049 - Romania

Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Ţepeş in Romanian), or simply Dracula (November/December 1431 – December 1476), was a Wallachian (present-day southern Romania) voivode. His first reign as crown prince took place at age 17, during the same year of his release from Turkish captivity, in 1448. His main reign took place in 1456 and ended in 1462. His final reign was accomplished with the aid of the Hungarian throne in 1476 and he ruled until his assassination months later within the same year. Vlad the Impaler is known for the exceedingly cruel punishments he imposed as ruler of Wallachia, however the people of Romania refer to Vlad as a savior to their nation and continue to justify his method of torture as not uncommon for that period in history. Impalement was Ţepeş's preferred method of torture and execution, however the exact number of enemies executed cannot be relied on for they are documented by Vlad's rivals, therefore are most likely exaggerated to an extent. In the English-speaking world, Vlad III is perhaps most commonly known for inspiring the name of the vampire in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.
As prince, Vlad maintained an independent policy in relation to the Ottoman Empire and was a defender of Wallachia against Ottoman expansionism. His Romanian surname "Drăculea" means "Son of the dragon" and is derived from his father's title, Vlad the Devil (see Vlad II Dracul); the latter was a member of the Order of the Dragon created by Emperor Sigismund. The word "Dracul" means "the Devil" in modern Romanian but in Vlad's day also meant "dragon" and derives from the Latin word "Draco", also meaning "dragon". The suffix "-lea" can be translated as "son of".
The old Romanian word for serpent is nowadays the most common and casual reference to the devil-the people of Wallache gave Vlad II the surname "Dracula" ("Dracula" being the more grammatically correct form). His son Vlad III would later use in several documents the surname "Drăculea". Through various translations ("Draculea", "Drakulya") Vlad III eventually came to be known as "Dracula" (note that this ultimate version is a modern invention). His post-mortem moniker of "Ţepeş" ("Impaler") originated in his preferred method for executing his opponents, impalement-as popularized by medieval Transylvanian pamphlets. In Turkish, he was known as "Kazıklı Bey" which means "Impaler Prince". Vlad was referred to as "Dracula" in a number of documents of his times, mainly the Transylvania Saxon pamphlets and "The Annals of Jan Długosz".