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ON THIS DAY
Was Dracula real or fictional?
Talk about vampires immediately invokes the name of Dracula – drawn from the 1897 novel of the same name by Bram Stoker. While Dracula was a fictional character, Stoker drew inspiration from a real historical figure called Vlad the Impaler.
Vlad the Impaler was Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia in what is now Romania. He was a 15th century warlord and the son of Dracul – in old Romanian – Draculea. In modern Romanian, drac refers to the Devil. Vlad III engaged in numerous conflicts and frequently impaled his enemies, a common punishment at the time. Vlad's victories over the invading Ottomans were celebrated throughout Romania and the rest of Europe. He was considered ruthless but just.
The theory that Vlad III and Dracula were the same person was developed and popularised by historians Radu Florescu and Raymond T McNally in their 1972 book – In Search of Dracula.
Historians and literary scholars believe the 2 Draculas had little in common. Dracula is linked to Transylvania, a province of Romania, and Bran Castle outside the Transylvanian town of Brasov – which is often referred to as Dracula’s Castle. There is no evidence that Vlad III ever owned anything in that region or that he lived at Bran Castle. Nor did Bram Stoker ever visit Bran Castle or even Romania, though he did study the history of the country, and was struck by the name Dracula because of its links to the Devil.
One thing is certain. Unlike Count Dracula, Vlad III did die – in 1477.
