As her fans know, Siggie looks up to the Greats, the Terribles and even the Impalers of the past. She hopes to learn what it takes to someday make the history books herself! In Episode 7, Siggie presents the 3-time Voivode (or Prince) of Wallachia, Vlad III Dracul, better known today as Vlad the Impaler. Part 2 describes the conflict between Vlad and Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire, including the famous Battle of Targoviste and the “Forest of the Impaled.” Siggie then talks about Vlad’s imprisonment by the King of Hungary, followed by him then joining the Hungarians (after his release) in war against the Ottomans in a successful effort to regain his title of Prince of Wallachia. Finally, the death of Vlad, and his enormous legacy up to this day, are discussed.

So now let’s move on to the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Mehmed. The second huge War.

So, the Ottoman Sultan, he figured that Vlad owed him for his previous support.

So, he ordered Vlad to pay homage to him personally. Instead, Vlad had the Sultan’s

two envoys captured and… what? [Executed by firing squad?] No! Impaled! He had the

Sultan’s two envoys captured and Impaled. Mehmed launched a campaign against

Wallachia to replace Vlad with Vlad’s younger brother, Radu. Was Radu like

supposed to be like an innocent lamb-like version of Vlad? Like what I mean is,

they’re all related and they’re all insane. Why in the world would Mehmed think

that Radu would be this  great alternative? At one point, Mehmed sent

60,000 of his men into Wallachia with a ton of power and sophistication. Vlad’s

forces were only 24,000, but the small number was balanced out by Vlad’s

reputation in Eastern Europe for being a murdering madman who would stop at

nothing to get the job done, who would impale his victims and leave them

impaled in rows like some kind of seriously twisted corn maze to scare the

hell out of people. In 1462, at night, Vlad launched an attack

from Hell that resulted in 20,000 Ottoman soldiers and prisoners being

impaled to create what was known as “The Forest of the Impaled.” Vlad tried to

capture the Sultan at Targoviste during the night of June 16,

1462. He failed, but the Sultan and his army left Wallachia so at least he got them

to leave. He probably was like, “Oh boy, look what I’m up against here.”

Radu then became Prince. Vlad then went to Transylvania to seek assistance

from Matthias Corvinus, the king of Hungary, but Corvinus had him imprisoned. So Vlad was

held captive in Visegrad from 1463 to

1475. During his period there, stories about him started to spread. They

only just started to spread. Having impaled 23,844 Turks was not enough to get

the word out that this guy is absolutely an unhinged lunatic. He was finally

released at the request of Steven the Great of Moldovia (that’s another part of

Romania) in 1475. Why in the world did Steven the

Great release this guy? Why? He fought in Corvinus’s army against the Ottoman’s in

1476. I mean, I mean, yeah. There’s absolutely no loyalty. But there are

obviously no grudges either. Yeah. Meanwhile, a guy named Basarab had

dethroned Vlad’s brother Radu in Wallachia. Oh, so that’s good. That’s good for Radu,

because you know that Vlad’s coming after him. Doesn’t matter if it’s his

brother.

Vlad and the Hungarian and Moldovian troops then forced Basarab to

flee from Wallachia in November. Vlad was voivode for the third time but like his

time back in 1448 this rule would not last long. Basarab returned with 

support before the end of the year and Vlad actually was killed in battle.

January 10^th, 1477. He was just killed in battle. Don’t

you think if anybody deserved to be impaled it was Vlad? Just for poetic

justice? [I would think he would almost have wanted to have been impaled just for,

just to get the experience.] So, the total number of victims of Vlad the Impaler,

the Impaler King, has been estimated to be 100,000. Child’s play, I suppose, when

you compare that to some other death tolls by megalomaniac tyrannical malignant

narcissistic rulers and conquerors. But considering you get a silver play button,

YouTube plaque, for reaching 100,000 subscribers, I suppose killing 100,000

people could be considered a feat. Many of these guys were killed in

astoundingly cruel ways, and supervised directly by Vlad himself

putting them on spikes, dismembering them, even skinning them alive, boiling them

alive in large cauldrons. And apparently Vlad liked to picnic in the fields where

he impaled his victims. He got a reputation for drinking the blood of his

fallen enemies in the belief that it would make him stronger. Likely not true,

but people had this unshakable impression of him that made something

like this not that far-fetched. Books describing Vlad’s cruel acts were among

the first bestsellers in the German speaking territories. Vlad’s last name

inspired the name of Bram Stoker’s literary vampire, Count Dracula.