Dracula

In 1922, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, was directed and released by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, as an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but, unable to attain the rights to the story, names and other details were changed. The vampire antagonist was Count Orlok instead. The man who acted as Dracula, later Count Orlock, was Max Shreck; a mysterious individual, whose date of birth is even uncertain. The man’s name “Shreck” literally means “fright” which has caused many to suspect that there was no such individual, and instead… a famous actor, whom only took up a pseudonym. However, the actors suspected to be Max Shreck have all been disproved.

Bela Lugosi first played Dracula on a Broadway stage, in 1927. Hamilton Deane and his company adapted the story in 1924, with the permission of Stoker’s estate. Later on the story is revised, and John L. Balderston takes it to Broadway in 1927; the legendary Lugosi getting his time on stage. The film was made in 1931, and Bela Lugosi again starred in the leading role. The Library of Congress deemed the film culturally significant in 2000, and selected it for preservation. In 1999, the remarkably talented composer, Philip Glass, created a musical score for the film; the DVD now includes the music. Bela Lugosi plays Armand Tesla, in the 1944 film Return of the Vampire; who in essence is Dracula. The last time the legendary Lugosi is on screen as Dracula, is in the 1948 film Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

In 1979 this film was remade, into Nosferatu The Vampyre, written and directed by Werner Herzog, though this time, they actually managed to obtain the rights to the story, so the characters were in fact named “Count Dracula,” et cetera. Francis Ford Coppola directed the film, in 1992, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which introduced Dracula as Vlad Dracul, and romanticised the story much more than perhaps it had been intended to be. Variations of Count Dracula, Vlad Dracul are still being created today. It is one of the world’s most influential stories, and the history behind the man who inspired some of the best vampire stories is as fascinating as the adaptation of his life, however changed throughout the centuries it may be.

The Germans wrote about Dracula first, stories to instill fear, mainly, because of how many Saxon pagans Vlad had impaled in his kingdom of Wallachia. Many of the stories, if not all, are based entirely on hearsay. One of the first manuscripts detailing his cruelty circulated in the late 15th century, most likely while Dracula was still on the throne. The most well-known was a poem entitled “Von ainem wutrich der heis Trakle waida von der Walachei” or “Story of a Bloodthirsty Madman Called Dracula of Wallachia.” The Russians also produced similar literary manuscripts about Dracula, one titled “Skazanie o Drakule voevode” or “Tale about Voivode Dracula.” These stories are also second-hand accounts, largely fictional or exaggerations of Dracula’s reign.

Despite the magnanimous man that Prince Dracula was, in the annals of history is where the most literature on him can be found. Fewer books are written about the real man, than about the vampire character that Vlad III and Elizabeth Bathory inspired. Although, the recent novel, The Historian, also contains Vlad Tepes as a main character, however, he is also a vampire in this setting as well.

Bram Stoker, an Irish author, wrote Dracula in 1897, his primary antagonist, Count Dracula. Although the historical Vlad III, Dracula was partly inspirational, it is not a widely known or accepted fact, that the actor and friend of Stoker, Sir Henry Irving was the primary inspiration for the character Count Dracula, for his dramatic presence, aristocratic mannerism, and his personal preference for playing the role of the villain. Recent research suggests however, that the vampire’s nature was attributed more to the actions and events surrounding Elizabeth Bathory. Count Dracula, in the story, keeps Johnathan Harker hostage in his castle in the Carpathian Mountains, where he arrived to discuss real estate in London with the Count. Johnathan barely escapes the castle with his life. Meanwhile, Dracula has gone to London to take up residence in his newly purchased home. The count begins to seduce Mina, Johnathan’s fiance, and kills her best friend Lucy, thereby transforming her into a vampire. Van Helsing, an unconventional scientist arrives, and puts an end to Lucy’s undead terrorising, but Dracula has bewitched Mina. Van Helsing uses Mina’s bond with Dracula to track him down, eventually kill him, and save the day.

Interesting aside; in the novel, the story begins with Dracula’s wife having flung herself from the window into the tributary below because she’d heard that Dracula had been killed. This actually happened, but not for the same reasons. According to local history, an arrow was shot through the window, alerting Dracula’s wife that his half brother’s army was approaching, to take over the castle. His wife dropped out of the window, and according to legend, she remarked first that she “would rather have her body rot and be eaten by the fish of the Argeş than be led into captivity by the Turks.” The tributary is now called The Lady’s River, or “Râul Doamnei.”

Vlad III is most widely known for being exceptionally cruel. Most allegations of this cruelty however, have been spread merely by word of mouth, and have been considerably garbled over the centuries. He was a successful ruler, much like his father, and ruled not twice over his land, but three times, –extending his rule even beyond that of his assassinated father, Vlad Dracul II. Despite his reputation for cruelty, that is most likely hyperbole in many instances, he was viewed among his own people as a prince with a deep sense of defending justice. Not only did he maintain an independent policy against Ottoman rule, but successfully defended Wallachia against the cruelty of Ottoman expansionism. The ottomans fought to extend their own empire into Wallachia; this would mean slavery for its citizens, which is why Vlad III is defended so much by his own people.

Consider the Norman rule over the Saxons as an example; King William ruled the Saxons after defeating their nobility, and allowed men to wed unwilling widows of Saxon noblemen. These Norman noblemen were little better than savages, who masked their viciousness with loyalty to the Church. They could drag women literally kicking and screaming to the churches for marriage, and afterwards, do as they wished with their women. Saxon resistance was wiped out, and men and women fled England, only to be caught and slaughtered in the roads. The same Saxons settled later in Wallachia, and became tools against Vlad III in his rule. He had 30,000 of them executed. However, he also knew their situation; this is why he worked so hard to keep his own country free from invasion.  Almost five centuries later, the noblemen of Wallachia sought to protect their own citizens against the same dissolution and so dealt with traitors and mercenaries against their people, royal houses, and churches with a very heavy hand.

Vlad III, Dracula’s preferred method of execution and torture was impalement. The method was to tie each of the offender’s legs to a horse as a sharpened stake was gradually forced into the body. The end of the stake was usually sharpened and oiled, but not too sharp, or the victim would die of shock. The stake would be forced up through the anus until it emerged through the mouth. Some stories indicated that infants were sometimes impaled inside pregnant women, and forced upward, through the mother’s chest.

Vlad III reigned three times, in 1448, 1456-62, and in 1476. In the English-speaking modern world, Vlad III is known as Dracula, and is popular for his exceedingly cruel punishments to the opposing forces, or prisoners of war. However, in Romania, he is regarded as a prince with simply a deep sense of justice, a great defender against the Ottoman empire and expansionism, and for his successful defense against them taking Wallachia, buying the rest of Western Europe precious time to defend as well. There is a common misconception that Vlad III was a monster; by medieval standards, he was a hero of his country.  He spent considerable time in Bucharest, –that he founded, drafting laws, meeting the ambassadors of foreign countries.

What inspired this obvious hatefulness for all those who would trespass against the livelihood of his kingdom, however? Many people overlook that during Vlad’s first reign, the Ottoman’s had successfully invaded Wallachia, and the Sultan placed Vlad III on the throne as nothing more than a figurehead. Vlad was eventually ousted from the throne, and he managed to escape with his life, to Hungary, where an uncle protected him. John Hunyadi, the rumoured force behind his brother’s and father’s assassination was much impressed by Vlad III’s hatred for the Ottoman’s, and his strength. He made Dracula his advisor, and soon enough, elected him as for a possible chance at the throne. Later, Hungary invaded Serbia to drive out the scourge of Ottomans, and then, at the same time Dracula invaded his native land of Wallachia, freeing everyone from Ottoman rule. John Hunyadi died of the plague, but Vlad III once again became a prince of Wallachia.

From 1456, to 1462, Vlad III, Dracula spent time at universities, and at court, drafting new laws for his people, making public appearances on holidays or important events. He also made generous donations to churches, and universities, to further the education of his people. After the death of Vlad III’s grandfather, Mircea the Elder, in 1418, the country of Wallachia turned into anarchy. Dracula used severe punishments to restore order among his people, determined to repair the country’s economy and society to build up its defenses against another attack. Vlad III ignored old boyars; men who supposedly had sons with “rights” to knighthood. Instead of knighting men based simply on their birth, and relations, Dracula knighted peasants, and men who had proved themselves worthy; regardless of their station.

The first appearance of the name Dracula, was the prince of Wallachia, Vlad II also known as Dracul, or The Dragon. He reigned twice in his lifetime, from 1436, to 1442, and from 1443 to 1447 when he was assassinated with his youngest son. He was known as one of the most notorious rulers all throughout history, for his defeat of several armies, and his abilities as a fierce and competent general. He was a member of the House of Basarab, and was eventually inducted into the “Order of the Dragon” by the King of Hungary or Emperor Sigismund. That’s what earned him the surname “Dracul.” The Order of the Dragon was established as a society of the nobles and royalty of allied countries, that were to defend their territory from enemies, particularly the Ottomans and Hussites. Very few artifacts remain today that establish the Order’s existence. The seal, or symbol of the Order is a dragon, with its own tail coiled around its neck; on its back is the cross of St. George.

The symbol itself is interesting, since the representations that have reconstructed the image, or badge, look remarkably like the symbol of The Ouroboros. The Ouroboros is the symbol of infinity, or a neverending cycle. It’s a illustration of a serpent swallowing its own tail; however, in other ancient woodcarvings, such as the engraving by Lucas Jennis, in alchemical tract titled De Lapide Philisophico, the serpent also appears as a dragon. Centuries earlier, Plato described the first creature in existence as being The Ouroboros.

Although favoured by the Catholic church, and a supporter of Catholicism, he did murder princely members of a not-so-distantly related household to gain power. Although a successful general, he was assassinated in 1447 with the oldest of his three supposed sons, Mircea II. Vlad was actually known to have four sons; Vlad Tepes and Mircea II were born by one mother, and then a second wife bore the other two. The fourth son is not known throughout history, so its assumed he died, or went off into other unnoted and undiscovered annals of history. His name was “Vlad Călugărul” and he was set on the throne briefly, for just under or little over a year before being forced off again. Little is known of his youngest son, Radu the Handsome, but Vlad II is most well-known for the exploits of his younger son, Vlad III, Dracula, Son of the Dragon… Vlad The Impaler.