Acacia
Acacia greggii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
clade:	Angiosperms
clade:	Eudicots
clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Mimosoideae
Tribe:	Acacieae
Genus:	Acacia Mill.[1]
Species
About 1,300; see List of Acacia species

Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha), the floral emblem of Australia

Acacia ( /əˈkeɪʃə/ or /əˈkeɪsiə/) is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not. They are pod-bearing, with sap and leaves typically bearing large amounts of tannins and condensed tannins that historically in many species found use as pharmaceuticals and preservatives.

The generic name derives from ακακία (akakia), the name given by early Greek botanist-physician Pedanius Dioscorides (ca. 40-90) to the medicinal tree A. nilotica in his book Materia Medica.^[2] This name derives from the Greek word for its characteristic thorns, ακις (akis, thorn).^[3] The species name nilotica was given by Linnaeus from this tree's best-known range along the Nile river.

Acacias are also known as thorntrees, whistling thorns or wattles, including the yellow-fever acacia and umbrella acacias.

The genus Acacia previously contained roughly 1300 species, about 960 of them native to Australia, with the remainder spread around the tropical to warm-temperate regions of both hemispheres, including Europe, Africa, southern Asia, and the Americas. However, in 2005 the genus was divided into five separate genera. The name Acacia was retained for the majority of the Australian species and a few in tropical Asia, Madagascar and Pacific Islands. Most of the species outside Australia, and a small number of Australian species, were reclassified into Vachellia and Senegalia. The two final genera, Acaciella and Mariosousa, only contain about a dozen species from the Americas each.

Classification[link]

The traditional circumscription of the genus Acacia is not monophyletic. This discovery has led to the breaking up of Acacia into five genera as discussed in: List of Acacia species, along with the much debated re-typification of the genus with an Australian species instead of the original African type species.^[4] That decision has lead a group of taxonomists to decide to continue to use the traditional Acacia sensu lato circumscription of the genus.^[4] This is however probably bad practice and in direct violation of modern principles of classification.^[5][6] When the genus is divided, the traditional acacias of Africa are now treated in the genera Vachellia and Senegalia, some of the American species are placed in Acaciella and Mariosousa, and the majority of species still treated in the genus Acacia are confined to Australia.

In common parlance, the term "acacia" is occasionally misapplied to species of the genus Robinia, which also belongs in the pea family. Robinia pseudoacacia, an American species locally known as Black Locust, is sometimes called "false acacia" in cultivation in the United Kingdom.

Geography[link]

Acacias in Australia probably evolved their fire resistance about 20 million years ago when fossilised charcoal deposits show a large increase, indicating that fire was a factor even then.^{[citation needed]} With no major mountain ranges or rivers to prevent their spread, the wattles began to spread all over the continent as it dried and fires became more common.^{[citation needed]} They began to form dry, open forests with species of the genera Casuarina, Eucalyptus and Callitris (Cypress-pines).

The southernmost species in the genus are Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle), Acacia longifolia (Coast Wattle or Sydney Golden Wattle), Acacia mearnsii (Black Wattle), and Acacia melanoxylon (Blackwood), reaching 43°30' S in Tasmania, Australia, while Acacia caven (Espinillo Negro) reaches nearly as far south in northeastern Chubut Province of Argentina.^{[citation needed]}

Australian species are usually called wattles, while African and American species tend to be known as acacias.^{[citation needed]}

Acacia albida, Acacia tortilis and Acacia iraqensis can be found growing wild in the Sinai desert and the Jordan valley. It^{[clarification needed]} is found in the savanna vegetation of the tropical continental climate. It grows wild in Montserrat West Indies; there it is locally referred to as 'cusha.'

Description[link]

Acacia facsiculifera seedling in the transitional stage between pinnate leaves and phyllodes.

The leaves of acacias are compound pinnate in general. In some species, however, more especially in the Australian and Pacific islands species, the leaflets are suppressed, and the leaf-stalks (petioles) become vertically flattened, and serve the purpose of leaves. These are known as phyllodes. The vertical orientation of the phyllodes protects them from intense sunlight, as with their edges towards the sky and earth they do not intercept light so fully as horizontally placed leaves. A few species (such as Acacia glaucoptera) lack leaves or phyllodes altogether, but possess instead cladodes, modified leaf-like photosynthetic stems functioning as leaves.

The small flowers have five very small petals, almost hidden by the long stamens, and are arranged in dense globular or cylindrical clusters; they are yellow or cream-colored in most species, whitish in some, even purple (Acacia purpureapetala) or red (Acacia leprosa Scarlet Blaze). Acacia flowers can be distinguished from those of a large related genus, Albizia, by their stamens which are not joined at the base. Also, unlike individual Mimosa flowers, those of Acacia have more than 10 stamens.^[7]

The plants often bear spines, especially those species growing in arid regions. These sometimes represent branches which have become short, hard and pungent, or sometimes leaf-stipules. Acacia armata is the Kangaroo-thorn of Australia and Acacia erioloba is the Camelthorn of Africa.

Acacia seeds can be difficult to germinate. Research has found that immersing the seeds in various temperatures (usually around 80 °C) and manual seed coat chipping can improve yields to approximately 80 percent.^[8]

Symbiosis[link]

Acacia collinsii stipules

In the Central American Acacia sphaerocephala, Acacia cornigera, and Acacia collinsii (collectively known as the bullthorn acacias), the large thorn-like stipules are hollow and afford shelter for several species of Pseudomyrmex ants, which feed on a secretion of sap on the leaf-stalk and small, lipid-rich food-bodies at the tips of the leaflets called Beltian bodies. In return, the ants add protection to the plant against herbivores.^[9] Some species of ants will also fight off competing plants around the acacia, cutting off the offending plant's leaves with their jaws and ultimately killing it. Other associated ant species appear to do nothing to benefit their hosts.

Similar mutualisms with ants occur on Acacia trees in Africa, such as the Whistling Thorn acacia. The acacias provide shelter for ants in the hollow stipules and nectar in extrafloral nectaries for their symbiotic ants such as Crematogaster mimosae. In turn, the ants protect the plant by attacking large mammalian herbivores and stem-boring beetles that damage the plant.

Pests[link]

In Australia, Acacia species are sometimes used as food plants by the larvae of hepialid moths of the genus Aenetus including A. ligniveren. These burrow horizontally into the trunk then vertically down. Other Lepidoptera larvae which have been recorded feeding on Acacia include Brown-tail, Endoclita malabaricus and Turnip Moth. The leaf-mining larvae of some bucculatricid moths also feed on Acacia: Bucculatrix agilis feeds exclusively on Acacia horrida and Bucculatrix flexuosa feeds exclusively on Acacia nilotica.

Acacias contain a number of organic compounds that defend them from pests and grazing animals.^[10]

Uses[link]

Food uses[link]

Acacia seed pods,^{[clarification needed]} also known as Guajes, served as part of a botana in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Acacia dealbata seeds

Acacia seeds are often used for food and a variety of other products.

In Burma, Laos and Thailand, the feathery shoots of Acacia pennata (common name cha-om, ชะอม and su pout ywet in Burmese) are used in soups, curries, omelettes, and stir-fries.

In Mexico the seeds are known as Guajes. Guajes or huajes are the flat, green pods of an acacia tree. The pods are sometimes light green or deep red in color—both taste the same. Guaje seeds are about the size of a small lima bean and are eaten raw with guacamole, sometimes cooked and made into a sauce. They can also be made into fritters. The ground seeds are used to impart a slightly garlicy flavor to a mole called guaxmole (huaxmole). The dried seeds may be toasted and salted and eaten as a snack referred to as "cacalas".

The predominantly herbivorous spider Bagheera kiplingi, which is found in Central America and Mexico, feeds on nubs at the tips of the acacia leaves, known as Beltian bodies, which contain high concentrations of protein. These nubs are produced by the acacia as part of a symbiotic relationship with certain species of ant, which also eat them.^[11]

Acacia is listed as an ingredient in Sun Drop, Fresca, a citrus soft drink, RC Cola, Barq's root beer, Full Throttle Unleaded Energy Drink, Strawberry-Lemonade Powerade^[12] as well as in Läkerol pastille candies, Altoids mints, Langer's Pineapple coconut Juice, Wrigley's Eclipse chewing gum and M&Ms Pretzel.

Honey labeled under the term 'Acacia Honey' is a type of honey produced by bees from a false acacia known as black locust in North America, but called by the misnomer 'acacia' in Europe, hence this liquid honey which practically doesn't crystallize does not come from true acacias.

Gum[link]

Various species of acacia yield gum. True gum arabic is the product of Acacia senegal, abundant in dry tropical West Africa from Senegal to northern Nigeria.

Acacia arabica is the gum-Arabic tree of India, but yields a gum inferior to the true gum-Arabic.

Uses in folk medicine[link]

Acacia species have possible uses in folk medicine.^{[citation needed]} In Ayurvedic medicine, Acacia nilotica may be a remedy helpful for treating premature ejaculation.^{[citation needed]} A 19th century Ethiopian medical text describes a potion made from an Ethiopian species of Acacia (known as grar) mixed with the root of the tacha, then boiled, as a cure for rabies.^[13]

An astringent medicine high in tannins, called catechu or cutch, is procured from several species, but more especially from Acacia catechu, by boiling down the wood and evaporating the solution so as to get an extract.^[14][15] The catechu extract from Acacia catechu figures in the history of chemistry in giving its name to the catechin, catechol, and catecholamine chemical families ultimately derived from it.

Ornamental uses[link]

A few species are widely grown as ornamentals in gardens; the most popular perhaps is Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle), with its attractive glaucous to silvery leaves and bright yellow flowers; it is erroneously known as "mimosa" in some areas where it is cultivated, through confusion with the related genus Mimosa.

Another ornamental acacia is Acacia xanthophloea (Fever Tree). Southern European florists use Acacia baileyana, Acacia dealbata, Acacia pycnantha and Acacia retinodes as cut flowers and the common name there for them is mimosa.^[16]

Ornamental species of acacia are also used by homeowners and landscape architects for home security. The sharp thorns of some species deter unauthorized persons from entering private properties, and may prevent break-ins if planted under windows and near drainpipes. The aesthetic characteristics of acacia plants, in conjunction with their home security qualities, makes them a considerable alternative to artificial fences and walls.

Paints[link]

The ancient Egyptians used Acacia in paints.^[17]

Perfume[link]

Acacia farnesiana

Acacia farnesiana is used in the perfume industry due to its strong fragrance. The use of Acacia as a fragrance dates back centuries.

Symbolism and ritual[link]

Egyptian goddess Isis

The Acacia is used as a symbol in Freemasonry, to represent purity and endurance of the soul, and as funerary symbolism signifying resurrection and immortality. The tree gains its importance from the description of the burial of Hiram Abiff, the builder of King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.^{[citation needed]}

Egyptian mythology has associated the acacia tree with characteristics of the tree of life (see the article on the Myth of Osiris and Isis).

Several parts (mainly bark, root and resin) of Acacia are used to make incense for rituals. Acacia is used in incense mainly in India, Nepal, and China including in its Tibet region. Smoke from Acacia bark is thought to keep demons and ghosts away and to put the gods in a good mood. Roots and resin from Acacia are combined with rhododendron, acorus, cytisus, salvia and some other components of incense. Both people and elephants like an alcoholic beverage made from acacia fruit.^[18] According to Easton's Bible Dictionary, the Acacia tree may be the “burning bush” (Exodus 3:2) which Moses encountered in the desert.^[19] Also, when God gave Moses the instructions for building the Tabernacle, he said to "make an ark " and "a table of acacia wood" (Exodus 25:10 & 23, Revised Standard Version)

In Russia, Italy and other countries it is customary to present women with yellow mimosas (among other flowers) on International Women's Day (March 8). These "mimosas" are actually from Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle).

Tannin[link]

The bark of various Australian species, known as wattles, is very rich in tannin and forms an important article of export; important species include Acacia pycnantha (Golden Wattle), Acacia decurrens (Tan Wattle), Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle) and Acacia mearnsii (Black Wattle).

Black Wattle is grown in plantations in South Africa. Most Australian acacia species introduced to South Africa have become an enormous problem, due to their naturally aggressive propagation^{[citation needed]}. The pods of Acacia nilotica (under the name of neb-neb), and of other African species are also rich in tannin and used by tanners.

Wood[link]

Acacia koa Wood

Acacia tree near the end of its range in the Negev Desert of southern Israel.

Some Acacia species are valuable as timber, such as Acacia melanoxylon (Blackwood) from Australia, which attains a great size; its wood is used for furniture, and takes a high polish; and Acacia omalophylla (Myall Wood, also Australian), which yields a fragrant timber used for ornaments. Acacia seyal is thought to be the Shittah-tree of the Bible, which supplied shittim-wood. According to the Book of Exodus, this was used in the construction of the Ark of the Covenant. Acacia koa from the Hawaiian Islands and Acacia heterophylla from Réunion island are both excellent timber trees. Depending on abundance and regional culture, some Acacia species (e.g. Acacia fumosa), are traditionally used locally as firewoods.^[20]

Acacia heterophylla Wood

Pulpwood[link]

In Indonesia (mainly in Sumatra) and in Malaysia (mainly in Sarawak) plantations of Acacia mangium are being established to supply pulpwood to the paper industry.

Acacia gives high opacity and below average bulk paper. This is suitable in lightweight offset papers used for bibles and dictionaries. It is also used in paper tissue where it improves softness.

Land Reclamation[link]

Acacia can be planted for erosion control, especially after mining or construction damage.^[21]

Ecological invasion[link]

For the same reasons it is favored as an erosion-control plant, with its easy spreading and resilience, some varieties of acacia, are potentially an invasive species. One of the most globally significant invasive Acacias is Black Wattle Acacia mearnsii, which is taking over grasslands and abandoned agricultural areas worldwide, especially in moderate coastal and island regions where mild climate promotes its spread. Australian/New Zealand Weed Risk Assessment gives it a "high risk, score of 15" rating and it is considered one of the world's 100 most invasive species.^[22] Extensive ecological studies should be performed before further introduction of acacia varieties as this fast-growing Genus, once introduced, spreads fast and is extremely difficult to eradicate.

[edit] Phytochemistry of Acacia

Alkaloids[link]

As mentioned previously, Acacias contain a number of organic compounds that defend them from pests and grazing animals.^[10] Many of these compounds are psychoactive in humans. The alkaloids found in Acacias include dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) and N-methyltryptamine (NMT). The plant leaves, stems and/or roots are sometimes made into a brew together with some MAOI-containing plant and consumed orally for healing, ceremonial or religious uses.

Cyanogenic glycosides[link]

Nineteen different species of Acacia in the Americas contain cyanogenic glycosides, which, if exposed to an enzyme which specifically splits glycosides, can release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in the acacia "leaves."^[23] This sometimes results in the poisoning death of livestock.

If fresh plant material spontaneously produces 200 ppm or more HCN, then it is potentially toxic. This corresponds to about 7.5 μmol HCN per gram of fresh plant material. It turns out that, if acacia "leaves" lack the specific glycoside-splitting enzyme, then they may be less toxic than otherwise, even those containing significant quantities of cyanic glycosides.^[24]

Some Acacia species containing cyanogens:

• Acacia erioloba
• Acacia cunninghamii
• Acacia obtusifolia
• Acacia sieberiana
• Acacia sieberiana var. woodii^[25]

Species[link]

There are over 1,300 species of Acacia. See List of Acacia species for a more complete listing.

Famous acacia[link]

Perhaps the most famous acacia is the Arbre du Ténéré in Niger. The reason for the tree's fame is that it used to be the most isolated tree in the world, approximately 400 km (249 mi) from any other tree. The tree was knocked down by a truck driver in 1973.

See also[link]

• List of Acacia species
• Plant defense against herbivory
• Psychedelic plants

Notes[link]

General references[link]

• Clement, B.A., Goff, C.M., Forbes, T.D.A. Toxic Amines and Alkaloids from Acacia rigidula, Phytochem. 1998, 49(5), 1377.
• Shulgin, Alexander and Ann, TiHKAL the Continuation. Transform Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-9630096-9-2

External links[link]

Wikispecies has information related to: Acacia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Acacia

Wikisource has the text of the 1921 Collier's Encyclopedia article Acacia.

• Acacia at the Encyclopedia of Life
• World Wide Wattle
• Acacia-world
• Wayne's Word on "The Unforgettable Acacias"
• The genus Acacia and Entheogenic Tryptamines, with reference to Australian and related species, by mulga
• A description of Acacia from Pomet's 1709 reference book, History of Druggs
• Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
• Flora identification tools from the State Herbarium of South Australia
• Tannins in Some Interrelated Wattles
• List of Acacia Species in the U.S.
• FAO Timber Properties of Various Acacia Species
• FAO Comparison of Various Acacia Species as Forage
• Long-term effects of roller chopping on antiherbivore defenses in three shrub species, Jason R. Schindlera, Timothy E. Fulbright
• Vet. Path. ResultsAFIP Wednesday Slide Conference - No. 21 February 24, 1999
• Acacia cyanophylla lindl as supplementary feed/for small stock in Libya
• Description of Acacia Morphology
• Nitrogen Fixaton in Acacias
• Acacias with Cyagenic Compounds
• Acacia Alarm System
• Acacia in West African plants - A Photo Guide.
•  "Acacia". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

Vlad III Dracula
Prince of Wallachia
The Ambras Castle portrait of Vlad III, c. 1560, reputedly a copy of an original made during his lifetime[1]
Reign	1448; 1456–1462; 1476
Born	November or December 1431[2]
Birthplace	Sighișoara, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary
Died	December 1476 or January 1477[2] (aged 45)
Place of death	Bucharest, Wallachia
Royal House	House of Drăculești (branch of the House of Basarab)
Father	Vlad II Dracul
Mother	Cneajna of Moldavia

Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431–1476), also known by his patronymic name Dracula (son of the Dragon, after his father Vlad II Dracul), and posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler (Romanian: Vlad Țepeș pronounced [ˈvlad ˈt͡sepeʃ]), was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the incipient Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. His father was a member of the Order of the Dragon (Dracul) which was founded to protect Christianity in Europe.

Vlad III spent much of his rule campaigning against the Ottoman Empire and its expansion.^[3] As the cognomen 'The Impaler' suggests, his practice of impaling his enemies^[4] is central to his historical reputation. During his lifetime, his reputation for excessive cruelty spread abroad, to Germany and elsewhere in Europe. The total number of his victims is estimated in the tens of thousands. The name of the vampire Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula was inspired by Vlad's patronymic.^[4]

Name[link]

During his life Vlad wrote his name in Latin documents as Wladislaus Dragwlya, vaivoda partium Transalpinarum (1475).^[5]

His Romanian patronymic Dragwlya (or Dragkwlya)^[5] Dragulea, Dragolea, Drăculea^[6] is a diminutive of the epithet Dracul "the Dragon" carried by his father Vlad II, who in 1431 was inducted as a member of the Order of the Dragon, a chivalric order founded by Sigismund of Hungary in 1408. Dracul is the Romanian definite form, the -ul being the suffigated definite article (deriving from Latin ille). The noun drac "dragon" itself continues Latin draco. In Modern Romanian, the word drac has adopted the meaning of "devil" (the term for "dragon" now being balaur). This has led to misinterpretations of Vlad's epithet as characterizing him as "devilish".^{[citation needed]}

Vlad's moniker of Țepeș ("Impaler") identifies his favourite method of execution. It was attached to his name posthumously, in ca. 1550.^[5]

Family[link]

Early life[link]

Vlad Dracul.

Transylvanian Saxon engraving from 1462 depicting Vlad Țepeș

A woodcut depicting Vlad Țepeș published in Nuremberg in 1488 on the title page of the pamphlet Die geschicht dracole waide.

Vlad was born in Sighișoara, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary,in the winter of 1431 to Vlad II Dracul, future voivode of Wallachia. Vlad's father was the son of the celebrated Voivode Mircea the Elder. His mother is believed to be the second wife of Vlad Dracul, Princess Cneajna of Moldavia, eldest daughter of Alexandru cel Bun and aunt to Stephen the Great of Moldavia.^[7] He had two older half-brothers, Mircea II and Vlad Călugărul, and a younger brother, Radu III the Handsome.

In the year of his birth, Vlad's father, known under the nickname Dracul, had traveled to Nuremberg where he had been vested into the Order of the Dragon. At the age of five, young Vlad was also initiated into the Order.^[2]

Vlad and Radu spent their early formative years in Sighișoara under the care and tutelage of their mother and the wives of other exiled boyars. During the first reign of their father, Vlad II Dracul, the Voivode brought his young sons to Târgoviște, the capital of Wallachia at that time.

The Byzantine chancellor Mikhail Doukas showed that, at Târgoviște, the sons of boyars and ruling princes were well-educated by Romanian or Greek scholars commissioned from Constantinople. Vlad is believed to have learned combat skills, geography, mathematics, science, languages (Old Church Slavonic, German, Latin), and the classical arts and philosophy.^[8]

Life in Edirne[link]

In 1436, Vlad II Dracul ascended the throne of Wallachia. He was ousted in 1442 by rival factions in league with Hungary, but secured Ottoman support for his return by agreeing to pay the Jizya (tax on non-Muslims) to the Sultan.

Vlad II also sent his two legitimate sons, Vlad and Radu, to the Ottoman court, to serve as hostages of his loyalty. Vlad was imprisoned and often whipped and beaten for being defiant^{[citation needed]}, while his younger brother Radu was much easier to control. Radu converted to Islam, entered the service of Sultan Murad II's son, Mehmed II (later known as the Conqueror), and was allowed into the Topkapı Palace. Radu was also honored by the title Bey and was given command of the Janissary contingents.

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.

Vlad was later released under probation and taken to be educated in logic, the Quran and the Turkish language and works of literature. He would speak this language fluently in his later years.^[9] He and his brother were also trained in warfare and riding horses. The boys' father, Vlad Dracul, was awarded the support of the Ottomans and returned to Wallachia and took back his throne from Basarab II and some unfaithful Boyars.

First marriage[link]

Vlad's first wife was Jusztina Szilagyi of Moldavia, with whom he had two sons: Mihnea I "the Bad" (Mihnea I cel Rău, ?-1510) and Mihail (?-1485).^[10]

According to local legend, she died during the siege of Poenari Castle, which was surrounded by the Ottoman army led by his brother Radu Bey and the Wallachian Janissary. A woodland archer, having seen the shadow of Vlad's wife behind a window, shot an arrow through the window into Vlad's main quarters with a message warning him that Radu's army was approaching. McNally and Florescu explain that the archer was one of Vlad's relatives who sent the warning out of loyalty despite having converted to Islam and served in the ranks of Radu. Upon reading the message, Vlad's wife threw herself from the tower into a tributary of the Argeș River flowing below the castle, saying she would rather rot and be eaten by the fish of the Argeș than be led into captivity by the Turks. Today, the tributary is called Râul Doamnei (the "Lady's River", also called the Princess's River).

Second marriage[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Gradually winning back King Matthias's favour, he married Ilona Szilágyi of Wallachia, a sister or cousin of the king (sources vary and disagree on what her relation was), and in the years before his final release in 1474, had her as a companion in his captivity.

Genealogy[link]

Two of Vlad Tepes' sons, Vlad Țepeluș and Mihnea I "the Bad", have been claimed to be ancestors of Mary of Teck, grand-mother of Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain.^{[10][better source needed]} In October 2011, Prince Charles publicly claimed that genealogy shows that he is a distant relative of Vlad the Impaler. The claim accompanied his announcement of a pledge to help conserve the forested areas of Transylvania.^[11]

First reign and exile[link]

In December 1447, boyars in league with the Hungarian regent John Hunyadi rebelled against Vlad II Dracul and killed him in the marshes near Bălteni. Mircea, Dracul's eldest son and heir, was blinded and buried alive at Târgoviște.

To prevent Wallachia from falling into the Hungarian fold, the Ottomans invaded Wallachia and put young Vlad III on the throne. However, this rule was short-lived as Hunyadi himself now invaded Wallachia and restored his ally Vladislav II, of the Dănești clan, to the throne.

Vlad fled to Moldavia, where he lived under the protection of his uncle, Bogdan II. In October 1451, Bogdan was assassinated and Vlad fled to Hungary. Impressed by Vlad's vast knowledge of the mindset and inner workings of the Ottoman Empire as well as his hatred of the new sultan Mehmed II, Hunyadi reconciled with his former rival and made him his advisor.

After the Fall of Constantinople to Mehmed II in 1453, Ottoman influence began to spread from this base through the Carpathians, threatening mainland Europe, and by 1481 conquering the entire Balkans peninsula. Vlad's rule thus falls entirely within the three decades of the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans.

In 1456, three years after the Ottomans had conquered Constantinople, they threatened Hungary by besieging Belgrade. Hunyadi began a concerted counter-attack in Serbia: while he himself moved into Serbia and relieved the siege (before dying of the plague), Vlad led his own contingent into Wallachia, reconquered his native land and killed Vladislav II in hand-to-hand combat.^{[citation needed]}

Second reign[link]

Internal policy[link]

Vlad found Wallachia in a wretched state: constant war had resulted in rampant crime, falling agricultural production, and the virtual disappearance of trade. Regarding a stable economy essential to resisting external enemies, he used severe methods to restore order and prosperity.

Vlad had three aims for Wallachia: to strengthen the country's economy, its defense and his own political power. He took measures to help the peasants' well-being by building new villages and raising agricultural output. He understood the importance of trade for the development of Wallachia. He helped the Wallachian merchants by limiting foreign merchant trade to three market towns: Târgșor, Câmpulung and Târgoviște.

Vlad considered the boyars the chief cause of the constant strife as well as of the death of his father and brother. To secure his rule, he had many leading nobles killed and gave positions in his council, traditionally belonging to the greatest boyars, to persons of obscure origins, who would be loyal to him alone, and some to foreigners. For lower offices, Vlad preferred knights and free peasants to boyars. In his aim of fixing up Wallachia, Vlad issued new laws punishing thieves. Vlad treated the boyars with the same harshness, believing them guilty of weakening Wallachia through their personal struggles for power.

The army was also strengthened. He had a small personal guard, mostly made of mercenaries, who were rewarded with loot and promotions. He also established a militia or ‘lesser army’ made up of peasants called to fight whenever war came.

Vlad Dracula built a church at Târgșor (allegedly in the memory of his father and older brother who were killed nearby), and he contributed with money to the Snagov Monastery and to the Comana Monastery fortifications.^[12]

Raids into Transylvania[link]

Since the Wallachian nobility was linked to the Transylvanian Saxons, Vlad also acted against them by eliminating their trade privileges and raiding their cities. In 1459, he had several Saxon settlers of Brașov (Kronstadt) impaled.^[13]

^[14]

War with the Ottomans[link]

In 1459, Pope Pius II called for a new crusade against the Ottomans, at the Congress of Mantua. In this crusade, the main role was to be played by Matthias Corvinus, son of John Hunyadi (János Hunyadi), the King of Hungary. To this effect, Matthias Corvinus received from the Pope 40,000 golden coins, an amount that was thought to be enough to gather an army of 12,000 men and purchase 10 Danube warships. In this context, Vlad allied himself with Matthias Corvinus, with the hope of keeping the Ottomans out of the country (Wallachia was claimed as a part of the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Mehmed II).

Mehmed II

Later that year, in 1459, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II sent envoys to Vlad to urge him to pay a delayed Jizya (tax on non-Muslims) of 10,000 ducats and 500 recruits into the Ottoman forces. Vlad refused, because if he had paid the 'tribute', as the tax was called at the time, it would have meant a public acceptance of Wallachia as part of the Ottoman Empire. Vlad, just like most of his predecessors and successors, had as a primary goal to keep Wallachia as independent as possible. Vlad had the Turkish envoys killed on the pretext that they had refused to raise their "hats" to him, by nailing their turbans to their heads.

Vlad the Impaler and the Turkish Envoys. Painting by Theodor Aman.

Meanwhile, the Sultan received intelligence reports that revealed Vlad's domination of the Danube.^[15] He sent the Bey of Nicopolis, Hamza Pasha, to make peace and, if necessary, eliminate Vlad III.^[15]

Vlad Țepeș planned to set an ambush. Hamza Pasha, the Bey of Nicopolis, brought with him 10,000 cavalry and when passing through a narrow pass north of Giurgiu, Vlad launched a surprise attack. The Wallachians had the Turks surrounded and defeated. The Turks' plans were thwarted and almost all of them caught and impaled, with Hamza Pasha impaled on the highest stake to show his rank.^[15]

In the winter of 1462, Vlad crossed the Danube and devastated the entire Bulgarian land in the area between Serbia and the Black Sea. Disguising himself as a Turkish Sipahi, he infiltrated and destroyed Ottoman camps. In a letter to Corvinus dated 2 February, he wrote:

I have killed peasants men and women, old and young, who lived at Oblucitza and Novoselo, where the Danube flows into the sea, up to Rahova, which is located near Chilia, from the lower Danube up to such places as Samovit and Ghighen. We killed 23,884 Turks without counting those whom we burned in homes or the Turks whose heads were cut by our soldiers...Thus, your highness, you must know that I have broken the peace with him (Sultan Mehmed II).^[13][16]

In response to this, Sultan Mehmed II raised an army of around 60,000 troops and 30,000 irregulars,^[17] and in spring of 1462 headed towards Wallachia. Commanding at best only 30,000 to 40,000 men (depending of the source),^{[citation needed]} Vlad was unable to stop the Ottomans from crossing the Danube at June 4, 1462 and entering Wallachia. He constantly organized small attacks and ambushes on the Turks, such as The Night Attack when 15,000 Turks were killed.^[2] This infuriated Mehmed II, who then crossed the Danube. With the exception of some Turkish references all the other chronicles at the time that mention the 1462 campaign state that the Sultan was defeated.^{[citation needed]} Apparently, the Turks retreated in such a hurry that by July 11, 1462 the Sultan was already in Adrianopolis.^{[citation needed]}. According to the Byzantine historian Chalcocondil^{[citation needed]}, Radu, brother of Vlad III and ingratiate of the Sultan, was left behind in Targoviste with the hope that he would be able to gather an anti-Vlad clique that would ultimately get rid of Vlad as Voivode of Wallachia and crown Radu as the new puppet ruler.

Vlad the Impaler's attack was celebrated by the Saxon cities of Transylvania, the Italian states and the Pope. A Venetian envoy, upon hearing about the news at the court of Corvinus on 4 March, expressed great joy and said that the whole of Christianity should celebrate Vlad Țepeș's successful campaign. The Genoese from Caffa also thanked Vlad, for his campaign had saved them from an attack of some 300 ships that the sultan planned to send against them.^[16]

Defeat[link]

Vlad's younger brother Radu cel Frumos and his Janissary battalions were given the task of leading the Ottoman Empire to victory at all expense by Sultan Mehmet II. After the Sipahis' incursions failed to subdue Vlad, the few remaining Sipahis were killed in a night raid by Vlad III in 1462. However, as the war raged on, Radu and his formidable Janissary battalions were well supplied with a steady flow of gunpowder and dinars; this allowed them to push deeper into the realm of Vlad III. Radu and his well-equipped forces finally besieged Poenari Castle, the famed lair of Vlad III. After his difficult victory Radu was given the title Bey of Wallachia by Sultan Mehmet II.

Vlad III's defeat at Poenari was due in part to the fact that the Boyars, who had been alienated by Vlad's policy of undermining their authority, had joined Radu under the assurance that they would regain their privileges. They may have also believed that Ottoman protection was better than Hungarian. It was said as well that Radu (through his spies or traitors) found the place where some Boyars' families were hidden during the war (probably some forests around Snagov) and blackmailed them to come to his side.

By 8 September, Vlad had won another three victories, but continuous war had left him without any money and he could no longer pay his mercenaries. Vlad traveled to Hungary to ask for help from his former ally, Matthias Corvinus. Instead of receiving help, he found himself arrested and thrown into the dungeon for high treason. Corvinus, not planning to get involved in a war after having spent the Papal money meant for it on personal expenses, forged a letter from Vlad III to the Ottomans where he supposedly proposed a peace with them, to give an explanation for the Pope and a reason to abandon the war and return to his capital.

Captivity in Hungary[link]

Vlad was imprisoned at Oratia, a fortress located at Podu Dâmboviței Bridge. A period of imprisonment in Visegrád near Buda followed, where the Wallachian prince was held for 10 years. Then he was imprisoned in Buda.

The exact length of Vlad's period of captivity is open to some debate, though indications are that it was from 1462 until 1474. Diplomatic correspondence from Buda seems to indicate that the period of Vlad's effective confinement was relatively short. Radu's openly pro-Ottoman policy as voivode probably contributed to Vlad's rehabilitation. Moreover, Ștefan ce Mare, Voievod of Moldavia and relative of Vlad intervened on his behalf to be released from prison as the Ottoman pressure on the territories north of the Danube was increasing.

Third reign and death[link]

Vlad the Impaler as Pontius Pilate judging Jesus Christ. National Gallery, Ljubljana, 1463.^{[citation needed]}

After Radu's sudden death in 1475, Vlad III declared his third reign in 26 November 1476. Vlad began preparations for the reconquest of Wallachia in 1476 with Hungarian support. Vlad's third reign had lasted little more than two months when he was assassinated.^[18][19] The exact date of his death is unknown, presumably the end of December 1476, but it is known that he was dead by 10 January 1477. The exact location of his death is also unknown, but it would have been somewhere along the road between Bucharest and Giurgiu. Vlad's head was taken to Constantinople as a trophy, and his body was buried unceremoniously by his rival, Basarab Laiota, possibly at Comana, a monastery founded by Vlad in 1461.^[20] The Comana monastery was demolished and rebuilt from scratch in 1589.^[21]

In the 19th century, Romanian historians cited a "tradition", apparently without any kind of support in documentary evidence, that Vlad was buried at Snagov, an island monastery located near Bucharest. To support this theory, the so-called Cantacuzino Chronicle was cited, which cites Vlad as the founder of this monastery. But as early as 1855, Alexandru Odobescu had established that this is impossible as the monastery had been in existence before 1438. Since excavations carried out by Dinu V Rosetti in June–October 1933, it has become clear that Snagov monastery was founded during the later 14th century, well before the time of Vlad III. The 1933 excavation also established that there was no tomb below the supposed "unmarked tombstone" of Vlad in the monastery church. Rosetti (1935) reported that “Under the tombstone attributed to Vlad there was no tomb. Only many bones and jaws of horses." In the 1970s, speculative attribution of an anonymous tomb found elsewhere in the church to Vlad Tepes was published by Simion Saveanu, a journalist who wrote a series of articles on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Vlad's death.^[21] Most Romanian historians today favor the Comana monastery as the final resting place for Vlad Tepes.^[20]

Legacy[link]

Reputation for cruelty[link]

Vlad the Impaler as Aegeas, the Roman proconsul in Patras, crucifying Saint Andrew. Approximately 1470–1480, Belvedere Galleries, Vienna.^{[citation needed]}

Even during his lifetime, Vlad III Țepeș became famous as a tyrant taking sadistic pleasure in torturing and killing.^[22] He is shown in cryptoportraits made during his lifetime in the role of cruel rulers or executioners such as Pontius Pilate ordering the torture and execution of Jesus Christ, or as Aegeas, the Roman proconsul in Patras, overseeing the crucifixion of Saint Andrew.^{[citation needed]} After Vlad's death, his cruel deeds were reported with macabre gusto in popular pamphlets in Germany, reprinted from the 1480s until the 1560s, and to a lesser extent in Tsarist Russia.

Estimates of the number of his victims range from 40,000 to 100,000, comparable to the cumulative number of executions over four centuries of European witchhunts.^[23] According to the German stories the number of victims he had killed was at least 80,000. In addition to the 80,000 victims mentioned he also had whole villages and fortresses destroyed and burned to the ground.^[24]

Impalement was Vlad's preferred method of torture and execution. Several woodcuts from German pamphlets of the late 15th and early 16th centuries show Vlad feasting in a forest of stakes and their grisly burdens outside Brașov, while a nearby executioner cuts apart other victims. It was reported that an invading Ottoman army turned back in fright when it encountered thousands of rotting corpses on the banks of the Danube.^[13] It has also been said that in 1462 Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, a man noted for his own psychological warfare tactics, returned to Constantinople after being sickened by the sight of 20,000 impaled corpses outside Vlad's capital of Târgoviște.^[25]

Allegedly, Vlad's reputation for cruelty was actively promoted by Matthias Corvinus, who tarnished Vlad’s reputation and credibility for a political reason: as an explanation for why he had not helped Vlad fight the Ottomans in 1462, for which purpose he had received money from most Catholic states in Europe.^{[citation needed]} Matthias employed the charges of Southeastern Transylvania, and produced fake letters of high treason, written on 7 November 1462.^{[citation needed]}

German sources[link]

1499 German woodcut showing Dracule waide dining among the impaled corpses of his victims.

The German stories circulated first in manuscript form in the late 15th century and the first manuscript was probably written in 1462 before Vlad's arrest.^[26] The text was later printed in Germany and had major impact on the general public, becoming a best-seller of its time with numerous later editions adding and altering the original text.

In addition to the manuscripts and pamphlets the German version of the stories can be found in the poem of Michael Beheim. The poem called "Von ainem wutrich der hies Trakle waida von der Walachei" ("Story of a Madman Named Dracula of Wallachia") was written and performed at the court of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor during the winter of 1463.^[27]

To this day four manuscripts and 13 pamphlets have been found, as well as the poem by Michel Beheim. The surviving manuscripts date from the last quarter of the 15th century to the year 1500 and the found pamphlets date from 1488 to 1559–1568.

Eight of the pamphlets are incunabula: they were printed before 1501. The German stories about Vlad the Impaler consist of 46 short episodes, although none of the manuscripts, pamphlets or the poem of Beheim contain all 46 stories.

All of them begin with the story of the old governor, John Hunyadi, having Vlad's father killed, and how Vlad and his brother renounced their old religion and swore to protect and uphold the Christian faith. After this, the order and titles of the stories differs by manuscript and pamphlet editions.^[24]

Russian sources[link]

The Russian or the Slavic version of the stories about Vlad the Impaler called "Skazanie o Drakule voevode" ("The Tale of Warlord Dracula") is thought to have been written sometime between 1481 and 1486. Copies were made from the 15th century to the 18th century, of which some twenty-two extant manuscripts survive in Russian archives.^[28] The oldest one, from 1490, ends as follows: "First written in the year 6994 of the Byzantine calendar (1486), on 13 February; then transcribed by me, the sinner Efrosin, in the year 6998 (1490), on 28 January". The Tales of Prince Dracula is neither chronological nor consistent, but mostly a collection of anecdotes of literary and historical value concerning Vlad Țepeș.

There are 19 anecdotes in The Tales of Prince Dracula which are longer and more constructed than the German stories. The Tales can be divided into two sections: The first 13 episodes are non-chronological events most likely closer to the original folkloric oral tradition about Vlad. The last six episodes are thought to have been written by a scholar who collected them, because they are chronological and seem to be more structured. The stories begin with a short introduction and the anecdote about the nailing of hats to ambassadors' heads. They end with Vlad's death and information about his family.^[29]

Of the 19 anecdotes there are ten that have similarities to the German stories.^[30] Although there are similarities between the Russian and the German stories about Vlad, there is a clear distinction in the attitude towards him. The Russian stories tend to portray him in a more positive light: 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. Of the 19 anecdotes, only four seem to have exaggerated violence.^[29] Some elements of the anecdotes were later added to Russian stories about Ivan the Terrible of Russia.^[31]

The nationality and identity of the original writer of the anecdotes Dracula is disputed. The two most plausible explanations are that the writer was either a Romanian priest or a monk from Transylvania, or a Romanian or Moldavian from the court of Stephen the Great in Moldavia. One theory claims the writer was a Russian diplomat named Fyodor Kuritsyn.^[32]

Ambras Castle portrait[link]

A contemporary portrait of Vlad III, rediscovered by Romanian historians in the late 19th century, had been featured in the gallery of horrors at Innsbruck's Ambras Castle. This original has been lost to history, but a larger copy, painted anonymously in the first half of the 16th century, now hangs in the same gallery.^[1][2] This copy, unlike the cryptoportraits contemporary with Vlad III, seems to have given him a Habsburg lip.^{[citation needed]}

Popular culture[link]

Romanian patriotism[link]

Romanian and Slavic documents from 1481 onwards portray Vlad as a hero, a true leader, who used harsh yet fair methods to reclaim the country from the corrupt and rich boyars. Moreover, all his military efforts were directed against the Ottoman Empire which explicitly wanted to conquer Wallachia. Excerpt from "The Slavonic Tales":

And he hated evil in his country so much that, if anyone committed some harm, theft or robbery or a lye or an injustice, none of those remained alive. Even if he was a great boyar or a priest or a monk or an ordinary man, or even if he had a great fortune, he couldn't pay himself from death.^[33]

An Italian writer, Michael Bocignoli from Ragusa, in his writings from 1524, refers to Vlad Tepes as:

It was once (in Valahia), a prince Dragul by his name, a very wise and skillful man in war.^[34]

(In Latin in the original text: Inter eos aliquando princeps fuit, quem voievodam appellant, Dragulus nomine, vir acer et militarium negotiorum apprime peritus.)^[35]

In "Letopisetul cantacuzinesc", a historic chronicle written by Stoica Ludescu from the Cantacuzino family around 1688, Vlad orders the boyars to build the fortress Poenari with their own hands. Later in the document, Ludescu refers to the (re)crowning of Vlad as a happy event:

Voievod Vlad sat on the throne and all the country came to pay respect, and brought many gifts and they went back to their houses with great joy. And Voievod Vlad with the help of God grew into much good and honor as long as he kept the reign of those just people.^[36]

(In Romanian in the original text: De aciia șăzu în scaun Vladul-vodă și veni țara de i să închină, și aduse daruri multe și să întoarseră iarăși cine pre la case-și cu mare bucurie. Iar Vladul-vodă cu ajutorul lui Dumnezeu creștea întru mai mari bunătăți și în cinste pân' cât au ținut sfatul acelui neam drept.)

Around 1785, Ioan Budai-Deleanu, a Romanian writer and historian, wrote a Romanian epic heroic poem, "Țiganiada", in which prince Vlad Țepeș stars as a fierce warrior fighting the Ottomans. Later, in 1881, Mihai Eminescu, one of the greatest Romanian poets, in "Letter 3", popularizes Vlad's image in modern Romanian patriotism, having him stand as a figure to contrast with presumed social decay under the Phanariotes and the political scene of the 19th century. The poem even suggests that Vlad's violent methods be applied as a cure. In the final lyrics, the poet makes a call to Vlad Tepes (i.e. Dracula) to come, to sort the contemporaries into two teams: fool and rotten and then set fire to the prison and to the fools' home.^[37]

(In Romanian in the original text:

Dar lăsaţi măcar strămoşii ca să doarmă-n colb de cronici;

Din trecutul de mărire v-ar privi cel mult ironici.

Cum nu vii tu, Ţepeş doamne, ca punând mâna pe ei,

Să-i împarţi în două cete: în smintiţi şi în mişei,

Şi în două temniţi large cu de-a sila să-i aduni,

Să dai foc la puşcărie şi la casa de nebuni!)

In contrast, documents of Germanic, Saxon, and Hungarian origin portray Vlad as a tyrant, a monster so cruel that he needs to be stopped. For example, Johan Christian Engel characterizes Vlad as "a cruel tyrant and a monster of humankind".^[38] Several authors and historians believe that this may be the result of a bad image campaign initiated by the Transylvanian Saxons who were actively persecuted during Vlad's reign and later maintained and spread by Matthias Corvinus.^{[26][38][39][40]} It is conceivable that these actions were not beyond the Hungarian King since he had already framed Vlad Tepes by producing a forged letter to incriminate Vlad of coalition with the Turks; however, there is incontestable evidence, both in Romanian and foreign documents, including Vlad's own letters, that he killed tens of thousands of people in horrible ways.

Bram Stoker[link]

The connection of the name "Dracula" with vampirism was made by Bram Stoker, who probably found the name of his Count Dracula character in William Wilkinson's book, An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: with various Political Observations Relating to Them.^[41] It is known that Stoker made notes about this book.^[42] It is also suggested that Stoker may have heard of Vlad through his friend, Hungarian professor Ármin Vámbéry, from Budapest. The fact that character Dr. Abraham Van Helsing states in the 1897 novel that the source of his knowledge about Count Dracula is his friend Arminius appears to support this hypothesis, although there is no evidence that Stoker and Vambéry (they met twice) ever talked about Wallachian history.

Referring to a letter from his friend Arminius, van Helsing comments:

He must, indeed, have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of Turkey-land. (Chapter 18, pp 145)

This encourages the reader to identify the Vampire Count with the Voivode Dracula first mentioned by him, the one betrayed by his own brother: Vlad III Dracula betrayed by his brother Radu the Handsome. But as noted by the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos, in Chapter 25, Van Helsing and Mina drop this rudimentary connection and instead describe the Count's personal past as that of "that other of his race" who lived "in a later age". This way, Stoker avoided that his main character could be unambiguously linked to a historical person who could be traced in any history book. ^[43]

Documentaries and films[link]

Unlike the fictional Dracula films, there have been comparatively few movies about the man who inspired the vampire. The 1975 documentary In Search of Dracula explores the legend of Vlad the Impaler. He is played in the film by Christopher Lee, known for his numerous portrayals of the fictional Dracula in films ranging from the 1950s to the 1970s.^[44]

In 1979, a Romanian film called Vlad Țepeș (sometimes known, in other countries, as The True Story of Vlad the Impaler) was released, based on his six-year reign and brief return to power in late 1476. The character is portrayed in a mostly positive perspective, though the film also mentions the excesses of his regime and his practice of impalement. The lead character is played by Ștefan Sileanu.^[45]

Vlad was depicted in his youth in the 1989 Romanian film Mircea, which focused on the reign of his grandfather, Mircea I of Wallachia (AD 1386-1418).

Vampire films and novels[link]

Numerous film adaptations of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and original works derived from it have incorporated Vlad the Impaler's history into the fictional Count Dracula's past, depicting them as the same person. These include, among others: the 1972–1979 comic book series The Tomb of Dracula from Marvel Comics, the 1973 film Dracula, starring Jack Palance, the 1979 BBC/Masterpiece Theater production Dracula, starring Louis Jordan, or in the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula, starring Gary Oldman as Dracula.

Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, a television film released in 2000, tells the life story of Vlad the Impaler mostly accurately, but has a fictitious ending in which Vlad rises from the grave as an immortal with supernatural powers, implying he has now become the legendary vampire character. Vlad is portrayed in the film by German actor Rudolf Martin.

Another popular novel which mentions Vlad the Impaler is Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, which tells a tale of historians searching for the tomb of the Vlad. In the novel, Vlad the Impaler is not just a horrifying tyrant but a vampire whose whereabouts the historians are hurriedly trying to discover before something bad happens.

Video games[link]

Vlad the Impaler is also a playable character in Deadliest Warrior: Legends.You can also play as Vlad in Stronghold Legends. Other games based on the Vlad as Dracula myth can be found at Dracula in popular culture.

Music[link]

Experimental rock musician Mike Patton went under the name "Vlad Drac" on the self-titled Mr. Bungle album. The British band Kasabian have written a song called Vlad the Impaler on their third album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum which featured Noel Fielding playing Vlad The Impaler himself.

Swedish black metal band Marduk have written various songs lyrically inspired by the history of Vlad Tepes, most notably on their album Nightwing.

See also[link]

Crusades portal

• Wallachia
• Ottoman wars in Europe
• Elizabeth Báthory
• Johann Conrad Dippel

References[link]

External links[link]

Media related to Vlad the Impaler at Wikimedia Commons

• Road map to Dracula Castle, inside gallery pictures,history and origin (ro)&(en) - How to get to Dracula Castle, pictures, entry fees, and taxes
• The Tale of Dracula Russian manuscript circa 1490, with English translation
• Original coins issued by Vlad III the Impaler

Mike Matusow
Mike Matusow at the 2008 World Series of Poker
Nickname(s)	The Mouth
Residence	Las Vegas, Nevada
Born	(1968-04-30) April 30, 1968 (age 44)
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)	3
Final table(s)	13
Money finish(es)	32
Highest ITM Main Event finish	6th, 2001
World Poker Tour
Title(s)	None
Final table(s)	5
Money finish(es)	10
Information accurate as of 28 February 2012.

Michael Matusow (born April 30, 1968 in Los Angeles, California) is an American professional poker player, residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table. He is also known for sometimes ruining hours or days of good play with a single spectacular misjudgment, (known as a "Mike Matusow Blow-up" or "Mike Matusow Meltdown").^[1][2][3]

Matusow began playing poker seriously in the early 1990s, first while working as a poker dealer, then as a professional player.^[4] His successes include being a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner,^[5][6][7] and the winner of the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions.^[8]

Early years[link]

Matusow's first experience of poker was playing video poker in the Maxim Casino at the age of 18, which he played regularly, to the extent that he suffered from repetitive strain injury in his shoulders and arms. He occasionally stole money from his mother's purse and at one point attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Matusow was taught Texas hold 'em in 1989 by a rounder named Steve Samaroff.^[9]

World Series of Poker[link]

At the 1998 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Matusow paid part of Scotty Nguyen's entrance fee into a satellite event for the $10,000 no limit Texas hold 'em main event. Nguyen went on to win, and gave $333,333 to Matusow in return for his partial stake.^[9][10] In 1999, Matusow won his first WSOP bracelet, winning the $3,500 No Limit Hold'em event defeating Alex Brenes heads-up to win the title.

In 2001, he finished 6th place in the WSOP $10,000 no limit Hold 'em main event. Matusow says that the decisive hand was when he was bluffed by eventual champion Juan Carlos Mortensen, but did not trust his instincts to call.^[9][11]

At the 2002 WSOP, Matusow won his second bracelet by winning the $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better event. He defeated his friend and fellow professional poker player Daniel Negreanu to win the tournament.

In the 2005 WSOP, Matusow finished 9th out of 5,619 players in the main event, winning $1,000,000.^[12] Several months later, he won the WSOP Tournament of Champions in a heads-up battle against Hoyt Corkins, earning another $1,000,000 in the process, making him the first player to win two million dollar prizes in the same year. He also placed third in the Tournament of Champions the following year, winning $250,000.^[8][13]

At the 2008 WSOP, Matusow won a third bracelet in the $5000 No Limit 2–7 Draw with rebuys event defeating Jeff Lisandro heads up for the $537,862 first prize.^[7] Later in the same year he finished 30th out of 6,844 players in the Main Event, making yet another deep run in the Main Event.

World Series of Poker Bracelets[link]

Other poker events[link]

In October 2004, Matusow made his first World Poker Tour (WPT) final table at the UltimateBet Aruba Classic, earning $250,000 for 3rd place.^[14] In 2006, he finished runner-up to Tony G in the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II in heads-up play.^[15] Matusow also appeared in Poker Superstars III, where he made it to the Elite Eight. In the winner-take-all championship match, Matusow beat seven other players to win $500,000. He also appeared in the second, third, fourth and sixth season of High Stakes Poker.^[16][17] In September 2006, Mike made his debut on the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Barcelona; however, he was eliminated on the first day. In early 2007, Matusow appeared on two episodes of Poker After Dark where he finished 3rd and 2nd respectively. He plays online poker under the following aliases: "dill pickle" (UltimateBet); "mrpokejoke" (PokerStars); and "Mike Matusow" (Full Tilt Poker, where he is also a member of "Team Full Tilt").^[1][4]

In July 2007, Matusow won $671,320 after coming in second place at the World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup III Championship after online pro Kevin Saul defeated him during heads-up play.^[18] On November 11, 2008 at the World Poker Tour Foxwoods World Poker Finals, Matusow made another WPT final table, He was eliminated after his A♠ J♥ didn't improve against Jonathan Little's hand of 9♥ 9♠, he finished in 6th place, earning $124,048.

As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $7,400,000.^[19] $3,140,713 of his winnings have come at the WSOP.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Matusow is both loved and disliked by many poker fans. At the 2007 WSOP Main Event final table, Tournament Director Jack Effel asked the audience to recognize one of Effel's "favorite" players. The fans cheered and booed.^[21] Matusow has had several personal problems. He has battled drug issues, including a six-month stint in jail in 2004 and 2005 after being caught providing ecstasy and prescription painkillers to an undercover police officer who pretended to befriend Matusow and gained his trust. After several months of an official Las Vegas Metro Police "Sting Operation", Matusow was arrested and charged with 6 category A Felonies, all drug related. ^[22] A Plea deal was later reached where Matusow was incarcerated in The Clark County Dentention Center for 6 months. ^[23][24]

He has also dealt with being overweight, detailed on ESPN's broadcast of the 2007 WSOP. During that tournament, Mike made a $100,000 bet with Ted Forrest that he could get down to 181 pounds by June 3, 2008. Mike won the bet on June 3, weighing in at 179 pounds.^[25] Matusow resides in a 3,700-square-foot (340 m²) home in Henderson (with a cathedral ceiling) and bought a $90,000 BMW 645 CI cabriolet from a $750,000 winning session at online poker.^[9] He often wears a gold chain with the Hebrew symbol 'chai' around his neck.^[9] Additionally, Matusow hosted Card Player's poker radio show/podcast, the Circuit, before being replaced by Gavin Smith and Joe Sebok.^[26] He was also the host of Card Player's now defunct online video segment, "The Mouthpiece." In one particular episode, Mike discussed the controversial Ultimatebet.com superuser cheating scandal, as well seeking legal action as a victim of the scandal against the main perpetrator, former World Series of Poker Champion Russ Hamilton.^[27]

In 2009 Mike Matusow signed a contract with Deepstacks.com to become the Dean of Deepstacks University, an interactive poker training site.

Matusow wrote an autobiography entitled Check Raising the Devil that was released May 12, 2009.^[28]

Matusow currently does a Poker online Live show entitled, "Mike The Mouth Live" at scottmatusow.com/radio Each Thursday at 3 P.M Pacific Time

Notes[link]