WEBVTT - Shields High: The Real Dracula 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:12.840 The battles of the past to find the present. This 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:22.360 is shields high. Who's the greatest monster in history? Some 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:27.920 names will come up right away, Hitler, Stalin, Mao pol Pot, 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:32.640 But that takes the question a very specific direction. I 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:36.880 didn't say real monsters, did I? And then again, those 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:41.040 are also all figures in the twentieth century. Now, because 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:44.600 of the industrialized scale of the slaughter in the twentieth century, 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:49.320 clearly by sheer numbers, those evildoers will be in something 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:52.400 of a category by themselves, although if you look at 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:56.360 the body count of say Genghis Khan, it would rival, 0:00:56.560 --> 0:01:01.360 including innocent women and children, anything done by the evildoers 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:05.479 of the twentieth century. And is it really possible that 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:10.319 all of the worst, most fearsome evildoers in history were 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:14.040 alive in a one century period, in fact, doing their 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:19.199 deeds within decades of each other. Probably not. But let's 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:23.760 return to the question. Those are all real people. And 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:28.240 when some people think monster, something very different comes to mind. 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:34.399 The locknest monster, the abominable snowman, the wolfman. Monster conjures 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:38.080 up horror stories of recent decades and myths and legends 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:41.479 of the past. Now, what if I told you there 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.480 was a figure in the actual past who was a 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:51.320 very real monster in both senses, a remorseless, bloodthirsty killer 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:55.200 on a massive scale, as well as being the basis 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:59.520 for one of the most enduring monster myths monster legends 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.280 of all time, as well as, believe it or not, 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:09.239 being a national folk hero in Romania, a talented military commander, 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:15.560 a Christian crusader against the Jihad, an exceptional builder and administrator, 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:19.480 and a man who founded what became the capital of 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:23.520 Romania with the city of Bucharest. Well, all I have 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:28.559 to do is say one word to answer this for you, Dracula. 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:30.400 I know what your mind goes to when you hear 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:34.040 that word, right, an elegantly dressed count with a thick 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:39.799 Romanian accent, then slicked back hair with two prominent fangs, 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.680 who vaughns to drink your blood. And that's certainly part 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:47.040 of the Dracula mythology as represented in pop culture for 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:49.839 say the last hundred years. Some of you might even 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:54.160 think about a chocolate sugary cereal or a beloved numerically 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:58.720 literate character on Sesame Street known simply as the Count. 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.960 But what about the actual guy, the actual man, not 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.880 the horror films with the comic strips, or even the 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:10.560 timeless classic novel written by an irishman named Bram Stoker 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:15.400 in eighteen ninety seven. Well, my friends, there was a 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:20.800 very real man named Dracula, and he's actually one of 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:26.560 the most fascinating and terrifying characters of the fifteenth century 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:31.520 Western world. He was a minor prince in Eastern Europe, 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:42.520 set in the middle of warring factions to include Hungary, Serbia, Moldovia, Germans, Saxons, Transylvanians, Greeks, 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:46.520 and yes, of course, the Ottoman a horde at his doorstep, 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.880 the Caliphate of Islam, seeking the ultimate conquest of all 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:57.320 of Christendom. His name was Vladcheppes or Vlad the Third, 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:03.360 better known as Vlad Dracula and later on Vlad the Impaler. 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:08.160 Have you heard about this prince of Wallachia, famous for 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.840 ordering the cruelest of tortures for thousands of his enemies 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:15.880 at a time. In fact, Vlad Chepesh or Vlad the 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:19.039 Third would become so expert in the utilization of this 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:24.279 impalement technique that he would become known as the Impaler. 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:28.839 Now this is a particularly brutal form of execution that 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.039 has been known in the historic text going back to 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:37.919 the time of Hammurabi in the eighteenth century BC, and 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:43.080 much like crucifixion for the Empire of Rome, this was 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.480 the means that the Ottoman Empire used to terrify anyone 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:49.880 who would stand in its way. In fact, during the 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.159 fifteenth century when our tale takes place, it was a 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:57.760 common fact of conquest and retribution, and there were two 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:01.600 main ways that impalement would take place. In the more 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:07.880 standard variation, the executioner would take a spear and insert 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:11.359 the sharp and in or near the navel of the 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:15.760 poor victim, press all the way through the guts until 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:19.240 the spear tape came out the victim's back, and then 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:22.320 the spear would be planted in the ground, upright with 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:27.240 the ghoulish, ghastly sight of a victim atop the spear, 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:32.200 sliding down slowly, writhing to death in agony and bleeding out. 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.600 Believe it or not, this was considered the less awful 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:40.320 version of this form of execution, in order to generate 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:44.839 the absolute maximum of misery and suffering, and therefore spread 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:48.000 a message even further of the terror that awaited anyone 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:54.240 who stood athwart the Sultan's ambitions. Sometimes, impellment would involve 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:57.960 using the blunt end of the spear, inserting it in 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:02.680 the individual's rectum, and then planting the sharp part in 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:06.040 the ground, and then the person would slowly, based on 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.279 their weight, have the blunt end of the spear driven 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:13.039 through their abdomen over time, and they would bleed to 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:16.880 death in misery. It was an awful way to go, 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:21.240 and it was standard practice as a tool of execution 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:24.680 and terror for the most powerful regime in the world 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:29.080 in the fifteenth century, the Muslim Ottoman Empire based in 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:32.960 what is modern Turkey. In fact, to understand the world 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:38.360 of Dracula, the real Dracula, one has to first understand 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:43.960 the history, the context, politically militarily of Eastern Europe and 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.839 the Ottoman Empire in the early to mid fifteenth century. 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:52.120 Ever since the victory of the Seljuk Turks over the 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:57.520 Byzantine armies at Manzikert in ten seventy one, the nomadic 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:02.159 people known as the Turks continue to consolidate power in 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:06.480 what we call Asia Minor in historical studies, or just 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:11.400 in today's geography, Turkey. The Ottomans, named for Osman One 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:16.120 of their chieftains from the thirteenth century highly successful in 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:20.720 being a warlord and consolidating more and more power, and 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:24.640 by the fourteen hundreds had effectively taken all of the 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:29.960 major land of the Byzantine Empire east of Constantinople, and 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:34.440 Constantinople itself was next on the list. This was a 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:40.000 city whose strategic importance geographically is hard to overstate, and 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:45.240 despite the encroachments of the Muslim Turks, the Byzantine Empire 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:49.520 thought that its Theodosian walls could perhaps hold out indefinitely 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:54.200 around the city of Constantinople itself. And Constantinople was more 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:59.320 than just a massive base and an incredibly lucrative area 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:03.440 for trade, was also the heart of the Eastern Orthodox 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:08.040 Christian faith. The Byzantines thought of themselves not as Eastern 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:12.200 Orthodox or Byzantine, but as Romans, and so in many 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:17.120 ways the city of Constantinople was second to Christianity, only 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:21.040 to Rome and the Pope in terms of importance. While 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:26.080 in fourteen fifty three, right in the middle of Dracula's life, 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:32.240 Constantinople would fall to the Turks. This dramatically increased the 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:36.760 threat to all of Christendom of a direct Muslim invasion 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.240 of Europe, and our own Count Dracula was on the 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:45.040 very front line of that battle. Dracula's often thought of 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:49.760 as Transylvanian, but in truth he was the voivode or 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:54.520 prince of Wallachia. It's in what is today Romania in 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:59.040 the center of the country. Transylvania, even more mountainous and rugged, 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.400 is just north of Wallachia, and this was a very 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:08.120 dangerous neighborhood to be a boyar their term for a noble. 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:13.600 Wallachia was surrounded by a hostile, intrusive and expansive powers 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:18.240 on all sides. The considerably more powerful Kingdom of Hungary 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:22.400 to the west was constantly setting up puppet rulers and 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:27.240 occasionally snagging pieces of what is today's Romania than Wallachia. 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:32.559 Transylvania for itself. The Polish and Germanic kings were no better. 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.920 Even the Moldovians would become involved, as well as the 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:42.800 Serbians and Bosnians, who, along with Wallachians. Lectrocula himself were 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:45.240 on the very front line of the battle against the 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:49.960 invading Ottoman Empire. Every year during the campaign season, the 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.679 Ottoman Sultan would push deeper into what we think of 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:59.000 today as the Balkans seizing more fortresses, demanding tribute from 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:04.720 more Christian prince including the hated dev Shehrma, a system 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:08.000 of human tribute the Ottoman's demanded that would become infamous 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:12.600 throughout the centuries. In the Devshrma, Christians, mostly Greeks, but 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:16.080 many youths from the Balkans as well, would be offered 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.840 up by their localities by their nobles to be trained 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:23.400 in the Ottoman court. These Christian boys, taken from their 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:26.920 mothers and fathers, would be raised as the property of 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:31.800 the Sultan himself, fanatical Muslims who sought to use the 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:35.400 power of the Ottoman state to expand the Caliphate, and 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:39.720 were the basis for the Janissary Corps, the most elite 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:44.560 of all of the Sultan's troops. Others became high administrators 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:48.040 in the Ottoman court, but all were forced to turn 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:52.400 upon the countries, the nationalities, the religion that they grew 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:56.280 up with. The dev Shehrma turned these young Christians into 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:00.280 warriors against their own faith. For Islam it was had 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:03.200 by those who suffered under its yoke. Before we get 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:07.840 to Dracula himself must be understood that the history of 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:12.400 warring royal houses in the fifteenth century in this part 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:16.720 of Eastern Europe, right along the fringe of the Islamic Empire, 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:21.480 was straight out of a Game of Throne's storyline. There 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:29.640 were constant usurpations, assassinations, poisonings, ambushes during diplomatic calls. One 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.240 of the worst reasons for all of this mess was 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:35.959 that bastards, those born out of wedlock, would often make 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:39.720 claim to the throne, and in the Eastern Orthodox culture, 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:43.120 at least as it was practiced in Hungary and Serbia 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:47.440 and Romania, anyone with any basis for a bloodline claim 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.160 who was bloody minded enough to murder all of his 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:55.600 rivals was very possibly the king or the prince, at 0:11:55.679 --> 0:12:01.719 least for a time. The reign of Wallachi in Transylvania, Bulgarian, 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:06.640 Serbian Bosnia nobles was often only a few years, in 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:10.040 some cases only a few months, and these reigns did 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:14.200 not end with a gentlemanly handshake and retirement, but a 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:18.880 beheading and sometimes a massacre of an entire family. It 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:22.880 was into this world that Vlad the third Vlad Sheppes 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:28.120 Dracula was born in about fourteen thirty one. They're not 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.560 exactly sure of the year, but they are sure that 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.480 it was in a house in Transylvania that still stands 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:37.640 to this day. Vlad's father, Vlad the Second, was a 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.960 member of a holy order of Crusaders known as the 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:46.360 Order of the Dragon. The Romanian word for this is Drakul, 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:53.200 So Vlad the third are Dracula's dad was actually Vlad Drakul. 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:57.320 The man we're talking about now was called Dracula, as 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:02.360 in Little Drakul, son of Drakul, or the Dragon. Just 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:06.400 as Dracula would be later on, Vlad the Second would 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.880 be drawn into the constant border wars and skirmishes between 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:14.800 princes in and around Wallachia. In fourteen forty two a d. 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:20.560 The Sultan Murraud the second was very unhappy with the 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:24.840 fact that Vlad the Second had not supported directly the 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:29.480 latest Ottoman invasion. Remember, these incursions by the Muslim Ottoman 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:34.360 Empire into Eastern Europe were happening yearly now, seizing more fortresses, 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:39.480 more territory, terrifying and often massacring the local Christian population. 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:44.920 But Vlad the seconds hold on power in Wallachia is weak. 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:48.040 He has to worry about the most powerful man and 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.120 hungry at the time, John Hunyadi, and the last thing 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:54.400 Vlad the Second wants is then the most powerful ruler 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:58.560 in the world, Murraud of the Ottoman Empire to engage 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:02.240 in a full scale invasion of Wallachia, or even to 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:05.880 just support one of Vlad's rivals to his throne. So 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:09.600 when the Sultan tells Vlad the Second to show up 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:14.240 in Gallipoli to pay homage and perhaps talk about the future, 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:19.800 lad shows up and brings his two sons, Vlad the 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:27.640 third Dracula and Radu, Dracula's younger brother, leaving behind in 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:32.840 Wallachia in the city of Targo Vista, the seat of 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:37.440 Lad the Second's power, his eldest son Murcia. Well, it 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:40.160 turns out the visit to the good old Sultan Murad 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:44.720 was a family trip that Dracula would never forget. He's 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.960 roughly ten years old at the time, and he shows 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:52.800 up expecting the pomp and circumstance of noble to noble discussions, 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:57.920 and Muraud promptly has Vlad the Second, Dracula and Radu 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:01.720 thrown into chains and placed in a dungeon. You have 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:05.440 to remember that at this time sultans were often known 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:10.640 to order the execution of all male relatives, brothers in particular, 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.440 and given the fact that the harems were well frequented 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:19.080 by the sultans, this could mean the execution of dozens 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:22.520 of small children and even babies, all to protect the 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:26.240 sultan's grip on power. So to say that the rulers 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.200 of the Ottoman Empire were willing to engage in vicious 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:33.280 brutality is an understatement. That was for their family members. 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:35.840 Imagine what they're willing to do to somebody who stands 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:38.840 in the way of their power, who's an enemy. So 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:42.680 Vlad the Second, Flad the Third, Dracula Radu are being 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:46.760 held in captivity, and a deal is struck, Vlad the 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:50.360 Second can return to Wallachia, returned to his main city 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:55.720 of Turgo Vista, and Dracula and Radu will stay behind 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.960 in the Ottoman court as hostages. Now, to be fair, 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:05.280 the Ottomans did treat Vlad the Third and Radu as 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:10.360 nobles in the court. Dracula himself would become absolutely fluent 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.640 in Turkish as well as other languages, get an incredible 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.600 education from some of the most learned people in the 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:20.320 Western world at that time, as well as being instructed 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:24.760 in all the finest arts and tactics of the Ottoman military. 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:28.080 The Sultan did not know it at the time, but 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:33.320 his most senior, talented and gifted advisors and instructors were 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:37.320 rigorously training a man who would become among their most 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:43.840 vicious foes in the finer points of combat, artillery, horsemanship, archery, 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:47.960 leading men in battle, and all the internal intricacies of 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:52.160 the Ottoman culture and the Sultan's court. This would prove 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:57.680 invaluable for Dracula later on. Radu, on the other hand, 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:01.960 Dracula's younger brother, would become known as Radu the Handsome. 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:05.240 He became a favorite of both the men and women 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.840 of the Ottoman court, and there are even contemporary chroniclers 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:12.080 who believe that he was the Sultan's lover for a time. 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:16.879 As we would see later, Radu turned Turk entirely and 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:20.119 would even fight against his own brother on the side 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:24.160 of the Ottomans. Apart from the rigorous academic and military 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:29.199 training that Dracula received during this period, it was terrifying 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:32.640 for a preadolescent to be dropped off in a foreign culture. 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:36.159 In a famous incident, the sons of a Serbian ruler 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:40.159 Brankovic were also being held hostage around this time, but 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:43.919 they wrote what the Sultan considered treasonoist letters home, so 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.400 the Sultan had their eyes gouged out with red hot pokers, 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.960 despite please from his wife, who was sister to his 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:57.119 two royal guests. If you crossed the Sultan, the price 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:00.560 was terrible, and as it turned out, Dracula most found 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.240 this out the hard way. You see, while he was 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:07.040 being held captive in the High Court of the Ottomans, 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:14.120 Christian forces back in Eastern Europe were actually undergoing another crusade. 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.359 In fourteen forty two, a crusade was declared by Pope 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:22.040 Eugenius the Fourth. Twenty five thousand men under Polish, Serbian, 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:27.280 Hungarian and other commanders beat the Turks, made it deep 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:32.080 into modern Bulgaria, capture the city of Sophia, and forced 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:36.440 the Sultan Maraud to come to terms. He in fact 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:41.920 agreed to restore Basses to Christian control and release Dracula 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:46.240 and his brother, along with all other important royal captives 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.280 in the Ottoman court, back to their homes, but the 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:53.160 Christian forces did not keep their word. In fact, Dracula's 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:57.000 father Drakkol in written correspondence, made it clear that he 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:03.400 believed his continued assistance and alliance with the Crusading forces 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:07.280 against the Turks would result in the execution of two 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.440 of his sons. This didn't seem to bother him too much. 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:12.720 In fact, it was a sacrifice he indicated he was 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:16.000 willing to make as long as his favorite son, Mercia, 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:20.320 was able to take up his line. And Marcia was 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:25.719 part of these crusading efforts into modern Bulgaria, including the 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:30.639 disastrous Battle of Varna, where the Turks finally defeated the 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:35.560 Christian forces decisively. This Battle of Varna in fourteen forty 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:39.879 four a d was a disaster for the allied Christian forces. 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:44.040 The King of Poland was killed in hand to hand combat, 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:48.439 along with thousands of the finest knights of Christendom, and 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:50.600 just to make a point about what they do with 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:55.119 other captured nobles, the Turks cut off Ladislaw's head and 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.760 raised it on a pike for all to see, most 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:04.560 notably for Dracula. The Christian forces had betrayed their agreement, 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:08.280 they had broken the treaty, and now the Sultan was 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:11.800 on the offensive. He very well could have had both 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:17.920 Dracula and Radu executed, but he didn't. He saw value 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:21.360 in them. It was just a question of how long 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:24.359 he would hold them in court before deploying them for 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:28.560 his own purposes. But then word came down from Maraud 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.560 himself to Dracula that his father Led the Second and 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:38.959 his son Murcia were ambushed and murdered by treasonous boyars 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:44.520 nobles in their home region of Wallachia, And after swearing 0:20:44.560 --> 0:20:47.720 allegiance to the Sultan on a Bible and on the Quran, 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:52.040 Dracula was given leave to return home to Wallachia to 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:57.240 seize his birthright, become the voivode or prince, seek retribution 0:20:57.440 --> 0:21:01.840 for his father and brother's murder, and become a useful 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:05.320 ally for the Sultan put in place to help with 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:10.439 the Ottoman campaigns to come. Or so Murad thought. It 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:14.720 would not be quite so easy. As Dracula made his 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:18.760 way to Wallachia, you have to remember that back in 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:23.040 the Ottoman court, Radu, his younger brother, had stayed behind, 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:26.800 and one of his closest companions and yes believed to 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:29.439 be his lover, was someone who would come to be 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:32.600 known as meh Met the Second or meth Met the conqueror, 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:37.960 the Sultan who took Constantinople, and he absolutely in time 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:41.840 would want Radu and not Dracula, to be the prince 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:46.680 of Wallachia. It's complicated at this time because Wallachia was 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:51.240 a vassal state both of the Turks officially as well 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:53.760 as of the Kingdom of Hungary, which would play a 0:21:53.840 --> 0:21:57.080 large role in the politics and battles to come of 0:21:57.200 --> 0:22:02.960 Dracula's life. But in fourteen forty seven, Dracula returns home 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:07.680 and he is now free, but also a Turkish officer 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:10.240 at the same time, somebody trained in the Ottoman ways 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:13.560 of warfare, their language, and their culture. Based on his 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:16.760 connections and his family wealth, he's able to cobble together 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:19.639 a force that is loyal enough to him that he 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:22.359 thinks he has a shot of pushing all of his 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:26.760 rivals in Ballachia out of the way. Remember, his father 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:31.040 was assassinated by boyars, who quickly divided up power and 0:22:31.160 --> 0:22:37.840 spoils among themselves. Next door in Hungary, John Hunyadi, who 0:22:37.960 --> 0:22:40.680 was considered one of the great crusaders against the Ottomans 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:44.720 of his day, lost at the Battle of Kosovo. While 0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:48.040 that's going on, Dracula decides that the time was perfect 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:53.520 because Hunyadi had been backing the other side of the 0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:59.240 Wallachian power structure. So while Hunyadi is trying to pull 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:03.000 things together after a massive loss to the Turks, Dracula 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:07.480 stages a coup takes control of Wallachia with some help 0:23:07.520 --> 0:23:10.720 from Turkish cavalry friends who came along with him, but 0:23:10.880 --> 0:23:14.720 this period lasts only two months. Then he fled to 0:23:14.800 --> 0:23:19.040 Turkey and then finally to Moldavia, where he spent two 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:23.080 years in the court there. But in fourteen fifty one, 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:26.800 bog Down of Moldavia, who was his ally that allowed 0:23:26.880 --> 0:23:30.840 him to stay there, was assassinated and Dracula once again 0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:34.240 had to flee, so he escaped through the Borgo Pass 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:39.480 to Transylvania. During this period, Dracula's trying to lay low, 0:23:39.760 --> 0:23:43.600 but John Hunyadi, who is the most powerful man not 0:23:43.720 --> 0:23:46.680 technically the king, but the most powerful man in neighboring Hungary, 0:23:47.240 --> 0:23:50.520 who was involved at least in some way in supporting 0:23:50.560 --> 0:23:53.800 the murder of Dracula's brother and dad, has heard the 0:23:53.880 --> 0:23:58.960 Dracula is in fact in Transylvania and decides that he's 0:23:58.960 --> 0:24:01.960 going to write letters to all city leaders that if 0:24:02.000 --> 0:24:05.760 you have Dracula near you, if you have Dracula taking 0:24:05.840 --> 0:24:09.840 refuge with you, you must chase him out. Some even 0:24:09.880 --> 0:24:13.200 went further than this and tried to have Dracula assassinated. 0:24:13.240 --> 0:24:16.199 First in Brasov, the vice governor there tried to have 0:24:16.280 --> 0:24:19.200 Dracula killed, but as would be the case many times 0:24:19.240 --> 0:24:22.960 going forward, Dracula managed to escape the noose at the 0:24:23.080 --> 0:24:25.880 last minute and get away from an ambush that had 0:24:25.880 --> 0:24:30.880 been set for him. But then major change in the 0:24:30.920 --> 0:24:34.000 Ottoman court brings about a change of heart for Hunyadi. 0:24:34.800 --> 0:24:37.960 A new sultan rises to power. Me Met this second, 0:24:38.840 --> 0:24:40.840 and as I said, he would become known as meth 0:24:40.920 --> 0:24:44.639 Met the Conqueror, and he had absolute designs on the 0:24:44.680 --> 0:24:50.080 conquest not only of the Balkans, Wallachia, Hungary, but all 0:24:50.119 --> 0:24:53.080 of Eastern Europe. And then he wanted to strike into 0:24:53.080 --> 0:24:56.680 the heart of Christian Europe itself, to Vienna and beyond. 0:24:57.600 --> 0:25:02.000 John Hunyadi of Hungary is one of the few military 0:25:02.119 --> 0:25:06.280 leaders who recognizes this, and he understands that Dracula will 0:25:06.320 --> 0:25:12.160 be a very powerful frontline defender of Christendom if only 0:25:12.200 --> 0:25:16.280 he had the proper backing. So Hunyadi invites Dracula to 0:25:16.320 --> 0:25:18.960 make peace with him in person, and gave him a 0:25:19.000 --> 0:25:22.600 command position in his army. But of course the price 0:25:22.640 --> 0:25:25.119 of this was that it was up to Dracula to 0:25:25.280 --> 0:25:30.560 be the front line of defense against the next Turkish invasion. 0:25:31.800 --> 0:25:37.000 Fortunately for Dracula, but for the detriment of all of Christianity. 0:25:37.040 --> 0:25:41.080 At the time, methmets sites were focused on a much 0:25:41.119 --> 0:25:45.679 bigger prize than the rugged and relatively poor area of 0:25:45.800 --> 0:25:49.800 Vallachia in what is today's Romania. He was going for 0:25:49.880 --> 0:25:55.400 Constantinople itself, and in fourteen fifty three the great calamity struck. 0:25:55.720 --> 0:25:58.440 In fact, there's another Shield's High podcast you can listen 0:25:58.480 --> 0:26:03.760 to entirely on the fall of Constantinople. But Methmet took 0:26:03.880 --> 0:26:09.280 fifty thousand Christian slaves and thousands more murdered in the streets. 0:26:09.640 --> 0:26:12.879 The Theodosian walls were not enough to prevent this invasion 0:26:13.240 --> 0:26:17.280 of the Turks against Constantinople from being successful, and in fact, 0:26:17.400 --> 0:26:22.520 Venetian sailors who escaped told stories of mass impalements the 0:26:22.560 --> 0:26:27.680 Turks committed outside the city walls of Constantinople. The Christian 0:26:27.760 --> 0:26:32.720 forces of Eastern Europe knew what was next Belgrade, then 0:26:32.960 --> 0:26:37.640 Buddha today's Budapest, then Vienna. The Battle of Belgrade put 0:26:37.720 --> 0:26:43.159 six thousand Christian defenders against an Aman force at least five, 0:26:43.400 --> 0:26:48.840 perhaps ten times that size. But John Hunyadi, along with 0:26:49.280 --> 0:26:52.720 John of Capistrano, somebody who had pulled together what was 0:26:52.800 --> 0:26:57.119 essentially a people's crusade of just those gathered together on 0:26:57.160 --> 0:26:59.400 the streets who wanted to wage war against the Turk, 0:26:59.600 --> 0:27:03.480 were able to hold back the Turkish onslaught at Belgrade. 0:27:03.680 --> 0:27:07.680 Pope Eugenius the fourth called it the happiest event of 0:27:07.720 --> 0:27:11.479 his life. So for a time it seemed the direct 0:27:11.600 --> 0:27:15.000 route for an invasion into the heart of Christendom was 0:27:15.119 --> 0:27:18.240 blocked for the Turks. But this would mean they would 0:27:18.280 --> 0:27:22.960 turn their sights on Volachia. In the background of the 0:27:23.000 --> 0:27:27.280 siege of Belgrade, Dracula had used a force of mercenaries 0:27:27.359 --> 0:27:33.119 and friendly boyars to hunt down Vladisla the Second in Turgovista, 0:27:33.200 --> 0:27:36.800 the capital of Vallachia, and Dracula ended up killing him. 0:27:36.800 --> 0:27:39.679 This was the man who orchestrated directly the assassination of 0:27:39.760 --> 0:27:44.159 Dracula's brother and father, buried the brother alive. In fact, 0:27:45.240 --> 0:27:51.280 Dracula killed Vladislav the second in single combat hand to hand, 0:27:52.080 --> 0:27:57.120 so at twenty five years old, Dracula once again became 0:27:57.600 --> 0:28:02.200 the Prince of Volachia. This would last for six years 0:28:02.200 --> 0:28:04.680 and would be the most important of the three periods 0:28:04.720 --> 0:28:08.120 of Dracula's reign, and it would be the time when 0:28:08.200 --> 0:28:13.240 Dracula used his most vicious and sadistic methods to wage 0:28:13.280 --> 0:28:20.240 war on the quarreling and backstabbing nobles who had been 0:28:20.400 --> 0:28:24.080 a constant threat in the background of his life. But 0:28:24.200 --> 0:28:26.919 during this period, Dracula also showed himself to be a 0:28:27.000 --> 0:28:31.240 great builder. He founded the fortress of Bucharest, which would 0:28:31.320 --> 0:28:34.880 later on become the capital of modern day Romania. He 0:28:35.000 --> 0:28:39.160 rebuilt a foreboding castle near the Hungarian border that would 0:28:39.200 --> 0:28:42.400 come to be known as Castle Dracula, and he even 0:28:42.480 --> 0:28:46.360 minted his own coins. It was his war on the 0:28:46.440 --> 0:28:51.600 boyars inside Vallachia, however, that would begin the reputation of 0:28:52.600 --> 0:28:57.920 Dracula as a bloodthirsty, evil, tyrant, demonic, and perhaps the 0:28:58.000 --> 0:29:03.800