The Reign of Vlad Tepes

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The Brutality of Vlad the Impaler
The Result of His Actions
Conclusion
Reference

Introduction

Vlad Tepes (the Impaler) is a well know historical figure credited with brutally murdering well over 100,000 people by slowly impaling them in stakes stuck in ground. He is the basis for the blood thirsty legend of Count Dracula and as such this detail is indicative of the horrors he instituted during his 45 year reign (1431 – 1476) as ruler of Wallachia (located in the Balkans, present day Romania) (Florescu, 1977).

Some consider him a monster while others think of him as a ruler that helped to stabilize a chaotic succession system rife with assassination, rebellion and brutal murder. It must also be noted that it was a direct result of Vlad the III’s brutal actions that invading Turkish forces were so horrified at the sight of thousands of impaled corpses that they often turned back due to fright, horror and disgust (Florescu, 1977).

Not only that, during the reign of Vlad the III there was a certain degree of internal stability within the country, unheard of at the time, due to his brutal murder of thousands of boyars (noblemen/ feudal lords) who were actually largely responsible for the hundreds of years of internal instability within the country due to their constant infighting and backstabbing.

In a way it can be said that there was a method to his brutal madness since in the end if invading Turkish armies had not invaded Wallachia en masse then it would have been likely that the country could have experienced a prolonged degree of internal stability free from infighting and rebellion.

The Brutality of Vlad the Impaler

Any paper concerning Vlad the III would be incomplete without a thorough account of his various brutal and sadistic actions that have the earned him infamy throughout history and the modern world.

The most proliferate of his brutal actions was the impaling of live victims upon stakes, this was done by tying the victims feet to the back of a horse while a semi blunt stake with the top slightly oiled was placed either on the victims anus of on his/her back until it slowly immerged through the person’s ass out their mouth or through back, piercing the heart and coming out through the front of the chest (Florescu, 1977).

No one was exempt from such atrocities; men, women and children were also recorded as having been impaled with pregnant women not escaping his barbaric method of killing with their unborn fetus often sticking to the top of the spear. While there are no official records as to the exact number of victims brutally murdered in such a fashion it is estimated that roughly 100,000 or more will killed through impalement.

Other attrocities committed by Vlad Tepes are rife with accounts of dismemberment, skinning (removing the skin of a person while there were still alive), burning people alive, scalping as well as varied methods of regular torture (i.e. whipping, nailing hats to their heads and other similar accounts) (Florescu, 1977).

It must also be noted that women during the reign of Vlad Tepes were expected to either be virginal before marriage, faithful and if a widow, chaste until her dying day.

When some women didn’t comply to this standard their breasts were chopped off, their genitals mutilated or removed and in some particularly horrifying instances the tip of a spear was heated till it was red hot and the woman was impaled through her genitals till the spear poked out through her mouth. Vlad Tepes also showed no mercy to captured Turkish prisoners systematically impaling 20,000 captured Turkish prisoners outside the city of Tirgoviste in 1461 (Florescu, 1977).

The Result of His Actions

It is rather interesting to note that despite the utter brutality of his actions Vlad the III was actually largely successful in implementing internal stability within Wallachia. With the systematic mass murder of the boyar feudal class Vlad was able to install his own loyal followers into positions of power further cementing his rule within the country.

Not only that his actions of impaling thousands of people and placing them out for display acted as an effective psychological deterrent towards any invading force and actually resulted in a several years of “peace” within Wallachia (Florescu, 1977).

Furthermore his strict policies involving fidelity, honesty and the need to be hard working helped to create a society free from petty crime and actually ushered in a period of high productivity due to the local peasantry often fearing for their lives should they attempt to do any action that could be construed as “unproductive” or “dishonest”.

While Vlad cannot truly be considered a hero due to his barbaric and atrocious actions he can be considered a smart and intelligent ruler that utilized barbarism and psychological warfare as efficient tools in ensuring the he was not usurped from his throne. In fact it can even be assumed that his actions of sheer brutality were actually a calculated farce in order for him to remain in power through the power of fear alone (Florescu, 1977).

Conclusion

Based on this paper it can be seen that Vlad Tepes was a monster, a brutal dictator and a ruler responsible for thousands of people dying in the most brutal ways possible. On the other hand he has left a mark on history as being one of its most remembered and infamous figures and as such his actions can actually be looked up upon as being impressive sine to this day he has been immortalized as the face of evil.

Reference

Florescu, R. R. (1977). American Historical Review, 82(5), 1286. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

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The Reign of Vlad Tepes

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