Vlad Tepes Quiz | People by Country

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Where was Vlad Tepes born?

Answer: Transylvania

Vlad Tepes was born in the town of Sighisoara, which was located in Transylvania in central Romania. The town was a settlement of ethnic Germans who had migrated to Romania, and was called Schassburg in German. Vlad was the second son of Prince Vlad II Dracul, who was a claimant to the throne of Wallachia, a principality of Romania at the time. Vlad was born in either 1428 or 1431.

2. As a second son of a Wallachian prince, Vlad was not expected to accede to the throne, as, by tradition, his older brother Mircea was the heir apparent. What event made Vlad the heir to the throne of Wallachia?

Answer: His father and older brother were murdered

Vlad's father assumed the Wallachian throne in 1436. Vlad and his younger brother, Radu, were sent to the Ottoman court as hostages in 1442. In 1447, the Hungarian regent, John Hunyadi, invaded Wallachia and murdered Vlad's father and older brother, installing Vlad's cousin Vladislav II as Prince. Vlad reigned briefly in 1448, but had to flee.

He courted both Ottoman and Hungarian support to regain his throne, which he finally won back in 1456.

3. After re-taking the Wallachian throne in 1456, Vlad reportedly purged those nobles who had supported Vladislav. Vlad took his revenge on those that he held responsible for removing him from the throne in order to crush any opposition to his rule. According to contemporary accounts, what did Vlad do to his prisoners?

Answer: Had thousands of people impaled

To consolidate his position, Vlad rounded up those who had supported his cousin and had them impaled, in at least one documented case, while he ate his dinner. He was known as Vlad the Impaler after this event. Impalement was a form of execution wherein the victim has a stake, stood upright in the ground, thrust into the rectum and into the bowels.

The pain would have been excruciating, and it would take hours or even days for the victim to die.

4. After his victory in 1456, for how long did Vlad reign in Wallachia?

Answer: Six years

Vlad refused to pay tribute to the Ottoman sultan, even murdering two Ottoman envoys. He invaded Ottoman territory in 1462, and the Sultan sought to replace Vlad with his younger brother, Radu. Vlad fled to Hungary to seek support from the Hungarian King, Matthias Corvinus, who imprisoned him when presented by Wallachian nobles with letters allegedly written by Vlad to the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, offering Vlad's support to the Ottomans.

5. For how long was Vlad imprisoned in Hungary?

Answer: Twelve years

In 1475, after being imprisoned in the castle of Visegrad for 12 years, Prince Stephen of Moldavia asked that Vlad be released to help drive the Ottomans out of Wallachia and Bosnia. Vlad fought in the Hungarian army in Bosnia, and then he and his allies drove the Ottoman puppet Besarab from Wallachia. Vlad's success was short-lived, as Besarab returned with Ottoman troops and re-took the throne. Vlad was killed in battle in January 1477.

6. To which military order, founded by King Sigismund of Hungary in 1408, did both Vlad and his father belong?

Answer: The Order of the Dragon

The Order of the Dragon was founded in 1408 by Sigismund of Luxembourg, who was the King of Hungary at the time. Modeled on the Crusader-era military orders, the members were sworn to defend Christianity and the Cross, and to fight the enemies of the King of Hungary, mainly the Ottoman Empire. Vlad's father was a member of this order, as was Vlad by right of birth.

The order lost most of its power and influence after Sigismund died in 1437.

7. Vlad's younger brother, Radu, was, like Vlad, held as a hostage by the Ottoman sultan. What was Radu's role during Vlad's struggle for the Wallachian throne?

Answer: Radu fought for the Sultan

Radu III, also known as Radu the Fair, converted to Islam during his captivity and later became a member of the Imperial Court. It was rumored that he had an intimate relationship with the Sultan. Radu led a cavalry unit in the Ottoman army and fought against his brother, becoming Prince of Wallachia on four different occasions from 1462-1475. Radu died in January 1475.

8. Of these four castles, which one became Vlad's main stronghold during his reign?

Answer: Poenari

Originally built around 1200 CE, Poenari Castle was enlarged and improved by Vlad, as he admired the castle's strategic location atop a steep hill. Beginning in 1453, Vlad rebuilt both Arges and Poenari Castles, which stood on either side of the Arges River, making the site his main fortress. The site was abandoned in the 16th century and is now mostly in ruins.

Bran Castle, built by German settlers in 1377, was one of Vlad's strongholds, and is today a tourist attraction sometimes called "Dracula's Castle".

9. During his three reigns as Prince of Wallachia, how many people is it estimated that Vlad had executed?

Answer: 40,000-100,000

While executions for almost any crimes were common in Wallachia at the time of Vlad's rule, Vlad took revenge on anyone that he suspected of aiding his enemies, especially people from the noble classes. It is thought that he had some 40,000 to 100,000 people put to death during his reigns, mostly by impalement.

10. How is Vlad largely regarded in modern day Romania?

Answer: As a hero

Romanians today hold celebrations in Vlad's honor. He is regarded as a patriot who fought off the Ottomans and kept the country free. Many of the accounts of Vlad's cruelty come from the Ottomans and the ethnic German inhabitants of medieval Romania, who Vlad fought against for most of his life.

While the tales of Vlad's behavior may be biased and embellished, he was probably no more cruel than his contemporaries.

Source: Author Reamar42

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ponycargirl before going online.
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