Thanks nickcarraway.
Posted on 06/17/2014 11:15:54 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Estonian researchers believe they may have finally discovered the whereabouts of “Dracula’s” grave, which is in Italy and not the Romanian Transylvanian Alps as first thought.
The inspiration behind Bram Stoker’s 1897 gothic novel “Dracula” is thought to be Vlad III, the 15th century Prince of Wallachia in Eastern Europe. Known posthumously as Vlad the Impaler, the ruler was known for his brand of cruelty across Europe, which included impaling his enemies.
Vlad’s ultimate enemy were the Ottomans. Depictions of his endless cruelty made history books, securing his reputation as one of the biggest villains in Turkey’s collective consciousness, as written by Emrah Güler of the Hürriyet Daily News in 2012. Vlad’s story was also converted into a ballet last year in Turkey.
Born in 1431, Count Vlad Tepes was part of a noble family who belonged to the Order of the Dragon, a group that was founded as a means of protecting Christianity in Eastern Europe from Ottoman expansion. His father was nicknamed Dracul, meaning “Dragon,” so the young Vlad became known as Dracula, or “son of Dragon.”
In 1476, Vlad Tepes disappeared in battle. While some sources have claimed he died, researchers claim he was in fact imprisoned by the Turks, who hauled him away in chains. His daughter Maria was meanwhile brought to the Neapolitan court, whose ruling family was allied with her own family, where she was adopted and eventually married to a Neapolitan nobleman.
Scholars from the University of Tallinn say they have discovered evidence that suggests the count was taken prisoner, ransomed to his daughter in Italy and then buried in a church in Naples.
Researchers are claiming a newly uncovered headstone in Naples’ Piazza Santa Maria la Nova, in the same graveyard as his daughter and son-in-law, could be his final resting place.
The headstone was discovered by Neapolitan student, Erika Stella, who was writing a dissertation on the history of the church. Stella shared the photograph on the Internet and experts identified it with a certain level of confidence after years of research.
Medieval history scholar Raffaello Glinni said the 16th century tomb is covered in images and symbols of the House of the Transylvanian “Carpathians,” and not the tomb of an Italian nobleman.
“When you look at the bas-relief sculptures, the symbolism is obvious. The dragon means Dracula and the two opposing sphinxes represent the city of Thebes, also known as Tepes. In these symbols, the very name of the count Dracula Tepes is written,” Glinni told reporters.
Researchers have applied for permission to investigate the grave from Italian officials.
That also is one of the legends, not exactly a historical fact. That said, they were not hats, they were turbans (this makes all the difference), and they insulted him by not taking them off in his presence. Seems reasonable.
Thanks nickcarraway.
Interesting thread and comments.
Good thing he really ISN’T alive. I don’t think he would put up with that kind of disrespect. Comparing him to Pelosi is worse than spitting in his eye.
The first time I ever heard Vlad Dracul discussed seriously was in a Turkish history undergrad class, by a guest lecturer from Rumania. Scared the daylights out of me that the guy was real. And that she was proud of him.
For the last time., I wasn’t the one who opened the coffin!
The stories which were compiled to comprise Mr. Stoker’s novel are circumstantial evidence, at best.
Circumstantial.
On the flip side, suppose God had a different solution in mind which could not then be realized because it was rejected and he allowed those then living to go in the direction in which history unfolded?
When the choices seem to be evil v. evil, the Lord surely will reveal a righteous path.
Turkish propaganda,
He was killed in battle fighting the Turks and protecting Christian Europe. A hero to the end.
>>I give him no credit. A truly evil man. One does not have to pick sides between evil and evil. :-).
Effectively kept the Turks out of Europe for a few years. You want evil, Google “Helena Bathory”
Yep. Lots of evil. Doesnt make Vlad any less evil.
He never attacked anyone, he was simply defending his country from foreign attackers. (Who were truly evil people, anti-Christian and focused on destroying all Christians)
Self defense is never evil.
Then you are ignorant about Vlad the Impaler. Quite a bit on the net about that sick bastard for anyone that can read
I’ve read quite a bit. He defended his land. Was he rather harsh about it? Yep! Did it work? Yep!
Invaders deserve to die in the most cruel way. Several million invaders in this country need to be impaled and stuck at the southern border. If the government won’t build a proper fence maybe that will keep the invaders out.
A ballet? That seems so incongruous.
Not to me; I have a theory about that. There is a ballet troupe in Istanbul lead by the wife of Peter Murphy, lead singer of the iconic goth band Bauhaus. Their signature tune? Bella Lugosi's Dead.
Here is the video, which is also the opening scene to the goth classic vampire flick The Hunger staring Susan Sarandon and David Bowie. I’ve never been able to stay awake too long after that one scene, for some reason. ;)
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