Vlad the Impaler...

[nokhor]

in one aspect he is similar to richard the lionheart, in that he is a really famous ruler from his lands but didn't spend a lot of time actually ruling there.

[matteus the inbred]

in one aspect he is similar to richard the lionheart, in that he is a really famous ruler from his lands but didn't spend a lot of time actually ruling there.

and similarly, you damn well knew about him when he was there!! To be fair to Richard, he did spend a lot of time in his kingdom, it's just that that kingdom included quite a lot of France!

what's the quote? when one of John's courtiers heard Richard has been freed from German captivity and was on his way home he said 'look to yourself sire, the devil is loose'...equally applicable to Vlad, i'd say. not a good time to be a boyar...

[Rosacrux redux]

Richard... uh, you got to love it when a Frenchman is England's most famous king
On the subject: Vlad was a vicious sob, a homicidal one as well, but a bloody effective ruler. He went a bit too far in his feud with the boyars though, and they delivered to the Turks (they could do business with the Turks, while Vlad spoiled their business). Reminds of the conduct of some Byzantine feudal lords... when Orhan got some momentum, they started swearing loyalty to the Ottomans and converted to Islam... nothing would stand in their way of "making business"...

...still pretty much the same, isn't it? When it's about money, nothing matters - no country, no allegiancies, no faith, no loyalty...

[Don Corleone]

Richard... uh, you got to love it when a Frenchman is England's most famous king
On the subject: Vlad was a vicious sob, a homicidal one as well, but a bloody effective ruler. He went a bit too far in his feud with the boyars though, and they delivered to the Turks (they could do business with the Turks, while Vlad spoiled their business). Reminds of the conduct of some Byzantine feudal lords... when Orhan got some momentum, they started swearing loyalty to the Ottomans and converted to Islam... nothing would stand in their way of "making business"...

...still pretty much the same, isn't it? When it's about money, nothing matters - no country, no allegiancies, no faith, no loyalty...

Not to start a war of nationalism, but I thought the French kings were Capetian, which was Frankish/Gothic. Calling the Normans French isn't accurate, as they were both English and French, as well as neither, when you come down to it. Normans were Normans.

[Rosacrux redux]

Ah, well, if you want to call Normans, Normans, no problem with me. I ain't starting no war for Richards national identity... despite the fact that the lad didn't speak a word English

[Don Corleone]

True. What's more, my apologies for the off-topic remark. I'll refrain from continuing.

I always thought Vlad's big sin was consolidating power away from the nobles. In history, that's generally how you come down as evil, if you don't finish the job they do a hatchet job on you in the history books. I've often heard that the big difference between Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great was that Peter the Great was better at being bad. :-)

[Spino]

I'm a student in 'the ends justify the means' school of thought and I think Vlad's actions were justifiable. You have to keep in mind that his brutality was born out of the experiences of his youth and the need for desperate and effective measures in the face of considerable odds. Even the pro-Vlad propagandists like to overlook the fact that when Vlad was younger he and his brother were sent by their father to stay with Sultan Mehmet as hostages in order to secure loyalty. Unfortunately, unlike most royal hostages neither Vlad or his brother were well treated. In fact Vlad was abused and thrown in a Turkish dungeon while his brother who was blessed with good looks was... the target of the sultan's repeated amorous advances (read as... raped). This kind of experience will make anyone more likely to rely on brutal tactics to achieve an end.

Vlad's use of guerilla warfare and the mass impalement of Turkish prisoners worked and was instrumental in forcing the Sultan to cease his invasion and keep to his side of the border.

[edyzmedieval]

I love the guy.

The germans wrote the "Germanic Tales" or something like this, which shed a very bad light on Vlad the IIIrd. They were made because Vlad didn't give them trade rights.

So that's why Bram Stoker did that idiotic thing...And continued till this very day.