Talk:Vlad the Impaler/Archive 3

Archive 1

Archive 2

Archive 3

Archive 4

The grave at the church??

However, Romanian historian and Vlad biographer Matei Cazacu suggests in a 2005 British documentary on Vlad's life (David Paradine Productions Ltd) that the Turks removed the scalp of their victims' heads rather than behead them. Vlad's remains were discovered buried at the entrance of a church by a grand-father of Radu Florescu.
^ Would somebody please explain that? It states that Vlad III's grave has been FOUND. --Ragemanchoo (talk) 06:34, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

That is a little misguiding. There were archeological excavations in Snagov in 1933 where a grave and a body were found. But there is no way to prove that the body was actually Vlad's body. Laurukainen (talk) 12:51, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Sure you could. DNA testing, anyone? I mean my god if they can do testing to identify WTC remains, surely they can tell whether or not a body belonged to Dracula. 99.148.194.231 (talk) 05:25, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Actually no, because the body that was found in the grave is said to have been missing since the 1950's. Laurukainen (talk) 06:44, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

Vladslav

was he a slav, since in the pic wrights VLADSLAV ?? and can you tell me about the origin of romanians? thanks... Illyrium —Preceding comment was added at 21:15, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Vladislav- Vlad (Slavic for Ruler) slav (Slavic for Honour)

And also confusing: He called his capital: Trgovishte (Slavic for: Marketplace), then also: the word Vampyr is also Slavic origin... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.132.200.158 (talk) 19:10, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Legendary Warriors? Video Game

I just want to know what is the Legendary Warriors video game mentioned in popular culture section. I can't find any game by that name, either already published or in the works. Can someone tell me what game and/or the company making it? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.97.171.106 (talk) 15:20, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

i also did some Googling for such a game and the only other references to it that I could find are on wikipedia, listing many of Vlad's contemporaries as characters in this game, they all link to a Digimon movie? that has no such characters. I think the poster may just have gotten the name of the game wrong though, I will try to find the correct one. Could the Digimon movie be positively identified as the wrong one and remove the links? I think it might be this game Stronghold_Legends. also, I am new to WP, and this needs to be fixed on several pages. --Uncle Chevitz (talk) 07:35, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Honorary Plate Picture

Under the Biography section, there's a picture of a plate honoring the place where Vlad was allegedly born. It's in a different language (i'm assuming Romanian). If I could translate it, would that be a good thing to add? A pyrate's life for me... (talk) 15:58, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

YES IT IS IN ROMANIAN AND HERE IS THE TRANSLATION FOR YOU In this house was living 1431-1435 the Romanian Countrys ruler Vlad Dracul, son til Mircea the Elder. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.254.148.101 (talk) 20:30, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Pronunciation of "Draculea" and "Kazikli Bey"?

Does anyone know the correct pronunciation of these names? If so, please add guide. SpectrumDT (talk) 11:16, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Not sure, but I think Drâculea is drəkulæ or drəkuʎa. Kazıklı already has the guide in the text; bey is bej BalkanFever 13:13, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

click here http://say.expressivo.com/carmen/Drăculea to hear the pron. in romanian (it's not perfect but you can get a picture..). Kazikli Bey is in turkish so I don't know.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.36.190.155 (talk) 16:33, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

details

This article offer so much details about the battles of kings, princes, princelings and claimants to thrones that it is easy to be confused. But still they are some details which are inconsequent. Like the following:

“Vlad's father was assassinated in the marshes near Bălteni in December of 1447 by rebellious boyars allegedly under the orders of John Hunyadi.”

I do not think the rumanian boyars took order from a hungarian regent. It is not a likely political scenario. If they were killing the Impalers father, they did it all by themselves, whithout any orders. Vlad was living in exile in Transylvania because he was affraid of the boyars of Wallachia.

“the family lived in exile in Transylvania as his father had been ousted by pro-Ottoman boyars.”

This would explain Vlad III hate towards them. And why would he make an alliance with Hunyadi, if he was the one who killed his father?

Anyway

“December 1447 when he was assassinated by means of scalping ("scalping", for the Turks, meant cutting the edges of the face and pulling the face's skin off, while the person was still alive and conscious[citation needed]) on the orders of John Hunyadi, regent of Hungary... “

Now did the boyars killed Vlad II or the turks?

And did the boyars scalped Vlad II or the turks?

And as a detail, if the turks did it, it is even less likely that they took orders from a hungarian.

Next .

“The purpose of the Order was to protect Eastern Europe and the Holy Roman Empire from Islamic expansion as embodied in the campaigns of the Ottoman Empire.”

Well, not quite. Founded in 1408 by Sigismund, the order was created for the protection of the King from any plot against him. It was an elite Chivalric order for selected royalty and nobility of Europe. Sigismund founded his own order of knights to support his throne. Than it recuired its initiates to defend the Cross and fight the enemies of Christianity, yes, it did. But it was creted to support the king, and the members of the order were mostly his political allies and supporters.

83.254.149.135 (talk) 15:21, 12 July 2008 (UTC))

Rup the handsome?

Was his brother called Radu or Rup? An anon. editor changed it to "Rup" without comment or explanation, so I put in a citeneeded tag and a comment, since I know nothing about his family. --Slashme (talk) 18:00, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Just stupid vandalism, I've changed it back to Radu. Laurukainen (talk) 21:21, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Horses and Impalement

Is there a source that says Vlad used horses during the impalement process? I have never read about impalement being done like that. And if there is a horse attached to each leg, where are they pulling, and why are there two? Isn't it gravity or vertical force of some kind? Or was this special about him?Jwit (talk) 06:28, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

The Historian

There is a great book out there by Elizabeth Kostova called The Historian.

"The Historian is a 2005 novel by Elizabeth Kostova about a quest, reaching through the past five centuries, for the historical Vlad the Impaler. The novel, Kostova's first, appeared on the New York Times bestseller list during the summer and fall of 2005 and it was named the 2006 Book Sense "Book of the Year" in the Adult Fiction category. It's been published in 28 languages. "This book is undoubtedly the most suspenseful book I have ever read and I will soon read it again. Kostova's unique way of narrating is intricate in its own way." says Kristelle Baysa of the New York Times.

While nominally a modern re-telling of the Dracula story, The Historian delves deeply into the nature of history and its relevance to today's world, as well as serving as a cautionary tale on the historical antagonism between Western Civilization and Islam."

From wikipedia.

There are a few things that are fictional but not about Vlad the impaler. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.160.252.220 (talk) 12:30, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Romanian names

Is Vlad II Dracul at Vlad the Dragon? Is Radu cel Frumos at Radu the Handsome? Is Vlad Călugărul at Vlad the Monk? Shouldn't this then be at Vlad III Ţepeş, as opposed to Vlad III the Impaler? (Or indeed at Vlad III Drăculea, considering he would have much preferred to use the diminutive form of his father's name than a derogatory term used by those who feared him).--Codenamecuckoo (talk) 21:48, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

That makes sense, proper redirects must be used of course. Mallerd (talk) 14:22, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Dracul

His Romanian surname Drăculea, is derived from his father's title Vlad Dracul, and means 'son of Dracul'.[3] (see Vlad II Dracul); the latter was a member of the Order of the Dragon created by Emperor Sigismund. The word "drac" means "the Devil" or "demon" in modern Romanian but in Vlad's day also meant "dragon" and derives from the Latin word Draco, also meaning "dragon". The suffix "ul" or "ulea" means "son of". [4]

The suffix "ul" means "son of". Shouldn't the translation of Vlad II's name be 'son of Drac'? In Vlad II's own article, his name is explained as Vlad the Dragon. Hm..I don't speak Romanian, so please explain. Thank you Mallerd (talk) 14:21, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

The suffix "ul"

That is not correct. "-ul" is the definite article in romanian. "-ul" means "the": "The Drac". And "-ulea" means "son of". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Seripigari (talk • contribs) 19:13, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. :) Mallerd (talk) 18:51, 22 October 2008 (UTC) '-ul' is indeed the definite article in romanian , but '-ulea' is just a common romanian diminutive suffix and it doesn't directly mean 'the son of'.I'm surprised to see some debate over this , when in Romania few people ever use the name 'Dracul' as to refer to Vlad( and they certainly do not use the name 'Draculea'). He is most commonly reffered to as Vlad Tepes . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.115.254.87 (talk) 16:45, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Homosexual?

The two references to Tepes' being a homosexual are unsubstantiated with references and they are both very awkward English usage.

I have no knowledge whether or not they are accurate, but the sentence

In place of the executed boyars, Vlad promoted new men from among the free peasantry and middle class, who would be loyal only to their prince and he was considered homosexual by many a people in Romania at the time.

(emphasis mine) is awkward. If the homosexual reference is accurate, it doesn't belong tacked onto the end of that sentence or probably even in that paragraph. It's a separate topic.

The standalone parenthetical

(many people had considered him to be a weak and a homosexual boy, not worthy of being a prince or even a king)

is also incorrect English structure and usage and it doesn't belong in the section in which it appears. Sbabb (talk) 02:01, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

revert it. it's probably garbage some idiot added. IF someone can provide a source then if can stay as-is it needs to go.--Marhawkman (talk) 11:07, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

vlad_20072003 ;) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.122.116.33 (talk) 04:27, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Veritable Epidemic of Vampirism?

What does this refer to? Which philosophers studied the phenomenon? Which travellers brought back stories of the undead? Needs references. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.84.112.91 (talk) 15:48, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

This is clearly a reference to the "18th-century vampire controversy". It should be rewritten, I think, so that it talks about the circulation of vampire stories and the disinterring of suspected vampires rather than making it sound like a horde of vampires spread across Europe. Foscolo (talk) 17:41, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Predecessor and successor

I made this change a while back. Can someone verify that the current version is correct using a reliable source outside Wikipedia?--Codenamecuckoo (talk) 12:29, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Unsourced Statements

I feel obligated to note that there's a massive amount of unsourced material in this article and that it's been tagged as such, though only for a month or so at this point. I'd encourage people interested in this article to devote some time to sourcing currently-unsourced statements. At some point, given the article was tagged, I'm likely to go in and start trimming uncited information, but given the rather severe amount of information that could be trimmed in this case, I figured I'd make it a matter of public record. Doniago (talk) 20:28, 18 September 2009 (UTC)

I'd go and actually read the references. It's common for articles to use "blanket" references that cover a large part of the article but are not mentioned with in-line citations.--Marhawkman (talk) 06:15, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

I actually agree with the original poster. There is material (in particular in the atrocities section) that just doesn't make any sense - the anus-to-mouth impaling descriptions especially. Medically, is that even possible? I have serious doubts. It has been a while since the citations were posted as being needed (months in some cases), and there has been adequate time for a source to be cited for all of those instances.

Being relatively new to actual editing, I don't feel I have the authority to remove those statements yet, but I heartily agree with the idea. Sevidra (talk) 23:50, 30 November 2009 (UTC) (Edited to add the second colon so my statement is all indented to the same place. Like I said, I'm new.) Sevidra (talk) 23:51, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

Bad Childhood?

RabbitHeart22 (talk) 10:41, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

No wonder Vlad turned out so messed up after the childhood he had. When he was a boy his own dad sent him to the enemy’s army as a hostage. That would frighten anyone especially someone as young as him, he was either 13 or 11; Wikipedia thinks 13 but Wikipedia simple English seems to think he was 11. He hated his dad for that when he thinks they should have fought the Ottoman army instead of cowering away, and that’s understandable. The clips [[1]], is a documentary about Vlad the Impaler , the most evil men in history, that you can watch on YouTube and it clearly says that Vlad was taught the method of impalement by the Turkish. He received a Turkish education in their language and culture and in swordsmanship and battle tactics. He hated his brother because he gave in and converted to Islam, and the feeling of abandonment must have been terrible. The sites [[2]] and [[3]] tell us about his past a little and how his fascination with torture stemmed from his situation.

Cause of Death

The introduction asserts that Vlad III died by assassination. Under the subhead "Death," however, it says he died in battle against the Turks.Quintus fabius (talk) 00:49, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Both are accurate. He was assassinated during a battle with the Turks.Tathunen (talk) 02:16, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Image of Vlad in russian "tale of warlord Dracula"

I think this passage from "Russian stories about Vlad Ţepeş" section should be removed:

"The Russian stories tend to give him a more positive image: he is depicted as a great ruler, a brave soldier and a just sovereign. Stories of atrocities tend to seem to be justified as the actions of a strong ruler."

This is untrue. In Russian tale Dracula defenetly descripted as evil person:

"...the name of Dracula in Wallachian, and the Devil in ours. His way of life was as evil as his name"

"And Dracula fell for the sweetness of the temporal world instead of the infinite and eternal world and he fell away from orthodoxy and departed from truth and he left light for an adopted darkness."

and his cruelty clearly called "evil":

"They say that when he was in prison he didn’t forget his evil habits, but he caught mice and bought birds in the market and then he executed them..."

and there is no evidence that autor of the "Tale" see his actions as "good" or even justified. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.79.37.99 (talk) 09:53, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

"Good", maybe not, but justified, yes. Example: "And he so hated evil in his land, that whenever someone did evil, a crime or robbery, or lied, or was guilty of an injustice, then he was not allowed to live." And about the falling for sweetness thing, he (supposedly) converted to another religion, what do you expect an orthodox to say? Religion was a bug thing back then. 82.208.147.138 (talk) 09:31, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Controversial

Though with a title such as the one I picked out, you might think I'm going to speak about something to do with his alleged cruetly. However, I'm here to discuss quite the contrary.

The Page lists Vlad as converting to Catholicsm, with the page even having appropriate tags that would go with this subject. However, there are sources that say in fact he did not convert at all. [4] talks about how he may have never converted to Catholicism, but was released from prison for "practical reasons". So, all I propose is maybe a "controversial" side-note that states Vlad's conversion is debated by both sides. Kostantino888Z (talk) 19:01, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

The Mongolian Ancestors of Vlad III

Vlad III < Vlad II Dracul < Mircea I of Wallachia < Radu I of Wallachia < Nicolae Alexandru of Wallachia < Basarab I of Wallachia < Thocomerius of Wallachia < Toqta ? < Mengu-Timur < Toqoqan < Batu Khan < Jochi < Genghis Khan

Maybe, Thocomerius was the son of Mengu-Timur.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thocomerius_of_Wallachia

"He could also be identified with a minor Mongol prince, Toq-Timur, a son of Mongke-Timur (5th Khan of the Blue Horde), who lived in that area, as the eastern parts of Wallachia were under the hordes control."

Böri (talk) 11:56, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

The Descendants of Vlad III

Vlad III > Mihnea cel Rău > Mircea III Dracul > Alexandru II Mircea > Mihnea II Turcitul > Radu Mihnea > Alexandru Coconul > Radu Gioan Bey > Martin

Vlad III > Mihnea cel Rău > Mircea III Dracul > Petru (= Peter the Lame)

Vlad III > Vlad > László(Hungarian) > László > János

Vlad III > Vlad > László(Hungarian) > János > György > a daughter

Vlad III > X (his son, unknown name)

Vlad III > Mihnea cel Rău > Miloş

Böri (talk) 13:58, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

Language used in the article?

Shouldn't the place names mentioned in the article be in English? For example the user Qorilla has changed the name of Sighisoara to Segesvar for a couple times allready. If the name commonly (in English) used is Sighisoara, then shouldn't it be also Sighisaora here despite the fact that it was part of Hungary in the 15th Century?Laurukainen (talk) 11:18, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

The name Sighisoara

• is not English, but the Romanian transcription of the Hungarian name Segesvár
• was first mentioned after Vlad was already born
• suggests Transylvania as being Romanian territory at the time, thus is an anachronism.

If it were an English name, like Vienna, Moscow etc. that is really English then it should be used, but since this is not the case, the then-used form should be used. (Sighisoara is naturally used more commonly today in English, as it is the current name). It is like talking about Istanbul at the time of Constantinople. The current name of the town should also be mentioned of course when first using the name of the town, for information, but history doesn't change. Qorilla (talk) 15:39, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

What I meant of course was that the name Sighisoara is used in English, not that it is a word from the English language. For what I've read about the subject (in English) the name Sighisoara is almost always used, sometimes Sighisoara and Schäßburg. I've never come across the Hungarian name used for the town in any history books about Vlad, but I do get your point. So if everyone else agrees, I'm fine with your changes. Laurukainen (talk) 19:15, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, folks: I thought I'd finally caught up with all the changes on this Discussions page over the past three weeks, but I must have skipped over this topic by accident. So I unwittingly re-started this discussion up at the top under "Place of Birth". Anyway, I am not ok with Vlad III's place of birth being called by the Hungarian name. It was a German city at the time of Vlad III's birth, and it is now a Romanian city. Furthermore, Transylvania was not in Hungary at the time: it was an independent principality – at least, it was as independent as either the Turks or the Hungarians would allow it to be – just as Wallachia was. In any case, I am not very experienced with the conventions of writing a historical research paper, nor of Wikipedia, so if either of you can find the relevant Wikipedia style-sheet for naming the places of birth (or death) of historical figures, please post the link here. Thanks in advance. BlueCerinthe (talk) 09:51, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, Transylvania was part of Hungary at the time (15th century), since the time of King Saint Stephen (11th century). Only a century later, in the 16th century did it became part of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom when Hungary was split in two, and later in three parts. Then it became the Principality of Transylvania. Then in the 18th century, after the Ottomans were fought out, it became part of the Habsburg Empire (later Austria-Hungary) as part of Hungary. Then in 1920 Transylvania was attached to Romania, then in 1940 its the northern half returned to Hungary, which was again attached to Romania after WW II. Romania under such name did not even exist at the time of the article.

So he was born in Hungary and he died in Wallachia. These are the facts. How to name the town, is another question. The town was indeed a Saxon (German) majority town, and seeing that the Romanian name is only a pronunciation transcription of the Hungarian name (Segesvár -> Sighişoara) and was first used in documents after Vlad's birth, I think it is more appropriate to use either Schäßburg or Segesvár. This is a matter of consensus. However writing "Romania" is just wrong. Qorilla (talk) 18:37, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Very well, I'm changing it to Kingdom of Hungary, rather than Hungary, since it seems likely that most people who click on that link would want to know about the historical kingdom which included Transylvania, rather than the modern state of Hungary, which does not include Transylvania.

By the way, After reading your comment above, I read about the history of Sighișoara, and, while the article does not say that the Romanian name is a Romanianized pronunciation/spelling of the Hungarian name, it does say that written records of the Hungarian name predate the written records of the Romanian name, which tends to support your assertion.

Personally, I have to assume that both Romanians and Hungarians of Transylvania, at that time in history, each had their own sets of names for all the large centers of economic activity, so it seems to me entirely possible that names like Sighișoara and Timișoara are originally Romanian. But I'm not a philologist, and anyway I think in this case, using the German name is a good compromise. BlueCerinthe (talk) 09:10, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Vár means fortified castle in Hungarian. There are many such towns also in Hungary today (Kaposvár, Szigetvár, Székesfehérvár, etc.), and also in Transylvania (Kolozsvár, Temesvár, Segesvár, etc.).

• The origin of Seges+vár is Hungarian, "ség" is an archai word for hill, "-es" is an adjective forming suffix. For example "kéz" means "hand" and "kezes" means "handy/handed". Similarly, "seges" means "hilly", "mountainous".
• The origin of Temes+vár is partially Hungarian, partially South Slavic. Temes is a river, whose name is of South Slavic origin.

Some of these names were Romanianized through the times, but many have been artificially created when Transylvania was occupied by Romania. (this also happened in other areas that were split off at the time)

Hungary or Kingdom of Hungary: one is the shorter and one is the longer name, but since the Hungary article is a general country-article, linking to Kingdom of Hungary is probably better for the readers seeking for history information. But I think we should use the shorter name for display, just like we say Wallachia for the death place, instead of "Principality of Wallachia". Qorilla (talk) 14:17, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Language used in this article?

"The original stories were allegedly by one surviving monk of 3 that were held captive more months in Vlad's cells, awaiting the summons that would surely mean death. Vlad asked each a question. "Where shall I go when I die?". The monks were split between telling the truth or lying to save themselves. The first lied and said Heavan resulting in his impaling on the spot. The second, brave monk, told the truth and said Hell, the darkest pits of Hell and was promptly impaled but not before adding a few more home truths. Vlad was rather pissed at this point and stabbed the monk. A quicker death than was planned, the monk, I liked to think, won a small victory before dying. The last Monk, Jacobs, having heard the first two answers and the consequent results, pondered the question. We don't know what the answer was he gave, a bummer! but he was allowed to live and wrote the letters. Some say Vlad did it on purpose to spread the word. Without these documents no-one would have heard of him! I liked to think he said "you will never die.." or wordss to the effect of?

This is the end of the "vampirism" section of this article. This is wikipedia not a blog. I do not believe that this incited story and poor use of exclamation points should really be under the description of a subject which Vlad is quite famous for. —Preceding unsigned comment added by EvitoSol (talk • contribs) 07:59, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Hostage at the Ottoman empire

The Dracula siblings were transported to the centre of the Turkish nation, the city of Adrianople. At first they were not regarded as prisoners, but they were kept under continuous observation and supervision. Radu needed little, if any, observation; as he fully adapted to laws, by-laws and the culture of the Ottoman Turks. He would later covert to Islam. However, the young Vlad often displayed an aggressive and defiant attitude. He liked to quarrel with superiors and complain about his relentless incarceration. He fought for more personal rights, disrespected his bodyguards and far too often, belittled the Ottoman customs. The Ottoman’s had to take him to the whipping post on quite a few occasions.

In 1445, the European Christians tried another campaign against the Ottoman Turks. Their leader was again, Jonas Hunyadi, the White Knight, who rode towards Turk land with an army equipped for a lengthy battle. Vladimir Dracul, despite the oath he made to Sultan Murad, gave 4,000 of his cavalrymen under the command of his eldest son, Mircea. Though he did refuse to directly fight in the battle, hoping that Sultan Murad would see that the decision was out of loyalty and refrain from hurting the Dracula siblings.

When Sultan Murad heard Vladimir had broken the treaty, he had the young boys locked up in the dungeon below. In there, they suffered much, they were given daily floggings and went long periods of time without food. Though Vlad’s rebelliousness made his treatment all the worse, and he underwent numerous tortures to both his mind and his body. Though he was still, kept alive, possibly because Murad hoped he could be used as an effective negotiation price. From a small window just above his dungeon cell, Vlad often saw the executions of the unluckier prisoners in the land outside. Varying on the crimes they committed, they could be either hanged, shot dead with arrows or spears, decapitated, crushed under wheels, or torn limb from limb by wild beast. Many of them were impaled. The teenager may at first have been horrified at impalement. But, after such a period of time, he grew accustomed with the act.

Impalement, was one of the most inhuman punishments given for a crime, involving piercing a body with a pole or spear, then leaving the victim to die on the pole. Death was agonising and habitually slow. Vlad watched the poor victims die and saw the crows and vultures pick at their bodies that were left under the sun till they were charred meat.

Vlad’s hatred for his captors began to fester. He abhorred them for the callousness they had and wished he could repay them in the same way. He grew up not knowing if and when he could be next to march up there, and he wanted to escape and get revenge. The teenager was battered, starved, whipped, burnt and now had to see what the Ottomans did several times a week, he was probably driven insane.

This [[5]] was the site I found it on but it was taken down and the person suggested I put it on the talk page- any commens? Possibly more references.

By the way, is there any information on what happened to Vlad's mother? I read somewhere that she died during childbirth with Vlad, but another scource says she died of a mysterious disease. I don't want to put anything down because I'm not sure what actually happened. But does anyone know? Dancemaid062 (talk) 17:17, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Vlad's alleged cruelty- exaggeration with Germans stories.

I have been on a site which questions how 'evil' Vlad really was and it raises some very good points on how much his cruelty has been exaggerated. I think we need to stress much more on how the German stories did exaggerate the actual cruelty he possesed. I believe we need to put at least some information on how the Germans were certainly mistaken in the events.

It says in alleged cruelty "Thousands were often impaled at a single time. 10,000 were impaled in the Transylvanian city of Sibiu (where Vlad the Impaler had once lived)." Vlad the impaler NEVER lived in Sibiu, but his son Mihnea cel Reu(Mihnea the bad) did live in Sibiu. That little bit needs to be taken out.

It also says Vlad impaled 30000 merchants in Brasov impaled, I think there needs to be more info on how this is almost entirely untrue. 30000 merchents impaled at one time is impossible not to mention Brasov was the biggest Transylvanian town and counted about 12000 people. Romanian history demonstrates that all towns and villages around Sibiu and Brasov and between them survived to each and all Vlad's attacks. How many victims did he really kill during this 'crusade'. Less, much less then what the stories say.

Western writings took German sources as reference and appreciate that the thirst of blood and sadism of Vlad the Impaler drove to thousands, even tens of thousands Romanian victims. There is no evidence to support this.

Romanians take our own legends as reference and appreciate that Vlad, through his good justice, cleaned up the country. How many victims? Nobody can appreciate. Romanians never tried to count them because they consider Vlad was a just man and he punished only those who deserve it.

1)Unfaithful boyars (noblemen) who conspired to kill and/or overthrow him and replace him with one of his rivals or who proved to be dishonest. Every king/reign/ruler from Europe of that time did the same. His predecesors did the same. Nothing special, except the method. Which the Turks definitely DID teach him when he was a hostage, as Impalment is widely known as a Turkish method.

2) People from his army who didn't listen his order and due to their action many of Vlad's soldiers lost their lives. The night attack, where the commanding officer, whom Vlad ordered to attack the Turkish camp from the other side, did not out of fear from being killed by the Ottoman camp. If he had done as he was told, Mehmed would have possibly been killed. Death punishment was common in all Europe for this offence.

3)Any kind of criminals who harmed the well beeing of honest people: murderers, rapists, ect. The Dark Ages abounded in public executions. Their reason was the power of the example, the fear of people who watched them to not be a criminal.

And if you don't care about what the Romanian people thought, Vlad's contemporary Antonio Bonfini, the official historian of King Mathias Corvin described him as being a "cruel and just man". Now who will you believe? A German pamphlet writer who who wrote malicious things or a well known impartial historian of Vlad's time who wasn't under his command? The website which had this info: [[6]]

Dancemaid062 (talk) 18:44, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

Vlad's burial site

years ago it was available on line a paper on Vlad's tomb that questioned the veracity of place commonly accepted . Do anyone has an idea where can I find such article ? It is important to add up to the main article.

Thanks in Advance —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.217.245.19 (talk) 10:19, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

Vlad and Radu: brothers or half-brothers?

On Vlad's and Radu's pages it says that they both had the same mother, but on Vlad Dracul's page it says they were by different mothers; Vlad by Princess Cneajna and Radu by an unknown noble woman. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dancemaid062 (talk • contribs) 15:42, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

The biography "Dracula: Prince of Many Faces" by Radu R. Florescu and Raymond T. McNally states that Vlad and Radu spent their early years with their mother, Princess Cneajna, and the wives of other exiled boyars. Vlad IV Călugărul was the product of Vlad Dracul and one of his mistresses, a Wallachian noblewoman known as Călţuna. The identity of Prince Mircea's mother is unknown. It is only stated that he is the eldest of Vlad Dracul's legitimate sons. Vlad Dracul and Radu's pages have been corrected. Tathunen (talk) 02:28, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

Need sources

"The warrior sultan turned command of the campaign against Vlad over to subordinates and returned to Constantinople, even though his army had initially outnumbered Vlad's three to one and was better equipped. Vlad was also a courageous man - he led from the front; he never let his soldiers do all the fighting. Vlad's blood-lust was deeper than impalement; he desired to be in battle as well." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.167.124.29 (talk) 18:06, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

I came here to comment this is a bit like POV-pushing. I will remove.--187.40.174.121 (talk) 00:55, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Popular culture?

shouldnt there be a section regarding vlad in popular culture? and ive heard in several documentaries mention of vlad dipping the collected blood of those he impaled. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.229.4.154 (talk) 23:09, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Princess Cneajna

I have searched the internet over, and I cannot find a pronunciation of Vlad's mother's name. Can anyone tell me? Tathunen (talk) 21:02, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

I have no idea. Any chance it might be "neen-ya"? (I find it unlikely it would be "ka-nee-aj-na").--Codenamecuckoo (talk) 19:13, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I have received several different responses, but I finally spoke to someone who has spent time in Romania, and speaks the language flluently. His response was "nea-nya", which makes the most sense to me.Tathunen (talk) 04:12, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

The article claims that Cneajna was a daughter of "Radu", but I've seen elsewhere that she was the daughter of Alexander the Good of Moldavia. It also says this on Alexander the Good's wikipedia page. Foscolo (talk) 16:42, 16 July 2009 (UTC) I went ahead and changed this reference in the "early years" section. Foscolo (talk) 17:07, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

That's correct. She was the eldest of Alexandru cel Bun's many daughters. Tathunen (talk) 03:38, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

It's not pronounced "neen-ya". The name isn't actually romanian. It sound more of slavic origins to me . So it's difficult for a romanian (like me) to pronounce it . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.115.254.87 (talk) 10:10, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

I'm confused. Certain books and sites give Vlad's mother the name Vasilissa. I don't read or speak Romanian very well, but one site calls her "Vasilissa Musatini, cneajna de Moldavia". Also, the Romanian name Chiajna (similar to Cneajna) is a feminine form of Cneaz, a title of Slavic nobility. Is it possible that her real name was Vasilissa, and the word "Cneajna" is actually just a reference to her rank as a Moldavian princess? Tathunen (talk) 07:05, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

1462

The article states that Mehmed encountered 20,000 impaled corpses but entered the capital of Wallachia anyway. Later on it is said that he turned away on seeing the 20,000. Both statements cannot be true. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.254.147.84 (talk) 15:01, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

Romanian hero?

i am friends with people from Romania, different people from different areas that do not know each other. now i have talked to them both about Vlad Tepes and he was no hero! the Romanian people lived in fear of him. he was a dictator and would kill people on a whim. they call him Dracul meaning devil as they believe he was a devil incarnate. now this is only the stories families have passed down through many generation and through their journals and diaries, i do not claim it as fact but i am wondering if so many Romanian (and some Hungarian) claim him to be an incarnate devil why does this article claim that he was a Romanian hero? —Preceding unsigned comment added by BILLIEBRAND (talk • contribs) 11:15, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

Some Romanians see him as a leader whose actions were brutal but necessary for the country's survival. :shrug: 72.2.172.250 (talk) 19:44, 18 September 2010 (UTC)

Location

Where was his kingdom exactly? All this article says is that he was in the Romanian area. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.77.60.127 (talk) 22:55, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

I found an approximate position on the Romania page, and it is also clearly not Transylvania. It should be noted in the page that his kingdom is not Transylvania, and where it is exactly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.77.60.127 (talk) 23:02, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

He was the voivode of Wallachia, the southernmost principality of what is today Romania.Tathunen (talk) 02:23, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

Stoker

Stoker did not base Dracula on Vlad the Impaler. This is a myth that Anthony Ambrogio thoroughly debunked using Stoker's texts and manuscripts in an early issue of Video Watchdog (#19). Stoker traced Dracula's lineage through Hungary, and Transylvania had always been part of Hungary until after World War I. The idea that Stoker "based" Dracula on Vlad the Impaler is a hoax, although Vlad may have had some influence on the character. Indeed, Vlad never ruled Transylvania. The fact that Transylvania is part of Romania in the present-day is irrelevant to the concept. His article demonstrated the poor and biased researched methods McNally and Florescu used to make this assertion.--Scottandrewhutchins 05:56, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

What do you mean that Transylvania was never part of Romania intill World War I. It is a well known fact that Transylvania was historically one of the three main Romanian Principalities during the middle ages. Further more Vlad Tepes did rule this area intill he was betrayed and crushed by the Hungarians from one side and the Ottoman Turks from the other. They feared he had become too powerful. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.82.111 (talk • contribs) 20:29, 17 December 2006

Do you call this a historical fact? Transylvania was not one of the three Romanian Principalities ever before WW1. It belonged to Hungary before and after the Ottoman wars. (From 896 till 1918.) During the Ottoman wars it was a semi-independent client state ruled by Hungarian nobles and paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire. The three ruling entities forming the "Transylvanian nation" were the Saxons, the Székelys (Seculis) and the Hungarian nobles. You shouldn't see these as modern nationalities though. Especially the "Hungarian nobles" group. The original nationalities of nobles were not important.

And Vlad Tepes did not rule Transylvania as it was a part of the Hungarian Kingdom ruled by Matthias Corvinus. (Vlad was Matthias' vassal and not the other way around.:)) The voivod (vajda) of Transylvania was Stephan Bathory at that time afaik.

So can you prove your statement that Transylvania was a Romanian principality during the middle ages? Any sources? (Mihail Vitezaul was the ruler of Transylvania for one year around 1600. That's all.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.2.84.213 (talk • contribs) 21:21, 3 January 2007

Vlad Tepes was the ruler of transylvania if you were to do a little more research you would have already known this. He did not rule for long because of the constant threat from the Turks and Hungarians the reason for his cruelty was to try to keep order during this chaotic time were the Turks were attacking left and right and he was being threatened by his own people betraying him. He was betrayed by his own people to the turks. Anyone who says Hungary ruled this piece of land before WWI I strongly urge you to read any historical encyclopedia and see that this land can be traced back to the dacians that are ancestors of present day romanians you will also see that Transylvania is one of the three romanian principalities and that vlad tepes ruled this land. Also Corvinus is believed to be of romanian parents this is still however disputed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.1.39.180 (talk • contribs) 02:14, 22 May 2007

This is re-DYKE-ulous. Of COURSE Stoker modeled Dracula after Tepes. Vlad "Dracul," ruled Transylvania, lived in a friggin castle, put people on stakes, rumors of unmatched cruelty etc. etc.. If not Tepes, tell me brah, which OTHER person of Transylvanian royalty with the name Dracul and a penchant for blood-soaked extracurricular activity DID Stoker model Dracula after?? Unbelievable... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.148.10.46 (talk • contribs) 17:38, 29 January 2007

Who says Stoker's Dracula was modelled on anyone? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.77.171.243 (talk • contribs) 21:34, 29 January 2007

Elizabeth Báthory. Have a Hungarian noble who lived in a castle, drank (and bathed) in blood and was related to the vajda of Transylvania. Remember also that Count Dracula is a Székely (who may or may not be tantamount to Transylvanian Hungarians), as opposed to Tepes, who was not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.82.26.187 (talk • contribs) 18:10, 30 May 2007

Then I'm sure you have evidence of this? Corvus cornix 23:50, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

No Kidding, if this was anymore painfully obvious you would need an Ibuprophen. The reference isn't anyone's myth. It's generally accepted common sense. It doesn't take a research degree to draw the conclusion that A Character named dracula who live in or near Transylvania in a castle was based on a guy Named dracula who lived in or near transylvania in a castle. Sorry, but their is good editing, and then their is arguing for the sake of sounding smart. Stop insulting your own intelligence . —Preceding unsigned comment added by B.Simpson (talk • contribs) 22:51, 24 April 2007

No more unbelievable than you, I'm afraid. Unfotunately, there are many extremely cruel people in this world, and some of them have lived in "friggin" castles, as you so nicely put it. Dracula was a purely fictional character, a product of a talented man's lively imagination, and nothing else. Impalement has, in fact, fallen in and out of fashion in the past, and so Earth's history has resulted in many a bloody age. And as to the name, Stoker might have simply glimpsed Vlad's signature in a book or on a passing road sign and decided to make a name of it. I as a writer often find names unexpectedly as I pass them or read them. This may have simply been the case. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Frodologist (talk • contribs) 01:46, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

This argument is unnecessary. Stoker clearly used Dracula's name and also the fact that he was a vovoide (prince) from Transylvania who fought during the Middle Ages with mixed success against the Turks. Stoker's Dracula also mentions being betrayed by his brother, who sided with the Turks. The real Dracula was also betrayed by his brother, Radu the Handsome, who indeed maintained allegiance to the Turkish emperor, Mehmed. You may claim the last point to be coincidence, but the previous ones are enough to say that Stoker "based" his character on the real Dracula, as far as using basic facts about him as a starting point. But Stoker likely knew little else about the real Dracula, and his character is FICTIONAL, so any similarities are clearly going to be limited either way. 76.24.21.98 (talk) 21:13, 6 October 2010 (UTC)a reader

I would like to remove the text "It is unclear why Bram Stoker chose this Wallachian prince as the model for his fictional vampire. Stoker was a friend of a Hungarian professor (Arminius Vambery/Hermann Vamberger) from Budapest, and many have suggested that Vlad's name might have been mentioned by this friend." from the "The vampire legend and Romanian attitudes". It is quite clear that Stoker found the name Dracula from Wm Wilkinson's book "Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia". It is also quite clear that Stoker did not choose Vlad as a model for Dracula but just took the name from that book. He had already moved the location in his book from Styria to Transilvania before he found the name Dracula. Laurukainen (talk) 16:06, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

To be more precise, Vlad Tepes was born at Sighisoara, which is in the middle of Transilvania, and by his family right and heritage he ruled over two counties in south-eastern Transilvania, Almas and Fagaras. Not just that the mythical supposed beginer of ruling "domnitori" class in Wallachia was come from there (Radu Negru Voda) but Vlad grandfather Mircea the Old had those counties too under his rule —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.116.208.110 (talk) 21:03, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

Vandalism...

The amount of it on this page is ridiculous (and not even funny). There are several other articles that are now protected because of this. Why not this one, too? Tathunen (talk) 00:18, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

Children

In the main article, it states that his son by his first wife was Mihnea cel Rău. Is there any information about his sons by his second wife? Or any daughters? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.208.27.144 (talk) 20:33, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

The information about the sons by his second wife have been listed on the Wiki article that talks about his second wife (Ilona Szilagy). 76.3.152.89 (talk) 06:51, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

Significance of Certain Information...

I am removing the long-winded explanation of the Hellsing manga under Film and Book Adaptions. I believe that it is better included in the statement made earlier (in the same section), about the film adaptions which include the fictional Dracula whose backgrounds are that of Vlad the Impaler. There is no reason this anime should get such a lengthy highlight, when it is really but one of many of a certain kind of Dracula/ Vlad the Impaler fiction. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.249.81.97 (talk) 17:00, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

Legacy

The legacy section, in addition to being poorly sourced, is rather vague on what details of Vlad's supposed torture methods are fact and which are merely exaggerated "stories". The article should either clearly indicate the distinction between known fact and legend, or explicitly state that there is no way to know which details are true and which are merely legend. Some guy (talk) 06:17, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved to Vlad the Impaler. Favonian (talk) 15:28, 11 September 2011 (UTC)

---

Vlad III the Impaler → Vlad the Impaler – Per WP:COMMONNAME G Books hit for "Vlad the Impaler"7980. G Books hits for "Vlad III the Impaler" 104. On G Scholar 1220 versus 15 Darkness Shines (talk) 21:36, 3 September 2011 (UTC)

• Support. Should either be "Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia" or "Vlad the Impaler" – as shown above, this awkward mash-up is used in very few sources. WP:NCROY allows for cognomen to be used if they are commonly known by it (and it is in Vlad's case). Jenks24 (talk) 11:23, 4 September 2011 (UTC)
• Support, makes sense. There was a "Vlad II" but no "Vald II the Impaler". Good Ol’factory ^(talk) 23:35, 4 September 2011 (UTC)
• Support. Don't think "Vlad III the Impaler" is very common. Rennell435 (talk) 16:52, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
• Support. He is most commonly known as Vlad the Impaler. Joyson Noel ^{Holla at me!} 16:57, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
• I agree that the current title isn't the best (as in e.g. Louis the German, not "Louis II the German"), but why don't you take a minute to try and establish which is the most commonly used name? I find that "Vlad Tepes" is at least as frequently found (in English) as "Vlad the Impaler". --dab (𒁳) 15:43, 10 September 2011 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Change to the lede

The first sentence of the second paragraph is poorly written and actually quite confusing. I'm going to tweak the grammar a bit so it actually makes sense — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.246.40.59 (talk) 05:43, 26 September 2011 (UTC)

Inspirations

The author(s) has made the claim that Stoker's Dracula was based off of Vlad. As has been previously stated, this is NOT the case. However, the author would do well to note that, although Vlad did not spawn the original Dracula, his grim reputation and favored method of execution did in fact inspire many vampiric roles, such as the undead King whom young Indiana Jones encounters in the Telivision Series. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Frodologist (talk • contribs) 01:11, 16 August 2009

Incorrect-a large part of Stoker's character is based on Dracula - even if it is somewhat distorted in the novel - this is very well supported in Reliable Sources. HammerFilmFan (talk) 03:24, 17 July 2011 (UTC) HammerFilmFan

Actually you are incorrect. Stoker's Dracula is not based on Vlad (if that is what you mean by Dracula) and there are no reliable sources that would support such a claim.Laurukainen (talk) 17:01, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

No support for such a claim? How about the book Dracula itself? The title character goes on a rant about his "ancestors", indirectly talking about himself. In this rant he talks about how his brother left his people for the Turks, how this Dracula overthrew an usurper to his rule, how he supported the suggestions for Crusade against the Ottomans, and how this Dracula crossed the border to harass the Turks. If you've read the history of Vlad III, that might all sound pretty familiar. This is ignoring the obvious fact that the character is described at various points as Dracula, a ruler of Wallachia. That seems a pretty good indication that he's referencing the ruler of Wallachia who went by Draculea.

Obviously Stoker was writing for dramatic effect and not historical accuracy so there are a lot of points that don't mesh with Vlad III, but it's also obvious that Stoker had Vlad (or his understanding of him) in mind when he wrote his book. There's my evidence for, what's your evidence against? The Cap'n (talk) 15:34, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Well from Stoker’s notes (via Elizabeth Miller’s books) one can see that, A) Stoker started writing the book months before he found the name “Dracula”, before this the name of the vampire was Count Wampyr. B) The name Dracula came from Vlad AND from his father. C) Stoker did not know who Vlad was and he did not know the name Vlad or Impaler. D) He chose the name (most probably) because he read that it meant devil in Wallachian (Romanian) language. E) He took a couple of historical references from a “voivode called Dracula” from the same book as the name, but did not know that it was Vlad.

So in a summary, Stoker took the name and a couple of historical facts for his vampire from Vlad and his father. For what we can be sure of, Stoker didn’t know anything else about Vlad, not the name Vlad the Impaler, not of his cruelties and not of his looks. So there is a connection between the two, but to say that “a large part of Stoker's character is based on Dracula” is a very big exaggeration. And I don’t remember that Dracula in the book would refer to himself as the ruler of Wallachia. They are in Transylvania not in Wallachia and the only direct reference to Dracula being a ruler of any specific place is when Van Helsing mentions him being “a son of the land beyond the forest” a.k.a. Transylvania. This information is nothing new or original research, but can be found in many scholarly books about the subject, for example in Elizabeth Miller’s (2000) book “Dracula: Sense&Nonsense”. Laurukainen (talk) 19:20, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Actually he did know the name Vlad the Impaler but Tepes / Impaler is a posthumous title. That's why it never comes up in the novel. It was a title given to Dracula AFTER his death. Professor Abraham Van Helsing himself says "This must be The Dracula who fought The Turks." — Preceding unsigned comment added by JTheGoblinKing (talk • contribs) 07:06, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

One of the commentors above me said that the novel Dracula is set in Transylvania and not Wallachia. This made me wince. I suggest you look into what Wallachia is. It's... Wait for it... Romania! You know, the country that Transylvania is a part of. The Prince of Wallachia was born in Transylvania.

Also could someone do something about the current messiness of this page. It looks like half of this is about Vlad Dracul the second and not Vlad the Third. It could get confusing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by JTheGoblinKing (talk • contribs) 07:13, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

There is no evidence to suggest that Bram Stoker knew the name Impaler (Tepes). If you have found some evidence for this claim, then please provide it. I'm also having trouble following your logic about the fact that the name is posthumous. Yes it is (mostly) posthumous to Vlad, but it has nothing to do with the fictional Dracula.

And about Wallachia and Transylvania. I know that this is hair-splitting, but Transylvania was not part of Romania during the time of Stoker's novel, it was part of Austria-Hungary. So Transylvania is not in the same country as Wallachia in Stoker's novel, and never even had been in history with the exception of a year during Michael the Brave's rule. Laurukainen (talk) 19:59, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

I would just like to add also that Transylvania and Wallachia are very different parts of Romania, which cannot and should not be bundled into one. Historically, Transylvania has been for a longer period under Austro-Hungarian rule, than it has been part of Romania, one of the major reasons for which some Hungarian minorities try to undo the union with this territory. Wallachia, on the other hand, is an undisputed Romanian land and together with Moldova (the region not the current country) form the origin of the modern Romania. As much as I'd like to claim Vlad the impaler for Transylvania, he was a Wallachian, born in Transylvania and who ruled Wallachia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.114.14.79 (talk) 13:51, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

Van HElsing in the Dracula novel says "This must be THE Dracula who fought the Turks." That's vlad. Why would he need to know the name Tepes? Dracula himself never called himself that. It was a post humorous name given over fifty years after his death. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.8.249.139 (talk) 04:14, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

First Wife

It was once popularized on the internet and then starting to disseminate about two years ago that Vlad's first wife's name was Elsie (illsie). More information went along with this memory of mine when I read it, however, I can no long track these web track sites any longer, so I rely on just the memory of one name, and no paragraph entry regarding any full name or historical synopsis. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bill Riojas Mclemore (talk • contribs) 21:55, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

This whole palge is a mess. Currently the woman listed as his "first wife" is his MOTHER! Look at the dates his "Sons" were born. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.8.249.139 (talk) 04:18, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Tutea

I removed this part:

Petre Tutea, Romanian philosopher characterized Vlad Tepes as follows:

Vlad Țepeș... has the merit of placing on the Moldavian throne the greatest of the Romanian voievods, Stephen the Great. With weapons! He has the merit that he lowered the absolute ethics through the spikes put in the buttocs at absolute level. You were sleeping with your bag of gold near your head and were afraid to steal it from yourself. This is the absolute voievod, Vlad Țepeș. Because without this one the Romanian history is a lambs' medow!

(In Romanian in the original text: "Vlad Țepeș...are meritul de a fi pus pe tronul Moldovei pe cel mai mare voievod român, pe Ștefan cel Mare. Cu armele! Are meritul că a coborât morala absolută prin țepele puse în cur la nivel absolut. Dormeai cu punga de aur la cap și ți-era frică să n-o furi tu de la tine. Ăsta-i voievod absolut, Vlad Țepeș. Păi fără ăsta istoria românilor e o pajiște cu miei!") reference - Petre Țuțea - 322 de vorbe memorabile ale lui Petre Țuțea, București, Editura Humanitas, 1997, p.119./ISBN 973-28-0630-3.

I don't see why put a quote from Tutea. He's not a proper historian, he's just known as a bigot nationalist/fascist "philosopher". I'd think that a quote from a historian like Nicolae Iorga or Xenopol would be better. bogdan (talk) 15:39, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

wladislaus

here there was an image of a document where he signed his name as wladislaus drakwyla. who removed it?!--188.26.255.243 (talk) 14:43, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Not that I removed it, however it should be noted that in that link he signed as DRAGWLYA not Drakwlya, meaning "Dear" or "The precious" etc not "The dragon.Lagonx (talk) 15:20, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

Religion

Do we have clear authority for his religious affiliations, in particular that he was a convert to Christianity and if so what from? PatGallacher (talk) 01:35, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

I think he was a Christian for his whole life, unlike he's brother Radu who converted to Islam. For the most part of his life he was a Orthodox and according to the Russian stories after he's release from Hungary he converted to Catholicism. Laurukainen (talk) 10:56, 29 May 2012 (UTC)

Porphyria

I propose mentioning a possible connection to porphyria, which may have given rise to the vampire myth. It is mentioned on the porphyria wikipedia entry as well as other sources. HonkyTonkHarlot (talk) 05:27, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

I don't think that's worth doing unless you can find some good sources for that. The porphyria wikipedia entry doesn't have any. To me linking Vlad with this disorder seems to be yet another attempt to make some odd connections between Vlad and vampires, even though vampires of course have had no problems with sunlight untill the movies. Laurukainen (talk) 07:46, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

Spelling 2nd paragraph

"This, know doubt, ". Is this proper English? -- 93.220.85.54 (talk) 09:53, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

No, that looks like it was a mistake. Thank you for pointing it out. I've fixed it, but remember that you are allowed and encouraged to be bold and fix any mistakes yourself. --Bongwarrior (talk) 10:03, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

Vlad the Impaler and Dracula

Dracula means Son of the Dragon, which his father was Dracul which means Dragon. Well Vlad Dracula did inspire Bram Stokers Dracula, because if you have seen the movie it will show at the beginning him in the war invading Wallchia and battling out the war and the rest of the movie is just vamparic fiction.--Send AND Reply (talk) 19:58, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

Are you aware that there was a book before the movie? DreamGuy (talk) 15:16, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

Reference to "In the Shadow of Empires"

A reference to "In the Shadow of Empires", a book about the historic Dracula has now been removed several times. Can someone please explain why that is? The book is a serious non-fiction work that is available globally through Amazon and several other serious outlets. Jens sn (talk) 22:10, 20 December 2012 (UTC)

Because the wording is a clear and undeniable violation of our policies against WP:SPAM. Because it's a self-published book with no mainstream notability. Because, based upon your user name, it would seem you are violating WP:COI policy by adding it here yourself. Any one of those would be more than enough reason to remove it. DreamGuy (talk) 15:14, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

I strongly disagree that your comment (on the edit) that 'removing crap content is contributing' as it is not for you to decide what is crap and what isn't. If it was up to my opinion this whole page would be deleted and redone as it is essentially crap, but I don't feel that is my station. Similarly I disagree with your opinion on self-published books. To suggest that a self-pubish book can not be relevant, or a published book necessarily is, is not true. Anyhow, I get your point and I will reformulate the section to include all currently available biographies. Jens sn (talk) 18:57, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

If you feel the book should be included, can you provide a third-party reliable source establishing that the book is significant in some manner? Doniago (talk) 23:48, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

As either the author or someone who is such a fan they made a user name similar to the author's name, you sure don't get to decide that it's good enough to belong here. You need reliable third party sources discussing how good the book is before you can expect an encyclopedia to make any reference to it at all.

Since the biography section was only ever created by you to provide justification for including the book you would like to have free advertising here for, I have removed it completely. As you mentioned in an earlier comment, those generally aren't really biographies of Vlad anyway, they are books about Dracula, which is not the same thing.

Now for the big question: did you read our policies on spam, conflict of interest and so forth that I linked to above and are ignoring them, or did you not bother to read them at all? If this becomes an ongoing problem we will have no choice but to block you from editing this article. DreamGuy (talk) 20:01, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

OK I understand the issue. I know the policies and believe I operate within them. To have a direct interest is not necessarily a bias, indeed some of the real knowledge on a subject must be found from those that are directly involved. Anyhow, not a problem, I am sure someone else may decide to contribute in this field, as the books listed are actually (or claim to be) biographies and not jus "about Dracula". Oh and here is one that may interst you some, a review written by an anonymous reader from the US The author not only assembled all available information but he also guided the reader through the exciting process of gaining an understanding of why things happened. Somehow he managed to achieve a perfect balance of being passionate about the subject and at the same time to refrain from speculating too much (and only when necessary - due to lack of data). Great work that managed to completely change that little that I "knew" about this historical figure.' Contrary to you he/she have actually read ten book in question. http://www.amazon.com/In-Shadow-Empires-historic-Dracula/dp/1475250398/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359962972&sr=8-1&keywords=in+the+shadow+of+empires Jens sn (talk) 07:35, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

Reading through the Edit-comments and the Talk, wouldn't it be a solution to just change or remove the offensive links? From what I saw of it (brief as it was), it was quite useful and there are/were no source-references being added. TiReign (talk) 17:48, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

First Marriage

I think someone got things confused with Vlad the second Dracul (Vlad the Third's father) because if you look at the entries for first and second marriage and ...third the math is entirely impossible. For this to be accurate Vlad would had to have had a child with his first wife at four-years-old! It gives his date of Birth as 1435, Vlad Dracula was only born in 1431! — Preceding unsigned comment added by JTheGoblinKing (talk • contribs) 07:19, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

I realize now that entry was somehow a confused submission about Vlad the Second. Could someone better organize the page and reduce the history about his father, he already has his own page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.86.117.164 (talk) 13:40, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

Could someone PLEASE fix this. There is no way he had a "Son" with the same name and birth year as his estranged younger brother. They're getting Vlad the Second mixed up with Vlad the third. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.8.249.139 (talk) 03:50, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Vlad the impaler had TWO wives, not three. that "second" wife on this wiki page is his first wife. And that "First" wife is very clearly his MOTHER! The children are Vlad The impaler himself and his brother, Radu. That wasn't his first wife, that was his mother. He was only born in 1431. There is no way he had a son in the 1430s! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.8.249.139 (talk) 03:58, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

According to this citation The British Chronicles, Volume 2 by David Hughes He did have children with three different women. In addition, It Doesn't state when Radu was born, but he died 11 years after his brother. Lagonx (talk) 10:50, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

But that book does not give sources for it's own information, nor does it claim that the three women were all wives. Also you will find most historical documents do say that his brother radu was born roughly four or six years after him. If you notice the section that was removed from this page claimed that Vlad The impaler's first son was born 1436. This is impossible, as he was born in 1431. JTheGoblinKing (talk) 10:50, 15 February 2012

The original paragraph mentioned this: "Radu lived with the Bishop of Oradea in Transylvania until 1482, when he fell ill. He returned to Buda, where he died in his mother's presence.[10] Vlad Tepelus was married to Neacsa Ujlaki and he was an unsuccessful claimant to the Wallachian throne between 1476 and 1488." With another citation: (1994) In search of Dracula: the history of Dracula and vampires. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-65783-0. Obviously Radu wasn't born when his father was 4 years old, but with 2 citations i doubt its made up as his brother has nothing to do with what's mentioned, and tepelus was an unsuccessful claimant when he was already dead. Probably a small mistake and even though i can't verify those citations it's defintly Not a mix-up with his own mother. someone with further information should check to verify how many children he actually had. Lagonx (talk) 21:14, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

And Volume 1 is all about Atlantis, a British monarchy in Roman Britain, etc. Not a reliable source. Dougweller (talk) 12:05, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

There is no reliable source in regards Vlad's first marriage. Indeed it is only assumed he was married due to folklore regarding his wife's suicide at Poinari Castle, which is exactly that, folklore. If nothing appears here regarding a reliable source, I will delete it by end Feb 2013.Jens sn (talk) 14:16, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

Corrections Various

- War with the Ottomans - Wallachia did not pay Jizya. Jizya is a per-head tax paid by non-muslim poulations INSIDE the Ottoman Empire. Best word for what is paid by a country is 'tribute', also as per Babinger P. 203.Jens sn (talk) 08:09, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

- Early Life - There is no proof that Vlad Dracula was a member of The Order of the Dragon. Florescu and McNally uses the word "poised to resume the wows he had inherited from his fater as a member of the Dragon Order" (P.129), but they are speculating (as they are throughout the book), as there are no indications that Vlad Dracula was ever invested in the Dragon Order or that the order indeed was hereditary, which would be higly unusual for a noble order. Membership of the Dragon Order would not have been attached to the position as Voivode, and if any of Dracul's son should have inherited the title it would have beeen Vlad Călugărul who was Vlad Dracula's older brother (after Mircea II of Wallachia had been killed in 1447).Jens sn (talk) 08:40, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

- Life in Edirne - There is no proof that Radu Drtacula ever converted to Islam. Neither did he 'command the Janissary contingents'!, He was, as per Babinger, allowed to live at the court, and the title 'bey' is the Ottoman/Turkish honorary/polite form to address a genteman. See Babinger p. 207 'In sharp contrast to his brutal and ungainly brother, Radu was a weakling and a voluptuary, famous for his beauty. He had spent years as hostage at the sultan's court, where he had won Mehmed's special favor.'Jens sn (talk) 08:51, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

- Early Life -Dracula's mother is NOT beleived to be 'the second wife of Vlad Dracul, Princess Cneajna'. The source referrenced specifically says (P.45) that 'most historinas believe that Dracul married Princess Cneajna...etc', it also states (same page) that 'in addition to his wife, Vlad Dracula, like his predecessors, had a number of mistresses'.Jens sn (talk) 09:17, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

- Life in Edirene - The whole sentence 'These years presumably had a great influence on Vlad's character and led to Vlad's well-known hatred for the Ottoman Turks, the Janissary, his brother Radu for converting to Islam and the young Turkish prince Mehmed II (even after he became sultan). He was envious of his father's preference for his elder brother, Mircea II and half brother, Vlad Călugărul. He also distrusted the Hungarians and his own father for trading him to the Turks and betraying the Order of the Dragon's oath to fight the Ottoman Empire.' is unsubstantiated and based on presumption. It is furthermore incorrect (e.g. Radu was not a muslim). I have given up trying to make it credible and/or readable and deleted it in its entirety.Jens sn (talk) 14:04, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

- Early Life - As Vlad's mother is unknown, the sentence 'under the care and tutelage of their mother and the wives of other exiled boyars' is incorrect and has been removed.Jens sn (talk) 14:08, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

- Life in Edirne - The sentence 'Vlad was later released under probation and taken to be educated...etc. ' is nonsense. Vlad was a rolyal hostage and would have been treated accordingly. I have reformulated the sentence.Jens sn (talk) 14:21, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

Misplaced sentences

"Vlad had rounded the impaling sticks so they wouldn't hit major organs and kill people instantly. Instead, the people had a slow, painful death."

This looks like it belongs in a different section, as it's a non sequitur where it is located now, in the "War with the Ottomans" section.→StaniStani  03:12, 17 February 2013 (UTC)

Some sneaky bastard doctored the opening image of Vlad the Impaler's Wikipedia page. See if you can spot it...

Some sneaky bastard doctored the opening image of Vlad the Impaler's Wikipedia page. See if you can spot it...

http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/18myn5/some_sneaky_bastard_doctored_the_opening_image_of/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.7.237.133 (talk) 18:23, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Unlikely. I changed it back one hour earlier ;-). The animated gif has been nominated for deletion.  Ronhjones  ^(Talk) 02:56, 17 February 2013 (UTC)

Heh, I just noticed it, although nice work. Adrian (talk) 03:20, 17 February 2013 (UTC)

"Nice work" what? That was a work of genius and a tiny fun easter egg. It should definitely belong to the page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.27.128.142 (talk) 11:31, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

second wife

Ilona Szilágyi article mentions she is vlad's second wife. in this article it says she's his third wife. please clarify. Lagonx (talk) 16:19, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Ilona is Vlad's second wife. This has been confirmed by Professors McNally and Florescu in their biographies about Vlad. 70.170.52.156 (talk) 06:53, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

Vlad's birthplace

I've deleted 'in the Kingdom of Valahia', as Sighisoara never belonged to that entity (proper English spelling Wallachia).Roman69 (talk) 13:25, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Descendants

Is it worthwhile mentioning in this article descendents of Vlad Dracula? E.g. Catherine Caradja and the adopted Ottomar Rodolphe Vlad Dracula Prince Kretzulesco. And is their descent verifiable?--~ ~ : Lincoln Cooper : ~ ~ (talk) 00:47, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

The article is not clear on his lineage. I would be very cautious about adding what might be considered questionable claims without very reliable sources. RashersTierney (talk) 01:15, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Agree. Of course, the article could simply state, "It is claimed that..." or "So-n-so claims...", but the average reader might interpret this as a sort of affirmation of the claim. (Why would they mention it if there wasn't good reason to believe it's true?). Best to mention nothing than to mention something ambiguous.--~ ~ : Lincoln Cooper : ~ ~ (talk) 01:11, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

I added the blood descendents and verified the accuracy. (I have no idea that he also had adopted children). Elenaschifirnet (talk) 17:03, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

Accord to this CBS News thing, Bush and Kerry are not only related to each other, but also related to Vlad the Impaler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l8lQgD4O7s. Around the 2 minute mark is when they show it. Not sure if it's worth mentioning? Not sure how reliable sources work either. 174.59.99.35 (talk) 03:12, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

Meh, it could well be true, the thing is, when you go backwards in lineage you only have to go back a few generations before everyone is distantly related to everyone, particularly if you have so much as one noble anywhere in your family tree, then you're instantly related to every noble family in Europe and ergo everyone they themselves are related to. If you have European ancestry you're 100% likely to be related to Charlemagne. I wouldn't bother mentioning it. 123.243.215.92 (talk) 12:07, 15 September 2013 (UTC)

Number of executions section: reflexive nationalism?

The line actually stating the historical estimates for the number of deaths attributed to Vlad is suffixed with the defensive statement that the number is roughly equal to "the cumulative number of executions over four centuries of European witchhunts", with the source being Florescu at the Center for Romanian Studies, the official historical bureau of the Romanian government and a staunchly pro-Vlad non-neutral source. To dismiss Vlad's death toll by basically stating it was "no worse than X atrocity that you other people did" (in this case the witch-hunting behavior of Western Europeans), especially since it came from a government source, strikes me as a classic example of irrelevant reflexive apologism when an unpleasant historical truth about a nationalist figure or institution is brought up. The figures are either accurate or they're not; it doesn't require context, especially irrelevant context.

This line smacks of the old joke that whenever an American would point out some inglorious or distasteful truth about the Soviet Union, no matter how neutrally worded, their instant angry response would be "And you are lynching Negroes!", regardless of whether that had anything to do with the topic at hand. Court Appointed Shrub (talk) 14:00, 13 September 2013 (UTC)

I don’t really understand your argument and I really can’t see how making the comparison could in anyway be considered as pro-Vlad. The article states that the number of Vlad’s victims is comparable to the victims of European witch hunts. In other words the article states that Vlad killed in less than seven years as much people as the whole number of executions in over four centuries. How on earth can that comparison be interpreted as pro-Vlad? I would argue that it is in fact quite the opposite. That Vlad managed to kill in less than seven years as much people as the whole European witch hunt did in 400 years, that’s not irrelevant eflexive apologism, that’s just putting the numbers in context, and not in a positive one. Laurukainen (talk) 20:43, 15 September 2013 (UTC)

Unreliable Sources and References

With reliable source in mind I have dug into all the sources/references currently listed in this page. I have found that the following sources/references are NOT reliable sources as they are mainly web-pages or publications with no heritage or recognition. UNLESS SOMEONE CAN ARGUE THE REASON WHY A SOURCE/REFERENCE SHOULD STAY, I will delete these references, and possible the content related, by end April 2013.

Detected unreliable sources:

4 "Count Dracula's Legend". Romaniatourism.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17

7 Murgescu, Mirela-Luminița (1999). In Kahl, Thede; Schippel, Larisa. Vom "guten Christen" zum "tapferen Rumänen". Forum: Rumänien. Frank & Timme. p. 248. ISBN 978-3-8659-6405-2.

9 "The young Dracula environment and education". Exploringromania.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17

13 "Vlad Tepes Dracula's internal policy". Exploringromania.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17.

14 DRACULA: between myth and reality. by Adrian Axinte. Stanford University.

15 "Vlad Tepes". Retrieved April 24, 2012 16 "Vlad the Impaler second rule [3]". Exploringromania.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17.

18 Other estimates for the army include 150,000 by Michael Doukas, 250,000 by Laonicus Chalcond.

19 "Vlad Tepes". Guide-to-castles-of-europe.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17

20 "The Life and Deaths of Vlad the Impaler". Tabula-rasa.info. Retrieved 2012-08-17.

22 Rezachevici, Constantin (2002). The tomb of Vlad Tepes: the most probable hypothesis. Journal of Dracula Studies, Number 4

23 Top 10 Royals Who Would Have Been Terrible On Facebook". Time. 9 November 2010.

34 Story". Library.thinkquest.org. Retrieved 2012-08-17

35 Miho Bučinjelić (Michael Bocignolus Raguseus). "Epistula Michaelis Bocignoli Ragusei". Mudrac.ffzg.hr. Retrieved 2012-08-17

36 "Epistula Michaelis Bocignoli Ragusei in multiple languages". Archive.org. Retrieved 2012-08-17

37 Letopisetul cantacuzinesc" (in (Romanian)). Ro.wikisource.org. Retrieved 2012-08-17

39 Prof. Ioan Scurtu, historian

40 Nicu Parlog (2009-11-30). "Vlad Tepes - the first victim of a press campaign". Descopera.ro. Retrieved 2012-08-17

Jens sn (talk) 06:57, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Well I wouldn't remove number 22. First of all Constantin Rezachevici is a well-known Romanian historian whose area of specialization is medieval history. Secondly the Journal of Dracula Studies, although a webpage journal, is edited/owned by professor Elizabeth Miller who is also a very well-known scholar in this field and has written many books on the subject. Also the other scholars who have written in that journal are also pretty well-know scholars of this field, like for example Raymond T. McNally and Duncan Light. On top of everything, this journal is also peer-reviewed, so I really don't see any reason to delete it. Laurukainen (talk) 18:59, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

A good point and duly noted. Thank you for clarifying that. Jens sn (talk) 09:02, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

4 "Count Dracula's Legend". Romaniatourism.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17 has been removed as has the statement 'Vlad III spent much of his rule campaigning against the Ottoman Empire and its expansion' associated with it. Vlad did not spend most of his rule fighting the Ottomans. His only campaign against them was the raid on the southern coast of the Danube in the winter of 1461. He then defended against them in 1462 and did a short incursion into Bosnia before his third and final rule. The statement, as the reference, is unreliable (and wrong) Jens sn (talk) 06:24, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

7 Murgescu, Mirela-Luminița (1999). In Kahl, Thede; Schippel, Larisa. Vom "guten Christen" zum "tapferen Rumänen". Forum: Rumänien. Frank & Timme. p. 248. ISBN 978-3-8659-6405-2. has been removed. 'Citation needed' inserted. Jens sn (talk) 06:35, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

9 "The young Dracula environment and education". Exploringromania.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17 has been removed. Text unchanged. Jens sn (talk) 06:44, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

13 "Vlad Tepes Dracula's internal policy". Exploringromania.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17 has been removed. 'Citation needed' inserted. Jens sn (talk) 06:49, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

14 DRACULA: between myth and reality. by Adrian Axinte. Stanford University. has been removed. Jens sn (talk) 20:02, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

15 "Vlad Tepes". Retrieved April 24, 2012 16 "Vlad the Impaler second rule [3]". Exploringromania.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17. has been removed. Citation Needed inserted. Jens sn (talk) 20:08, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

16 "Vlad the Impaler second rule [3]". Exploringromania.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17. has been removed. Text left unchanged. Jens sn (talk) 08:59, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

18 Other estimates for the army include 150,000 by Michael Doukas, 250,000 by Laonicus Chalcond. has been removed. Text left unchanged. Jens sn (talk) 09:00, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

19 "Vlad Tepes". Guide-to-castles-of-europe.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17 has been removed. Text left unchanged. Jens sn (talk) 09:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

20 "The Life and Deaths of Vlad the Impaler". Tabula-rasa.info. Retrieved 2012-08-17. has been removed, Citation Needed inserted. Jens sn (talk) 09:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

23 Top 10 Royals Who Would Have Been Terrible On Facebook". Time. 9 November 2010. has been removed. Citation Needed inserted. Jens sn (talk) 09:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

34 Story". Library.thinkquest.org. Retrieved 2012-08-17 has been removed. Citation Needed inserted. Jens sn (talk) 09:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

37 Letopisetul cantacuzinesc" (in (Romanian)). Ro.wikisource.org. Retrieved 2012-08-17 has been removed. Citation Needed inserted. Jens sn (talk) 09:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

39 Prof. Ioan Scurtu, historian has been removed. Citation Needed inserted. Jens sn (talk) 09:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

40 Nicu Parlog (2009-11-30). "Vlad Tepes - the first victim of a press campaign". Descopera.ro. Retrieved 2012-08-17 has been removed. Jens sn (talk) 09:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Reference "Andreescu, Ștefan (1998). Vlad Țepeș (Dracula): între legendă și adevăr istoric [Vlad Tepes (Dracula): between legend and historical truth]. Editura Enciclopedica. ISBN 9789734502585" and "Stefan Andreescu - Vlad Tepes Dracula". Scribd.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17. are dead ends and have been removed. Jens sn (talk) 09:31, 26 September 2013 (UTC)