WEBVTT 00:00:00.010 --> 00:00:05.110 The horror was absolutely unmatched when the 00:00:05.110 --> 00:00:09.970 Ottomans came across what they thought was trees 00:00:09.970 --> 00:00:14.890 from afar. And as they drew closer, they realized 00:00:14.890 --> 00:00:21.949 they were not trees. They were on wooden spikes. 00:00:28.780 --> 00:00:31.719 I do my best to fact check everything I share 00:00:31.719 --> 00:00:34.280 but please don't take any action based on the 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:37.060 information here and definitely don't quote me 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:39.759 in your dissertation. Also, some viewer discretion 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:43.560 is advised. Some stories may include graphic 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:47.100 or potentially triggering content so please take 00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:50.500 care when listening. And if I laugh at any point, 00:00:50.780 --> 00:00:53.500 just know it's never at the history or the people 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.219 involved. Sometimes I just get a little awkward 00:00:56.219 --> 00:01:01.640 or the drama is too wild not. Hello, everyone. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:06.299 It's me, Elsie Mae, coming at you with another 00:01:06.299 --> 00:01:10.299 Halloween episode. Third out of four, baby. When 00:01:10.299 --> 00:01:13.219 I was a child, me and my family were at a quiz 00:01:13.219 --> 00:01:16.670 night. I remember a question coming up, right? 00:01:17.049 --> 00:01:21.549 And it was, who was the real Dracula? And I was 00:01:21.549 --> 00:01:25.390 like, Dracula is in The Vampire. There was a 00:01:25.390 --> 00:01:29.810 real one? There was a real Dracula? What? That's 00:01:29.810 --> 00:01:33.730 weird. But my little brain at the time was thinking... 00:01:33.549 --> 00:01:37.510 What the heli? Like there's a real vampire? And 00:01:37.510 --> 00:01:39.569 you know it's just something that's always interested 00:01:39.569 --> 00:01:42.590 me like who was that man and why was he called 00:01:42.590 --> 00:01:47.030 Dracula? Did he actually drink blood? Would sunlight 00:01:47.030 --> 00:01:51.049 actually hurt him and like burn him? Was he actually 00:01:51.049 --> 00:01:54.310 like low -key allergic to garlic? What was the 00:01:54.310 --> 00:01:56.750 deal with him? So I thought we could explore 00:01:56.750 --> 00:02:02.469 that today because the truth is shocking. Shocking. 00:02:02.650 --> 00:02:08.430 If you are into gruesome history, this is the 00:02:08.430 --> 00:02:13.430 story for you. It turns out that the truth is 00:02:13.430 --> 00:02:18.750 way more twisted and bloody and fascinating than 00:02:18.750 --> 00:02:23.490 any of those spooky myths. Vlad III, the man 00:02:23.490 --> 00:02:27.050 behind the legend of Dracula, wasn't a supernatural 00:02:27.050 --> 00:02:30.979 creature. He was a Walachian prince. a son of 00:02:30.979 --> 00:02:35.860 political chaos and one of history's most terrifying 00:02:35.860 --> 00:02:38.860 rulers. Today we're going to unpack his life, 00:02:39.099 --> 00:02:42.039 his reign and why the world remembers him as 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:47.400 Vlad the Impaler. So let's go, chapter one. My 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:53.759 iPad's acting up and I can't scroll on it. Excuse 00:02:53.759 --> 00:03:00.460 me. Okay, so where our story is set. I need to 00:03:00.460 --> 00:03:02.479 give you some background information because 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:07.219 we are talking about the mid 15th century, okay? 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:12.379 It is around the 1450s and the 1460s and Europe 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:16.659 was a little bit chaotic. The Ottoman Empire 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:21.379 was expanding fast and Hungary was desperately 00:03:21.379 --> 00:03:25.139 trying to hold the line and right in between 00:03:25.139 --> 00:03:29.479 them was a place called Wallachia. and it was 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:33.580 caught right in the middle of those two empires, 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:37.340 Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, which is modern 00:03:37.340 --> 00:03:41.219 day Romania. So that is where our story is set 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:46.349 for today. and it's to be noted that Hungary 00:03:46.349 --> 00:03:49.490 and the Ottoman Empire were always at each other's 00:03:49.490 --> 00:03:51.849 throats. So that is a bit of background information 00:03:51.849 --> 00:03:57.509 there. So Vlad was born in 1431 and when he was 00:03:57.509 --> 00:04:00.949 a child he was sent to live with the Ottomans, 00:04:01.270 --> 00:04:04.030 him and his brother. They keep the sons hostage 00:04:04.030 --> 00:04:07.569 so that the dad, the ruler of Wallachia, won't 00:04:07.569 --> 00:04:11.259 do anything. not an ideal situation because it 00:04:11.259 --> 00:04:14.659 meant that Vlad grew up being completely exposed 00:04:14.659 --> 00:04:17.459 to a lot of terrible things. He was watching 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:21.579 executions, he was watching military drills and 00:04:21.579 --> 00:04:24.680 displays of cruelty. Somewhere in all that darkness 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:28.680 he learnt that fear really controls people far 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:30.959 better than kindness ever does. And what made 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:34.120 it worse is that he actually had a brother and 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:37.100 his brother was favoured over him. I know, it's 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:40.660 a bit sucky. He was treated well, like his brother 00:04:40.660 --> 00:04:45.879 was treated well, and Vlad was rejected, ignored, 00:04:46.220 --> 00:04:50.259 isolated, and I guess he was like beaten sometimes 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:54.019 for his behavior. He saw firsthand that politics 00:04:54.019 --> 00:04:58.759 was not personal and betrayal, cruelty and ambition 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:03.680 would go way further than even family. I know. 00:05:03.829 --> 00:05:07.449 So that was at the Ottoman Empire. On the other 00:05:07.449 --> 00:05:09.629 hand, his dad was kind of trying to play for 00:05:09.629 --> 00:05:13.050 two sides. He was backing Crusaders one moment 00:05:13.050 --> 00:05:15.910 and then siding with the Ottomans the next. And 00:05:15.910 --> 00:05:19.569 by the time that Vlad finally made it home, he 00:05:19.569 --> 00:05:23.209 was not the same boy that left, as you can probably 00:05:23.209 --> 00:05:29.709 imagine. Then tragedy struck. Vlad's father was 00:05:29.709 --> 00:05:34.990 murdered. He was murdered by the rivals. His 00:05:34.990 --> 00:05:39.050 older brother was blinded with a red -hot poker 00:05:39.050 --> 00:05:49.589 and then buried alive. So yeah, that's kind of 00:05:49.589 --> 00:05:52.689 where the Vlad that we know. starts to take shape. 00:05:52.870 --> 00:05:55.470 And I guess he swore that he would have revenge 00:05:55.470 --> 00:05:57.829 on those very people that did that to his family. 00:05:58.170 --> 00:06:02.170 So he went to work to get that throne, honey. 00:06:02.930 --> 00:06:05.670 So chapter two, we have fighting for the throne. 00:06:07.349 --> 00:06:11.430 So when he was 17 and got the worst news that 00:06:11.430 --> 00:06:14.410 he could possibly get that his father and his 00:06:14.410 --> 00:06:19.089 brother were killed, he swore revenge. But Vlad 00:06:19.089 --> 00:06:22.689 didn't rush in blindly. Oh no. He returned to 00:06:22.689 --> 00:06:27.250 Wallachia with Turkish forces behind him. He 00:06:27.250 --> 00:06:32.670 was like, I got them to back me up, so move out 00:06:32.670 --> 00:06:35.800 my way. But his enemies? Did they fight back? 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:40.100 No. He was quite lucky. He got them when they 00:06:40.100 --> 00:06:43.699 were distracted with something. I guess they're 00:06:43.699 --> 00:06:47.139 just, you know, usual political games. I guess 00:06:47.139 --> 00:06:49.259 they kind of underestimated him because they 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:52.040 thought he was just a scared little kid. But 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:57.100 no. He walked straight in. He got that throne. 00:06:57.579 --> 00:07:02.829 He was bold, cunning, shocking. This boy! was 00:07:02.829 --> 00:07:09.370 not to be underestimated. But just to add to 00:07:09.370 --> 00:07:18.290 the drama, it turns out his dad's not dead. I 00:07:18.290 --> 00:07:21.029 know, that was quite an unexpected plot twist. 00:07:21.769 --> 00:07:25.209 So I guess basically his dad turns up again and 00:07:25.209 --> 00:07:29.649 is like, son, what you doing? That's my throne. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.600 Like, obviously, guys, this is heavily oversimplified 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:37.360 because there's chaos. Vlad's kind of standing 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.600 there ready to rule. His dad just came back. 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:45.139 So anyway, Vlad has to leave. He's exiled. Okay. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:49.279 And he goes to live somewhere else. Chapter three, 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:53.439 exile and return. So after being overthrown, 00:07:53.860 --> 00:07:57.639 Vlad spent plenty years in exile. He was going 00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:02.160 between Hungary, Moldova and nearby regions. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:06.439 He built alliances. He was learning military 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:10.620 strategy and he was sharpening his political 00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:14.240 cunning. He found three whole years, I guess, 00:08:14.500 --> 00:08:17.480 of peace when he lived with his cousin and his 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:21.300 uncle in Moldova. Now, during my research, I 00:08:21.300 --> 00:08:24.139 seen that these were allegedly like some of the 00:08:24.139 --> 00:08:27.180 happiest years of his life. But again, quite 00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:31.439 dramatic. All that came to a sudden halt when 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:35.899 his uncle was assassinated and threw the region 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:40.649 into chaos. OK, so just to let you guys know, 00:08:40.769 --> 00:08:45.110 I need to be slightly quieter because of this 00:08:45.110 --> 00:08:48.309 situation. OK, just letting you know this won't 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:51.149 be like a regular thing. Some people in my house 00:08:51.149 --> 00:08:54.149 are sleeping and I have to be cautious. Guys, 00:08:54.149 --> 00:08:56.389 it's just the reality of having a home studio. 00:08:56.730 --> 00:09:00.470 Like, come on. But the show must go on, baby. 00:09:01.090 --> 00:09:04.090 So Vlad and his cousin, his cousin was called 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:07.049 Stephen, by the way, Stephen the Great of Moldova. 00:09:07.610 --> 00:09:10.710 They were running away from a guy called, I might 00:09:10.710 --> 00:09:14.690 say this wrong, so please forgive me, but John 00:09:14.690 --> 00:09:17.909 Hoonadi. We're going to go with that. And yeah, 00:09:17.909 --> 00:09:21.350 they were hiding from him. I guess it was like 00:09:21.350 --> 00:09:24.750 a hide and seek kind of situation, but deadly. 00:09:25.649 --> 00:09:29.669 And yeah, he was a powerful Hungarian commander. 00:09:30.269 --> 00:09:36.240 So one wrong move. And it was over. I would like 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:40.899 to point out now, I think I've been saying Wallachia 00:09:40.899 --> 00:09:44.740 wrong. I think I've been saying Wallachia. I 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:48.299 am so deeply sorry. I'm not very good at pronouncing 00:09:48.299 --> 00:09:50.899 things. I do look up things before I say them. 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:54.279 And for some reason in my head, I thought the 00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:58.919 W was pronounced a V. So I'm so sorry about that. 00:09:59.379 --> 00:10:04.879 But anyway, Vlad was a clever cookie. Okay, and 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.080 he knew that he wanted Valakia back and to be 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:10.899 honest he knew that he'd have to play with fire 00:10:10.899 --> 00:10:16.019 to do it So he did he started making deals with 00:10:16.019 --> 00:10:22.659 the people who murdered his father Like girl 00:10:22.659 --> 00:10:25.860 Well, they were tied to his father's murder. 00:10:25.860 --> 00:10:30.019 There was no forgiveness there. It was just strategy. 00:10:30.100 --> 00:10:35.360 It was business babe fool business. So I'm not 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:37.740 going to lie to you guys. The politics of this 00:10:37.740 --> 00:10:41.600 is super confusing to understand. So I'm going 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:45.039 to keep it as simplified as I possibly can. It's 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:49.740 going to be oversimplified. So just be aware 00:10:49.740 --> 00:10:55.179 of that. But once Vlad had struck the right alliances, 00:10:55.940 --> 00:10:58.799 he went in there and he took the throne. Thank 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:01.700 you very much. He went in there, walked his little 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:05.370 booty in there. and took back his throne. Thank 00:11:05.370 --> 00:11:08.669 you very much. But the threats remained. And 00:11:08.669 --> 00:11:10.830 the Ottomans, do you remember them? Remember 00:11:10.830 --> 00:11:13.730 the Ottomans? Yeah, well they're back. And the 00:11:13.730 --> 00:11:17.029 Empire, who once held him captive, because remember 00:11:17.029 --> 00:11:19.409 at the start he was sent away to live with the 00:11:19.409 --> 00:11:22.490 Ottomans as like an insurance policy. All that 00:11:22.490 --> 00:11:24.750 coming back to you now. They were still looming. 00:11:25.809 --> 00:11:28.669 And this is the, this is the gruesome bit. I'm 00:11:28.669 --> 00:11:31.529 not gonna lie to you. So, if you don't like gruesome 00:11:31.529 --> 00:11:34.129 stuff, you may as well skip forward. The thing 00:11:34.129 --> 00:11:38.649 is, in the 15th century, things were really gruesome. 00:11:38.789 --> 00:11:41.289 I think it was in Britain, people put, you know, 00:11:41.389 --> 00:11:44.409 enemies' heads on spikes to keep them out. You 00:11:44.409 --> 00:11:48.269 had people boiling people. It was crazy, okay? 00:11:48.830 --> 00:11:54.090 So, Vlad had watched the Ottomans impale their 00:11:54.090 --> 00:11:57.830 prisoners, and it was outside the city walls. 00:11:58.649 --> 00:12:03.539 However, He decided to take it up a notch. Well, 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:06.039 he actually decided to take it up several notches, 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:10.580 but we'll get to that. I guess allegedly what 00:12:10.580 --> 00:12:14.179 Vlad did was he made an example from a young 00:12:14.179 --> 00:12:18.179 boyar and a boyar, just to put that in there, 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:23.940 was like a Lando owner or a rich noble and he 00:12:23.940 --> 00:12:28.080 made an example out of a young boyar. Here is 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:31.159 the really gruesome bit, because what would happen 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:36.240 is they would sharpen wooden spikes. Oh man, 00:12:36.379 --> 00:12:38.139 you really don't know. You don't want to know 00:12:38.139 --> 00:12:39.639 what they do with the spikes, but I'm going to 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:43.740 tell you anyway. So they would impale people 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:47.159 and put them outside of the city walls to keep 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:50.720 like enemies away, to show them not to mess with 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:54.340 us, to show an example, don't disobey. But what 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:56.919 they would do is they would... sharpen the wooden 00:12:56.919 --> 00:13:03.000 spikes, impale the victims allegedly through 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:07.519 the anus. I'm just going to say the anus still 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:15.700 alive. And these victims would be alive on the 00:13:15.700 --> 00:13:21.580 stick as as they are impaled. And it is a very 00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:26.100 slow. gruesome death because allegedly they could 00:13:26.100 --> 00:13:29.980 stay alive for a few days. So they'd stay alive, 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:36.379 dying on a stick, on a very sharp wooden spike, 00:13:38.580 --> 00:13:43.440 slowly tearing their insides apart. Then came 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:48.169 the infamous boyar dinner. And the nobles who, 00:13:48.330 --> 00:13:53.269 as I mentioned earlier, some were linked to Vlad's 00:13:53.269 --> 00:13:57.529 father's murder, they thought it was in the past, 00:13:57.669 --> 00:14:02.490 they'd all sorted it. However, Vlad had not forgotten. 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:08.259 and it got very dramatic very quickly. Vlad separated 00:14:08.259 --> 00:14:11.539 the victims from their families and some were 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:16.259 just impaled immediately but others were forced 00:14:16.259 --> 00:14:20.179 to carry heavy bricks up a mountain to rebuild 00:14:20.179 --> 00:14:24.500 his castle. Their clothes would tear and they'd 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:26.980 be hanging off their bodies and their bodies 00:14:26.980 --> 00:14:29.940 would be pushed to a level of exhaustion that 00:14:29.940 --> 00:14:33.409 they would collapse. and they would just perish. 00:14:34.370 --> 00:14:41.350 That revenge was brutal. But it was also strategy 00:14:41.350 --> 00:14:45.549 and power. The message was received. Defy Vlad 00:14:45.549 --> 00:14:48.649 and that could be your fate. You could just end 00:14:48.649 --> 00:14:51.450 up like all of them. Maybe not you, maybe your 00:14:51.450 --> 00:14:55.330 family, maybe your neighbour. You know, you never 00:14:55.330 --> 00:14:59.009 know who you're going to see murdered next. What 00:14:59.009 --> 00:15:04.340 a terrifying concept. So chapter four, the reign 00:15:04.340 --> 00:15:11.240 of terror. So Vlad took Wallachia back in 1456 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:15.059 and he was determined to crush the boyars. This 00:15:15.059 --> 00:15:17.799 guy was not messing around, okay? You did not 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:20.860 want to be on the bad side of Vlad. Let me tell 00:15:20.860 --> 00:15:26.059 you that. His first moves, impale the unfaithful, 00:15:26.740 --> 00:15:30.100 replace almost all of his advisors apart from 00:15:30.100 --> 00:15:36.419 two. and he introduced a terrifying system. So 00:15:36.419 --> 00:15:44.080 thieves beheaded, unfaithful wives skinned alive, 00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:50.019 lazy peasants impaled, and military shrinkers 00:15:50.019 --> 00:15:54.320 were allegedly boiled alive. And there was another 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:57.659 gruesome story that I came across that really 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:05.259 Again, shows the depth of Vlad's brutal ways. 00:16:05.860 --> 00:16:09.000 I just don't have words for this. Like, I actually 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:15.799 am. It's an example of how brutal he was. Legend 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:21.620 has it that Vlad hosted a banquet for beggars. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:25.740 And as everyone was eating and drinking and I 00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:29.879 guess just enjoying the banquet, he locked the 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:36.940 doors and set on fire. And I guess he did this 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:39.539 because he just didn't want those people in his 00:16:39.539 --> 00:16:43.080 little society or in his society that he had. 00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:46.759 And there was another tale I came across where 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:50.220 two men refused to take off their turbans because 00:16:50.220 --> 00:16:55.200 of religious beliefs. I guess Vlad thought, okay, 00:16:56.299 --> 00:16:59.139 then you're never taking them off. And allegedly, 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:05.440 Vlad nailed the turbans to their skull. He didn't 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:12.140 stop there. 41 merchants rounded up. 300 Saxons 00:17:12.140 --> 00:17:17.259 burned and an attack on Brasov. There was a man 00:17:17.259 --> 00:17:20.579 called the Pretender and he tried to take the 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:24.220 throne and of course this didn't end well for 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:28.940 him because Vlad allegedly forced the man to 00:17:28.940 --> 00:17:32.579 watch his own grave being dug in front of him. 00:17:32.990 --> 00:17:37.089 They gave him a burial ceremony while he was 00:17:37.089 --> 00:17:41.670 still alive. He was watching his own funeral 00:17:41.670 --> 00:17:47.670 and then he was beheaded. His head dropped into 00:17:47.670 --> 00:17:50.730 the grave that was just dug right in front of 00:17:50.730 --> 00:17:55.589 him while he was alive. By three years into his 00:17:55.589 --> 00:18:00.630 second reign, Vlad had created a climate of fear. 00:18:00.809 --> 00:18:07.279 No one dared to cross him. So here is an interesting 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.700 piece, because this is where some conflict arises. 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:17.259 So remember how Vlad had a brother called Radu? 00:18:18.220 --> 00:18:25.759 I guess in 1462, Radu led 60 to 70 ,000 Ottoman 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:32.880 troops with 120 cannons, roughly. into Wallachia. 00:18:33.579 --> 00:18:36.519 Now, Vlad didn't really have the same amount 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:41.019 of numbers in this region. He had 10 ,000 soldiers 00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:47.140 and peasants. So it didn't really. Bit of a power 00:18:47.140 --> 00:18:49.160 imbalance there. I'm just going to I'm just going 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:51.359 to say what we're all thinking, OK? I'm just 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:54.839 going to say what we're all thinking. So Vlad 00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:57.859 knew that he wouldn't win directly. It was good. 00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:00.599 He knew that that wasn't going to happen. So 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:05.039 he ordered a strategic retreat into the mountains. 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:09.839 We're getting out of here. We're going to. We're 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:11.220 going to get out of here. We're going to hide 00:19:11.220 --> 00:19:12.960 in a mountain for a bit. Wait till this blows 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:16.019 over. Come back. It's going to be fine. So while 00:19:16.019 --> 00:19:21.130 they're retreating to the mountains, he is. burning 00:19:21.130 --> 00:19:25.769 his paths. He's poisoning water sources so they 00:19:25.769 --> 00:19:28.789 can't just come in and start living in in this 00:19:28.789 --> 00:19:32.170 area. And I guess allegedly they would ambush 00:19:32.170 --> 00:19:35.569 the enemy and then steal some of their soldiers 00:19:35.569 --> 00:19:38.529 as in like take some of their soldiers. I guess 00:19:38.529 --> 00:19:41.589 it's just like they just took them. The horror 00:19:41.589 --> 00:19:46.789 was absolutely unmatched when the Ottomans came 00:19:46.789 --> 00:19:51.480 across what they thought was trees from afar 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:56.019 and as they drew closer they realized they were 00:19:56.019 --> 00:20:02.460 not trees. They were decaying humans on wooden 00:20:02.460 --> 00:20:07.480 spikes. Everyone. It was women, children, men, 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:11.180 some soldiers that were originally from the Ottoman 00:20:11.180 --> 00:20:15.859 group who were stolen when they got ambushed. 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:23.779 They were impaled and displayed. Now the psychological 00:20:23.779 --> 00:20:28.119 terror clearly worked, but Vlad still had to 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:33.380 flee. And in this time, Radu, his brother, seized 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:36.980 the throne. Vlad was betrayed and he was imprisoned 00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:43.240 for 14 years. It's a pretty long time. So he's 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:50.390 had two reigns and now he's in prison. But not 00:20:50.390 --> 00:20:55.829 for long because however in exile again Vlad 00:20:55.829 --> 00:20:59.630 started to gain some followers He rebuilt the 00:20:59.630 --> 00:21:03.309 support and eventually Reconnected with his cousin 00:21:03.309 --> 00:21:08.750 Stephen remember him Stevie by the mid to late 00:21:08.750 --> 00:21:17.890 1470s Vlad was back on the throne How did you 00:21:17.890 --> 00:21:24.809 do that He basically... Guys, I don't know. I 00:21:24.809 --> 00:21:27.769 don't know how he did that, but he managed. He 00:21:27.769 --> 00:21:32.609 managed somehow. He completed a lifetime of alliances 00:21:32.609 --> 00:21:36.809 and betrayals and a full circle of power plays. 00:21:38.130 --> 00:21:42.329 I do not know how he did that, but that was it. 00:21:42.430 --> 00:21:45.569 That was just... He was back on the throne. Third 00:21:45.569 --> 00:21:49.750 reign, here we go! But it only lasted two months. 00:21:50.190 --> 00:21:54.029 But by then, he was a legend. As a ruthless, 00:21:54.589 --> 00:21:59.609 clever, terrifying ruler. And that was cemented. 00:21:59.829 --> 00:22:02.970 That was a fact. People were terrified. Vlad's 00:22:02.970 --> 00:22:07.630 lifetime of strategy, revenge and terror made 00:22:07.630 --> 00:22:11.589 him a national hero in Romania and an inspiration 00:22:11.589 --> 00:22:16.119 for Dracula worldwide. And I know, I was a bit 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:19.000 confused when I heard that too. I was like, okay, 00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:21.059 so where are we getting the vampire in this? 00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:24.240 I thought we were learning about Dracula today. 00:22:24.779 --> 00:22:27.000 But this is, this is the guide that it's based 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:32.700 off of. Vlad's legacy, chapter six. I guess there 00:22:32.700 --> 00:22:36.099 was like a pretty big jump there because some 00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:39.920 information is so hard to find out, like. Some 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:42.500 of this, this is obviously really really old 00:22:42.500 --> 00:22:47.279 information, so sometimes it gets a little confusing 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:52.200 and there's sometimes grey areas, gaps, discussions, 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:57.759 debates. Vlad's final battle, there's kind of 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:01.819 a huge question mark to that. Defeated against 00:23:01.819 --> 00:23:06.900 the Ottomans. The details of his death, murky. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:10.779 Confusing. not really there. No one really knows 00:23:10.779 --> 00:23:14.819 what happened. And that's why the legends grew. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.500 Because honestly, where people don't know stuff 00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:21.880 and rumors, guys, people will make up stuff and 00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:24.720 they'll exaggerate. But sometimes there's no 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:27.380 smoke without fire. So how do we really know 00:23:27.380 --> 00:23:31.660 what's happened? You know? So altogether, Vlad 00:23:31.660 --> 00:23:35.539 had less than seven years on the throne. I know. 00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:40.559 and Vlad was infamous across Europe. And these 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:43.259 stories that I'm telling you just now, they became 00:23:43.259 --> 00:23:47.019 a breeding ground for horror literature. And, 00:23:47.019 --> 00:23:50.140 you know, writers would exaggerate his deeds 00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:54.940 and they, I guess, created a figure perfect for 00:23:54.940 --> 00:23:58.880 ghost stories and gothic legends. Enter Dracula! 00:23:59.420 --> 00:24:02.680 But here's the thing, and this got me too, because 00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:09.900 Vlad Never a vampire. What? Yeah. So, you know 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:12.440 Dracula, right? Obviously. I mean, you might 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:14.640 not have read it. I've not read it, but I've 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:17.700 definitely heard of it. You know, Hotel Transylvania 00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:20.140 and stuff like that. Also, I feel like you grow 00:24:20.140 --> 00:24:22.279 up knowing about vampires. It's just something 00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:24.839 that, you know, you come out of the womb knowing 00:24:24.839 --> 00:24:30.079 about. Dracula was written in 1897 by a guy called 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:34.069 Bram Stoker. He was Irish. The connections came 00:24:34.069 --> 00:24:38.029 centuries later. It turns out that Stoker actually 00:24:38.029 --> 00:24:43.190 knew very little about Romania and the descriptions 00:24:43.190 --> 00:24:47.430 didn't really match Vlad's life. Like, at all. 00:24:47.769 --> 00:24:52.509 This is another connection. Dracula is Wallachian 00:24:52.509 --> 00:24:59.190 for Son of Dracul or Devil. Not bloodsucker. 00:24:59.750 --> 00:25:05.630 Not a vampire. I know! I'm so confused! By the 00:25:05.630 --> 00:25:08.349 way, let me just throw this out there. Stoker 00:25:08.349 --> 00:25:12.390 was almost going to call his book something completely 00:25:12.390 --> 00:25:16.329 different. He wasn't even going to call it Dracula. 00:25:16.849 --> 00:25:21.410 Vlad just fit the legend. He liked it. He was 00:25:21.410 --> 00:25:26.349 like, I want Vlad! It's a great name for a vampire. 00:25:27.190 --> 00:25:32.140 So today, Vlad's story is... a little mix of 00:25:32.140 --> 00:25:38.119 fact, a little mix of myth, and a big helping 00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:42.140 of horror. Some see him as a ruthless defender, 00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:47.420 and others see him as a man obsessed with revenge 00:25:47.420 --> 00:25:50.380 and power. How many people did he actually kill? 00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:55.019 That's the real question. And the truth is, nobody 00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:59.089 knows. That is a tale lost in history. Nobody 00:25:59.089 --> 00:26:02.710 actually knows how many people, but his reputation 00:26:02.710 --> 00:26:06.369 of terror has just completely outlived him. I 00:26:06.369 --> 00:26:09.569 mean, it's completely outlived him. Hundreds 00:26:09.569 --> 00:26:13.569 and hundreds of years, are you joking? And it's 00:26:13.569 --> 00:26:18.869 made him a very fascinating figure in history. 00:26:19.309 --> 00:26:24.869 So yeah, that concludes today's story. What do 00:26:24.869 --> 00:26:27.470 you think? Had you ever heard of this person 00:26:27.470 --> 00:26:30.930 before? I am Elsie May. Thank you so much for 00:26:30.930 --> 00:26:33.750 watching. Please enjoy the rest of your day. 00:26:34.009 --> 00:26:36.009 If you enjoyed the podcast, please tell your 00:26:36.009 --> 00:26:38.630 friends and family. Apart from that, I'll see 00:26:38.630 --> 00:26:42.869 you next Wednesday. Bye bye! See ya!