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The Transylvanian city of Sibiu
There are claims that thousands of people were
impaled at a single time. One such claim says 10,000
were impaled in the Transylvanian city of Sibiu (where
Vlad the Impaler had once lived) in 1460.
Kissing Coffins by
Ellen Schreiber
Another
allegation asserts that during the previous year, on
Saint Bartholomew's Day (in August), Vlad the Impaler
had 30,000 of the merchants and officials of the
Transylvanian city of Braşov that were breaking his
authority impaled.
One of the most famous woodcuts of
the period shows Vlad the Impaler feasting amongst a
forest of stakes and their grisly burdens outside
Braşov, while a nearby executioner cuts apart other
victims.
An old Romanian story says that Vlad left a gold cup
in the middle of the street, then returned to pick it up
the next day since no one touched it, as people were so
afraid to commit crimes during his reign due to these
horrific means of torture and capital punishment.
Many have attempted to justify Vlad's actions on the
basis of nascent nationalism and political necessity.
Most of the merchants in Transylvania and Wallachia were
Saxons who were seen as parasites, preying upon
Romanian
natives of Wallachia, while the boyars had proven their
disloyalty time and time again (Vlad's own father and
older brother were murdered by unfaithful boyars).
His
actions were likely driven by one or more of three
motives: personal or political vendettas, and the
establishment of iron-fisted law and order in Wallachia.
Dracula - Vlad III the Impaler
Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople
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