Vlad the Impaler |The factual accuracy of this article is
disputed.| See further information on its talk page. Vlad III,
Prince of Wallachia (1431-1476; r. 1456-1462, also 1476), became
a Romanian national hero for his defense of the Orthodox
Christian faith against the Turk. He fought for Hungarian King
Matthias Corvinus against Sultan Mehmet II ("the Conqueror"). He
is also known as Vlad Ţepeş ("the Impaler") for his infliction
of certain bodily mortifications against his enemies; as well as
Vlad Drăculea ("Son of the Dragon") after his father Vlad II
Dracul, a member of the Order of the Dragon (established in
commemoration of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo). Bram Stoker's
Dracula During the nineteenth century, Irish writer Bram Stoker
wrote the novel Dracula associating Vlad III with vampirism (a
widespread Balkan folk belief concerning the undead). This
remains his predominant image outside of Romania. - "According
to Russian diplomat Fedor Kuritsyn, Dracula spent many years in
the dungeon. He reportedly refus