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The
image of the Wallachian ruler
The German stories about Vlad Ţepeş were written most
likely for political reasons, especially to blacken the
image of the Wallachian ruler. The first version of the
German text was probably written in Braşov by a Saxon
scholar.
According to some researchers the writer of the
text did little else than mirror the state of mind of
the Saxons in Braşov and Sibiu who had borne the brunt
of Vlad’s wrath in 1456-1457 and again in 1458-1459 and
1460.
Against this political and cultural backdrop it is
quite easy to understand the hostility towards Vlad
Ţepeş. Although there is historic background for the
events described in the German stories, some of them are
either exaggerated or even fictitious.
The Hungarian
king Mathias Corvinus is also said to have had a part in
the blackening of the image of Vlad Ţepeş.
Corvinus had received large subsidies from Rome and
Venice for the war against the Ottomans, but because of
a conflict with Emperor Frederick III of the Holy Roman
Empire he couldn’t afford the military support for the
fight.
Dracula - Vlad III the Impaler - The
horror stories about Vlad
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