions....thumbs down!
Modrussa, who made the famous describion of prince Vlad, later revoked his stories. Although Antonio Bonfini, the one who "proved" for King Matthew, that he was of roman origin and he is a "Corvinus", not a Hunyadi (people, who hated him called him because of that "The oneof the dog-sex") and who wrote his chronicles, revoked later his lies about prince Vlad, he had wo write down in order of king Mathew. (Antonio Bonfini (Latin variant: Antonius Bonfinius) (1434–1503) was an Italian humanist and poet who spent the last years of his career as a court historian in Hungary with King Matthias Corvinus.[1]
Bonfini was commissioned by Matthias Corvinus to produce a work chronicling the History of Hungary. The book was named Rerum Hungaricum Decades (Ten Volumes of Hungarian Matters).[Wikipedia]
"But the much greater tragedy is based on Vlad's betrayal. None of the many films has translated the cruel madness of the story as a piece of deception, a betrayal of the truth and the individuals in images of horror.
The tragedy Vlad: Corvin betrays him, takes him prisoner at the height of his heroic career, the defensive struggle, and locks it for years in the dark dungeons of the fortress of Visegrád on the Danube in Budapest.
The reason: 3 fake letters in which Vlad the Sultan allegedly offered negotiations and submit to him was, that was a traitor, were (possibly) leaked from the Saxon cities of the Hungarian king. Corvin sent to the Pope about the legacies Modrussa a copy of the forged letters. And a series of slanderous rumors circulating about the "tyrant". For the Hungarian has to justify both the Pope and the Venetians over why he was the great Turkish fighter captures just now, although he has received money for the Turkish military campaign:
These pamphlets are the beginning of the written Dracula legend, Pius II, published them in his comentarii. Here are all the motives of the German chronicles of the "tyrant" Vlad listed." (Schlesak, siebenbürger.de)
Vlad was neither better nor worse than many monarchs of his time in terms of his treatment of POWs or enemies in general. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth, Maximilian I of Bavaria and Gustav I of Sweden all have relatively better posthumous reputations than Vlad (possibly with the exception of Henry), and all of them were prone to cruel and unusual punishments of enemies, opponents and anyone who managed to piss them off sufficiently. My bet is that they would have behaved exactly the same as Vlad in a similar situation.
Vlad's PR mistake was most likely that he went after the German settlers in Transylvania who were loyal to the (German) Holy Roman Emperor. The Germans had a well developed propaganda machine, and they used it to smear his name in order to get back at him. And boy did it work!
yea who gives a crap if u think hes a hero, he was crazy beyond belief, the Nazis also thought hitler was a hero too haha
but is a difference between killing thieves,rapists,enemy soldiers , and killing jew because they are evil haha now your way of thinkig is f--ked up :)))))
where the f is the documemtary just a blank square
Most of the naysayers of this documentary are actually from Romania and are totally partial to a this psychopath. They remind of of the Belgians who have reinvented King Leopold of the Congo. He was mass murderer of millions of Africans (even before Hitler) and the Belgians believe he was a great man. It just comes to show how cultures are brainwashed as long as they benefit from the acts.
the difference is, bihind the horrible stgories about princevlad stood a big propaganda-machine... read the life story of king mathew of hungary and you WILL count 1 and 1 together
Lol.Why dont you read some real history and then talk like that.In this documentary, myth is presented as fact, and half the documentary is about the building of his castle, which was not a the most important part of his rule.He was a crusader who use unorthodox means to fight the Ottoman Empire, who by the way, wanted to turn all Europe into a muslim land, like the arabs had done in the past with the Holy land.He was defending his principality and indeed, most of Europe with his actions against the Invading Turks.Wallachia had to pay the Jizya tax( tax on any non-believers who are considered part of Islam) wich was not just money but slaves too, young boys.Wallachia, who was a christian principality, was subdued by the Ottoman Empire, for the sole reason of being christian, which Islam has been doing for the last 1400 years.On a separate note but related to this subject, all the crusades put together are nothing compared to what Islams Jihad has been doing for the last 1400 years.Remember,some people who follow Islam blow themselves up in the present, because they believe they have to fight unbelievers.Almost all terrorists are muslim and the reason is their so-called religion.
where is the documentary vlad the impaler been trying to watch this for ages can you fix it please thanks in advance
@anton: actually Vlad did fight his (step) brother Radu, who came with Turkish help to throw Vlad out and replace him.
Now about Vlad: he and his brother Radu once had been imprisoned in the Turkish dundgeons, but unlike Radu, Vlad wasn't handsome at all. I mean look at the picture. So while Radu becomes Sultan's boyfriend, Vlad gets it in the back over and over again by the guards, day after day.
Then things turn around, and he is in position to decide the fate of some enemy turks. What does he do? Shows mercy unheard of for that times and sets them free? Beheads them? Impales them?
What would you have done?
What would I have done? I would have been more than proud to have served in Vlad's army and assisted him in cleansing the country of parasitic Saxons, Turks and traitorous Boyars.
Was Vlad a brutal warlord? Yes. But what Vlad knew of torture and brutality he learned from the Turks while imprisoned and simply fought fire with fire. And impalement was a favored execution method of the Turks because of the terror it instilled in the enemy.
And one must remember that a great many of the tales of Vlad's brutality against the people are concoctions of the German press and should be considered no more valid than the tabloid press of today. It is doubtful that tales such as the 'lazy housewife' ever actually took place. Unless you believe that Bill Clinton groped a female extraterrestrial ambassador from planet X then you should take the German oral traditions with a grain of salt.
It was also Vlad's view that the nobles had a sacred duty to serve their monarch, protect their lands and their people with their lives if necessary. This was the origin of something akin to a constitutional monarchy. A rather advanced concept in the age of absolute monarchy.
They never mention that what the sultan wanted in annual tribute was a massive amount of gold and silver and a thousand young boys. Some of the boys would be used as sex objects for the degenerate Muslim nobles but most would be inducted into the Janissary corps, converted to Islam and serve the Sultan for life as warriors.
Another thing the uninformed tend to forget is that without the resistance of the warrior princes and kings like Vlad in the east Europe would be a Muslim shithole today.
It is funny how Vlad Tepes himself look Turkish on that painting. I mean, that is a typical look for someone more 'eastern' in character. Nothing wrong with it. It is just he fought people who might have been his cousins and all in the name of power...christianity?
This is the reason why I can imagine that the
supposition of a historian is true:
That the mother of Prince Vlad had Egyptian roots!
Why does everyone gotta be such a hound? I mean you guys. Just sayin!
Typo.
"They thend to be" should be "They tend to be".
Greenbee: I've seen some good (or at least adequate) documentaries from NGC, but this is certainly not one of them. It plays to the lowest common denominator, and it fails to take the full historical and political context into account.
When it comes to historical documentaries in general I usually prefer British ones, and especially those produced by the BBC. They thend to be much more analytical and level-headed in their approach.
for thinking my way that is, sorry for the bad spelling.
Thank you very much for seing thing my way @ Consolamentum. I am really glad that you do.
Cheers, the GreenBee.
Greenbee - I agree with you completely, on every point!
"The Historian" A great book about Vlad!
All praise, Vlad! Even as I know he would stick me on a pole. I don't care...
He rocked, pretty much!
So, as a Romanian, Vlad is one of my forefathers that i admire most, along with Stefan the Great and Mihai Viteazul (the Courageous). You have to understand about him that he was a real patriot, and all he wanted to do is make his country great. He knew from history and previous rullers, that you could not elevate a country with only good intentions.
Yes, he chose this unpopular method called impalement, but this was something well planned and thought for years. He knew that fear was the most powerfull incentive for people to change their bad ways. He never impaled an inocent person. This punishment was only used on thieves, traitors, and foreign attackers. Ottomans trembled in fear everytime they planned some incursion inside Vlad's territory. His method worked. Enemies thought twice before attacking him, bad people from his country thought twice before doing bad things. There are many things to say, but not enough space here.
However, the European policy was that of not allowing this small country to become great. You can see a similar example in the story of Mihai Viteazul who was the first to unite the 3 Romanian speaking countries that were divided at that time. He beat the turks wherever he met them, and pushed them almost to the gates of Constantinople. He was assassinated as a result of an European conspiracy, as the high lords of Europe did not wish a united and strong Romanian people. Those who also know contemporary politics, can see this European meddling at the highest levels even today in Romania.
So, Vlad was a great mind, a briliant strategist and a real patriot. Every country needs more like him.
I’ve had an interest in Vlad Drakula “tepes” – the impaler, for a long time, and have done research on him and his life. The truth of the fact is, that his father was called Drakul, meaning dragon in Romanian, because he was part of the (Christian) Order of the Dragon (Drakul was invested into it on 8 Nov, 1431 in Nuremberg, Germany). Vlad himself, was called Drakula, or son of Drakul – dragon, because he was his father’s son and because he too was in the order. In fact the name of his whole familu tree is Drakulesti (of Wallachia).
For those who after watching this doc and how it described and depicted Vlad’s unusual activities, here’s some information that might explain some of his more grotesque inclinations. Vlad was born and grew up in a time when savage acts were much more prevalent than today. Case in point is the untimely unfortunate and gruesome endings of his own father and (although completely skipped by this doc) elder brother Mircea (also known as Drakula). Drakul was seized by the traitorous boyars and beheaded, and Mircea was buried alive by the same lot.
I am not saying that Vlad was not cruel and a torturer, he undoubtfuly was. But it is obvious when one looks into Wallachia of his and his father’s time that horrendous violence was common. The boyars had after all used it against his own family. Vlad probably had to resort to the atrocious acts he is known for, to keep his rule stable against both boyars (look what happenned to Drakul and Mircea when they lost control over same boyars) and Ottoman Turks (here we have a religion factor as well – Ortodox Christianity versus Islam), to both keep them in line (control them) and intimidate them (fear, remember, is a powerful weapon and tool of control). In Romania today he is considered a National Hero.
What I am trying to say here is that if you want to pass jugement on an Vlad or any other person in history than do so in the context of and from the perspective of their own time, and not through the “eyes” of the present. (this does not include fiends like Hitler and Stalin, because there is no justification for what they have done, fear and keeping in control had nothing to do with their acts of violence).
Anyhow, the doc way too sensational for my taste. It is very sad to me to discover that it is a National Geographic Doc. I have had a subscription to their magazine for over ten years, and have always considered NGM and the society itself to be a good reliable source of information on many subjects. But this doc (the narration in it is a disgrace!) is extremely sensational, one-sided (biased) and inaccurate. I am Very Disappointed by it, and ashamed that NGS made such a bollocs (the term propaganda may also apply here) of such an important and interesting topic. It should have been much more serious and in depth in my opinion, as Vlad’s life is still and probably will always be a topic of interest to many around the world. Even though it was not meant for people like myself who look at this seriously from the historical and anthropological point of view. Although it was meant for the general audience, to inform a little, to entertain a lot, it could have been much better.
I'd like to apologize if my use of the blipped out word is offensive to other user and the administrator of SeeUat Videos. It was not meant to be so and has been corrected.
Cheers from the GreenBee
In Romanian Drak means devil not dragon.
Don´t forget: his name was in medieval times... they spoke latin in the society of Prince Vlad. And he was the son of Vlad Dracul who got his name Dracul by Emperor Sigismond, the re-founder of the Order of the Dragon and his name in origin was written Draculea, not Drakul or Drakula. This writing is just to find in german pamphlets, published from 1462-1992 ordered by King Matthias Corvinus in Nuremberg( one of the first printing Machinery was there, the owner was a Mr. with the surname Olde Huber, this came after the Gutenberg printing after 1453) to soil Prince Vlads name.
If this would not had been happened, Prince Vlad would be now known as Emperor, as the successor of Frederick III.
It will be forgotten like that Vlad was the ONLiEST who stood against a threat that was for the people as the coming end of the world: Mehmed the Conqueror. (MIDDLEAGES!!) Prince Vlad was celebrated in his lifetime as a hero and should be Elector. In our times he would have been the cover story on every newspaper, but during this times the printing-machines where something very new. Prince Vlad had stood for election as emperor. Corvinus managed to avoid it, the fact he claimed for himself .
Corvinus tried incidentally in the same way to spot a bad light on Emperor Frederick´s honor : with pamphlets and posters. Finally Corvinus took the way via with forged letters to got jailed Prince Vlad .
I’ve had an interest in Vlad Drakula “tepes” – the impaler, for a long time, and have done research on him and his life. The truth of the fact is, that his father was called Drakul, meaning dragon in Romanian, because he was part of the (Christian) Order of the Dragon (Drakul was invested into it on 8 Nov, 1431 in Nuremberg, Germany). Vlad himself, was called Drakula, or son of Drakul – dragon, because he was his father’s son and because he too was in the order. In fact the name of his whole familu tree is Drakulesti (of Wallachia).
For those who after watching this doc and how it described and depicted Vlad’s unusual activities, here’s some information that might explain some of his more grotesque inclinations. Vlad was born and grew up in a time when savage acts were much more prevalent than today. Case in point is the untimely unfortunate and gruesome endings of his own father and (although completely skipped by this doc) elder brother Mircea (also known as Drakula). Drakul was seized by the traitorous boyars and beheaded, and Mircea was buried alive by the same lot.
I am not saying that Vlad was not cruel and a torturer, he undoubtfuly was. But it is obvious when one looks into Wallachia of his and his father’s time that horrendous violence was common. The boyars had after all used it against his own family. Vlad probably had to resort to the atrocious acts he is known for, to keep his rule stable against both boyars (look what happenned to Drakul and Mircea when they lost control over same boyars) and Ottoman Turks (here we have a religion factor as well – Ortodox Christianity versus Islam), to both keep them in line (control them) and intimidate them (fear, remember, is a powerful weapon and tool of control). In Romania today he is considered a National Hero.
What I am trying to say here is that if you want to pass jugement on an Vlad or any other person in history than do so in the context of and from the perspective of their own time, and not through the “eyes” of the present. (this does not include fiends like Hitler and Stalin, because there is no justification for what they have done, fear and keeping in control had nothing to do with their acts of violence).
Anyhow, the doc way too sensational for my taste. It is very sad to me to discover that it is a National Geographic Doc. I have had a subscription to their magazine for over ten years, and have always considered NGM and the society itself to be a good reliable source of information on many subjects. But this doc (the narration in it is a disgrace!) is extremely sensational, one-sided (biased) and inaccurate. I am Very Disappointed by it, and ashamed that NGS made such a bollocs (the term crap may also apply here) of such an important and interesting topic. It should have been much more serious and in depth in my opinion, as Vlad's life is still and probably will always be a topic of interest to many around the world. Even though it was not meant for people like myself who look at this seriously from the historical and anthropological point of view. Although it was meant for the general audience, to inform a little, to entertain a lot, it could have been much better.
Cheers, from the GreenBee.
We might need another Vlad sooner than you think cant hijack a plane if your stuck to a pole
Fun fact 2:
The founder of the house of Basarab is not known to history, but one theory states that it was founded by Toq-Timur, a great-grandson of none other than Genghis Khan. Quite an ancestry for Vlad and the Queen of Britain, if true.
gengis khan was a muslim thank god and proud of him and timur
'gengis khan was a muslim'
WTF.. no he was not..Tengri was Temujins main God (one of many), a sky God.
Timur was yes! but not Genghis Khan!
All royal families are related in Europe. Thats the way to preserve power.And 1 of 10 people in Europe are descendends of Genghis - Han or Tatars, their raids and raping raged European Continent.Europe its a mix of races,,European its indo-European...not Caucasian.
Fun fact:
Not many people know that Queen Elizabeth II is technically a cousin of Vlad Tepes. She is partly descended from the royal house of Basarab, to which Vlad belonged!
10 % from what you see in this is true...The real facts was different.
@mehmed
What are you on about?
I despise islam and christianity with equal furor! Despise them both with all of my being! Did I not make that clear?
Vlad was btrayed by christianity and that was what he should have expected.
My perfect scenario would have been if the man had destroyed both empires and taken over the world himself...
@randy: "he was trying to save christandom from the invasion of the Islamic Empire"
There is no unity of Christendom but rather of a Christendom torn by divisions now and then Randy..Don't forget, "The ?slamic Empire" was not your sole enemy..
It was like King Leonides at the Hot Gates.
I mean, if he hadn't stood against Xerxes, we would all be worshipping Ba'al right now.
(Well, not ME personally, Ba'al is a very strange and twisted diety that I wouldn't worship if I even believed in any gods...)
And I am not talking about the movie... that was cute and very clever computer animation, I am talking about the account of Heroditus the father of all historians...
We owe a great debt to these men, Vlad and Leonides, for their courage.
A man's (and a woman's!) gotta do whatta man's (and a woman's!) gotta do!
@Consolamentum
Yes, well put and well understood!
What was he supposed ta do? Lay down and let the Turks destroy him and his tiny nation?
Nope.
And, he was trying to save christandom from the invasion of the Islamic empire. And he succeeded, but what was his reward from the church?
Betrayal...
Nice...
Helaer: "He just did it the ugly way."
I don't really think there was a "nice" way to go about it in those days. There was no Geneva Convention and no UN; the Ottoman Empire wasn't going to pull any punches so Vlad couldn't afford to do so either.
They have an Hallowe'en festival in Romania based around Vlad and a Dracula theme park...
I would love, love, LOVE to go... but I can not fly in planes any more... Doctors' orders.
Sigh, every year I go onto the websites devoted to the Vlad celebration and experince it vicariously...
He was a great hero for Romania...
And Healer is right, Vlad Tepest was a great tactical genius...
Burning the countryside so that the Turks would have no supplies for their army?
Dark genius... cruel, but effective.
Vlad is one of my very favorite historical figures.
If I ruled the world, I would totally recreate his system of justice. Death for any infraction...
Of course, that is why I should never rule the world...
"The Historian" is a great novel about Vlad, based on real research...
He is kind of a hero of mine... I've loved his story ever since I was a kid...
Is that strange?
Those "experts" say Vlad bore hatred towards turks, and that Radu was interested in being prince and pampered and leading easy life. Well, if you're in the enemy's den, even as a hostage that one wouldn't wanna sacrifice in vain, you still wanna think how you survive. I don't like the way the expert presumes Radu was just after easy life... he may have had two choises: death or adaptation, and he might not had been the type who can hide his true feelings. If so, there were only those two alternatives for him.
As for Vlad's hatred, I can see that he might had just wanted to be safe, and for his people to be safe too, safe from the Ottoman empire. No wonder after all that he had experienced at such a young age. His acts might've very well been, at least partly, a way to try to ensure his and his people's safety. Even if he had to become the devil himself while at it. He is a war hero of the europe as any man of war would had been, keeping a far stronger force than what he had, at bay. He just did it the ugly way.
Completely plays to preconceptions. This video (and the narrator's tone) tells nobody anything. Every bully was bullied, it seems. Thanks for telling us this.
Bullsh*%t. And I can't stand the narrator's unnecessary hectoring. Does he want to create another monster? or was he not given enough milk as a baby? Who the F knows.
Let's not forget that the Ottoman Turks impaled POWs too; in fact Vlad Tepes learned that particular practice from them. Besides, as the ruler of a tiny country about to be swallowed up by the Turks, it was in fact absolutely necessary for him to build a badass reputation in order to discourage his enemies.
Personally I think all Europeans should be grateful to Vlad Tepes - even though he was eventually defeated he did his part in protecting Europe from the encroaching Ottoman Empire.
Incidentally, if anyone can recommend a GOOD and objective documentary about Vlad Tepes (in English or with subtitles), please post a link to it here!
you no nothing in history so dont tallk bull sht
lol, after 100 years peps gona say tony blair ,bush, and etc, they were all bads, some gona say they were heros, 1 person hero may be velion to other. he was good or bad, its depend on u what u want to bleive.
@ alex: yee god bless him..he impaled and tortured people, but this doesn't concern us right..? we must see the good things. he founded churches and monasteries..rest in peace..
I'm amused to see how all foreigners say about Vlad being a bad guy, horror for Romanians(WTF? ). You have no idea what you guys are talking about.
@ mehmed-read more, then try to act smart.
@ frank- you don't say? You don't live in Romania,you have no single clue about how things actually were here ,so please don't talk without thinking, thank you.
Worst documentary about Vlad EVER!!
At least they didn't support that Hollywood Dracula idiocy stuff! (and I'm really surprised !!! Because most of you foreigners consider him as a cruel vampire refusing to see the real Vlad, and not the idiotic myth).
vlad was a ruthless murderer!
I feel like the makers of this documentary must've taken Professor McNally's comments entirely out of context, given the very excellent book that he and Radu Florescu co-wrote (In Search of Dracula; 1994, Houghton Mifflin Co ISBN 0-3095-65783-0). Really, I don't think this ought to be described as a documentary at all, as it presents such a one-sided view of Vlad Tepes.
This documentary is rubbish. I live in Bucharest, Romania and this is nothing like what we were thought in school about Vlad Tepes' history.
what a load of bull...and this is called "documentary"????
Ha, Ha, Ha, this is a Hollywood style documentary, plenty with goofs and exaggerations. Maybe next time you'll ask some pertinent opinions from real historians.
Talking about Vlad the Impaler! He is a hero for romanians cause through his actions he maintained order and relative autonomy of his land, things that modern Romania lack. Regarding his overwhelming cruelty towards all kind of enemies-its nothing unusuall for his time period. A human life worthed a lttle at that time, everywhere in now "civilized europe". All that can be said about Dracula is that his name became a brand, which sells good and for this any kind of publicty, good or bad, is welcomed!
you the romanians have obsession with turks. If the turks hadn't given you the autonomy you would have been at the mercy of hungarians..Vlad was a real psychopath..
I'm Romanian. Vlad Tepes was a great hero! He defend all Europe AGAINST THE BARBARIANS HOMOSEXUALS RAPISTS TURKS!
romanians are born homosexuals didint you know turks are the greatest ase the world knows Catalin Bucuta puff homo your are
if its like that then why tousonds of ottomans died from one romanian
Thousands died on both sides in this war... like in EVERY war.
Excuse me, where are your reasons? You throw only irrelevant and incompetent garbage into the discussion. If you want to discuss then please correct and formulate without personal insults. Who offended personally does this because he has no arguments and is weak.. I say this to Catalin Bucuta too, she is the same unobjective... there is no reason to call ottomans homosexual rapists...this is is no discussion then but childish play of hate and prejudices without any logically background.
Romanians are ase you know Catalin Bucuta BARBARIANS HOMOSEXUALS RAPISTS ance lovers ase you said your self so the Romanian woman go to have it with the turkish men what they cant get it in poor Romanian you properly know that any way you just cant take it the turks are great
One thing I never came upon, and I've been studying the 15th Century for over a decade now, is Vlad's stance on homosexuality. Now his brother Radu was a lover of Sultan Mehmed II; the sultan really liked Radu, I mean REALLY liked him. Know what I mean? But that aspect of Radu's personality never seemed to have made too much of an impact on Vlad's opinion of him. Is it Vlad's crusade against homosexuals or is it something you think he was against?
Excuse me, where are your reasons? You throw only irrelevant and incompetent garbage into the discussion. If you want to discuss then please correct and formulate without personal insults. Vlad may be your hero but for that it is unobjective to call the turks homosexual rapists. I said this to Mr. Ottomans too, he is the same unobjective... Something like that is no discussion but childish play of hate and prejudices.
"given" the autonomy? 1877 WAR of independence. get it?
Did he really drink human blood? and if so, was he full of all kind of disseases?
Can you recommend a better doc please? This doc tells the story most of us are familiar with....
i wonder how can you tell this "is a must for those that like to separate fact from myth" when you start with two old guys from nowhere near Romania, and all they told you is that he inspired a horror story that was real, and that he did have power of life and death over his subjects...didn't all kings had that power in medeival times, or excuse our people for not having the "prima nocte" rule like you did in your country.he was just one cruel ruler, but with the ones who were criminals.the legend says that you could leave in the middle of the road a bag with gold and no one would think about taking it...so look more for your documentarys..this is NOT a top one.
You are right !
ok...i live in romania,in transilvania actually and i must state that this documentary made Vlad Dracula look all bad...of course he made some bad things but what it is said in this documentary is exagerated,in romania he is considered a national hero,and he has a lot of statues and his picture even in churches... he was the one who kept the turks out of the rest of europe.