Vlad the Impaler

The name Dracula actually means "Son of Dragon." Vlad the Impaler is the original Dracula, doning the name during his crusades for religous freedom in his country of Romania. Vlad was born a prince and over the course of his reign, began shedding blood and feeding into the intoxication of have complete power over people. He would impale people on posts that surrounded his castle in the hopes of instilling fear into whoever tried to cross his path. He was also known to rule in many court appointed seats, governed many areas of Romania and even spoke multiple languages. During his reign of terror and bloodshed he was imprisoned as many troops from other countries began to want his reign ended. He sat for thirteen years in a prison for his crimes. In the end there are many versions to how he died. According to trutv.com he was released and eventually had to flee into the country side with troops on his tail. Eventually he, alone, fought against the armies and possibly died. His body was found decapitated and mutilated in a bog shortly after. I had always heard that he escaped his prison sentence and began to rule Transylvania again. Soon after he took the thrown he was ambushed in his castle by armies wanting his reign to end. Since he was trapped he had thrown himself over the edge of a cliff in the back of his castle and his remains washed up on the shore later. As with most myths, Vlad the Impaler was a living breathing person that was base in a story that holds our attention hundreds of years after his death. There has also been much speculation as to whether Bram Stoker used Vlad the Impaler as his main character in the Dracula story. It is indeed a very likely possibility.

Information on this page was found at http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/history/vlad/gotter_8.html