According to Wikipedia (the Free Encyclopedia):

"Bram Stoker loosely based his character on the historic Wallachian (southern Romania) ruler Vlad III, also known as Vlad Tepes ("Vlad the Impaler"). In his six year reign (1436-1442) he is estimated to have killed 100,000 people, mainly by using his favourite method of impaling them on a sharp pole.

However, it should be noted that the history of Romania at this time was mainly recorded by German immigrants, a group with which Vlad Tepes is known to have clashed several times. Indeed, Vlad Tepes is revered as a folk hero by native Romanians for driving off invading Turks with his brutal techniques.

The name "Dracula" is derived from a secret fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, founded by King Sigismund of Hungary (who became the Holy Roman Emperor in 1410) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks.

Vlad III's father (Vlad II) was admitted to the Order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks. From 1431 onward Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol. The word for dragon in Romanian is "drac" and "ul" is the definitive article. Vlad III's father thus came to be known as "Vlad Dracul," or "Vlad the dragon." In Romanian the ending "ulea" means "the son of". Under this interpretation, Vlad III thus became Vlad Dracula, or "the son of the dragon."

Source: Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia ( http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Dracula )

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