#vlad dracul

[lgbtqreads]

Better Know an Author: Kiersten White

Today on the site, I am absolutely thrilled to be chatting with powerhouse author Kiersten White, whose newest novel, Lucy Undying, releases tomorrow from Del Rey! Lucy Undying is gloriously lush and Gothic lit fic that travels between past and present (slash near future) telling the story of Dracula‘s Lucy Westenra, and before we get to my chat with the author, here’s a little more about the…

[vanalex]

I want to be what you are, see what you see, love what you love.

[vladdocs]

Do you have any more fun facts about Vlad Dracul?

Not many at hand but I know from where to take them (If you know Romanian):

Something that is less talked about on the internet is the Danube campaign after the failed Crusade of Varna where Walerand de Wavrin and Vlad Dracul team up to take Giurgiu: We are in Varna, not far from the Black Sea coast, and it is November 10, 1444. A horrific battle has just ended. Over 30,000 crusaders were overwhelmed by the Ottomans, who were twice as numerous, so half of the Christians were killed. King Vladislav III of Poland and Hungary died on the battlefield(Before the Battle Vlad Dracul offered him a Wallachian horse which were the best horses at that time (That's why a castrated horse in german is called "Wallach") but the king refused it), beheaded. He paid with his life for the haste (Before they learned about the death of Vladislav III The pope asked Vlad Dracul to negotiate with the ottomans for his release, since Vlad Dracul was seen as mediator between the Ottomans and Christians), impulsiveness and pride that led him to disregard the tactical plan drawn up by the experienced and brave voivode of Transylvania, John Hunyadi. The Turks are victorious and their opponents are retreating. The news of the defeat at Varna sends shivers down the spine of all of Europe. The only one putting the work on the ottomans at Varna was Vlad's older brother the 15-year-old Mircea, That till (if we believe the chronicle of the clown Michael Beheim) Murad II sent a letter to him: "Many of them, a countless number, were killed. When the Emperor(Murad II) heard what great losses his men were suffering, he sent a message to Trakal(Dracul/Mircea): if he did not stop fighting before more messages came to him, he would kill his two brothers whom he had captured. He would do this if he did not show restraint in battle."

For what Mircea II did at Varna watch this video, really worthy it, really sad ending too:

The Christian Crusade launched in 1443 did not end there, however. There was one last stage, known as the Danube Campaign, to which we now turn our attention.

At the request of the Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaeologus, Pope Eugenius IV ordered a new Christian campaign, Burgundo-papal, to take place in the second half of 1445. It was commanded by Walerand de Wavrin, counselor and chamberlain of the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, and commander of the crusader fleet in recent years. He was joined by the Venetian cardinal Francesco Condulmer (nephew of Pope Eugenius). The Venetians were very interested in this Danube campaign: let us not forget that the Turks had given the Genoese a commercial monopoly in Dobruja, at the mouths of the Danube, and Genoa and Venice were on different sides of the war.

The declared objective of the campaign was to destabilize the Ottoman Empire and replace the child sultan Mehmed II (the future Mehmed the Conqueror, 1444-1446, 1451-1481) with Daud Celebi, a pretender favored by the Crusaders. John Hunyadi, Voivode of Transylvania (future regent of Hungary), and Vlad Dracul, Voivode of Wallachia, were also persuaded to participate in the campaign.

The Burgundo-Papal fleet, consisting of a few dozen ships, sets sail from Constantinople and enters the Black Sea. Wavrin was in serious financial trouble: the money he had received from the Pope was gone, and he still had debts from equipping the ships. Before raising anchor, he sells his jewels for 1,000 ducats, but this is not enough. He engages in piracy in the Black Sea, plundering Turkish merchant ships. He is not alone, as two other Burgundian navigators, Geoffroy de Thoisy and Regnault de Confide, had done the same thing, in another area, closer to the Georgian Pontic coast. Thoisy returns to Constantinople, but Confide joins his ships with Wavrin's fleet.

The Burgundians arrive at Panguala, present-day Mangalia. Here, the commander (or "fleet captain" as he appears in some sources) sees the submerged ruins of the ancient city of Callatis as well as the rocky outcrops in the area that made navigation dangerous. From Panguala, the Crusaders go north and enter the Danube at Chilia. Officer Pietre Vasquez is sent to Wallachia and Transylvania to inform Vlad Dracul and John Hunyadi that the crusade expedition is ready. The fleet then arrives at Isaccea and finally at Brăila. Here Vasquez also returns and conveys to Wavrin John's order: to go up the Danube with 8 galleys and wait for the land forces in September. John was to bring some 10,000 soldiers and Vlad Dracul, about 5,000-6,000. In this late August 1445, an Ottoman prince (other than Daud), named Savci, who claimed to be the grandson of Murad II and who, with the help of Hungary, dreamed of the Ottoman imperial throne, also boarded one of the Burgundian ships. The Burgundian fleet reaches Silistra, which is heavily fortified. The Burgundians do not dare to besiege it and Savci does not succeed in convincing the soldiers to surrender the fortress to him. On August 29, the Burgundian fleet - from the water and Vlad Dracul's forces - from the land - destroyed Tutrakan (Turtucaia), then arrived at Giurgiu. John had not yet arrived, but the Christians nevertheless attacked Giurgiu. Here is what is mentioned in Wavrin's military journal: "The Lord of Wallachia sends news that a day's journey away by navigable water with a favorable wind, there is a fortress four times larger than Tutrakan, on a large island and which was called Giurgiu." Vlad says that it belonged to Wallachia, claims it and asks Wavrin to attack it. The Crusaders accept and a bombard (cannon) is brought from the captain's galley and dragged on sled runners to the front of the walls. Wavrin and his second-in-command Confide withdraw at one point and leave the Wallachians the cannon. The siege continues, especially since the shells seem to destroy part of the wall (it's just an appearance, according to sources). Uninspired, they fire frequently and the bombard breaks down, its rings burst and two gunners are killed in the accident. Wavrin and Vlad decide to pile wood next to the walls and set it on fire. The Ottoman garrison suffocates so the Turks decide to surrender and over 60 of them are taken hostage and the rest are allowed to leave (But In the same Wavrin chronicle, Mircea and Wavrin spoke:

“In the meantime, the son of the lord of Wallachia went to visit the lord of Wavrin, to whom, after greeting him, had an interpreter say that he was planning an enterprise against the Turks: and, if he promised him not to judging him badly, he would tell him his secret; which the lord of Wavrin absolutely swore to him. And then the interpreter, having received instructions from the son of The ruler of Wallachia, spoke in this way: "My father sent for me and told me that, if I do not avenge him of that subachi of that castle of Georgye (Giurgiu), he will disown me and he no longer considers me his son; because he is the one who betrayed him and who, with a safe conduct from the Turk, made him go to the aforementioned Turk, then took him prisoner to the castle of Gallipoli, where he held him for a long time with chains on his legs . Now the fact is that he and his Saracens have now surrendered to my father, their lives and possessions must be spared, and they must be taken to Vulgarye (Bulgaria); and I will go, along with 2000 Wallachians, two leagues from here, cross the river and set up an ambush on their path: so, when they try to go to Nicopolis, I will be in front of them, so I will put them all to death . ” A thing to which the aforementioned lord of Wavrin did not answer a single word, neither good nor bad. So the aforementioned son of Wallachia went away, to go and carry out his enterprise.“

So technically Vlad Dracul let them go but Mircea had other orders, he caught them, skinned them and put their empty husks on display next to the ottoman border (Deserved ngl) After Giurgiu, they go to Ruse, to Nicopolis and then further on, to Turnu Măgurele. John Hunyadi also arrives on the Danube on September 15. There are minor skirmishes with the Turks but everything ends on September 29, when, for fear of being caught in the ice on the Wallachian waters, the Crusaders decide to return to Constantinople. The crusade expedition fails but the memory of the huge crusade ships that sailed on the waves of the Pontus and the waters of the Danube, at Panguala, Chilia and Isaccea, then at Silistra and Tutrakan, remains…

[grande-caps]

Rise of Empires: Ottoman - Season 2

Quality : HD screencaptures Amount : 9.411  files Resolution : 1.920 x 1.080 px

-Please like/reblog if taking!

[stromuprisahat]

Literary demotion of Vlad Dracul

[cryptocollectibles]

Young Dracula #1 (1992) by Caliber

Written by Gary Francis, drawn by David Mack cover by Gary Francis.

[earthwormspaghetti]

Reminds me of a “haunted Dracula room” experience in Romania, at Vlad Dracul’s birthplace. The restaurant that was housed in the building in which he was born had a top section with a creepy experience. After we had an amazing meal at the restaurant in the family, I was sent upstairs with some cash to pay, to see whether it was worthwhile. I was fully and entirely on board.

Now, when one entered, one was faced with a wall, on which a wolf pelt was hung and in front of which there was a desk. One the one side was a piano.

I proceeded, turning the corner to see a large-ish room with creaky floorboards and a couch with a bloody-necked mannequin on it. In the centre of the room was a coffin.

That coffin held a man, dressed up in fancy clothes and wearing the flattest, shiniest Dracula mask I’d ever seen.

He sat up and shouted, abruptly. I proceeded to come to the conclusion that he was somehow an employee that was doing something to do with maintenance (which, as he was an employee, only part of that was true), and turned the corner to leave him to work in peace, not after apologising cheerfully.

I then came to my senses and returned, prompting the poor man to give the most confused, tired “boo” that I can imagine can be uttered by any mortal soul. He quite eloquently said it, as if reading the letters off of a paper, in a fashion that one would speak about the news.

I tried to mime being able to take a photograph, because he spoke no languages I understood, and I didn’t know Hungarian or Romanian. He appeared bewildered and sort of just looked at me from underneath his It’s A Small World type mask.

I left with pictures to show to the people who wanted to see what the place looked like on the inside.

[coffeewithcutcaffeine]

Just thinking about Vlad Dracul sending a letter to the Brașovians in which he brutally slanders Voivode Alexandru, his brother, stating that Alexandru is, among other things, a traitor who seems to be a tad too friendly with the Ottomans. And then Alexandru sends a super pissed letter to Sibiu in which he implies that his brother is a damn liar and mentions that "whoever lies, may dogs fuck his wife and his mother".

Pure brotherly love. 🤭

[darkeroticnightmar3]

Vlad Tepes (Vlad Dracula) by ElenaBocicu on DeviantArt

I, Kazikli Voyvoda, do indeed give credit where credit is, true indeed, due!!

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"...SLAUGHTERING BETWEEN 40,000 AND 100,000 OF HIS SUBJECTS -- USUALLY BY IMPALEMENT -- DURING HIS REIGN."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on a complete set of promo shots featuring the sadistic patriot and ultraviolent Christian defender, Vlad the Impaler 6 inch action figure by McFarlane Toys, and part of McFarlane's Monsters Series 3 "Six Faces of Madness," released in July 2004.

FIGURE DESCRIPTION: "The true Prince Dracula, known as Vlad Dracula (translated as "Son of the Devil"), Vlad Tepes and Vlad the Impaler. An important figure in 15th-century Romanian history, Vlad Dracula is known as a patriot, but he was also bloodthirsty, slaughtering between 40,000 and 100,000 of his subjects -- usually by impalement -- during his reign."

-- MCFARLANE TOYS, c. summer 2004

Sources: https://mcfarlane.com/toys/vlad-the-impaler, Figures World, Toys Zone, & Pinterest.

[thesiat]

I think the really important thing that writing Thesiat has really made me pay attention to about Vlad III of House Drăculești is that he was a defensive warlord/king, and that is very different than a conquering one. I think we are so used to colonialism and empire mindset that it's hard to remember not all rulers had it.

As a non-Romanian it's also critical to remember that he is a hero to Romania and considered one of the most important rulers Romania has ever had. He was a real person with a real life.

I include him in my story not just because of the outside-of-Romania connection to him as a vampire, but also because once I started studying him (as much as I could), I was... not surprised, because that would imply I hadn't thought of him as a real person before, and I did; but I was excited in the way I always am when I get a clearer picture of a historical person's humanity. It quickly became clear that he was, actually, genuinely the best person to be the king of the vampires, like that was such a natural and organic choice, not really having anything to do with Stoker's work at all.

I'm actually very pleased that I (almost) wholly ignored Stoker's work and my 'Our Friend Mister Drăculești' is based almost entirely on the idea of 'What if the historical person had become a vampire'.

[belial-ex-tenebrae]

[svenson777]

Vlad

[vladdocs]

(Opens the door and peeks in)

Hello! What trustworthy descriptions of Vlad do we have? In terms of describing what he looked like.

We have Nicholas of Modruš's description from De bellis Gothorum (page 1v)

“In fact, he was not very tall, but with large limbs, which impressed of power. His stern look was terrifying; нe had a large and aquiline nose with distended nostrils; on his thin and slightly reddish face were planted his wide open gray-green eyes* with prominent lashes hat were framed by thick black eyebrows, which made his appearance look threatening. Besides that, his cheeks and chin were shaved, except the upper lip (mustache). The swollen forehead increased the size of his head. A bull’s neck was supported by broad shoulders upon which swung his dark curly hair, which fell down from his head.”

*It is very difficult to translate nuances for colors because they changed from one era to another. What is turquoise for us today, for some it was green, and for others blue. For now, The CD team proposes "Graugrün", so greenish gray. Also this description is a lot more detailed than it meets the eye if you know the anecdotes of that time: aquiline nose = royal blood. prominent lashes = Good looking.

slightly reddish face = He was angry. large limbs, which impressed of power, A bull’s neck was supported by broad shoulders = He is describing him like having the features of a warrior.

2. Contemporary portraits: Oldest from late 1460s/early 1470s (In this one he is portrayed as the bad guy so his features are portrayed uglier)

Second and third oldest from late 1470/early 1480: (those are also portraying him negatively but without the ugly features)

3. His seal from his third reign:

I know what you think, "Isn't the guy from the left Vlad Tepes?" That's what I thought at first too, the CD team as well and most likely everyone who will ever see this seal. But nop, Vlad is the bearded one. "THEN HOW ABOUT VLAD DRACUL'S FRESCO FROM CASA DRACUL!?"

Casa dracul was completely destroyed in the great 1676 fire and rebuilt after. the respective fresco represents Ali Pasha from Timisoara, together with Mihaly Apafi and the mayor of Sighisoara, very probably during the first visit to the city in 1662. You can learn more about it + Where Vlad truly lived here:

So that's it, as a bonus here is how Vlad looked in battle:

My favorite depictions of Vlad (All from Dan Ianos):

My least favorite depiction of Vlad:

The Massacre of the Innocent (with an alleged and highly disputed cryptoportrait (physically degraded)) with Vlad as Herod the Great on a South German church fresco

[whoishotteranimepolls]

"Who's Hotter?" The Anime Alt Men

[sacchiri]

Hellsing 2002 calendar illustration.

Ein wunderliche und erschröckliche Hystori von einem großen Wüttrich genant Dracole wayda Der do so ganz unkristenliche marrter hat angelegt die mensche, als mit spissen als auch die leut zu Tod geslyffen

A wondrous and frightening story about a great berserk called Dracula the voivode who inflicted such unchristian tortures such as with stakes and also dragged people to death