Well obviously not is the answer – he is just a fictional character created by Bram Stoker at the end of the 19th century and beloved by horror fans and film and TV producers and directors ever since.
Unfortunately though the correct answer to the above question is YES HE WAS!
Bram Stoker named his infamous character after a real person who had a taste for blood – Vlad III – Prince of Wallachia – or as he is better known – Vlad the Impaler.
The real Dracula
He was born in 1431 in what is now Transylvania in Romania. Today tourists can visit Bran Castle in Transylvania, which is advertised as Dracula’s castle, despite the fact that he never lived there. More likely he was born in Târgoviște in the region of Wallachia where his father was “voivode” or ruler. This area in the 15th century was the European Christian frontline defence against the Turkish Ottoman Empire. In fact as a boy Vlad the Impaler and his younger brother were imprisoned as hostages in northern Turkey. Vlad’s father had been inducted by King Sigismund of Hungary into the knightly order – The Order of the Dragon. The old Romanian word for dragon was “drac” – so Vlad became the son of Dracul – or Draculea! Curiously in modern Romanian – “drac” means devil.
Vlad and his brother were reasonably well treated as royal hostages. They were educated and trained as warriors and horsemen but whereas the younger brother went along with this and ended up actually supporting the Turks in later years it seems that Vlad bore a grudge.
War and the Impaler
Image credit – www.livescience.com
The turning point was in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) to the Ottomans. Europe now lay wide open to a Turkish invasion. Vlad became voivode of Wallachia in 1456 and immediately stopped the annual tribute payment to the Ottoman Sultan. In order to secure his position as ruler Vlad invited hundreds of Wallachia’s boyars (noblemen) to a banquet – then had them stabbed and their still twitching bodies impaled on spikes! The legend of Vlad the Impaler was born.
Similarly a group of Ottoman envoys had an audience with Vlad and refused to remove their turbans – citing religious beliefs. Vlad praised them for their piety and informed them that if they would not remove them for him then they would never remove them. He then had the turbans nailed to their skulls.
The anticipated Ottoman invasion proceeded and reached the capital of Wallachia – Târgoviște. The invaders found that the city was deserted but surrounding the city were the Ottoman prisoners of war – all impaled.
Fame and exile
Because of his victories Vlad was celebrated across Christian Europe – diplomats spoke in awe of his achievements and he received praise and subsidies from the Pope. He seemed to be Europe’s last hope of preventing the Ottomans from rampaging across the continent.
However his forces were not strong enough to stop the massive Ottoman forces and Vlad was forced into exile in Hungary where he became a virtual prisoner but married and had two children.
Vlad’s younger brother Radu, who had sided with the Ottomans now ruled Wallachia until his death in 1475. Vlad made a last effort to regain his lands in 1476. He was successful for a brief time but was ambushed and killed en route to yet another battle with the Ottomans. Reputedly his body was hacked to pieces and his head sent to the Sultan. There is no definitive evidence for where he was buried.
So he may not have been the suave, sexy and immortal figure of Hollywood films but he did exist and his life was drenched in blood!