The true story of Vlad

Vlad Tepes or Vlad the impaler was born in Sighisoara 1431, Transylvania. yet he did not live there, he lived in Walachia (also known as Valahia Wallahia etc) because back then Romania was divided in 3 medieval states: Transylvania which was under Hungary’s sovereignty, Valahia and Moldova which were both under the Otoman empires administration, having puppet rulers there which still ruled yet had to pay a Tax each year, which consisted of both money and products. Vlad grew up as being a hostage in the Otoman empire to assure the sultan that Vlad’s father, current ruler of Valahia doesn’t cause any trouble.

When he went back to Valahia he succeeded his father to the throne, becoming the new ruler also called voievod in Romanian ,he had three reigns through out his life : 1448, 1456-1462,1476. Vlad’s real name was Vlad the third the nickname "the impaler" was given to him because of the cruel methods he used to punish those who crossed the law or of enemy prisoners, namely of impaling them on wooden pikes piercing trough their bodies without touching vital organs so they would still be alive afterwards.

The disputes with the Otoman empire started when Vlad refused to pay the tribute to the sultan and killed his ambassadors by nailing their hats to their heads for refusing to take them off in his presence. This enraged Mehmed the second, so he sent an army estimated to be between 90,000 and 120,000 soldiers to kill Vlad and restore his authority for good in Valahia. Vlad led against him many small guerilla wars trying to weaken him and when the Turks ( Otomans) camped at Calugareni he ambushed them in the night with a force 3 times smaller then the sultan's.

The Otomans were surrounded, He succeeded in creating terror and chaos amongst the Turkish troops by commanding his army to create as much noise as possible by yelling and screaming to trick the Turks into the illusion that they were outnumbered. As the Turks tried to retreat they were slaughtered instead of fighting a fight they could have won. Between 1462 and 1474 he was imprisoned in Hungary. There he drank rat blood and fed on them to stay alive. He gained the monarchs favor and married one of his relatives, returning to Valahia in 1476 for his last reign that didn’t last too long as he died defending Bucharest in December his body was decapitated and his head was sent to Istanbul were the sultan kept it preserved in honey as a proof of his dominance and victory.